Thanks for the feedback. I guess there's no such thing as perfect
emulation. A variation on the "2nd HD" is to use a "mobile rack"
such as those made by Kingwin:
http://www.kingwin.com/mobileracks.asp
There are models for PATA IDE and for SATA IDE.
You can just slide in the tray containing the HD with the desired
OS on it. Kingwin also sells the extra trays. The set goes for
around $25 on-line, and extra trays go for around $17 to $20
(do a search at Nextag or Pricewatch or Pricegrabber using
"Kingwin" and the model no.) Doing this, the HD that's not
being used is immune to virus activity stemming from the HD
that *is* being used. I have the model with the fan in the
floor of the tray, and it keeps the HD very cool.
Another way to do the same thing is to control the power to the
HDs with a DPST micro-toggle switch. To avoid the situation
where a "dead" HD is on the end position of a PATA IDE cable
while a "live" HD is at the mid-position, I have one HD at each
end position of two cables of a PCI IDE controller card, and the
other IDE peripherals on the motherboard controller. By cutting
the power connection to a HD (while the system is powered OFF),
I can effectively remove that HD from the system, and with no need
to diddle in the BIOS, that HD will be invisible when the other HD
is automatically chosen to boot its OS.
*TimDaniels*
