advice on getting my dual boot system up and running

[minofifa]

hi,

i posted about this a while back but when i tried to do it, i messed stuff up bad. Basically i want a dual boot system with two versions of windows XP home. I bought system commander 8 to do this but it caused me a huge headache. Is there an easier way to make a dual boot system?

Or, if i have to use system commander, what can i use insted of boot disks. what i mean is, during system commander process, it strongly recommends i make 2 boot disks. i click ignore because i don't have a floppy drive.

any suggestions?

 

[Smilin]

Keep it simple.
You MUST have the installs on either different partitions or different drives. They can't share the same partition even if they are in different folders.

1. Install XP home via CD.
2. During setup choose to partition your drive into two partitions. Install to the first one. Complete setup as normal.
3. Start XP home installation again via CD.
4. During setup, choose NOT to repair the existing installation. Do a new install instead. Choose the other partition as the installation point. Complete setup as normal. During the reboot between text mode and gui mode - do NOT make a selection at the boot.ini screen. It will default to the correct one.
5. Modify your boot.ini in the root of your first partition to have text descriptions reflective of your two different installs.

 

[minofifa]

you have to be kidding me.... its that easy? so i spend 100 bucks on v-com system commander for nothing? well that sucks.

I have 3 drives in my computer, 1 80 gig drive and 2 110 gig drives. I plan on splitting the 80 into 2, 40 gig partitions and installing two instances of windows. will this work without any flaws? I have heard that there could be trouble having two coplies of windows on the same computer because each reads files from the other's partition. does that make any sense?

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: minofifa
you have to be kidding me.... its that easy? so i spend 100 bucks on v-com system commander for nothing? well that sucks.

I have 3 drives in my computer, 1 80 gig drive and 2 110 gig drives. I plan on splitting the 80 into 2, 40 gig partitions and installing two instances of windows. will this work without any flaws? I have heard that there could be trouble having two coplies of windows on the same computer because each reads files from the other's partition. does that make any sense?

Yeah man, that's it.

They will share a single master boot record (MBR) on your first drive. They will also share the same boot.ini, ntdetect.com and ntldr on the root of your first drive. After that they will each be on their own drives with separate \Windows, \Program Files, and \documents and settings folders.

The reason you put them on different drives OR different partitions is so those above mentioned folders are NOT shared. That's where problems will come in.

One install will be on C:\Windows and the other will be on D:\Windows. With some kindof painful contortions you can make each install see itself as C:\Windows and the other install as D:\Windows. It's more hassle than it's worth though.

I never did get the big purpose of system commander. Most *modern* (non - win9x) OSs like 2000, XP, and Linux flavors are more than capable of dual booting on their own. Windows handles this by detecting a previous install and simply adding an entry to boot.ini during setup. It was designed to run perfectly that way without any 3rd party help.

 

[minofifa]

cool, thanks for the advice, i'm pretty excited to try this.


sowhen i boot my computer, before windows loads, it will ask me which OS i want to boot?

also you mentioned, editing the boot.ini file. i understand what you mean but i have never edited an .ini file. is it just a text document basically?

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: minofifa
I have heard that there could be trouble having two coplies of windows on the same computer because each reads files from the other's partition.

They will each be able to see the other's data just fine. You just don't want them sharing those folders I mentioned. That means if you install MS Office for instance you'll have to boot to one OS, install it to C:\programfiles\msoffice (or whatever it's default folder is ), and then boot to the other OS and install it again to D:\programfiles\msoffice.

There are exceptions to this rule you can make for say "my documents" if you really know what you're doing, but if you are pretty new to this just keep to the basics and it's pretty much impossible to screw anything up.

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: minofifa
cool, thanks for the advice, i'm pretty excited to try this.


sowhen i boot my computer, before windows loads, it will ask me which OS i want to boot?

also you mentioned, editing the boot.ini file. i understand what you mean but i have never edited an .ini file. is it just a text document basically?

Yep. You'll get a little menu with XP listed twice. Initially these will both look exactly the same so you won't be able to tell which is which other than by the order they are in. The one it defaults to is the last one that Setup.

After you are up and running, yes just edit boot.ini in the root of your drive. It's a hidden, read-only, system file so set your folder options accordingly so you can edit it.

If you are unfamiliar with arc paths you'll see some goofiness in there that you may not follow, but within quotes you'll find the descriptions for each OS. You can freely edit anything within the quotes to your liking. Here's a sample multi-boot boot.ini:


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional - on C drive" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional - on D drive" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

If I want to change which one boots by default, I just copy paste the part before the = in the [operating system] section up to the default= line. The first thing you'll probably want to do is change that timeout to something reasonable like 5 seconds.

