dual boot?

[Wishmaster]

How do i go about being able to boot XP form 2 drives?

The idea is i do a slow upgrade on this comp till i can afford the other bitties like drives. This way i have a seperate drive for me and my parents.

I have no idea how to do this though...

Also as both drives will have XP do i need a seperate license right now?

I know i will need one when i move the new stuff onto a whole new system but atm it will be one computer. With two drives.

Uh, help?

[Messiah89]

Hmm, well first off have you installed Windows on both drives yet?

BTW, you could have just used 1 drive and made 2 partitions, one for you and one for your parents, if the drive is large enough.

[Wishmaster]

i havent done anything yet. I just wanted to know before i order the parts.

Just looking for as to how i would go about this.

Also people i have asked say i wont need another license? Which is great cos the whole reason im doing it this way is too keep the cost down untill i have the money needed.

[Bill in SD, CA]

As far as I know both installs will have to be activated.

Once the first is activated the second install won't activate without MS intervening.

I could be wrong - won't be the first or last time.

Bill

[Messiah89]

The way I would do it is this:

-Use only one hard drive. (At least 60GB, depending what your usage is)

-Make 2 NTFS partitions and install Windows XP to both partitions.

You shouldn't need a seperate license, just one legit copy of XP.

Basically, if you buy one large hard drive and make 2 partitions it's a lot easier than having to use 2 hard drives, and I'm not sure how dual-booting works with 2 hard drives anyway. 2 partitions should be much easier to dual-boot with.

[Wishmaster]

Heh just tried to find out if i could do what i want on the microsoft site.

All i can say is that is useless.

I am adament not to use one hard drive. It would leave all my parents current data usless. And also be a complete waste of a drive.

Right now i just need to know how to go about adding anothe rdrive along with the rest of the upgrades and making the computer able to boot form either one.

I also asssume that after a mobo processor and RAM switch the xp im using now will need to be reactivated. *sigh* Nothing is ever simple in this world.

[Messiah89]

Don't understand why you say it would leave your parent's data useless. Using one drive and making 2 partitions is less expensive and better IMO.

[elroy]

I'm getting the impression that you might be planning to later remove one drive and put it in a 2nd machine with the WinXP and progams you've installed on the drive in this machine. If this is what you're planning it probably won't work without a re-install of WinXP.

[Messiah89]

Originally posted by elroy
I'm getting the impression that you might be planning to later remove one drive and put it in a 2nd machine with the WinXP and progams you've installed on the drive in this machine. If this is what you're planning it probably won't work without a re-install of WinXP.

Yep, I agree with that.
Never take a hard drive and just stick it in a new machine without a reformat and re-installation of the OS in the new machine.

[Wishmaster]

You get that impression cos thats what will be happening.

Eventually all the upgrades will become a new machine. And i will have a computer and so will my patrents. But the reason im doing this is because i cant really afford to buy everything at once. If i need too i will buy another copy of XP. But obviously i would rather i did that when i actually have a whole new machine.

HAving to buy xp to run on a computer that has xp would be pretty annoying. Not to mention a bit of a hinderence considering the price.

Tell yous what ill tell you whats happenging.


COmputer atm.

1.7ghz celeron.
Mobo
pc2100 ram 1x128 1x512
40GB hdd
CDRW drive
DVD drive


I will be changing this too

athlon 2500
NF7S rev 2 mobo
1GB of pc 3200
another drive ( 120GB for ME only )

new case and psu.

Once i have more money. I will reocnstruct the old computer and move all these new components to another system.
Since ideally this "new system" i want to buy will set me back approx £800, i want a TFT screen btw . I can save a fair bit by following my plan.

IE saving on : Monitor. Optical drives. Speakers, KB and mouse. For the time being.

If y'all need any more details just ask.


Ideally i want: My parents and family to use the 40GB hard drive. And for me to use the 120GB hard drive.