How can I setup a dual boot system in two different drives?

[The_Hermit_1971]

How can I setup such a configuration?

[dandnsmith]

If you have both drives connected, and intend it to be used that way, I don't see that there should be a problem - just tell it where to install the second, and then the boot.ini will get adjusted to show 2 installations.

You might want to customise the entries to show which is which.

[The_Hermit_1971]

I'm a newbie to computers so I don't understand some of the things you're saying. Let me give more details about how the system is configured so people will be able to help me. Both drives and operating systems are already installed. Win XP PRO 32 bit on D, Win XP PRO X64 (actually booting from that disk) on C. I even configured the motherboard bios to give boot priority to D, but the system stills booted from C. Then I removed C drive leaving the motherboard configuration intact and the system didn't boot.

I don't know what the boot.ini file is or where to find it. What I really know is that *.ini files can be adjusted with notepad. I assume that boot.ini file can be adjusted to show windows that there are two different drives installed, both with diffent operating systems and give me the choice too boot from any of the two drives and operating systems installed.

If that's true, can anyone tell me where to find the boot.ini file, how to change it (in detail) so I'm able to do what I intend to do, or if there is a program to do it automatically?

Edited May 1, 2008 by The_Hermit_1971

[JedMeister]

You will find the boot.ini file in the root (think tree - bottom - not in any folders) of your system drive (sounds like yours is C:\ - usually is). It is a hidden system file so to find it you will need to show hidden files AND show protected operating system files. I assume its probably got both hidden at the moment. To show them, open an Explorer window (like My Computer) > Tools > Folder Options > View tab > find the two options and change them. Then you need to edit your boot.ini, I suspect you will need to add a line.

This quote from this site: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?art...1910&page=7 (quote below) should give you an idea of what its meant to look like. Only thing is this one is for different partitions on the same drive. I'm pretty sure for your install, you'd change the last line to multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\Windows="Microsoft Windows x64 " /fastdetect

ie change rdisk to 1 and partition to 1. Don't touch whichever one default points to and worst case scenario even if it doesn't work your pc will still boot. If your not completely sure do some reading online, this forum is pretty good, or just google, there's tons of info out there!

If you'd like to keep Windows XP x64 Edition installed, but want the 32-bit version of XP to be the default operating system selected at bootup, open the BOOT.INI file as described above and replace the multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1) settings of the 'default=' line with those of the 'Microsoft Windows x64' line. Your BOOT.INI file should now look something like this:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\Windows="Microsoft Windows x64 " /fastdetect

Edited May 2, 2008 by JedMeister

[The_Hermit_1971]

Thanks both for the reply, you have been very helpful. I already learned how to find and edit the boot.ini file. But, are you sure that those are the exact changes that need to be made. I can be wrong but, I suspect that the changes you described, apply when both operating systems are installed in the same drive but in different partitions. I think that the drive letter needs to be specified somehow. Can anybody point me in the right direction.

Edited May 2, 2008 by The_Hermit_1971

[jaclaz]

FYI, some details on how NTLDR+BOOT.INI work are given here:

http://www.msfn.org/board/Discovery-of-an-...0.html&st=2

Syntax of BOOT.INI:

http://www.msfn.org/board/BOOTINI-and-diff...ive-t25365.html

jaclaz

[dandnsmith]

are you sure that those are the exact changes that need to be made. I can be wrong but, I suspect that the changes you described, apply when both operating systems are installed in the same drive but in different partitions. I think that the drive letter needs to be specified somehow. Can anybody point me in the right direction.

Yes the drive does need to be specified -

multi(x) specifies the controller - 0 is the first

drive(0) is, with multi, always like this

rdisk(x) specifies the disk number on the controller - 0 is the first

partition(x) specifies the partition on the disk - 1 is the first

Thus the slave drive on the 2nd IDE interface would be multi(1)drive(0)rdisk(1)

If you're really hesitant, post the content of your boot.ini, and we can suggest changes.

[The_Hermit_1971]

Thanks everybody for your replys. I really need this to work because the antivirus software that I have is not compatible with a 64 bit operating system and my computer is actually booting from it (64 bit OS). I had to install a freeware antivirus untill I'm able to install the real thing. SO I'm not completely protected until this works. I plan to boot from 32 bit OS when I have to scan the computer for viruses.

As for the boot.ini file it looks like this:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional x64 Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

How can I identify the controller? I'll give you more information to see if it is enough to be able to identify the controller. If it is not enough tell me where to look and I'll do my best to give it to you.

