2 harddrives with diff OS on same computer.Is it possible??

[Guest_imported]

Hi,
I already have a 30Gb hard drive running Windows 98 second edtn.
I bought a new 80Gb Seagate Barracuda ATA IV bare hard drive.
This is what i want.
I want to install this new hardrive and put Windows XP on it.
Thus, I want my earlier 30Gb to have win 98 and this 80 Gb hardrive to have win XP. And i when i boot up, i shud be able to choose with which harddrive (OS) i should be able to boot from. Also i would like an easy transfer of files from one hdrive to another.

How do i do all this?(how do i install this new hardrive in such a way that all abv works wihout messing up my old hard drive with win 98 on it)??
Thanks,
Divyadeep Wadhwa

(both are IDE)

 

[AJ1982]

Put your 80Gb in and Install XP on it.

XP should now be drive C and 98 should be D, there should be no boot option.

Go into DOS mode and install a program called xosl from

http://www.xosl.org.

Specify the first partition to boot as normal (Fairly self explanatory)

98, make sure you hide the XP drive, then it will run as C.

I use this program, and I have 8 operatings running (Sad isnt it)

 

[Scotsdude]

if your new hard drive is NEW, then add it on to your system. leave your first HDD as primary master. don't format the new drive.

Start the computer as normal in win98. It won't see the new drive, but that's fine. Insert the Win XP cd and start the install, and it will give you the option of installing to the unpartitioned/unformatted space.

Choose this, and then let it install. After installation, when you boot the system, there will be a very simple option for you to choose either Win98 or XP.

One thing to note. In 98, you won't be able to see the XP drive if you format it as XP, but you will be able to see the Win98 drive from XP. BE careful when installing things that you don't inadvertantly install to the wrong place....

My current setup is
c: win me (2Gb)
d: data for winme(7Gb)
(C & D are 1 physical drive, partitiond)
e: cd-rom
f: cd-witer
g: winxp

and that's how XP sees it.....

Scotsdude

 

[Guest_imported]

so i guess this is what i need to do:

1)Hook up the new 80gb hard drive on secondary IDE as master. Making sure that if my cd-rom is on the master of secondary IDE , i should put it to slave.
2)Then i switch on the computer.(already having the old 30gb disk as master on primary IDE)
3)I Guess i will now see that a new hardware has been detected, thus what abt formatting the new harddisk????when do i do this? I guess what i gather is that i should just insert win XP cd, and it wud ask me where i want to put it...and if i say 80gb hardrive, it would format the harddisk as well as load XP on it. Am i correct?
4)is abv is true then by this time i wud have had win 98 on 30gb as it was, and XP on 80gb harddrive.
5)If i want to boot up from the new 80 gb hardrive what shud i do?
can i choose at random how i want to boot up without actually changing hardrives from one primary IDE to secondary?


What if XP does not ask where it wants to sindtall and gets installed on my old 30gb hard drive running 98. I will be screwed!! i want 98 on that hard drive to remain.

thanks,
div

 

[Scotsdude]

Parts 1 & 2 - spot on.

Part 3 - Win 98 may detect new hardware, but it won't try to format, I don't think. Simply put the XP CD in and it'll start. Simply choose where to install (ie unpartitioned space) and you'll be fine.

Part 4 - spot on

Part 5 - You will get a very simple screen just after the post, where you will have the choice between Win XP and Win 98. If memory serves, it will default to XP after 30 seconds and continue to load.

Just one more thing. You have run the compatibility checker from the Win XP CD to make sure that everything will work under XP?

Scotsdude