Re: Trying to set up Dual boot Windows XP & Windows 2000

See inline:

Luditecentral wrote:

I really mean it, I'm a total Ludite...

Thanks John, just a little more clarification if possible.

You said:

"The Microsoft instruction is to always install the older operating
systems before the newer ones. In the case of Windows 2000 and XP it
doesn't really matter but keep the following in mind:

1- ..... The shared system files Boot.ini, NTDETECT.COM & ntldr will
also be in the root folder on this partition."


The XP repair was run just before I got the message that my question
had been answered. XP then booted up and I have been able to also
leave it, boot up 2000, leave it and back to XP. So it looks like the
dual boot is working.

When you repaired XP it replaced the Windows 2000 version of the shared system files, if you were to now repair Windows 2000 it would replace the files again with its version and once again Windows XP would no longer boot. To fix this without a repair install of XP you need only replace ntldr and NTDETECT.com with to ones from the XP CD or from the XP i386 folder on the XP drive.


But, I keep getting from one faction, that because the systems have
their own hard drives, order of installation shouldn't matter. I have
read about order of installation and everything seems to indicate older
system first, with a partition. You mention partition in your reply.

It doesn't matter, if you do a dual boot installation the Microsoft way there will only be one System drive, the files ntldr, NTDETECT.COM & Boot.ini will be located in the root folder of the System drive. What I said about the installation order and shared System files applies whether you are installing Windows to different partitions on a single hard disk or to separate hard disks. Open the Disk Management tool when you are booted to one or the other Windows installations and you will see that the System Drive remains the same, only the Boot drive changes. To open the Disk Management tool enter diskmgmt.msc in the Start Menu Run box.


I understand partition to mean a partitioned hard drive which the OS
share.

But in this system, they're not, they've each got their own hard
drive.

The have their own partition on separate hard drives, yes they do reside on dedicated hard drives but they both boot using the same ntldr, NTDETECT.COM & boot.ini files. Search for these files and they should only be in the root folder of one of the hard disks. When your computer boots it follows a "Boot Order" unless you change this order in the BIOS it will always boot to the same hard disk and the same Active partition. When your computer boots to the selected hard disk it launches the ntldr file found there and ntldr will read the boot.ini file and present you with the boot menu asking you which operating system you want to boot. When you make a selection it will then start the Windows installation on the appropriate hard disk and partition. Look for the boot.ini file on your computer, it should only be found in the root folder of only one of the drives. Boot.ini is a hidden system file, you may need to change the Folder View options to see the file. Open the file with notepad and look at the contents and you will see the boot paths to your operating systems.


What am I and others in the household not getting?

Are there some components of both programs that have to share space
somewhere outside of their respective hard drives, and that is what
causes the problem?

Yes, as I said earlier, both operating systems share and use the same ntldr, NTDETECT.COM & boot.ini file, they both share the System partition.


I'd rather get the difference of opinion settled so everyone knows the
answer and why it has to be done one way. Not with a partitioned hard
drive, but with each OS having its own hard drive.

All hard drives are partitioned, even if there is only one partition on the drive it is still a partition. A hard disk without partitions cannot be used.

We should make sure that we are on the same page and that we use
the same terms else we will all be hopelessly confused! The Microsoft
nomenclature defines the following:

*Boot Partition*
The boot partition contains the Windows operating system and its support
files. By default, the Windows operating system files are in the WINDOWS
folder, and the supporting files are in the WINDOWS\System32 folder. On Windows NT and Windows 2000 the operating system files are in the WINNT
folder, and the supporting files are in the WINNT\System32 folder.
The boot partition can be, but does not have to be, the same as the
system partition. There will be one, and only one, system partition, but
there will be one boot partition for each operating system in a
multi-boot system.

Note On dynamic disks, this is known as the boot volume.

*System Partition*
The system partition refers to the disk volume that contains the
hardware-specific files that are needed to start Windows, such as Ntldr,
Boot.ini, and Ntdetect.com. The system partition can be, but does not
have to be, the same volume as the boot partition.

Note On dynamic disks, this is known as the system volume.

John
.

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