How install dual boot for XP?

[Ken H]

I have installed a second instance of XP on the E: partition of my machine.
The command line interface of the Recovery Manager (booted from the
reinstallation CD) confirms that XP exists in C: and another in E:

However the Boot Manager (F12 at machine turn on) continues to give me the
boot alternatives only of "normal", "diskette", "Drive C:", and "CD". The 2nd
XP installation did not add drive E:'s copy to the boot manager. How can I
accomplish that?

Why do I want two XP's on one box? The registry in my c: drive XP
installation is so broken (I know, I shouldn't have done that) it won't boot
or let me in Safe Mode. I have been given a procedure for editing C:'s
registry using data from drive C:'s restore points. It involves moving the
hard drive to another machine for the editing. I'm reluctant to do that. I
avoid putting another machine at risk by booting from E:, editing the
registry in C:, restoring C: to full function at an earlier restore point,
and then removing the extra XP installation in E:

The machine is a Dell Dimension 8200 with two internal drives (2 partitions
each) and an external hard drive. C:'s XP is Fix Pack 2 fully updated. E:'s
XP is Fix Pack 2 not updated from Dell's reinstallation CD. All the drives
are NTFS formatted. I have Partition Magic but it is by download into C: so I
don't know how to get at it.

 

[Sister Mary]

I'm not familiar with Boot Manager, but the process
will usually involve alterations to BIOS settings.
Depending on which BIOS, you will have to include
Drive E in the Boot sequence (Or Boot order)
the sequence/order is the order in which the Boot.ini
is scanned for, and will usually be:
1) Floppy (If one is installed)
2) CD
3) Primary partition - nearly always C

You have to enter BIOS and include Drive E in the
sequence and to set it to be directly after C.
What happens is the scan will boot from the
first boot.ini it finds in sequence, so if no floppy in drive
it continues to next in sequence and scans CD, if XP
disk is loaded it will boot from that etc. If No floppy and
No boot CD loaded, it moves onto next in sequence being
the C drive
What tools such Boot Manager do is allows the user to
pick what device in the sequence to boot from, but it will
only give you the options of devices included in the BIOS
boot sequence (It maybe termed Boot order in your BIOS)
To enter BIOS tap key F2 or F5 during Boot.
You navigate BIOS by the arrow keys.
There should be an obvious entry for Boot sequence/Order
but it maybe hidden under Advanced.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have installed a second instance of XP on the E: partition of my machine.
The command line interface of the Recovery Manager (booted from the
reinstallation CD) confirms that XP exists in C: and another in E:

However the Boot Manager (F12 at machine turn on) continues to give me the
boot alternatives only of "normal", "diskette", "Drive C:", and "CD". The
2nd
XP installation did not add drive E:'s copy to the boot manager. How can I
accomplish that?

Why do I want two XP's on one box? The registry in my c: drive XP
installation is so broken (I know, I shouldn't have done that) it won't
boot
or let me in Safe Mode. I have been given a procedure for editing C:'s
registry using data from drive C:'s restore points. It involves moving the
hard drive to another machine for the editing. I'm reluctant to do that. I
avoid putting another machine at risk by booting from E:, editing the
registry in C:, restoring C: to full function at an earlier restore point,
and then removing the extra XP installation in E:

The machine is a Dell Dimension 8200 with two internal drives (2
partitions
each) and an external hard drive. C:'s XP is Fix Pack 2 fully updated.
E:'s
XP is Fix Pack 2 not updated from Dell's reinstallation CD. All the drives
are NTFS formatted. I have Partition Magic but it is by download into C:
so I
don't know how to get at it.

The boot menu you refer to is the BIOS boot menu. It can
only select between different hardware boot devices (e.g.
hard disk, CDROM) but not between different Windows
installations. Different installations of Windows are set in
the hidden file boot.ini, located in the root folder of the active
partition.

Your post does not make it clear where the two OSs reside,
largely because you use the term "drive" sometimes for a hard
disk and sometimes for a partition. Very confusing. It would
help if you posted a little table like so:
Disk 1 Partition 1: Defective WinXP
Disk 1 Partition 2: Data
Disk 2 Partition 1: New WinXP
Disk 2 Partition 2: Music

There are several ways to repair/replace a damaged registry:
a) By installing an auxiliary version of WinXP (which is what you did)
b) By booting the machine with a Bart PE boot CD (www.bootdisk.com)
c) By temporarily installing the disk as a slave disk in some other machine.
d) By booting the machine with a Nordahl boot diskette.

Method b) involves a lot of preparation but is probably the
most versatile of the lot.

Method d) involves very little preparation but is difficult to use
unless you know your way about Linux.

 

[Ken H]

Sorry my terminology was confusing. The drives and partitions are:

Drive 0 1st partition "C:" defective WinXP fixpac2 updated
Drive 0 2nd partition "E:" newly installed WinXP fixpac 2 not updated
Dirve 1 1st partition "D:" primary data and programs
Drive 1 2nd partition "F:" secondary data

When I run the recovery console (the R choice in booting from the Dell
Reinstallation CD of Windows XP) it asks whether I want to run the command
line interface from XP in "C" or "XP" in E: Both command line
implementations work properly and with the dir command show all the files in
all four of those partitions.

 

[Ken H]

Hooray!!! Bless you Sister Mary. F5 during the boot sequence provided
the chance to choose between two "Windows XP Home Edition" operating systems.
I chose the 2nd because I wanted the 2nd installed. It failed as before.
So I did it again choosing the first. It worked and I am now in the long XP
beginning configuration routine.

Thank you very much and have a very Merry Christmas. You made my day.

Ken H

 

[Sister Mary]

Hooray!!! Bless you Sister Mary. F5 during the boot sequence provided
the chance to choose between two "Windows XP Home Edition" operating
systems.
I chose the 2nd because I wanted the 2nd installed. It failed as before.
So I did it again choosing the first. It worked and I am now in the long
XP
beginning configuration routine.

Thank you very much and have a very Merry Christmas. You made my day.

Ken H

That is good news and thank you for the feedback, I'm glad it has
worked for you. And wishing you Happy Holidays.

 

[Ken H]

Hi Sister Mary and all,

I'm almost home. Dual boot access is achieved and the editing of the
Registry to restore to an earlier point is achieved and works. BUT on
booting the damaged OS (Windows XP) I get a message that it "can't load the
user profile, is logging on with the default profile and detail access is
denied".

How do I find my original profile and establish it as the one used at system
boot?

Thanks, Ken

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

1. Log on as administrator while in Safe Mode.
2. Seize ownership of the inaccessible profile folder. It is
located in "c:\Documents and Settings".
3. Give xxx full access to this folder and all its subfolders.
"xxx" is the name of the account you normally use.

Click Start / Help, then look for help on "ownership"
if unsure how to seize ownership of the profile folder.