[xbill]

Have win.xp home-SP2.pent 4,1.6.40g HD, 512 ram.a2nd-HD, 100GIG.Idid clean install of xp then using norton ghost cloned it over to 2nd HD.Also have partition commander to give doul boot,iwould like to save c:drive as a back up.useing my d: 100 g.for every day use. The problem I have is when I down load soft ware @things to D;hd.it also goe's on to c:I would like to keep them separate if that is possible.I am new to this and am trying to learn how this is done.I thought the two drives would be on there own.Iwill appreciate any help you can give me on this. IS there a diffren't way to boot to the drive's?OR IS THIS NORMAL? A noobe

[ScottGem]

Why would you want to do this? Frankly, it doesn't make sense. Its one thing to dual boot different OSes. But I see no advantage to dual booting the same OS. I would leave the C drive just for the OS and use Ghost to cloen it as a backup. Then partition the other drive to reserve one part for data files and the other for programs.

[xbill]

I would like to have a up to date back up in case one drive fails,it may not make sense,but I would like to know how to fix this problem!

[ScottGem]

You should have an up-to-date backup. I always do, but you are going about it the wrong way. Since you have Norton Ghost, you can create an image file to store either on the second drive or on removeable media. What you are trying to do does not give you what you want.

[xbill]

Answers don't address problem:dual boot;IF you can help me on this I would appreciae itvery much. xbill

[StuMegu]

In order to have two xp systems booting together, I suggest you wipe one of your hard drives (D) and re-install XP onto this. Just boot with your windows CD and install XP to a separate location (D:) the installer should then give you two boot options on startup one for the existing C: installation and one for the D:

Be aware though, that you can only have one primary boot partition on your system and if C: fails the boot menu will probably not appear.

Personally, I agree with Scott on the issue, it is easier to ghost an image of C: onto your D: drive and restore this to C: if C: gets messed up!

[ScottGem]

The issue here is that the solution to your stated problem is not the solution you seem to want. If you are looking to have a backup in case of drive failure, then dual booting is not the answer. Dual booting is to allow one to have different operating systems on the same machine.

What you are trying to do is NOT going to work in my opinion. But doing what you claim to want to do, is easy to do if you take our advice.

[xbill]

Thanks for your replys I will let you know if this works .BILL

[StuMegu]

You do realise that the second copy of XP will have to be set up separately, none of the programs will be installed – it is effectively a completely different installation.

If you want redundancy for your hard disk installation the way to do this is to create a Mirror drive. Many new SATA systems will do this now but you can buy a mirror system for older IDE drives. This is normally referred to as a raid card.

[LTheobald]

I'm not 100% sure that just cloning XP to another hard drive will work anyway. Wouldn't there be problems with the activation? Check this page out for example: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ctivation.mspx

It reads:

Microsoft Product Activation is an anti-piracy technology designed to verify that software products have been legitimately licensed. This aims to reduce a form of piracy known as casual copying. Activation also helps protect against hard drive cloning

So what you want to do xBill might even be impossible (as well as not the best solution as Scott & Stu have already pointed out)

[xbill]

I got the dual boot like this by setting up a dual boot by cloning like this, I'd:-

1. Boot the machine with just the cloned drive connected. This would allow it to set itself up properly as C: drive (which means when you next boot it with original drive in the machine, the original will take E: or F: etc - next available letter, depending on number of optical drives etc). BUT when you boot from the original, IT will still show as C: - with the cloned drive taking next available letter in that installation (ie, both will have their own drive as C: when you boot from them - and so will be separate).

2. Just edit boot.ini (assuming XP HOME) on the first drive to look like this:-

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP HOME Disk 1" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP HOME Disk 2" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

This will give a choice of booting from either - with 30 seconds before it loads disk1 by default (reduce 30 if you want).I got info from here http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.c...1241284&page=1 I whan't to THANK you for all the replysThis is a good forum. BILL

[xbill]

Just to let you no I was able to put xp home on both drives and use dule boot to select disk 1 or 2 .every thing is working the way I whanted it.Thanks for all the replys. This is a good forum. XBILL

[StuMegu]

Its good to see that you've got it setup how you want it :) How do you go on about sharing files and saving changes to your other installation (like emails etc)?

[xbill]

Copy&paste or drag&drop .Ialso back up new files on a cd so I can put them onif I want, But I just use the big drive for every day use.