Dual Boot from two different physical drives [Windows XP]

Prev: Love XP
Next: How does one post an image file here that contains an image of an

From: Domenick on 23 May 2010 10:31

I would like to know how to DUAL BOOT using two different physical hard
drives. Is this possible? I currently have a machine running XP Pro with a
BUNCH of older apps and custom legacy apps for my company. I don't use this
very often, but I will occasionally need to boot up from this hard drive and
run this machine in its current state. I am going to put in a separate
physical hard drive and install Win 7 (probably) and boot from this drive 80%
of the time.

How do I accomplish this? What additional software do I need (note: might
not use win 7 so it would need to be software that could boot ubuntu or
another copy of XP from the second drive as well).

I've never done a dual boot before so any instructions or links would be
appreciated.

Thanks.

From: Pegasus [MVP] on 23 May 2010 13:34

From: Stefan Patric on 23 May 2010 14:44

On Sun, 23 May 2010 07:31:01 -0700, Domenick wrote:

> I would like to know how to DUAL BOOT using two different physical hard
> drives. Is this possible? I currently have a machine running XP Pro with
> a BUNCH of older apps and custom legacy apps for my company. I don't use
> this very often, but I will occasionally need to boot up from this hard
> drive and run this machine in its current state. I am going to put in a
> separate physical hard drive and install Win 7 (probably) and boot from
> this drive 80% of the time.
>
> How do I accomplish this? What additional software do I need (note:
> might not use win 7 so it would need to be software that could boot
> ubuntu or another copy of XP from the second drive as well).
>
> I've never done a dual boot before so any instructions or links would be
> appreciated.

Before you do anything, check the specs of your machine to see if it can
even run W7. Remember that the "minimums" listed by Microsoft are just
to install and run the OS. You need more for your apps. I usually
double the RAM minimums, at least. Also, check that there are compatible
drivers for all your hardware and peripherals.

If you are going to run Ubuntu (or another version of Linux), too, its
boot manager, grub, can handle the multiple booting. Just install Ubuntu
last, and it will configure the multi-boot automatically, usually.
("Usually" means "backup/clone everything before attempting.")
Otherwise, you have to install a suitable Windows-based boot manager.
The "standard" Windows boot loader is really only designed to boot one OS
well.

Stef

From: Anna on 23 May 2010 15:45

"Domenick" <Domenick(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5E417C59-C442-4856-BB1E-A183895AA03D(a)microsoft.com...
> I would like to know how to DUAL BOOT using two different physical hard
> drives. Is this possible? I currently have a machine running XP Pro with a
> BUNCH of older apps and custom legacy apps for my company. I don't use
> this
> very often, but I will occasionally need to boot up from this hard drive
> and
> run this machine in its current state. I am going to put in a separate
> physical hard drive and install Win 7 (probably) and boot from this drive
> 80%
> of the time.
>
> How do I accomplish this? What additional software do I need (note: might
> not use win 7 so it would need to be software that could boot ubuntu or
> another copy of XP from the second drive as well).
>
> I've never done a dual boot before so any instructions or links would be
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks.

Domenick:
You haven't mentioned the type of PC you're working with but I'm assuming
it's a desktop machine since you've indicated you're contemplating
installing another HDD.

That being the case is there any possibility you could consider equipping
the machine with one (or even better - two) removable hard drive(s)? In
order to do this your desktop PC case would need at least one available
(vacant) 5 1/4" bay to accommodate the mobile rack housing the removable
HDD.

Assuming your desktop case will have at least one available (vacant) 5 1/4"
bay (two such would be even better), consider installing a removable HDD to
house another HDD in addition to your internal HDD.

I don't know how familiar you are with these devices so let me give you a
bit of info on them. Basically they're two-piece affairs - the "mobile rack"
itself and the inner tray or caddy (in which the hard drive resides) that
slides into the rack. They come in all-aluminum models or a combination of
aluminum-plastic, or all-plastic, ranging in price from about $15 to $50.
Mobile racks come in various versions, depending upon whether the hard drive
to be housed is an IDE/ATA, SATA, or SCSI device. A Google search for
"removable hard drive mobile racks" will result in a wealth of information
on these products and their vendors.

