Setup Multiboot XP Pro system on multiple harddrives...

[Guest]

I have three HD's which I want to set up for multiboot. The first 20g HD (C
for business OS, the second 30g HD (D for pleasure OS, the third 160g HD
split partition for programs and data. First and second on Primary IDE. Two
CD's on Secondary IDE. Third on SATA. I would like to simply copy C: to D:
but keep getting a Generic Host Process Win32 error after doing so with Ghost
10 or Partition Magic.

Questions:

1. Is it legal to use same copy of XP on seperate harddrives within one
computer?
2. How can I avoid manually setting up the second hard drive?
3. I would like both drives to pull program data from the SATA partition, is
this easily done... or do both hard drives (or references) have to be set up
seperately?
4. Would changing the HD IDE setup solve my problem quicker?

Tired of guessing at solutions and just want to get get it done!

Thanks for any feedback you may provide.

 

[DL]

1) Yes, a breach of the EULA
which may make the other Q's irrelevant

 

[Guest]

Ok. So if that's the case then one would be XP Home and the other Xp Pro
since I have both. Any idea on balance of inquiry?

 

[Ron Martell]

I have three HD's which I want to set up for multiboot. The first 20g HD (C
for business OS, the second 30g HD (D for pleasure OS, the third 160g HD
split partition for programs and data. First and second on Primary IDE. Two
CD's on Secondary IDE. Third on SATA. I would like to simply copy C: to D:
but keep getting a Generic Host Process Win32 error after doing so with Ghost
10 or Partition Magic.

Questions:

1. Is it legal to use same copy of XP on seperate harddrives within one
computer?

No. The EULA says "..one copy on a single computer."

2. How can I avoid manually setting up the second hard drive?
3. I would like both drives to pull program data from the SATA partition, is
this easily done... or do both hard drives (or references) have to be set up
seperately?
4. Would changing the HD IDE setup solve my problem quicker?

Tired of guessing at solutions and just want to get get it done!

Thanks for any feedback you may provide.

If you have two different XP Licenses then your proposed configuration
should work. I would suggest the use of a third party Boot Manager
program such as BootItNG from http://bootitng.com as that will allow
you to hide the non-booting operating system drives/partitions. This
has two advantages:
1. It avoids accidental cross-contamination of one operating system
with files from the other.
2. It allows consistency in hard drive letters (e.g. the booted
operating system will always be drive C: regardless of which one is
chosen).

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2008)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Timothy Daniels]

1. Is it legal to use same copy of XP on seperate harddrives within
one computer?

It depends on your definition of "legal". Lots of people do it.
It's prohibited (depending on your interpretation) by the EULA.

2. How can I avoid manually setting up the second hard drive?

Make a clone of the 1st HD onto the 2nd HD. You can download
a trial copy of Acronis' True Image or Future Systems Solutions'
CasperXP. The usual precaution should be observed: Don't
start up the clone for its first run with its "parent" OS visible to
it. With OSes on different HDs, this is easy - just disconnect the
"parent" OS's HD before booting the clone for its first run.
(See the Google archives for postings in the past 2 years by
myself and "Anna" on how to do a proper cloning and how to
set the boot.ini file for multi-booting.)

When you boot a clone of an OS which had originally installed
on partition "C:", the clone (when running) will also call its own
partition "C:", and it will call other partitions - including the
"parent" OS's partition - by some other letter designation. This
will not be a problem at all as long as the OS has no shortcuts
that point to partitions other than its own.

Besides 3rd-party multi-boot utilities and the built-in multi-boot
manager in WinXP (called "ntldr"), you can also implement
multi-booting by adjusting in the BIOS which HD is at the head
of the HD Boot Order - that is the one that will get control at
boot time. Since each HD has an OS (or a clone of an OS) that
was installed separately (i.e. with the other HDs disconnected),
the HD getting control at boot time will boot the OS which it
contains as a mono-boot process.

You could also use a "mobile rack" or "HD caddy" which uses
a removable tray in which the HD sits. By sliding in the tray
containing the HD with your preferred OS, you can effect
multi-booting. "Anna" uses this almost exclusively for her
business clients, and it works very well for them. Post back
if you want more information on any of this, but do a Google
search first on your topic.

3. I would like both drives to pull program data from the SATA
partition, is this easily done... or do both hard drives (or references)
have to be set up seperately?

Programs should be installed on the same partition as the OS
to avoid major headaches. Multi-booting with a common data
partition can also lead to major headaches. For multi-booting,
the sane way is to put everything on one partition.

4. Would changing the HD IDE setup solve my problem quicker?

Adding a PCIe (or PCI) IDE controler card for more HD ports
can lead to greater flexibility.

*TimDaniels*