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Files for booting computer, drive lettering

W

WaiWai

Senior member
Info about my computer (You may skip it and read question first)
Two HDD:
- Western Digital 160GB (in primary master IDE)
- Maxtor 20GB (in secondary master IDE)
And 1 CD-RW:
- Ricoh CD-RW (in secondary slave IDE)

Drive:
C - WD (putting files to boot up my computer)
D - WD (contain new Wins XP Pro)
E - WD (for storage)
F - CD-RW
G - Maxtor (contain old Wins 98)



1. After I deleted the whole partition and wins 98 [the Maxtor one], some problems occurred
Since I have 2 HDDs, I can set one as primary drive; another, secondary.
When I set WD as the primary drive, the error message shows when booting:
- Invalid system disks. Replace the disk, and then press any key.
When I set Maxtor HDD as the primary drive, I could boot it but couldn't boot Wins XP. Instead I enter into the Wins setup program (from CD).

I guess (it is a guess! >.<) the problem is the files (for booting computer up) are locating in my Maxtor HDD. I don't want to boot from it. I would like to transfer the files to my WD HDD. How could I do?

2. Just wonder:
Does the choice of "booting from Maxtor HDD or WD HDD" have any effects/problems/benefits on computers? (eg performance, security)


3. Also I would like to change the drive order as follows:
Drive order changing:
C, D, E - the same as before
F - Maxtor (contain old Wins 98)
G - CD-RW

Does anyone know how to do?
PS: I tend not to change drive letters in Wins system tool. I'm afraid changing it will cause Wins or programs malfunction.

4. Just wonder:
Will a drive letter have any effects/problems/benefits on computers? (eg performance, security)
 
Most WD drives have TWO master modes: stand alone or with slave. Each has a different jumper setting. WD is one of the few that do it that way so be sure of your jumper settings. I like to partition my drives for better file organization and to protect my system partition. I place the swap file and other temp folders on other partitions/drives to limit the amount of writing to the system drive letter as much as possible. I also like to have my IDE hard drives on separate channels for best performance.
. In order for the secondary drive to have its letter stay in order, it has to be partitioned entirely as an Extended partition. If it is a primary partition, the drive letter would be D. Of course with Win XP you can change hard drive letter assignments. But as you say, that can cause problems if you forget you've done that.
.bh.

There's the :sun: !
 
Originally posted by: Zepper
Most WD drives have TWO master modes: stand alone or with slave. Each has a different jumper setting. WD is one of the few that do it that way so be sure of your jumper settings. I like to partition my drives for better file organization and to protect my system partition. I place the swap file and other temp folders on other partitions/drives to limit the amount of writing to the system drive letter as much as possible. I also like to have my IDE hard drives on separate channels for best performance.
Click to expand...

I set it as "cable select".

Do you know how to move the temp and recent files to another partition **safely and perfectly**?
Should I put them in separate partitions, or put them all together in another partition?

I use Wins XP.
 
Originally posted by: Zepper
In order for the secondary drive to have its letter stay in order, it has to be partitioned entirely as an Extended partition. If it is a primary partition, the drive letter would be D. Of course with Win XP you can change hard drive letter assignments. But as you say, that can cause problems if you forget you've done that.
.bh.

There's the :sun: !
Click to expand...



How could I set my Maxtor as extended partition?
In fdisk (in DOS-mode), when I change different "fixed hard drive", it showed:

WD HDD
Drive D (the one for putting boot files) - active partition - primary partition
Drive E (for storage) - extended partition
[NB: The drive for installing Wins XP is hidden because it is NTFS]


Maxtor HDD
Drive C - active partition - primary partition
[I think I couldn't set it as extended partition without creating primary partition]
 
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