 

[minofifa]

ahh, very helpful, thanks a lot.

one more silly question. I'm going to obviously be reinstalling windows XP on my computer. Is there any way i can get my key off of my computer now before i reformat? I really don't want to take my computer apart so i can bet behind it to read that sticker. Thanks again.

 

[Muse]

When you edit your boot.ini file there's a line that looks like this:

timeout=30

Myself, I don't want my computer to sit at the screen where you choose which partition to boot to for a full 30 seconds before it boots to the default installation of Windows. I changed mine to read:

timeout=3

I like it that fast. You can have whatever you want. You can change this in Windows' GUI by going to My Computer/Advanced (Windows 2000, what I use), but you can just do it in boot.ini.

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: minofifa
ahh, very helpful, thanks a lot.

one more silly question. I'm going to obviously be reinstalling windows XP on my computer. Is there any way i can get my key off of my computer now before i reformat? I really don't want to take my computer apart so i can bet behind it to read that sticker. Thanks again.

After all that you got me stumped.

 

[minofifa]

well i'll be....

worked like a charm. I did a search for the boot.ini file quickly last night but nothing came up. I'll have a look for it tonight and try to change my default OS. Thanks again.

 

[Smilin]

Glad to hear you didn't have any trouble, but I didn't think you would.

That boot.ini is in the very root of the drive. Same drive that has ntldr and ntdetect.com. The hidden part doesn't usually confuse people it's the "system file" part that leaves it hidden if you don't get your folder view options correct. Be sure to clear the read-only attribute from the properties or it will ask for a rename when you go to save your changes.

Grats on your new dual boot!

 

[SelArom]

this was a very helpful thread! I'm looking to create a dual boot winxp pro, one for school programming, misc, and one strictly for producing music with only the OS and my music software. Is there any way I should do this? for sure I want the main install (c: ) to be the school drive, since my wife will be using that one too. But a few questions before I get started:

1) is it better to partition one drive into two and install one os on one partition and the other os on the other? or to have two drives, one for each OS install? By better I mean better stability AND performance.

2) Am I allowed to do this without buying another copy of windows?

3) How can I make folders like My Documents share between the two? I'm thinking if i have a third drive and set each OS to point to that drive for My Documents it should work no? or is that a bad idea?

THANKS!!

-SelArom

 

[Navid]

I have two XP partitions on the same physical hard drive. At any point in time, one of them is hidden. I decide which one to hide and which one to make active and unhide. Regardless of which one I boot into, it is on drive C. The image I have can be shared if I want to since the two can be identical.

I have my programs on another partition (D). The "My Documents" folder is also on D. Both XP drives use the same D partition for programs and "My Documents". The IE favorites folder is also on D. So, I can restore C and I won't lose anything.
Neither of my XP systems can inadvertently overwrite the files on the other since the other one is hidden.

There are pros and cons to this. I am not suggesting that you go ahead and do this. it is just an option. I use Partition Magic & and Drive Image 2002 from PowerQuest for this.

 

[SelArom]

Originally posted by: Navid
I have two XP partitions on the same physical hard drive. At any point in time, one of them is hidden. I decide which one to hide and which one to make active and unhide. Regardless of which one I boot into, it is on drive C. The image I have can be shared if I want to since the two can be identical.

I have my programs on another partition (D). The "My Documents" folder is also on D. Both XP drives use the same D partition for programs and "My Documents". The IE favorites folder is also on D. So, I can restore C and I won't lose anything.
Neither of my XP systems can inadvertently overwrite the files on the other since the other one is hidden.

There are pros and cons to this. I am not suggesting that you go ahead and do this. it is just an option. I use Partition Magic & and Drive Image 2002 from PowerQuest for this.

Wow that sounds a little complicated for my needs, although I do appreciate your feedback. The music OS will not use any of the programs from the main os install, and the same goes vice versa. The only thing that will be on the music os install is my music software and the OS itself.

-SelArom

 

[Navid]

Yeah, as I said, there are pros and cons.
I use one most of the time. It is for gaming and surfing and everything. I use the other only when I want to work from home. This may happen only a few times a year!

I remember when the XP SP2 release candidate came out, I installed it right away since i wanted to have the latest. But, for work, I did not want to use a beta OS. So, my other XP was the SP1, which was not beta.

