Re: Configure Boot.ini - 2 hard-drives / 2 windows xp pro install

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"Barleycorn" wrote:
"Timothy Daniels" wrote:

"Barleycorn" wrote:
>I have two hard-drives (old computer - took hdd out) and two
> licensed copies of xp pro. Having read all of the group discussions
> on ethics, licensing etc, I have no problem with using two licenses
> to be compliant. Can someone point me in the right direction for
> configuring the boot.ini so that it recognizes both drives and allows
> me to select which os I want? Thanks.

First, direct the installer to install XP Pro on a partition of
one hard drive. Then, direct the 2nd installer to install XP Pro
on a partition of the 2nd hard drive. (It doesn't matter which is
Master/Slave or which SATA port the hard drives are on.)
The 2nd installer will see the 1st OS and add an entry to the
boot.ini file for the 1st OS that points to the 2nd OS, thus making
that boot.ini file present a dual-boot menu at boot time. In such
a scenario, the partitions containing the 2 OSes will be named
differently, the both OSes probably calling the 1st OS's partition
"Local Disk (C:)", and the partition containing the 2nd OS
"Local Disk (D:)". It's that simple, and you don't have to know
anything about boot.ini.

Or, you could just make a clone of the 1st installation and put
it on the 2nd hard drive using a free downloadable utility from the
hard drive manufacturer's website or a free downloadable trial
cloning utility from one of the backup utility publishers. Then edit
the boot.ini file on the partition you want to control booting, and
you'll have a dual-boot situation in which each OS will call its own
partition "Local Disk (C:)" and the other OS's partition "Local Disk
(D:)". Given my druthers, I'd go with the cloning method. If you
choose that method, post back for further details since I hate
sending treatises out to black holes.

*TimDaniels*


Tim - I should have been a little more specific, both drives already have xp
installed on them. Will I have to re-install on one of them to make this
work?


Summary:
No, just add an entry to the active boot.ini file.

Details:
Decide which HD will control booting. If they are PATA drives,
make that one Master and the other Slave. This puts the HD that is
Master at the head of the HD boot order in the default case, and it
will get control at boot time unless you reset the HD boot order in the
BIOS. If the HDs are SATA, the one connected to the lower no'd
SATA port will get control.

Then, using the Disk Management utility in one of the WinXPs,
mark the partition containing the OS on the control HD "active" if
it is not already so marked. In that partition, there should be a
boot.ini file at C:\boot.ini. In that file, just under the line containing
"[operating systems]", there should be an entry that matches the
entry after "default". The boot.ini file should look something like
this:

[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" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

This specifies that the OS resides in the WINDOWS folder
on partition 1 of the HD that is at the head of the HD boot order,
i.e. rdisk(0).

Assuming that the 2nd WinXP that is on the other HD is also
on partition 1 of that HD, just add another line such as:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="2nd Windows XP Pro" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

All that is functionally different is the "rdisk(1)" parameter which
designates the HD that is 2nd in the HD boot order, i.e. the other HD.
The timeout value designates the number of seconds that one has to
decide which OS to boot, after which the default entry will be used
if the operator doesn't choose one or the other of the entries on the
boot screen. Set the timeout value to something like 5 or 10,
representing 5 or 10 seconds. (Each entry will be represented by
the character strings between quotes in the boot.ini file.)

At boot time, the MBR of the HD that is highest in the
HD boot order will get control. That MBR will pass control
to the boot sector in the primary partition that is marked "active".
That boot sector will pass control to ntldr, and ntldr will inspect
the boot.ini file to see if it specifies a mono-boot or multi-boot.
If a multi-boot is specified, the boot menu is constructed from
the boot.ini entries and then ntldr displays the menu on the screen.
The operator then selects an entry (or defers to the default), and
away ntldr goes to load the OS.

In summary, all you have to do is to add the 2nd entry with
"rdisk(1)" to the boot.ini file and set the timeout value to some
reasonable length for a decision to be made. Each OS, when it
is running, will call its own partition "Local Disk (C:)", that is,
the C: partition. And it will call the other OS's partition something
else, probably D:. As long as each partition doesn't have
shortcuts that refer to other partitions, this will not be a problem.

*TimDaniels*

.

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