NCBill said:
I have two hard drives. On the first, XP was getting slow
and creating problems, so I loaded XP on the the second
drive and switched the drives so the second would load.
I have transferred files and reloaded most of the applications.
Now I would like to be able to load either one so I can get
to the applications on the original drive. I have looked at
MS Article ID 289022 - How to edit the boot file in
Windows XP so that I can add the second operating system
to startup. However, there is no information describing how
to set the parameters, and besides it says to run bootcfg
from the command prompt, and my computer doesn't
recognize bootcfg.
I'd appreciate knowing how to set the parameters so that
operating systems on separate drives (not separate partitions
on one drive) can be accessed.
You want to edit the boot.ini file at C:\boot.ini. You can do
it manually with Notepad. Here's what a boot.ini file looks
like for a single OS arbitrarily named "1st WinXP" on the
1st partition of a hard drive that is 1st in the BIOS's hard
drive boot sequence:
[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="1st WinXP" /fastdetect
This says that 0 seconds will be given for you to make up
your mind on which OS to 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 - to be given
the name C.
If no input is given to select an OS, the default system will be
booted. Here, both the default and the single optional OS
are identical.
To include the OS on the 2nd HD, modify the boot.ini file
in the 1st HD, add an entry to its boot.ini so that it looks 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="1st WinXP" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="2nd WinXP" /fastdetect
With the 1st HD at the start of the boot sequence, this boot.ini
file will be accessed, and it says that the 1st WinXP is on the
1st partition of the 1st HD, and that the 2nd 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.
In the 2nd HD, add entry to its boot.ini so that it looks 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="2nd WinXP" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="1st WinXP" /fastdetect
This boot.ini will be accessed if you happen to place the 2nd HD
at the start of the BIOS's boot sequence or if you disconnect or
remove the 1st HD - perhaps due to its failure. This boot.ini file
says that the 1st WinXP is on the other HD (now the 2nd HD, i.e.
at relative position 1, in the boot sequence), and the 2nd WinXP
is on "this" HD (now the 1st HD, i.e. at relative position 0, in the
boot sequence). With both HDs running, the loaded OS will be
from the file structure on what is called Local Disk C:, and it will
be able to see the other OS's file structure - which will be given a
drive letter other than C: . Just remember that the loaded OS
will always call itself the "C:" drive. It might help to configure the
Desktop on each OS differently - perhaps with a different
background - so that you can tell at a glance which OS is loaded
and running.
You can have more than one partition on each HD, and the
OS needn't be on the 1st partition. As a matter of fact, there
can be up to 4 partitions (each a primary partition) that contain
bootable OSes. All that is necessary is that the files ntldr and
a properly configured boot.ini file (and a couple other files) be
just below the root in the file hierarchy in the partition that is
marked "active". In your situation, you have one partition on
each HD, and it contains an OS, and that partition is already
marked "active", so your task is simplified.
Have fun.
*TimDaniels*
