cloned xp to 2nd harddrivewould like to keep oneclean? 1

Not quite sure what you mean. If I wanted to keep a 'clean' backup I'd just use Ghost to take an image, and save it on (in your case) second drive. You can then always restore from that image back to 'clean' installation.

Having cloned your installation to second drive, and set up dual boot, both drives are going to be visible/available whichever you boot to. However, I don't understand what you mean by 'download to D:, also goes on C:. Can you explain please (do the downloaded files appear on both drives? If you install apps, do they appear on both drives).

How did you set up the dual boot - and did you ever boot the machine with just the cloned drive connected? I ask, as if you didn't, then it will still have all its registry settings pointing to C: - though when you boot from it, the system drive will be D:. But as C: is actually still present, everything will work - but using C: (so when you're logged on to cloned drive, it will be using mainly the original drive by default).

If I were 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 Pro) on the first drive to look 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 Disk 1" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 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).

HTH

Ihave xp home@sp2,yes when i download apps they show up on bouth drives.,also when click on windows 1OR 2 the same desk top loads,i thought they would be differnt,But i burned a movie and that file stayed on the seleced drive.With partition commander it did the dule boot for me, i can pick windows 1or2or it will select win1 in 30 sec.i am not sure about the boot.ini and as above i have home.By clean i ment that ididen't whant to put a lot of apps on it i case i have a crash in the mane drivei use. i back up new down loads to cd's.incase i have to reinstall.,would i have any problem with partition commander if i boot with just the cloned drive connected?Thanks i hope i explaned this ok.

1. Same desktop. Obviously this should be true to start with, as one install is clone (ie, exact copy of the other). Have you made any changes to differentiate them? (like different wallpaper). If you have or do check this out, and they're still the same, it would sound like both options are actually booting the same installation of windows (so the other isn't being used at all).

2. Same for XP Home as Pro.

3. I haven't used system commander to multi-boot, so am not entirely sure how it works (and what changes it might have made to your system). Many boot managers install themselves in the mbr or one of partition boot sectors on the first drive.
If you try booting with just cloned drive connected, you may find no dual boot menu - just a direct boot into XP (and you may get error messages, and its system drive will probably be D:, and there will be no C: drive).

4. My reference to boot.ini is a simple method of creating a dual boot menu for 2 XP installations without third party software. If your experiments in 1 above show that you are really booting the same installation every time, doing the boot.ini edit (with XP Home in text of course - the stuff in "" is just what's displayed for you to identify what you're booting) should let you boot either (you should get a second menu after you choose one from your current dual boot menu - and this one should work). Boot.ini is a hidden, read only system file in the root of the boot drive (you'll have one on each drive of course - you want to edit the one on the C: drive when you've booted original installation).

Without actually seeing your installation in action, I'm making some assumptions about how things are.

Ihaven't booted with just the cloned drive yet, As this is new to me,Ijustwon't to check with you to get it right. what i have to do is un plug the c:dr.and restart.then if it boots up on the clone,i should re connectc:and re boot?I am not sure i understand about bouth be comeing c: What should i do if the clone dos not boot? This step semes the best if it will work.Idid change the back ground on the desk top, it changed on bouth, the same with files. I appreciate the time you have taken to help on this.anoob!

If 'both' are changing, then your dual boot is almost certainly just booting the same installation whichever you chose.

Try disconnecting the first drive - if the second is an exact clone, it should boot on its own. The only problem might be what I mentioned - as the second drive has already been designated D: when booting from the first, its system drive will probably be D: (even with no C: present). But its registry will still be referencing C: for some items - so this may generate errors. Generally after cloning a drive, if you want the clone to work in the same way as original, you should disconnect the original before first time boot with the clone. This will let the clone establish itself on C:. Ie, its system drive will be C: - the partition its installed into - when you boot from it. Then when you reconnect the original drive, that drive's partition will take up the next available drive letter in the cloned installation (usually E: or F. This will happen even if you use a boot mamager like system commander. So the idea is that whichever installation you boot from, its system drive (the partition its installed into) will be C:, and the other drive will have a different drive letter.

In your position I'd uninstall the system commander boot manager, clone the first drive to the second again (so starting 'clean'), then boot from clone on its own. Then reconnect original and boot from it (it wil automatically if its first in boot order). Then recreate the boot menu (you can use system commander - or just edit boot.ini on the first drive as per my earlier post, ie:-

[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 Home Disk 1" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Disk 2" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

You should then have 2 independent copies of XP Home.

DO you think if i refomat d:that it will remove windows onC;as well.THANKS

No (in fact, assuming you do the format from within windows, it won't let you format the drive the current windows installation is installed on). But, you don't need to reformat - just ghost first drive to second drive again (assuming you still want this dual boot setup). But as I said, I'd uninstall system commander & its boot menu first.

I recloned xpon d: unpluged c:rebooted all igot was a small - blinking on a black screen .reconnected c;IT booted back to the same way. I'll do it over this week end.I let it blink for 3 or 4 min.mabey i didn't wait long enough.I thank you for all the help &info.

sometimes when you clone, the cloned drive doesn't have the partition set as active (so woulod need to set it active) & sometimes it doesn't copy the boot sector correctly (so would need to run fixboot from recovery console).

How are the hard drives connected (as master & slave on same IDE cable - they are IDE, not SATA? - or both master on primary and secondary IDE connector). Is the bios recognising the 'd:' drive when c: is disconnected? Do you get any messages before the black screen?

This process should be straightforward (ie, clone drive to another, disconnect original, boot clone), but without being able to see your installation, I can only guess at what's gone wrong.

