The more that gets installed, the slower the OS gets.
I'd like to be able to boot multiple versions of XP
so that I can have different OS's for different uses,
keeping the gaming partition(s) nice and clean for
the fastest possible response.
Can this be done?
Oooo.... Hot Button topic in a Microsoft newsgroup!
Answer: Yes, you can, and it's easy, but MS feels
that it is a violation of its EULA to have more than
one copy of its OSes installed with only one license
(i.e. one payment to MS).
Here's how to do it: Copy the partition containing
the OS to a primary partition on the 2nd HD. Include
the MBR as well in the copying, and tell the utility
to mark the destination partition "active". With cloning
utilities such as Symantec's Ghost or Partition Magic,
this is easy. You can also sign up as a beta tester
and download a copy of xxClone (from xxClone.com),
or you can download the free cloning utility from
Seagate's website which will copy an entire HD's
contents to a 2nd HD.
Once the copying is complete, shut down the PC.
DO NOT start up the PC again until you have
disconnected the original HD - by disconnecting its
data cable or its power cable. Then start the PC.
The BIOS will automatically go to the next HD in
its boot sequence and try to boot the new HD.
The new HD will appear to have the old OS, and
it will boot up normally. Then shut down the PC.
Note that it's important to NOT let the newly-booted
OS see the old OS or it the new OS will set pointers
to system files in the old OS and the the new OS
will thereafter be dependent on the continued
presence of the old OS in order to function.
After the new OS is booted up, it becomes an
independent clone (an "adult", if you will), and it
can thereafter be booted with the old OS visible
to it. You can now do as you want with the old HD.
If you reconnect it in place without changing the
Master/Slave setting via its jumpers or its position
on the IDE cable, you can at this point do dual-booting
by just readjusting the boot sequence in the BIOS.
Whichever HD is at the head of the BIOS's boot
sequence (i.e. boot priority list) will boot up.
If you want to dual-boot using the WinXP boot
manager, you will have to add another line to the
boot.ini file in one or both OSes. (See below
for boot.ini details.) Upon startup, the HD at
the head of the BIOS's boot sequence will be
given control. The ntldr program in its "active"
partition will look at its boot.ini file and go to the
partition that boot.ini directs it to (by either default
due to timeout or by keyboard choice by the user)
and load the OS that it finds there.
Setting boot.ini -
For a single-boot OS, the boot.ini file should look
something look like this:
[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Old WinXP" /fastdetect
This says that 0 seconds will be given for you to make up
your mind on which OS to load, which in this case is the
one option (arbitrarily called "Old WinXP" or whatever you
want) that is identical to the default. Since you won't have
time to input a preference, the default will load.
rdisk(0) means to load the system on HD at relative position 0
to the start of the boot sequence (in this case, your 1st HD).
partition(1) means to load the system found on partition 1
(i.e. the 1st partition).
WINDOWS means that the system will be found in folder
named WINDOWS under the file system root C:.
What you want in boot.ini to do dual-booting should look
like this:
[boot loader]
timeout=20
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Old WinXP in 1st HD" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="New WinXP in 2nd HD" /fastdetect
The 2 differences are that the timeout has been increased from
zero, and a 2nd entry has been made under [operating systems]
to point to the partition containing the 2nd OS.
With the 1st HD at the start of the boot sequence and the partition
containing this boot.ini file being marked "active", this boot.ini
file will be accessed, and it says that the old WinXP is on the
1st partition of the 1st HD, and that the new WinXP is on the
1st partition of the 2nd HD. Keyboard input from you will then
select which OS boots, and you will have 20 seconds to make
up your mind - after which the default will boot if you don't choose.
Whichever OS that is loaded calls itself the "C:" drive and it
names other partitions that it sees with other letters of the
alphabet.
If you want to have either HD control the dual-booting,
you'll have to adjust the boot.ini file in the 2nd HD as well.
The only difference between the two boot.ini files is that the
HD boot sequence position in "rdisk()" is reversed - both in
the default OS entry and in the two entries for the OS options
under "[operating systems]" (to correspond to the reversal in
the BIOS's boot sequence that would cause the 2nd HD to
be selected). That is, interchange rdisk(0) and rdisk(1) so
that the meanings of "the 1st HD" and "the 2nd HD" will make
sense. (You can leave "partition()" unchanged if both OSes
reside on partition 1.)
You can keep track of which OS is running by putting
something unique on the desktop of each OS or by
setting the background differently. You can also check it
by looking at the dialog box in Disk Management -
at (rt-clk)My Computer/Manage/Disk Management.
You can go further, making multiple OS clones, each on a
primary partition on the 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) HD and the
boot.ini files adjusted accordingly. I keep 4 copies on a
backup HD in a removable tray, each on one of the 4
possible primary partitions of the HD, each bootable,
for use in archiving and in case the original OS on the fixed
internal HD gets mangled or the HD fails. I have never
tried putting a clone on a partition on the same HD because
I'm not sure about the need or procedure to make the source
OS invisible during the 1st bootup of the clone OS - or if it's
even necessary. If you find out, please let us know!
Have fun.
*TimDaniels*
