My machine is brand new, dual core 2x2,8Mhz win xp sp2 family already is installed and 160Go hdd. For some reasons I want to keep this config. I also need win xp pro for some studies. Can I install and format a second 120Go hdd with win xp sp2 pro on it. So doing, I can boot from either one. It seems possible to me, how do I do it?
I would prefer avoid using both hdd's as racks, it takes time to remove side panels....
thank you
Full Version: 2 HDD, 2 OS, is it OK?
Yes, it is possible. However I have honestly never found the need to do it myself so I'm not that familiar with it.
One thing that I do know is, you need to have an older OS (95, 98, 2000) installed first then install XP. That is not your current situation though. I've never read about a Home & Pro dual boot XP system.
XP is supposed to handle everything itself so I say....just install Pro on that second HDD. You should then have a "boot screen" that comes up when you boot your system after both versions are installed....allowing you to choose which "install" you want to boot from.
Hope it helps and I'm sure others will provide more information/details in time.
One thing that I do know is, you need to have an older OS (95, 98, 2000) installed first then install XP. That is not your current situation though. I've never read about a Home & Pro dual boot XP system.
XP is supposed to handle everything itself so I say....just install Pro on that second HDD. You should then have a "boot screen" that comes up when you boot your system after both versions are installed....allowing you to choose which "install" you want to boot from.
Hope it helps and I'm sure others will provide more information/details in time.
QUOTE(gringojack @ Jul 22 2005, 06:51 PM)
My machine is brand new, dual core 2x2,8Mhz win xp sp2 family already is installed and 160Go hdd. For some reasons I want to keep this config. I also need win xp pro for some studies. Can I install and format a second 120Go hdd with win xp sp2 pro on it. So doing, I can boot from either one. It seems possible to me, how do I do it?
I would prefer avoid using both hdd's as racks, it takes time to remove side panels....
thank you
I would prefer avoid using both hdd's as racks, it takes time to remove side panels....
thank you
should I install the second hdd also as a master, and then put xp pro on it.? then Ibelieve boot.ini updates by itself, and ask me at next boot, which os I wnt to go with?
Determining How Many Operating Systems to Install
My recommendation is to install the second OS with the existing OS in place on the master drive. Install the second OS on the other drive configured as slave (if the drives are on the same channel). The bootloader should sort it out and you will end up with a dual boot system.
My recommendation is to install the second OS with the existing OS in place on the master drive. Install the second OS on the other drive configured as slave (if the drives are on the same channel). The bootloader should sort it out and you will end up with a dual boot system.
hi dirkgently
thank you for your help, what do you mean by "same channel"?
thank you for your help, what do you mean by "same channel"?
QUOTE
what do you mean by "same channel"?
It means the same IDE ribbon cable.
You can have 2 drives on a single channel/IDE ribbon cable (master and slave).
Tom
Motherboards generally have a primary IDE "channel" and a secondary IDE "channel".
In other words, a primary and secondary connection on the motherboard.
Each "channel" can support two devices using the IDE cable with a connection at the motherboard and a max of two connections for IDE devices. Most IDE cables have a mobo connection and connectors for two IDE devices, but some cables only have the mobo connector and one IDE connector. (They are the same connector, just trying to illustrate.)
As your system is "new", perhaps you have SATA drives which is another subject entirely.
Google as required... I hope my suggestion has been helpful, but do investigate other sources before committing.
In other words, a primary and secondary connection on the motherboard.
Each "channel" can support two devices using the IDE cable with a connection at the motherboard and a max of two connections for IDE devices. Most IDE cables have a mobo connection and connectors for two IDE devices, but some cables only have the mobo connector and one IDE connector. (They are the same connector, just trying to illustrate.)
As your system is "new", perhaps you have SATA drives which is another subject entirely.
Google as required... I hope my suggestion has been helpful, but do investigate other sources before committing.
Same IDE channel. Most motherboards come with 2 IDE connectors. Generally you connect your HDD's to IDE1....using a cable that will allow you to connect 2 devices. Then on IDE2....you usually connect your CD, DVD, or other optical drives.
Don't you just hate it when that happens??Three of us posted at the same time, with pretty much the same answer!!
thanks to the three of you guys!
my mother board has 4 outgoing socket (white, yellow, black, blue)
only one of them is connected to HDD
Power cable to HDD has a flat connector with 1 flat unused outgoing connector, and 2 unused classical other ones. In other words, I understand 2 channels of 2 HDD's (master and slave) which is 4 (!) corresponding to the 4 colored sockets on the motherboard?
CD and DVD drives are connected to an other flat 30 or 40 pin connector independently, on the motherboard
Did I understand what you've just explained?
my mother board has 4 outgoing socket (white, yellow, black, blue)
only one of them is connected to HDD
Power cable to HDD has a flat connector with 1 flat unused outgoing connector, and 2 unused classical other ones. In other words, I understand 2 channels of 2 HDD's (master and slave) which is 4 (!) corresponding to the 4 colored sockets on the motherboard?
CD and DVD drives are connected to an other flat 30 or 40 pin connector independently, on the motherboard
Did I understand what you've just explained?
gringojack,
wrong calculation
If you do have 4 IDE connectors on your motherboard, you can connect up to 8 different IDE peripherals (Hard Disks or CDROM drives for instance) ! Remember that each IDE connector on the motherboard can manage 2 different peripherals.