Iwould like to try this one more time.Igot to the boot.ini iT opened in note pad, this is the tex. what do i need to add to this,and do i do it after i remove Pc.Com. and reclone the drive with N.G. Thanks i was out of town for awhile. [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 Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

The answer should be in my previous posts.

Remove the pc.com and reclone the drive.

Then boot the machine with JUST the cloned drive connected. This will establish the installation on this drive properly.

Then reconnect original drive so both present and boot again. This should boot to your 'first master' drive (probably the original). The second drive should be visible as drive x: (where x: is D, E, F.... depends on opticals). But doesn't matter - just setting the scene.

Now edit the boot.ini file on your current C: drive to look like the one I posted earlier - ie:-

[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 Home Disk 1" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Disk 2" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

(you can edit the timeout later if you want to smaller number of seconds).

Reboot the machine - and you should see a boot menu offering disk 1 or disk 2 as above (not selecting will boot first drive after 30 seconds). Selecting either should work, and both should be independent of one another. The 'non-booting' drive should be visible as drive x:. Both installations should see their own system drive as C:

HTH

Thanks a lot for all your help, i will be doing this over the wk, end. will let you know how it turned out.XBILL

I removed par,com.cloned drive with N.G.un pluged c:rebooted got erroe mesg.NO BOOT DIVICE SYSTEM HALTED.RE CONNECETED C; rebooted ok.typed BOOT.ini in run.it opened in note padthis is what mine reads [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 Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn THEN ICOPY &pasted whatyou have above.closed note pad savd changes. rebooted it started normal.i check in the run box,but it was the same as when i frist opened itabove.what steps do you take to edit itin note pad.ps. There was no boot menu offering disk 1 or disk 2. TANKS for all your time in helping me. BILL

boot.ini usually has a read only tag set - you need to unset that before editing it (in file properties) - otherwise it will only allow you to save changes back to a new file (eg, boot.ini.txt is lilely candidate).

Iright clicked my computer, cik,properties,cik,advanced,clk,settings in start up&recover,clk, edit,it opened in note pad this is what i put in. [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 Home Disk 1" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Disk 2" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin
Now when i open the BOOT.ini this is the way it looks. Idon't get option to select,1or2,it just boots normal, on C:drive. when i booted with onley D:CONNECTED AND I got the black screen asI SAID above, NO BOOT DIVICE;SYSTEM HALTED;WOULD this be the problem ? THANKS a lot, BILL

Can we recap.

You had installation on disk1, having removed the boot manager. If you boot machine with just this drive it just boots ok - correct?

You cloned disk1 to disk2. You then disconnected disk1 and booted the machine with just disk2 in the machine. Its important that you do this - so if you didn't, wipe disk2 and do the clone again. Disk2 should boot on its own ok - should look exactly like booting from disk1. You need to get to this point before continuing - if you haven't/can't, post back with what's happened.

Now, with disk1 and disk2 both ok on their own, connect both disks again. Machine should boot ok to disk1 (which will be the C: drive). Disk2 will take another drive letter - but that doesn't matter. When you get to this point, you should run the edit on boot.ini described above. Now reboot, and you should get a menu offering the 2 installs.

If you don't understand any of this, please post back before trying anything else.

I did a clean install of win.xp home,after up dating &getting it back to what i whanted on it,i then cloned it to my D: Not sure what you mean by removed the boot manager?when i use N.G. TO CLONE,it shuts down the comp. does the clone then reboots it.i tred to shut it down when it had finnished & at the frist blinkingof start up.then onpluged c: rebooted, got the black screen ,got the NO BOOT DIVICE,error.i have looked on outher forums for help also and this is some of the things i have done.In the run box i typd, c:\BOOT.ini or c:boot.ini, or sysdm.cplthey all open in note pad with this as you gave me a bove. [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 Home Disk 1" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Disk 2" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin But when i type in msconfig,and i open the BOOT.ini it show up 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 Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
Now when iam therei click GEN tab click selectiv start up there use original boot ini,is checked- The use modified boot.ini. is grayed out. i don't no if this is a problem?When i open it in note pad it looks ok , but not in msconfig. C:drive boots fine.Thank you so much for your time with this problem. BILL

Which version of Ghost? How are you running the clone? (I always boot from a floppy or CD and load Ghost from there. Then I specify what I'm cloning to where and when its finished, I just close the machine down, so I can do whatever. I use Ghost2003 usually. You could actually use utility from drive manufacturer - they've nearly all got one on their website). I can't stress enough that if the machine boots with both drives connected after the clone your second drive installation will be messed up. And you need to boot the machine with just the cloned drive connected to make sure it will work on its own. At that point you can start editing the boot.ini file.

You can edit boot.ini from system proerties, advanced tab, startup and recovery settings button, edit button (or typing C:\boot.ini, or open notepad and open C:\boot,ini etc). Ignore msconfig. But both drives must be bootable on their own beforehand.

Note - can't remember if I mentioned this - you can make an XP boot floppy by copying files ntldr, ntdetect.com (both in root of C and boot.ini to a newly formatted floppy drive.

If you usethat boot.ini file I posted, it will give you the menu you want (but again, the second drive installation will only work properly if you've booted it successfully on its own).

useing N.G. 2003 IT IS ON MY HARD DRIVE , NO CD.Ijust start itup click advance /clone click C:SCORCE/ D; DESTANATION cleck next then it will shut down& restart.then it starts to clone takes about10 min. then re boots.i was afaid of turning it off to soon,didn't know what would happen.Iknow this sounds dumb ,but how do you get to the root of c:?iwhen i reclone do i frist have to reedit the boot.ini back to the origene one or cani leave it as is;THANKS for being patient with me on this.BILL