Installing a second operating system on a second drive

[Guest]

I have three harddrives on my computer. One of the three has an operating
system, win2K pro. How can I install win2K Pro on a second harddrive. All the
drives are formatted.
Thank You, Mike R.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have three harddrives on my computer. One of the three has an operating
system, win2K pro. How can I install win2K Pro on a second harddrive. All the
drives are formatted.
Thank You, Mike R.

Simple:

- Boot the machine with your Win2000 CD.
- Select the destination for the second Win2000 when prompted.

Note that the second copy of Win2000 will have a system drive
letter of D: or E:. This means that it must always run under that
drive letter. It therefore relies on the presence of drive C:. If
you want a truly modular multi-booting installation, with no
dependencies, then you must use a third-party boot manager,
e.g. XOSL (free!).

 

[George Hester]

Not really. The Windows 2000 Boot loader is good enough. If you want the install on a drive that is not on the Primary IDE channel AND you want it to be C then you need to make a small partition on the Primary Channel Harddrive 15MB is good enough for Windows 2000 (55MB for Windows 2003 is enough - in point of fact this is a bug in Windows 2003 - but who cares?) at the beginning of the harddrive. Then when you are ready to install the op sys and before you do, you have to make that partion on the other drive the Active Partition. That has to be the ONLY active partition. Then that partition will show as C when you choose it in Winsdows 2000 Setup. Trouble is Windows 2000 will not let you install there because it is not on the Primary IDE channel. It will tell you it needs to write a small set of startup files to the Primary IDE Channel harddrive. That is where your small partition comes into play. You choose that. (This part is a little tricky flollowing the correct prompts) The install should also see your Op sys you have now. The Boot Loader native to Windows 2000 is sufficient to choose the particular op sys you want to boot.

Now how are you going to do this partition manipulation? Let me know if that is what you want to do I'll tell you how to do it. It requires a trick. You make an Active Partition on the Primary IDE drive. Then you make the partion on the other harddrive Active. Then you go back and delete the partion you made active on the Primary IDE harddrive. Software used to do this will complain. Point is NO PARTITION at all on the Primary IDE harddrive can be Active. Ignore it.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

What you propose is an interesting approach to multi-booting.
What you have not really explained is how you're going to
switch between the two OSs, each of which must be visible on
drive C:. You also did not say how you will hide the small
boot partition. I have the tools to do it but does the OP have
them?

All of this is quite nicely and automatically handled by the
boot loader I suggested. I'm aware, of course, that everyone
has his preferences. When I'm given two equivalent choices
then I will always go for the one that follows the KISS
principle - that's why I mentioned XOSL.


Not really. The Windows 2000 Boot loader is good enough. If you want the
install on a drive that is not on the Primary IDE channel AND you want it to
be C then you need to make a small partition on the Primary Channel
Harddrive 15MB is good enough for Windows 2000 (55MB for Windows 2003 is
enough - in point of fact this is a bug in Windows 2003 - but who cares?) at
the beginning of the harddrive. Then when you are ready to install the op
sys and before you do, you have to make that partion on the other drive the
Active Partition. That has to be the ONLY active partition. Then that
partition will show as C when you choose it in Winsdows 2000 Setup. Trouble
is Windows 2000 will not let you install there because it is not on the
Primary IDE channel. It will tell you it needs to write a small set of
startup files to the Primary IDE Channel harddrive. That is where your
small partition comes into play. You choose that. (This part is a little
tricky flollowing the correct prompts) The install should also see your Op
sys you have now. The Boot Loader native to Windows 2000 is sufficient to
choose the particular op sys you want to boot.

Now how are you going to do this partition manipulation? Let me know if
that is what you want to do I'll tell you how to do it. It requires a
trick. You make an Active Partition on the Primary IDE drive. Then you
make the partion on the other harddrive Active. Then you go back and delete
the partion you made active on the Primary IDE harddrive. Software used to
do this will complain. Point is NO PARTITION at all on the Primary IDE
harddrive can be Active. Ignore it.

 

[George Hester]

Hii Pegasus. You do not have any Partitions active when you start the install of Windows 2000 except the one you are goiing to install Windows 2000 on. If it is not on the Primary IDE Channel harddrive then so be it. Windows 2000 setup will see that partition as C wherever it is.

You switch between the two OSs when the native Windows 2000 boot loader comes up. That is because the small partiton will be active when the Windows 2000 Setup is done. Windows takes care of that.

You do NOT hide the small boot partition. It is not necessary or relevant. The ONLY active partition is the one you are going to put Windows 2000 on before Windows 2000 setup. It's not active so not an issue.

