Correct procedure to Dual Boot using 2 HD's

[miles4]

Looking to add 2nd HD (200gig SATA HD) to current system which is running Win2k server. Want to dual boot existing Win2k OS and XP Pro on 2nd drive. Using ASUS P4PE MB with 60gig ata drive. Do I need to add boot manager program first (PartitionMagic) and then add 2nd drive n load new OS?

 

[wolluf]

Depends what you want. You don't need a boot manager - 2k/XP's boot loader will handle this. If you just install XP on the second drive, it will update the boot sector/boot.ini on the first drive and create a dual boot menu for you. However, this does mean that if anything happens to 2k boot sector/installation, the XP won't boot (ie, installations are not independent).

If you want them independent, disconnect the 2k drive while installing XP (it will then create a boot sector on its own drive). Once installed, reconnect 2k - you can then use a 3rd party boot manager like boot magic or partition magic's. I use one at

http://www.boot-us.com.

Or you could run bootcfg from XP recovery console or just edit the boot.ini file on the 2k drive to add an entry for XP (note - if you use either of these methods, you will also need to copy the ntldr & ntdetect.com files from the XP installation over the ones on the 2k (C installation.

Boot.ini should look like:-

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Server" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307654

 

[miles4]

Thanks for the info. Looks like I'll try the independent option.

 

[miles4]

Another question, it looks like PM 8.0 doesn't support Win2000 Server, does Boot-US support Win2k Server?

I checked the web site n sent them email regarding this question.

 

[wolluf]

Boot-us supports all varieties of windows.