multi-boot os help please

flyby2001

flyby2001

1
Please help if you can

i'm running win2kpro at the moment. but i would like to have a multiboot system so i could try xp and others.

the problem i have (i'm not sure if it is a problem)is i have this set up

ide cabels
ide 1
1 x 20gig with win2kpro on - master
1 x 40 gig with backup data (this is the drive i would like to put xp on) - slave
ide 2
1 x dvd rom pinoneer 114 i think - slave
1 x lite-on 48x writer - master

pci ide card

1 x plextor 40x writer -master ide 1
1 x 40gig back up draive - master ide 2


any suggestions on how to go about doing this as i have tried a simular thing before and the booting of the pci ide card made it crash and burn and i lost everything.

has anyone here got or done a simular procedure.

any help is welcome


cheers flyby2001 out........
 
serjer

serjer

1
i think u should install the os(xp,win98) u want to try on ur primary master drive coz i dont think it will on a primary slave.
u will have to resize ur partition size on ur master n then create another PRIMARY partition on it.
if u wanna install linux,u can install it on ur drive with backups but still u will have to redefine ur partitions(n know wat u r doing)
:D
 
B

bacon

1
FlyBy, the best way to do this is not to use a PCi card to have the o/s, but use the onboard IDE instead.

The way Windows Multiboot works is that you can get most operating systems on in one go (with the exception of Linux) However if you use something like system commander, that supports massive multi-boot options including linux.

If you install Windows from the lowest version up, it will retain the version all the way through upto XP.

Install 98 for example, then install 2000 and you will now have the option to boot to either versions. If you then install XP, you will get all three. However, one word of warning, try and keep them on seperate partitions because all versions of windows will use common elements ("Program Files" for example) and different versions may cause a problem. If you want the o/s on different drives or partitions, then they can not be logical drives on an extended partition, they must be primary partitions of which you can only have 4 per drive.

Looking at the way you have got it set up, installing XP should give you the option to install it onto the slave drive of IDE 1. Ensure you have an 80 pin IDE ribbon, cos XP doesn't operate or install too well without them.

Any probs, mail me.
 
S

scarecrow

1
1. Unplug the 20G drive
2. Install XP on a partition on the 40G drive.
3.Get Osloader, www.osloader.com
Uncrippled shareware, the only limitation is a random banner.
4. Plug back the 20G drive, and install OSLoader from floppy before booting any OS.

That's all- quite easy. If you have both XP and 2000 on the same box, do NOT use NTFS for the shared partitions, or at least if the shared partitions are NTFS don't use compression and encryption. 2000 has trouble with XP's NTFS 5.1
 
flyby2001

flyby2001

1
thanks folks

Cheers for your input all

i will try some of your suggestions over the weekend. I will post my findings on monday hopefully thats as long as it doesn't go pear shaped.


flyby2001 out......
 
nolonemo

nolonemo

1
Hey Flyby,

My system is :

IDE1 master 80GB HD
IDE2 slave 20GB HD

IDE2 master CDRW
IDE2 slave DVD

I had Win2k installed on IDE1 master. I got a copy of XP and for kicks booted to install CD and installed onto IDE2 slave.

Everything went fine, get windows dual boot screen on startup, changed stuff in Win2k so Win2k is primary boot and delay is only 5 sec.

So... no reason in theory you shouldn't be able to install to your 2nd HD. You shouldn't need a separate boot loader program. Not sure how your PCI card figures into the mix though.

Good luck.
 
S

scarecrow

1
In theory all windows versions need to be installed on a primary partition of the first HD, and sign at the first HD MBR. In practice it's much more flexible.
 
S

Siriosys

1
As another suggestion you could try using VMWare?

Although not free, I use it because I support 6 different OS's and couldn't be bothered rebooting the PC everytime a different user would ring up.

Even if you don't purchase it, you can get an eval serial from their website and give it a go. I am running 9 different OS's on my PC and simply click on the Icon to start the appropriate virtual machine.....

Simply rocks as an alternative to multi-boot.


Cheerz


Siriosys
 
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