I forgot to mention that my motherboard has four SATA connectors and only one IDE connector. C: is connected in the IDE connector as master along with my DVD writer as slave. D: is connected in the first SATA connector. The device list in my motherboard bios looks like this:

IDE Channel 0 Master 250 GB HD (Letter C:) IDE Master (actually booting from it)

IDE Channel 0 Slave DVD Writer (Letter E:) IDE Slave

IDE Channel 2 Master 500 GB HD (Letter D:) Sata 0 (Would like to make it bootable along with C:)

IDE Channel 2 Slave [None] Sata 1

IDE Channel 3 Master [None] Sata 2

IDE Channel 3 Slave [None] Sata 3

I hope this is enough information in order to identify the controller, drive and partition and be able to edit the boot.ini file acordingly. Thanks in advance.

[JedMeister]

I reckon probably the best way to go is to add a line and see if it works, as long as you don't change anything else, worst case scenario is the added entry won't allow the pc to boot but you can just reset and try again!

As for free AV, personally I have been using Avast free version for a number of years (both on x86 and x64) and I've found it works great!

[jaclaz]

Well, the idea of posting a link is that people should read what's in it. :whistling:

http://www.msfn.org/board/BOOTINI-and-diff...ive-t25365.html

Since you want to boot first partition on your second disk, the syntax is:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\

if second drive is on the same controller or:

multi(1)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\

if it's first disk on a second controller

as CLEARLY mentioned in the said thread, with examples and links to the appropriate MS KB, best way is to add some lines to BOOT.INI and experiment with them.

jaclaz

Edited May 3, 2008 by jaclaz

[The_Hermit_1971]

Thanks everybody for your replies. Avast is the freeware AV software I'm already using and I also liked it so far. Now I have a more clear idea on how to add some lines for testing. But there is something that is not completely clear. How can I identify in wich controller my second disk is?

[JedMeister]

Firstly I'd like to say thanks jaclaz for your awesome post in the topic you linked to (this post here specifically). That is the nicest, most straight-forward laid-out explanation of boot.ini I reckon I've ever seen! Well it works for me anyway! Nice work! Thanks too for persevering as I didn't follow the link initially either!

....And back to you Hermit. There is two ways to find out:

1) Try it and see, like I suggested before. - Add this line in the appropriate place in your boot.ini:

multi(1)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="Microsoft Windows XP Pro" /fastdetect

DON"T CHANGE ANYTHING ELSE, save and reboot. Then select your new option (Windows XP Pro) and see if it works. If it fails to boot then restart it, go back into your x64 install (it'll do this by default anyway), and then perhaps try this instead:

multi(1)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\Windows="Microsoft Windows XP Pro" /fastdetect

and so on until it works!

2) Have a look.... - inside your computer and in your manual. ..... As it is a SATA HDD then its unlikely to be on the same controller (I think) as the IDE drive, and perhaps your board only has one SATA controller, the manual is probably the best place to find out, that should even tell you which sockets are controlled by which controller (if it has more than one SATA controller). Then its just a case of seeing which socket you're plugged into!

[edit]Actually, just looking over my post I've realised that I'm unclear whether the sockets have an explicit static rdisk in the ini or not. I mean, if you only have one HDD connected to a controller, is that disk automatically 0, or does it depend which socket it is connected to?

Edited May 4, 2008 by JedMeister

[dandnsmith]

I forgot to mention that my motherboard has four SATA connectors and only one IDE connector. C: is connected in the IDE connector as master along with my DVD writer as slave. D: is connected in the first SATA connector. The device list in my motherboard bios looks like this:

IDE Channel 0 Master 250 GB HD (Letter C:) IDE Master (actually booting from it)

IDE Channel 0 Slave DVD Writer (Letter E:) IDE Slave

IDE Channel 2 Master 500 GB HD (Letter D:) Sata 0 (Would like to make it bootable along with C:)

IDE Channel 2 Slave [None] Sata 1

IDE Channel 3 Master [None] Sata 2

IDE Channel 3 Slave [None] Sata 3

I think, for the second option for booting, I'd try

multi(2)drive(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)

to align it with the BIOS view

[jaclaz]

@JedMeister

Happy it was useful

@All

The general idea that I was trying to convey is that you can add (within limits) more than one line to boot.ini and simply try them until you find the one that works.

1C=1st controller=multi(0)

1D=1st disk=rdisk(0)

1P=1st partition=partition(1)

2C=2nd controller=multi(1)

etc.

i.e. add these to boot.ini and check which one works:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="XP Pro 1C1D1P " /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\Windows="XP Pro 1C1D2P " /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\Windows="XP Pro 1C2D1P " /fastdetect
multi(1)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="XP Pro 2C1D1P " /fastdetect
multi(2)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="XP Pro 3C1D1P " /fastdetect

jaclaz

[The_Hermit_1971]

Thanks everybody for your replies. I finally got it to work. Now my boot.ini looks like this:

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional x64 Edition" /fastdetect

As you can see, the IDE connector and the SATA connectors are both in the same controller. I hope this post have been useful not just for me, but for everybody with the same problem. This is a great community with very helpful members and I plan to continue to support it. So long from Puerto Rico.