Two installs of XP on the same system, need NO interaction between the two?

[AlricLantra]

Okay, so I'm trying to set this up and after about 6 hours of work everything is crashing. I'm at my wits end. Hopefully someone has a suggestion on a better way to set things up.

The problem:

I'm trying to set up a new computer for my parents. The issue is my younger sister (14) who has severe mental and emotional problems. She needs computer access for her homework/etc but her having access to the same machine as them has always, always resulted in it dying after a week or two due to her trying to do some crazy thing. Limited accounts, Netnanny, etc etc have been useless. She's completely computer illiterate and just keeps messing with menus she doesn't understand until something breaks.


So I'm trying to set up two partitions on this new machine, each with their own install of XP Pro. They must NOT be able to see or interact with each other. In any way. That way if she breaks hers I can restore it from a backup and their things won't be affected. However after hours of work everything has gone to hell and now neither partition will boot. Apparently the two versions of XP Pro are conflicting in some way.



Anybody know a good way to set this up? And no, they can't use two separate computers, they only want one in the house. In a central location.

 

[Nothinman]

How is she breaking things with a limited account? That would seem to be the first thing to try and fix since that shouldn't be possible.

 

[AlricLantra]

Oh, its possible. How I'm not sure but she finds ways, probably by messing with every menu possible or visiting websites with nasty malware (which will take advantages of security holes/etc even on a limited account). I'm there every few weeks.

 

[MrChad]

I would go through mechBgon's security guide before you do anything else.

 

[Nothinman]

Oh, its possible. How I'm not sure but she finds ways, probably by messing with every menu possible or visiting websites with nasty malware (which will take advantages of security holes/etc even on a limited account). I'm there every few weeks.

Which is why I said find out how, if she's installing malware there's a chance it'll find the other installation regardless of how careful you are.

Would it be possible to have her do her homework and stuff from a Linux USB stick? It would be a lot simpler to maintain and would be less prone to her breaking it.

 

[JackMDS]

Put on top of XP a Virtual XP with Differencing HD.

by doing so the core XP is maintained and what ever was added after (I.e. the Internet Junk) can be getting rid of.

http://www.petri.co.il/virtual_creating_differencing_disks_with.htm


😎

 

[Chapbass]

Yeah, what Jack said. Use some sort of virtual machine like VMWare Player, make it full screen, and take a snapshot. If she hoses something, just restore the snapshot. You'll have to make sure she doesn't have files on it obviously or else you'll delete those, but still better than reinstalling XP every week.

or you can do what I do for my clients, give them thin clients and take away basically everything besides firefox 😛

 

[SimMike2]

Easiest is to have two separate hard drives in the computer. When you install each copy, physically disconnect the drive you aren't installing on until the install is done. Now choose which copy to boot to from the BIOS options when the computer boots. Before she starts messing with it, make an image copy with something like Acronis. This way you can reinstall this image fairly easily. This is easier if you have drives from different manufacturers because it will be easier to differentiate when you choose which one to boot from.