Dual Boot

[Dave]

I have 2 hard drives with XP installed on both. I am trying to remove it
physically from the PC and boot from the second HD but it appears that all
the boot info is on the original drive. How do I go about getting the files
necessary to boot on the other HD?

 

[philo]

I have 2 hard drives with XP installed on both. I am trying to remove it
physically from the PC and boot from the second HD but it appears that all
the boot info is on the original drive. How do I go about getting the files
necessary to boot on the other HD?

It's not going to work as the mbr and boot files are on the first drive.
Even with a repair install...it's still not likely to work as all the
registry references will be to a D: drive...
but the letter of the drive may get re-assigned to C:

Though it would not be impossible to make it to work....things could get
rather complicated

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

It's not going to work as the mbr and boot files are on the first drive.
Even with a repair install...it's still not likely to work as all the
registry references will be to a D: drive...
but the letter of the drive may get re-assigned to C:

Though it would not be impossible to make it to work....things could get
rather complicated

I remember a LONG time ago using a utility that ran through the
registry and renamed all entries pointing to D:\ (or any other odd
letter) to C:\. I did this once a long time ago (1996/97) on NT4 but
it did involve editing boot.ini when the registry operation was
complete.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

I have 2 hard drives with XP installed on both. I am trying to remove it

physically from the PC and boot from the second HD but it appears that all
the boot info is on the original drive. How do I go about getting the files
necessary to boot on the other HD?

This is not an easy feat to accomplish but I did accomplish it
successfully once. It took quite a few hours and requires uber
technical computer knowledge and a few disk manipulation utilities. If
you're not willing to have potential data loss (read: bye bye D:\
drive install of XP), don't try to perform this operation.

Logistically, you'd want to find a utility that would run through the
registry of your second XP install and rename all entries pointing to
D:\ to C:\ first. A simple search and rename. I used this utility once
a LONG time ago but have since forgotten what it was called or if it
is even being developed anymore. That being said, you'd have to know
if there were any .cfg, .ini, or other files that would be pointing to
D:\ for file or folder locations. That would only come from using your
installed applications. A quick Google search turned up registry
replacer: http://www.fileflash.com/program/21061/

Once the above is accomplished, you could set the secondary drive as a
primary. Then you could do an "in-place" repair install and that would
put the necessary boot files on the "new" C: drive. It's not without
potential problems or foolproof but that the hardcore uber geek of
getting this kind of task done. It's NOT for the faint of heart.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Dave]

So it is going to be easier to do a clean install of XP and all the programs

 

[philo]

So it is going to be easier to do a clean install of XP and all the programs
on this disk?

yes, easier to just reinstall...

If there is data on the drive you need to keep...
but the first drive back in...boot up and backup your data first

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

So it is going to be easier to do a clean install of XP and all the programs

on this disk?

In all honesty, yes. I'd backup the files you want to keep to
someplace safe, take note of the apps you have installed, and
re-install. You'll have to delete the partition info using the XP
install CD as I have encountered situations where a D:\ drive an XP
install and no matter what I did, it kept trying to install XP as D:\
again even though it was the only physical disk.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[db ´¯`·.. >]

systemmechanic

--

<)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

..

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

It's not going to work as the mbr and boot files are on the first drive.
Even with a repair install...it's still not likely to work as all the
registry references will be to a D: drive...
but the letter of the drive may get re-assigned to C:

Though it would not be impossible to make it to work....things could get
rather complicated

If the OP had good Windows skills then he could do this:
- Fix the MBR on the second disk.
- Place the various boot files there.
- Fix boot.ini.
- Edit the registry in off-line mode and set the letter for the
system drive to D:.
Without these skills plus a number of tools it would be
quicker for him to reload Windows.

 

[philo]

If the OP had good Windows skills then he could do this:
- Fix the MBR on the second disk.
- Place the various boot files there.
- Fix boot.ini.
- Edit the registry in off-line mode and set the letter for the
system drive to D:.
Without these skills plus a number of tools it would be
quicker for him to reload Windows.

Yes.
he could use partition magic to create a small primary partition C:
and put all the rest on a logical D: drive...
then from the repair console run fixboot...
but a lot of work

 

[DL]

Earlier versions of a Norton utility had such a tool, I used it with
reasonable success, once.

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

Earlier versions of a Norton utility had such a tool, I used it with

reasonable success, once.

Heh heh, you said once.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Andy]

One simple thing to try that shouldn't take more than a few minutes is
to copy the hidden files ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini from the
first drive to the second drive. Then boot from the second drive,
selecting the first Windows XP from the menu. This assumes the
partition on the second drive is primary and active.