The installation of these devices is simplicity itself - no more difficult
than installing an optical drive. After the rack is installed you make two
simple connections (power & data cable), then plop the hard drive into the
removable tray (caddy),and slide the tray into the mobile rack. That's all
there is to it. Note that the removable hard drive mobile racks we are
discussing are designed to be installed in desktop computers and not laptop
or notebook computers. The size, weight, and design considerations of
laptops/notebooks (generally) do not allow for this hardware configuration.

These mobile racks are nearly always equipped with a ON-OFF keylock, so a
simple turn of the key, in effect, activates/deactivates the HDD. For added
security you can push or pull the removable tray in or out using the tray's
handle and thus electrically/physically connect or disconnect the HDD from
the system. No more difficult than opening or closing a small desk drawer.

Do you see the enormous advantage of this type of hardware configuration as
it applies to your particular objective re creating a dual-boot
configuration? In your particular situation (assuming you would be working
with a single removable HDD rather than two removable HDDs) you would
install one of your HDDs internally and using another HDD, install that
latter drive in the removable tray of the mobile rack. Assuming you're
working with SATA HDDs the latter HDD would be connected to your
motherboard's first (SATA0 or SATA1) connector, while the
internally-connected SATA HDD would be connected to the second (SATA1 or
SATA2) connector. (Naturally I'm assuming this is a non-RAID configuration).
So when the removable HDD is "on" (usually implemented through a simple turn
of the mobile rack's keylock), the system will boot to that drive and the
internally-connected HDD would serve as a secondary HDD. When the removable
HDD is "off", the system would boot to the internally-connected SATA HDD.

Thus with this hardware configuration you could, for example, install the
Windows 7 OS on the removable HDD and install the Windows XP OS on your
internal HDD. Thus each OS is effectively isolated from each other except
when the user desires otherwise. There's no need to fiddle with
modifications of the BIOS settings nor setting up a multi-boot type of
program to affect the boot process. It's an ideal system for computing with
multiple operating systems and/or meeting one's special interests when using
multiple HDDs.

For even additional flexibility working with your HDDs, installing *two*
removable HDDs would be even better. Obviously you would need *two* vacant 5
1/4" bays on your desktop case to achieve this configuration. Again, with
this configuration, each drive is effectively isolated from each other, but
if for any reason you want both drives connected during boot up, you can
easily achieve that configuration as well.

Keep in mind that another significant advantage of using a removable HDD is
that now you can have an *unlimited* number of HDDs at your disposal by
simply using additional removable trays in the installed mobile rack to
house additional drives. So another important advantage of using this
hardware configuration is that you'll be able to use one or more other
removable HDDs as one or more backups drive for your day-to-day working
HDDs.

We've worked with these removable hard drive affairs for about 15 years now
and have helped hundreds of users install & operate this kind of system.
Virtually ever user we're aware of has found this hardware arrangement a
most desirable configuration in a desktop PC environment. We've encountered
no negative performance issues using these devices in comparison with
internally-installed HDDs and find the flexibility and peace of mind you
gain from this hardware configuration an enormous advantage in day-to-day PC
operations.

So do give it some thought should it be practical in your situation.
Anna

From: Daave on 23 May 2010 18:44

Pegasus [MVP] wrote:

> IMHO the best way to do this is to use a proper boot manager. The
> native Windows boot manager does to deserve this description. I
> usually use XOSL - it lets you boot into any OS installed on any disk
> on any type of partition, primary or logical. And it's free. Post
> again if you need detailed instructions.

In your experience, how does XOSL compare with GRUB?

| Next | Last
Pages: 1 2
Prev: Love XP
Next: How does one post an image file here that contains an image of an