Max size of 1st XP bootable partition?

[Ruben L]

I wish to have two XP bootable partitions in one hard
disk. I tried it with the 1st partion 20GB and the 2nd
partition also 20GB, and the 2nd partition would not
boot. What is the max size of the 1st partition so the
2nd XP partition would boot?

Thanks in advance
Ruben L

 

[Crusty \(-: Old B@stard :-\)]

None that I am aware of, as long as they both are primary partitions.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Ruben,

Unless you are using a third party boot manager, you can only make one
partition the boot partition. There is no limit on the size of the first
partition.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

Hi Ruben,

Unless you are using a third party boot manager, you can only make one
partition the boot partition. There is no limit on the size of the first
partition.

Depends on what definition you are using for 'boot' here. The MS one
(which is backwards) calls the volume with c:\windows on it the 'boot'
volume (the one with boot.ini and NTLDR on it calls the 'system'
volume).

You should be able to boot an <x>:\windows (or WINNT, or whatever)
system from anyplace .. but boot.ini and the loader generally have to be
on the first (visible) primary partition on the hard drive in question
(some modern BIOSs can boot from more than one hard drive).

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

By "boot" partition, I was not referring to the location of the system
files, but rather the boot files. Had I been referring to a system
partition, I would have simply stated that virutally any partition can be
booted as a "system partitiion", regardless of the location of the boot
files. And yeh, MS has it half-assed backwards here when they refer to the
system partition as the boot drive. While that may hold true for the
majority of home users, it is not by any means correct.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Alex Nichol]

I wish to have two XP bootable partitions in one hard
disk. I tried it with the 1st partion 20GB and the 2nd
partition also 20GB, and the 2nd partition would not
boot. What is the max size of the 1st partition so the
2nd XP partition would boot?

This will be a function of your BIOS if all you are doing is switching
the active partition flag and then booting. Some may limit you to within
the first 8GB. If you use a dual boot in one of the partitions to
pass the buck to the other, or use a third party boot manager like
BootIT NG, from http://www.BootitNG.com ($35 shareware - 30 day full
functional trial) there will be no particular limit