The other advantage, which is important for me, is that I did not want any chances of one OS writing to the other. It had happened before I did this that when I downloaded something from the web, it would be placed on C as the default. Sometimes when i was booting the OS on D, I would not pay attention, and it would place it on the other OS (C). Now, something like that can never happen.

Another advantage is that I do not have to install everything (firewall, anti virus, Office, Motherboard Monitor, Nero, drivers, .....) twice!

Edit:
I also make images of my C drive so that I can easily restore my OS in case it gets messed up. With this setup, I only have one base image, which can be used for both XPs since they are both on drive C. Of course, there are some programs that are only installed after I restore the base image. But, the base image contains all the drivers and all the common programs. The only programs that are only on my work OS are the VPN and Citrix programs that allow me to connect to work.
This is good since I don't have to keep two sets of images (one for XP on C and one for XP on D).

 

[SelArom]

okay well I definitely don't want to go that route but thank you anyway what would be my best option, on seperate partitions or seperate drives?

any other considerations I should know about before I zap my hard drive?

-SelArom

 

[SelArom]

bumpage? I'd like to do this today if possible, just wanna know if it's best to install to seperate partition or seperate drives. ie which will give me the least headaches, especially considering I will not be using any third party software to do this. thanks!

-SelArom

 

[rmrf]

seperate drives would probably give you the least headache, as far as installing/partitioning goes, imo.

also, to your question of finding the key that you are using: http://www.lavalys.com/products/download.php?pid=1&lang=en

that program should do it. I haven't used it since I switched fully to linux, but I used it when it was called Aida32, and it found my key back then.

Good luck.

 

[SelArom]

Originally posted by: rmrf
seperate drives would probably give you the least headache, as far as installing/partitioning goes, imo.

also, to your question of finding the key that you are using: http://www.lavalys.com/products/download.php?pid=1&lang=en

that program should do it. I haven't used it since I switched fully to linux, but I used it when it was called Aida32, and it found my key back then.

Good luck.

Thanks! Is there any danger to having both OS point to the same My Documents folder, which will be located on another physical drive?

-SelArom

 

[sourceninja]

Just out of curiosity what are you going to do with 2 copys of windows xp on the same pc? Is driving me nuts trying to figure it out.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: sourceninja
Just out of curiosity what are you going to do with 2 copys of windows xp on the same pc? Is driving me nuts trying to figure it out.

In my case, I do not want to use an OS that has beta software on it for business. When I log into my office to work from home, I use the OS that is fully stable. However, for my everyday use, I use an OS that may have beta software.

I always download many different drivers and game demos and free utilities that I install and play with. I don't want any junk like that on the OS I use for work.

For the OS that I use for work, I do not have a firewall. Instead, I have a checkpoint software that does the job of a firewall as well as a VPN utility. For my day to day OS, I have a firewall and do not want to have the VPN.

To make it short, I do this because I do not want to mix business and pleasure!

 

[SelArom]

Originally posted by: sourceninja
Just out of curiosity what are you going to do with 2 copys of windows xp on the same pc? Is driving me nuts trying to figure it out.

I mentioned this on my op a ways back. I want one install for everyday use, and the other strictly for producing music. I will have only the music software installed and nothing else so I can get minimum latency. Also, this way I can just boot up and go, and also help to eliminate clutter.

and can someone tell me if there is any danger in putting both OS to point to the same My documents folder? This way I can share data b/t the two as if they were exactly the same.

-SelArom

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: SelArom
and can someone tell me if there is any danger in putting both OS to point to the same My documents folder? This way I can share data b/t the two as if they were exactly the same.

There is no danger due to having both OS point to the same "My Documents" folder. The possibility of data corruption would not increase because of that. You will have to backup your data frequently either way.

You realize that if you save music, from your music OS, to the "My Documents" folder, you will have access to that same music from your other OS. Right? If you accidentally delete that music, it will be gone regardless of which OS you use.

 

[SelArom]

Originally posted by: Navid

Originally posted by: SelArom
and can someone tell me if there is any danger in putting both OS to point to the same My documents folder? This way I can share data b/t the two as if they were exactly the same.

There is no danger due to having both OS point to the same "My Documents" folder. The possibility of data corruption would not increase because of that. You will have to backup your data frequently either way.

You realize that if you save music, from your music OS, to the "My Documents" folder, you will have access to that same music from your other OS. Right? If you accidentally delete that music, it will be gone regardless of which OS you use.

Thanks, that's the info I needed! the music os will not save its data into the my documents folder. I just want to be able to quickly access my data if I have to (for printing etc). The music will be saved into the os hard drive and will be completely seperate. thanks again!

-SelArom