The boot loader (3rd party) I mention is one way to go I am not arguing with that. I just was pointing out a 3rd party boot loader is not necessary. Windows 2000 has one and it works. It will also see his other install by default of the new Windows 2000 setup. Everything will be good to go after the new install.

The small boot partion can be 7MB which is FAT12. The startup files will occupy about 500Kb. The same is true for Windows 2003 but because of its bug it needs the small boot partion to be over 25MB. Go figure!!!

 

[j9]

The way I'd do it is:

a) install the 1st OS on the 1st drive
b) confirm the location of the boot.ini and ntloader file
c) load the 2nd OS on the 2nd drive
d) modify the above boot.ini file so that there is an entry and disk pointer
to the 2nd OS.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I cannot see how your method can deliver two instances
of Windows, each on its own partition, each visible on
drive C: when active.

If you can post a step-by-step procedure of how to achieve
the above then will try it out for myself. On the other hand,
if your method delivers OSs that are visible on two different
drive letters then there is no need to continue.

=======================

Hii Pegasus. You do not have any Partitions active when you start the
install of Windows 2000 except the one you are goiing to install Windows
2000 on. If it is not on the Primary IDE Channel harddrive then so be it.
Windows 2000 setup will see that partition as C wherever it is.

You switch between the two OSs when the native Windows 2000 boot loader
comes up. That is because the small partiton will be active when the
Windows 2000 Setup is done. Windows takes care of that.

You do NOT hide the small boot partition. It is not necessary or relevant.
The ONLY active partition is the one you are going to put Windows 2000 on
before Windows 2000 setup. It's not active so not an issue.

The boot loader (3rd party) I mention is one way to go I am not arguing with
that. I just was pointing out a 3rd party boot loader is not necessary.
Windows 2000 has one and it works. It will also see his other install by
default of the new Windows 2000 setup. Everything will be good to go after
the new install.

The small boot partion can be 7MB which is FAT12. The startup files will
occupy about 500Kb. The same is true for Windows 2003 but because of its
bug it needs the small boot partion to be over 25MB. Go figure!!!

 

[George Hester]

It doesn't and I never said it did. He has a Windows 2000 installation on his Primary IDE Harddrive as Master. But he wants to install Windows 2000 on a harddrive that is NOT on the Primary IDE channel as Master. What I explained is how to do that and give that new installation the drive letter C. And furthermore where it is NOT necessary to use a 3rd party boot loader. Remember a 3rd party boot loader alone will NOT provide the second installation the oppurtunity to be on C.

This is the configuration prior to installing the second OP sys.

Master harddrive on Primary IDE Channel has two partitions:
Part 1 (7MB) (blank) (NOT Active) (bootable)
Part 2 (Windows 2000 original install) (NOT Active) (bootable)

Slave harddrive on Primary IDE connection OR harddrive using Secondary IDE connection.
Part 1 (blank) (Active) (bootable)

Getting this configuration is the crux of the matter. Now you are ready to install Windows 2000 (2nd op sys).

When you do that guess which partition will show as C in Windows 2000 Setup? Right the Part 1 on "Slave harddrive on Primary IDE connection OR harddrive using Secondary IDE connection" because it is Active.

Windows 2000 will balk at installing there. It tells you it needs a partition on the Master harddrive on the Primary IDE Channel to write a small set of Startup files to. You have that: Part 1 (7MB) (blank) (bootable).

All done. Proceed with the Installation. Now both Windows 2000 see themselves on C; the native boot loader can be used to choose which op sys to boot; the second install takes care of everything for you by default. The only thing left is to set boot.ini to wait some time (ie. 15 secs) before doing the default. You will see boot.ini on that small partition.

 

[George Hester]

Right that is the way to do it. All I was explaining is how to make the second install be on C. If the user doesn't care yours is the way to do it. And the native Windows 2000 boot loader will be used when the default is set to wait some time (I use 15 sec). Heck you can even test this yourself right now.

This will do it:

[boot loader]
timeout=15
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINNT="(fake)" /fastdetect

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

The point I tried to make to the OP was that he needs a
third-party boot loader such as XOSL to make his
OSs truly independent from each other. This involves
running each OS off its own drive C:. Contrary to
what you think, XOSL can do this. I have several
installations to prove it.