Master / Slave is relevant for drives connected to the same IDE channel (connector on the motherboard). So if you connect 8 drives on your motherboard, you will end up with 4 master drives and 4 slaves drives.
More about master / slave consideration ! When you buy your new Hard Disk, you will see jumpers on its back side (the side were the IDE and power connectors are located). Those jumpers help you configure the hard disk as :
- master
- slave
- cable select
The easier way to do things is to use the Cable Select position for the jumper. You just need to know that the connector in the middle of the ribbon is the Slave connector (and the one on the end of the ribbon is the Master one). Be sure that each peripheral on the IDE ribbon is either configured as Cable Select.
Just to be sure that you know what jumpers are :
http://www.monicoinc.com/Downloads/RS485%2...%20Settings.jpg
Daniel
wrong calculation
If you do have 4 IDE connectors on your motherboard, you can connect up to 8 different IDE peripherals (Hard Disks or CDROM drives for instance) ! Remember that each IDE connector on the motherboard can manage 2 different peripherals.
Master / Slave is relevant for drives connected to the same IDE channel (connector on the motherboard). So if you connect 8 drives on your motherboard, you will end up with 4 master drives and 4 slaves drives.
More about master / slave consideration ! When you buy your new Hard Disk, you will see jumpers on its back side (the side were the IDE and power connectors are located). Those jumpers help you configure the hard disk as :
- master
- slave
- cable select
The easier way to do things is to use the Cable Select position for the jumper. You just need to know that the connector in the middle of the ribbon is the Slave connector (and the one on the end of the ribbon is the Master one). Be sure that each peripheral on the IDE ribbon is either configured as Cable Select.
Just to be sure that you know what jumpers are :
http://www.monicoinc.com/Downloads/RS485%2...%20Settings.jpg
Daniel
Hi guys.
Me and my two brothers share a omputer together, and to avoid my other two brothers from chrashing the HDD so that it needs to be formated with all my stuff and personal belongings on it, I've installed two OS's myself.
I my self have been running a computer with two HDD's and two OS (one on each of the HDD's) and I ca tell you that it works as a charm!
This is basically what I did:
1. Installed 2 HDD's
2. Set my Maxtor HDD to Master (running win xp home on that one)
3. Set my Western Digital to slave (that's the one I'm using. Running win xp pro)
4. Throwed the win xp home install cd into CD-ROM and installed it by booting up from the CD (your BIOS must be set to boot from CD as primary in order to be able to install two OS's, else it will fail).
5. Throwed the win xp pro install cd into CD-ROM and installed that too by booting up from the CD.
Viola! That's actually all you need to do in order to get this to work. I have only positive experiences with this, and I've used this solution for over a year now!
Only thing to keep in mind is this:
If you install win xp pro first, then win xp home, the boot.ini file will be missing the path to win xp home in boot menu.
Boot menu will normaly be this one (if home is installed first):
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Professional edition
Boot menu looks like this if home is installed last:
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Home Edition
This is because Windows XP Home Edition for some strange reason overwrites the boot.ini file.
Instead of just adding a second line declaring the path to win xp home, it also replaces the path to win xp pro pointing that too toward win xp home.
Win xp pro on the other hand does not have this problem, It just add a new line to boot.ini telling it the path that it have, and leaving win xp home path by itself.
But it's no big deal IF you install pro first. All you need is replacing one number in the following line with either a 0 or a 1:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
Hope that was informative to you!
Cheers!
Me and my two brothers share a omputer together, and to avoid my other two brothers from chrashing the HDD so that it needs to be formated with all my stuff and personal belongings on it, I've installed two OS's myself.
I my self have been running a computer with two HDD's and two OS (one on each of the HDD's) and I ca tell you that it works as a charm!
This is basically what I did:
1. Installed 2 HDD's
2. Set my Maxtor HDD to Master (running win xp home on that one)
3. Set my Western Digital to slave (that's the one I'm using. Running win xp pro)
4. Throwed the win xp home install cd into CD-ROM and installed it by booting up from the CD (your BIOS must be set to boot from CD as primary in order to be able to install two OS's, else it will fail).
5. Throwed the win xp pro install cd into CD-ROM and installed that too by booting up from the CD.
Viola! That's actually all you need to do in order to get this to work. I have only positive experiences with this, and I've used this solution for over a year now!
Only thing to keep in mind is this:
If you install win xp pro first, then win xp home, the boot.ini file will be missing the path to win xp home in boot menu.
Boot menu will normaly be this one (if home is installed first):
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Professional edition
Boot menu looks like this if home is installed last:
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Home Edition
This is because Windows XP Home Edition for some strange reason overwrites the boot.ini file.
Instead of just adding a second line declaring the path to win xp home, it also replaces the path to win xp pro pointing that too toward win xp home.
Win xp pro on the other hand does not have this problem, It just add a new line to boot.ini telling it the path that it have, and leaving win xp home path by itself.
But it's no big deal IF you install pro first. All you need is replacing one number in the following line with either a 0 or a 1:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
Hope that was informative to you!
Cheers!
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