harddrive switch

[richard]

I know it is possible to take a drive out of an old machine which has
an older OS such as 98SE installed and use it as as prim-SLAVE in a
computer with XP installed.(computer boots to prim-MASTER XP, no prob)

My question is; if I enter bios and have the computer boot from the
SLAVE drive will XP configure the drive to run properly?
That is, with no conflicts considering a different MOTHERBOARD.
I don't believe I can do this in my old 98 machine without having
problems.

Can I have 2 OS on one PC without having to dual boot?
Instead, if I wanted the other OS I just switch boot order in BIOS.??

 

[Larry(LJL269)]

On Sat, 09 Apr 2005 08:44:52 -0400, richard

|My question is; if I enter bios and have the computer boot from the
|SLAVE drive will XP configure the drive to run properly?
|That is, with no conflicts considering a different MOTHERBOARD.
|I don't believe I can do this in my old 98 machine without having
|problems.
Like snowball's chance in HELL!

|Can I have 2 OS on one PC without having to dual boot?
|Instead, if I wanted the other OS I just switch boot order in BIOS.??
May work but remember OS must b on 1st partition of
drive & it must b primary , I think.

HTH-Larry

Any advise is my attempt to contribute more than I have received but I can only assure you that it works on my PC. GOOD LUCK.

 

[kurttrail]

I know it is possible to take a drive out of an old machine which has
an older OS such as 98SE installed and use it as as prim-SLAVE in a
computer with XP installed.(computer boots to prim-MASTER XP, no prob)

Yeah it's possible, but expect problems, especially on newer hardware.

My question is; if I enter bios and have the computer boot from the
SLAVE drive will XP configure the drive to run properly?

What does XP have to do with configuring a different OS? ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING!

That is, with no conflicts considering a different MOTHERBOARD.
I don't believe I can do this in my old 98 machine without having
problems.

Just wait, and see the problems the newer machine will have with w98!

Can I have 2 OS on one PC without having to dual boot?
Yes.

Instead, if I wanted the other OS I just switch boot order in BIOS.??

Yes.

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[richard]

Yeah it's possible, but expect problems, especially on newer hardware.


What does XP have to do with configuring a different OS? ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING!

RIGHT what a stupid question>I meant will the 98 drive have problems
with the different MB? But you've answered that for me, so thanks.

 

[Anna]

I know it is possible to take a drive out of an old machine which has
an older OS such as 98SE installed and use it as as prim-SLAVE in a
computer with XP installed.(computer boots to prim-MASTER XP, no prob)

My question is; if I enter bios and have the computer boot from the
SLAVE drive will XP configure the drive to run properly?
That is, with no conflicts considering a different MOTHERBOARD.
I don't believe I can do this in my old 98 machine without having
problems.

Can I have 2 OS on one PC without having to dual boot?
Instead, if I wanted the other OS I just switch boot order in BIOS.??

Richard:
You can do what you propose, i.e., connect your second drive with the Win98
OS as Primary Slave or on the Secondary IDE channel and then boot to that
drive by changing the boot order in your BIOS. This, of course, assumes that
your motherboard's BIOS will allow a boot from whatever position that second
drive is connected to. We have come across motherboards which either did not
permit a boot from a position *other* than PM or were balky in doing so. A
rare event, but it has happened in our experience. So it would be something
to test out on your particular MB. If there was a problem in this regard, a
rather tortuous workaround would be to disconnect your XP drive and connect
the second drive as Primary Master whenever you wanted to boot to it. Not an
elegant solution to be sure!

Now if you go that route, understand that you will probably still need
drivers, e.g., sound, video, LAN, etc., if you wish to boot to the second
drive with the Win98 OS. You ask "will XP configure the drive to run
properly?". Understand that XP has *nothing* to do with this. You're working
with Win98 at this point so XP is not an "actor" in this scenario.

I suppose if it's going to be a rare event when you'll be booting to that
second drive with the Win98 OS, what you propose is practical. But if this
is going to be a daily occurrence or other frequent occurrence I would find
this process of entering the BIOS and changing the boot order rather
annoying to say the least. BTW, I recall that some time ago there were
software programs marketed that allegedly allowed a user to change the boot
order without directly entering the BIOS but as I recall they didn't work
very well and I don't know if those types of programs are currently
available.

Is there some reason why you don't want to create a multi-boot
configuration? It's relatively easy to create, especially with XP being one
of the OSs and generally works very well. There's a wealth of information on
the net re setting up this kind of configuration.
Anna

 

[richard]

Richard:
You can do what you propose, i.e., connect your second drive with the Win98
OS as Primary Slave or on the Secondary IDE channel and then boot to that
drive by changing the boot order in your BIOS. This, of course, assumes that
your motherboard's BIOS will allow a boot from whatever position that second
drive is connected to. We have come across motherboards which either did not
permit a boot from a position *other* than PM or were balky in doing so. A
rare event, but it has happened in our experience. So it would be something
to test out on your particular MB. If there was a problem in this regard, a
rather tortuous workaround would be to disconnect your XP drive and connect
the second drive as Primary Master whenever you wanted to boot to it. Not an
elegant solution to be sure!

Now if you go that route, understand that you will probably still need
drivers, e.g., sound, video, LAN, etc., if you wish to boot to the second
drive with the Win98 OS. You ask "will XP configure the drive to run
properly?". Understand that XP has *nothing* to do with this. You're working
with Win98 at this point so XP is not an "actor" in this scenario.

Yes, I realized my bad re: "XP configuring" on second read.
I meant to say would the drive with Win98 have compatibility problems
with the different motherboard?
Could I get it to boot? ( Answered above, thanks )
And then of course install drivers for video etc.

If it did boot Device Manager would list devices not present so a
cleanup would be in order, right?

I suppose if it's going to be a rare event when you'll be booting to that
second drive with the Win98 OS, what you propose is practical. But if this
is going to be a daily occurrence or other frequent occurrence I would find
this process of entering the BIOS and changing the boot order rather
annoying to say the least. BTW, I recall that some time ago there were
software programs marketed that allegedly allowed a user to change the boot
order without directly entering the BIOS but as I recall they didn't work
very well and I don't know if those types of programs are currently
available.

Is there some reason why you don't want to create a multi-boot
configuration? It's relatively easy to create, especially with XP being one
of the OSs and generally works very well. There's a wealth of information on
the net re setting up this kind of configuration.
Anna

Actually Anna, I have a dual boot configuration with ME and XP and it
works nicely. I just thought it might be fun for nostalgia to hook in
my old 98SE drive too.

I would only use it on rare occasions so entering BIOS to switch is
really not a concern.

Thanks very much for your help. I'm going to try it.
R.