Furthermore, XOSL does not interfere with the boot
sector of any OS. This means that you can easily boot
into any OS without the help of XOSL - provided that
you have some other tool to hide/unhide partitions and
to mark them active/inactive. XOSL will do this for with
a nice little menu.
======================
It doesn't and I never said it did. He has a Windows 2000 installation on
his Primary IDE Harddrive as Master. But he wants to install Windows 2000 on
a harddrive that is NOT on the Primary IDE channel as Master. What I
explained is how to do that and give that new installation the drive letter
C. And furthermore where it is NOT necessary to use a 3rd party boot
loader. Remember a 3rd party boot loader alone will NOT provide the second
installation the oppurtunity to be on C.

This is the configuration prior to installing the second OP sys.

Master harddrive on Primary IDE Channel has two partitions:
Part 1 (7MB) (blank) (NOT Active) (bootable)
Part 2 (Windows 2000 original install) (NOT Active) (bootable)

Slave harddrive on Primary IDE connection OR harddrive using Secondary IDE
connection.
Part 1 (blank) (Active) (bootable)

Getting this configuration is the crux of the matter. Now you are ready to
install Windows 2000 (2nd op sys).

When you do that guess which partition will show as C in Windows 2000 Setup?
Right the Part 1 on "Slave harddrive on Primary IDE connection OR harddrive
using Secondary IDE connection" because it is Active.

Windows 2000 will balk at installing there. It tells you it needs a
partition on the Master harddrive on the Primary IDE Channel to write a
small set of Startup files to. You have that: Part 1 (7MB) (blank)
(bootable).

All done. Proceed with the Installation. Now both Windows 2000 see
themselves on C; the native boot loader can be used to choose which op sys
to boot; the second install takes care of everything for you by default.
The only thing left is to set boot.ini to wait some time (ie. 15 secs)
before doing the default. You will see boot.ini on that small partition.

 

[George Hester]

Well I don't know anything about XOSL. Provide a link please? Either will work I suppose. I just assummed if it was a boot loader then that is what it was. I didn't know it would also allow the second install of Windows 2000 to go on C. My understanding is that is not what a boot loader does so I need to look at it.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Try googling for these keywords:

xosl download

The Windows boot loader is a very basic boot loader - it simply
invokes the boot files of the chosen OS, all of which are usually
visible.

Other boot loaders can do much more, e.g. switch partitions on
and off (i.e. hide them) as specified by the user. They can also
provide password protection for an OS, which is great in a
family environment where the kids keep wrecking their OS
while mom's OS (used for university studies) remains intact
and undisturbed.

Lastly, some boot loaders allow you to do what most people
say is impossible: To load an OS on a logical drive on a slave
disk, complete with all boot files, and boot from it. This ability
overcomes the restriction of having no more than four OSs in a PC.


Well I don't know anything about XOSL. Provide a link please? Either will
work I suppose. I just assummed if it was a boot loader then that is what
it was. I didn't know it would also allow the second install of Windows
2000 to go on C. My understanding is that is not what a boot loader does so
I need to look at it.

 

[George Hester]

The Windows boot loader in Windows 2000 will do the same thing ie. allow Operating systems to reside on any partition on any IDE drive. Yes the password protection is not supported in the Windows boot loader. I grant you that. All I know is that if you want Every OS installation to see itself on C a boot loader alone is not sufficient. And I don't think that is even possible if you want more than one install of an OS on the Master IDE drive of the Primary IDE channel. Put another way I have not yet figured out how to do it. I could do it with a 3rd party boot loader but not using the Windows boot loader.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

You write "The Windows boot loader in Windows 2000 will
do the same thing ie. allow Operating systems to reside on any
partition on any IDE drive." I'm afraid this is incorrect. The
Windows boot files (ntldr, ntdetect.com, boot.ini) must reside
on the active partition of the primary master. They cannot reside
on a slave drive, on a secondary disk or on a logical partition.

The Windows boot loader in Windows 2000 will do the same thing ie. allow
Operating systems to reside on any partition on any IDE drive. Yes the
password protection is not supported in the Windows boot loader. I grant
you that. All I know is that if you want Every OS installation to see
itself on C a boot loader alone is not sufficient. And I don't think that
is even possible if you want more than one install of an OS on the Master
IDE drive of the Primary IDE channel. Put another way I have not yet
figured out how to do it. I could do it with a 3rd party boot loader but
not using the Windows boot loader.

 

[George Hester]

Well Pegasus I am doing it as we speak. In fact I do not even have an Operating System on my Primary IDE controller Master hard drive AND I am using the native Windows 2000 boot loader. What you mention those files yes they are on the Primary IDE controller on the Master hard drive. I explained that earlier. But no Operating system there. My operating system is on the Master hard drive of the Secondary IDE controller and is on C.