A faster way is to clone the entire system partition to another HD -
either a "secondary" internal HD or a HD on a removable tray.
If you have to switch systems, all you have to do is reboot, reset
the BIOS's HD boot order so that it sends control to the secondary
HD, then let it start up the clone system. For cloning, I use
Casper XP, downloadable in free trial form from their website at
http://www.fssdev.com/products/casperxp/ . I put archive versions
of my primary system onto a large capacity HD which is housed
in a removable drive tray that was made by Kingwin. I've found
that their model with the fan in bottom of the removable tray keeps
the HD nice and cool. It's all aluminum, and you can currently find
the rack and tray set on the Web going for $24. See Kinwin's
website for details:
http://www.kingwin.com/pdut_detail.asp?LineID=&CateID=25&ID=136
You can use several trays, each with a different HD, and use them
with the same rack. I've seen just the tray going for around $14.
When you make a clone, though, be sure to start up the new clone
for the 1st time with its "parent" system not visible to it. You can do
this by unplugging the "parent" HD. If you don't, the clone will
permanently depend on the presence of its "parent", and it will
never become an independent "adult" system. After its first bootup,
the new clone can be booted with the "parent" present, and it will
see the "parent" as just another partition having an accessible file
structure.
*TimDaniels*
