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Dual hard drive, both XP?

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honchung

Technical User
Mar 1, 2007
15
US
Hi,

I already have a hard drive connected to IDE1 primary and running XP Pro (drive C:). Everything runs fine.

Then I have installed another hard drive connected to IDE2 primary (drive E:). Also an external USB DVD burner (I tried to install the DVD burner internally using IDE but could not make XP see it).

Anyway, now I want to install another XP pro (yes, same edition OS) in the second hard drive and every time I start the computer, it will by default boot from the first hard drive C: but also has option to let me boot from the second hard drive E:.

How can I do that?

I tried setting the BIOS to first boot up from the external DVD burner and ran an XP installation CD. However, it only showed me the C: and asked if I wanted to repair or install fresh XP. It did not show me E: to install.

Again, what can I do?
 
but also has option to let me boot from the second hard drive E:" What is currently occupying your E: drive?

What does the Disk Management tool say about E: drive? You could try using the XP in C: to Format E: drive via Disk Management.

See this article too.

"To initialize new disks". (From Help and Support)

Multibooting with Windows XP

Multibooting with Windows XP: Installing Windows 2000 and Windows XP

In Folder Options/ View, it would help if you showed both Hidden and System files, then you could check out your booting files too.

HOW TO: Edit the Boot.ini File in Windows XP (Q289022)

A Discussion About the Bootcfg Command and Its Uses (Q291980)
 
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