Re: How to dual boot with different OS

From: Timothy Daniels (TDaniels_at_NoSpamDot.com)
Date: 11/26/04 

Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2004 02:26:55 -0800

"jeffericon" wrote:
> My current hard drive has XP Home installed. I have
> bought another hard drive and would like to have
> XP Pro on that. Is there any way that when my computer
> boots up, I can have the option of booting up with either
> XP Home or XP Pro?

    Piece of cake. You can use the boot sequence in the
    BIOS to select which HD boots or you can use WinXP's
    built-in boot manager to select which HD boots, or you
    can use both.

    BIOS's boot sequence

    Install WinXP Pro on your 2nd HD with your 1st HD
    disconnected. Jumper it as Master (just in case it
    matters when it sets up its boot.ini file - located in the
    C:\Windows folder). And start it up for the 1st time
    still in isolation from the 1st HD. WinXP Pro will think
    it's on the only HD in the world. Then, at boot up, by
    adjusting the order of the 2 HDs in the BIOS's boot
    sequence (i.e. the HD boot priority list), you can select
    which HD the BIOS gives control to for system booting.

    WinXP's boot manager

    Install WinXP Pro on the 2nd HD with your 1st HD
    disconnected. Jumper it as Master, etc. (again, this
    *might* not be necessary). You might be able to have
    the boot manager add an entry to the boot.ini file in the
    new HD if you start WinXP Pro up for the 1st time with
    the 1st HD connected, but doing it in isolation and then
    altering the boot.ini files of both systems manually is
    easier to understand. Here's what a single OS boot.ini
    file looks like (as best as I can remember):

[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="Windows XP Pro" /fastdetect

    This says that 0 seconds will be given for you to make up
    your mind on which OS to designate.

    rdisk(0) means to boot 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 get 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.

    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="WinXP" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="WinXP Pro" /fastdetect

    With the 1st HD at the start of the boot sequence, this boot.ini
    file will be accessed, and it says that WinXP is on the 1st partition
    of the 1st HD, and that WinXP Pro is on the 1st partition of the
    2nd HD. Keyboard input 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 decide.

    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="WinXP Pro" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="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. This boot.ini file says that WinXP is on the
    other HD (now the 2nd HD, i.e. at relative position 1, in the boot
    sequence), and WinXP Pro is on "this" HD (now the 1st HD, i.e.
    at relative position 0, in the boot sequence).

    Have fun.

*TimDaniels*

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