Dula Boot Vista Windows 2003 Server

R

Robert Robinson

Windows 2003 Server was installed first in the "C" partition on one SATA
primary drive.
Vista was then installed in the "D" partition on a second primary SATA
drive.
Both OS start-up properly.
Windows 2003 Server on "C" doesn't see the Vista "D" partition, but Vista
sees both the "C" and "D" partitions.
The problem is that when running Vista on "D" some applications install
system modules on Windows 2003 Server's "C" partition.
Is there a way to have dual boot that keeps the two OS completely separate
or can the Vista registry or an ini file be modified so that application
programs install system modules on Vista's "D" partition rather that on
Server's "C" partition ?
Thank you very much.
Robert Robinson
 
Z

Zack Whittaker \(R2 Mentor\)

It sounds like the Windows Server 2003 which can't see the other drive
partition needs drivers updating. If you have a driver disk appropriate to
hand, try installing that or try running Microsoft Update.

That's all I can think of :blush:(

--
Zack Whittaker
» ZackNET Enterprises: www.zacknet.co.uk
» MSBlog on ResDev: www.msblog.org
» Vista Knowledge Base: www.vistabase.co.uk
» This mailing is provided "as is" with no warranties, and confers no
rights. All opinions expressed are those of myself unless stated so, and not
of my employer, best friend, Ghandi, my mother or my cat. Glad we cleared
that up!


--- Original message follows ---
 
R

Robert Robinson

Hi Zack,

Thank you for the follow-up. Windows 2003 Server can address the second
primary drive if it doesn't contain a different OS.
I am especially concerned that loading application programs in Vista's
partition on "D" results in some entries in Server's system partition on
"C". This can cause problems in the registry and other system locations. The
installation programs are apparently looking for the "C" partition for
storage of the registry, DLLs and other entries and use this rather that the
proper location for Vista which is in the "D" partition.

Robbie
 
R

Robert Robinson

Hi Andre,

The system partitions are on two separate SATA drives and each OS partition
occupies the full available space on each drive, about 150 GB. The Windows
2003 Server application programs are resident on an additional hard drive.
We can't do this with Vista as we have not been able to obtain a Vista
driver for any SATA PCI controller. The hardware platform is a Dell
PowerEdge 1800 running dual Xeon processors at 3.2GHz. This is a 64 bit
machine, but we are using 32 bit software due to problems with obtaining 64
bit drivers.

Robbie
 
A

Andre Da Costa [Extended64]

Oh, its a server, I think Dell has mentioned that client operating systems
are not recommended for such hardware. But, its standard Industry hardware,
I don't see what would be the problem. I would recommend creating a logical
partition on which Vista is currently installed and then reinstall Vista to
it and report back if the problem occurs.
--
--
Andre
Windows Connect | http://www.windowsconnected.com
Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com
Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre
http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta
 
R

Robert Robinson

Hi Andre,

Thank you again for the follow-up. We have already tried a re-install with
no change in the problem.

Robbie
 
S

Slugsie

Could you give us an idea as to which applications give you the problem.
It's more than likely due to poor installers in those applications,
something that I've seen in the past. I used to have my partitions set so
that C: was a small boot parition that pretty much just had a DOS
installation and a boot manager. I'd then have various Windows installs on
D, E, F etc. On more than a few occasions an installer would (often without
prompting) start dropping stuff on C. Unfortunately your choices in this
situation come down to informing the softwares maker of the installer bug
and/or moving on to another piece of software.
 
R

Robert Robinson

I have found a reason for the problem. Checking the environmental
variables reveals that %systemroot% is set to "C" rather than "D" which
is the correct partition for the Vista OS.
I know that you can edit the individual environmental variables, but
don't know how to change the partition value that %systemroot%
retrieves. This may involve a registry or ini file change, but I don't
know the location from which %systemroot% retrieves this information.
Robbie
 
S

Slugsie

For XP it's here:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion

There should be a String value of SystemRoot, this is what you want.
 
S

Slugsie

It's also in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion, so probably
want to change them both.
 
R

Robert Robinson

There is no HKLM SystemRoot entry in Vista's Registry that I can find with a
careful search.
Any other suggestions for finding the location from which %systemroot% is
read ?

Robbie
 
S

Slugsie

Well, that could be the problem. I definately have one here...

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion

SystemRoot - Type REG_SZ - Data 'C:\Windows'
 
R

Robert Robinson

Thank you for the follow-up.
There has to be a similar entry in Vista for %systemroot% but I haven't
discovered it as yet.

Robbie
 
S

Slugsie

Sorry, I wasn't clear, my Vista install has that key in it. It doesn't have
the % %'s around it, but it is none-the-less the required key, however,
there may be more. :(
 
R

Robert Robinson

My error on finding the %systemroot% entry. "systemroot" is in HKLM and I
was able to edit it. Unfortunately, the change didn't resolve the problem as
is described below.
Windows 2003 Server is installed on first primary SATA drive in partition
"C"
Vista is installed on second primary SATA drive in partition "D"
Microsoft dual boot successfully starts both operating systems.
Vista environmental variables show "systemroot" as "C:\Windows" rather than
"D:\Windows"
"systemroot" value in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion can
be edited for a change from C:\Windows to D:\Windows, but entry reverts to
C:\Windows on next cold start.
Set command can be used to change the multiple environment "C:" entries to
"D:" entries. Re-executing the Set command without exiting the command
prompt confirms that the changes have been made, but exiting the command
prompt, re-entering it and re-executing Set shows that many of the entries
have been reset to "C:"
Vista should obviously not be using Windows 2003 Server's Registry and
system file directories. This looks like an installation bug.
Is there anyway to fix this problem, including preventing Vista from
repeatedly re-setting the environmental parameters ?
Thank you again.
Robbie
 

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