Get each OS to recognise it's respective partition as C: drive

[cryptic82]

I have system running XP Pro & Vista. XP was installed first, then Vista on an extended partition of a logical volume (both are OS's are on the same physical drive). Whether i boot into XP or Vista, the OS's automatically assign the partition that is being used as C: (drive configuration dynamically changes) ...So to clarify, if i boot into XP, XP sees it's own partition as the C: drive & the Vista partition as D: drive. Likewise, if i boot into Vista, the Vista partition recognizes it's self as C: drive & the XP partition as D: drive.

I like this as it eliminates the risk of saving things to the wrong drive & confusion with installs. It gives the added security of knowing app's will be installed to the default C: drive (even though i have not come across any program that does not correctly recognize which drive it is working out of).

O.K, here's the problem, i want to do the same thing on my Toshiba laptop. I have set up dual-boot, but as it came OEM Vista pre-installed, & i installed XP after some tweaking of partitions, slip-streaming service pack 2 & SATA drivers... But my drive configuration remains static. Meaning, XP is always recognized as D: & Vista is always recognized as C: when booting into either partition. I converted the XP partition to a logical drive, but this did NOT change anything.

I want either OS to recognise it's respective partition as C: drive

I have searched long & hard for information on this topic but could find nothing relevant to my situation. I am sure there are other people out there who would like to know the ins-&-outs of this problem, so if anybody has any wisdom on this issue i would greatly appreciate the responses, & i am sure, will many others...

Thank you.

[jaclaz]

AFAIK there is NOT an "easy" solution (read maybe a VERY, VERY difficult, NOT recommended one) to fix drive letters AFTER install.

On the other hand it is relatively easy if you plan adequately the install (in the case of a new install)

Some related threads, to get you more insight in the problem:

http://www.msfn.org/board/Change-Boot-Driv...art-t90495.html

http://www.msfn.org/board/Drive-Letter-a**...ent-t90946.html

http://www.msfn.org/board/Drive-letter-pro...ll-t118149.html

I "don't do" Vista , but if any new, relevant info has come out, it is likely that it can be found here:

http://www.multibooters.co.uk/

jaclaz

[cryptic82]

Thanks Jaclas i appreciate your time,

I have read through the other threads & their links but these do no apply to my situation. changing the drive letters of my partitions is not the problem

...It's getting each OS to recognize it's own partition as the C: drive, while it is in use by the respective OS. So it should resemble this:

Boot the computer into XP:

C: (XP)

D: (Vista)

E: (data)

Boot the computer into Vista:

C: (Vista)

D: (XP)

E:(data)

...This is how i have set it up on my workstation, so i know it is possible.

[jaclaz]

You have to read "between the lines" of the given links.

To get what you want you need to change the drive letter assignments of your XP install on the portable.

Basically there are several factors:

• letters are assigned by default in a slightly different manner by different OS
  
• drive lettering assigned by a "previous" operating system are generally retained by the "later" operating system, thus the order in which the operating system is installed can matter
  
• the way the drive is partitioned does matter
  
• the method in which the OS(es) are installed do matter (I mean manually, unattended, through WINNT32, hiding a partition when installing etc.)
  

Probably, but you have to experiment with it, if you re-install XP on the portable after having made a migrate.inf file assigning to the Vista (first Active Primary) partition the letter D:\, you may have what you want. (drive letter C:\ will be "available" and probably XP will assign it to "its own partition).

Another experiment could be that of using a migrate.inf that specify BOTH the D:\ letter for the "Vista" partition and the C:\ one for the "other" (XP) one.

Be aware that migrate.inf is not "read" with all install methods, if needed you will have to modify setupreg.hiv instead.

jaclaz

[cryptic82]

Hey there folks, it looks like I may just be a little obsessive compulsive, or just anal about my drive letter structure, but for anybody else out there who may be interested, I can provide you with a solution to this matter, as a lot of searching produces not much information on this topic. It may also be that describing the situation in a Google search is not simple finding the key words on the topic.

Owe-F@#king-Kay Here it is.

1: It is always best practice to install OS's (such as the Windows range) in the order they were released. That is a no brainer.

2: The original installation will need to be on an 'Active', 'Primary' partition.

3: The second installation will need to be on an 'Extended', 'Logical' partition.

NOTE: This will need to be done by third party software such as Acronis's 'Disc Manager' after the first install, prior to the second install and have the newly created Extended', 'Logical' partition freshly formatted ready for the second install.

My frustration is. . . Why have Microsoft, not included this type of functionality into their OS's. Don't get me wrong, I am not a Gates hater. I am an avid Windows user (Maybe for the lack of other such highly compatible OS's out there, although Mac compatibility is now becoming a major rival to Windows) Either way, I really think that Microsoft need to incorporate some new tools into the standard Disk management, even as we approach the full scale roll-out of Windows7 (which is the best so far and actually does make XP now seem very outdated in not only the shells aesthetics and feel, but also in the functionality and sheer power of the OS. Although i do feel some kind of OS-X in the aesthetics, which s similar to vista it may be, I did not Feel it with Vista, I think Microsoft can feel the rivalry and they don't like, and maybe trying to cut in on one of the major selling points of apples clearly advanced OS aesthetics, that seem to be the "average" computer users trendy new drawing point. Which is where a great deal of the sales are made, and money injected.

Well that my Two-cents. Feel free to retort, or even ad to the solution that i have provided.

Cheers everybody, nice doing business with you!

[jaclaz]

2. and 3. are NOT really "needed", partitions can be primary/primary or primary/logical_volume_inside_extended

Actually two primaries will be easier to setup.

But it is also possible to have logical_volume_inside_extended/logical_volume_inside_extended or logical_volume_inside_extended/primary

Each of the combinations above may have some limitations/need for some "tricks" however.

If you want to have each OS get C: you simply need to hide other partitions when you run the install program.

And of course yes, you need something else to partition the drive, but diskpart from a PE is allright, no need to buy additional software just for this.

And 1. would seem to me "counterproductive", unless there is a misunderstanding , if you:

Install XP on first primary partition, lets call' it FIRST partition

later install Vista on first logical volume inside extended, lets call it SECOND partition

the "normal" result should be:

Under XP:

FIRST = C:

SECOND = D:

Under Vista:

FIRST = C:

SECOND = D:

I.e. same drive gets same letter no matter which OS is booted.

I thought you wanted the opposite.

Or is this a "special" feature of Vista? At least OS up to server 2003 would behave as I described.

jaclaz

Edited August 28, 2009 by jaclaz