dual-booting Windows

Is it possible to having two copies of the same Windows like XP Pro and XP Pro? what would be the best to do this?

Can FD-ISR do this too? how fast is switching between snapshots?

What I want is to have to have one Windows installation for my dad and one for me. Each will have different set of software tho. I need an easy and fast solution.

 

I don't see a problem with useing two of the same versions of windows with FDISR. and switching snapshots takes as long as a reeboot. You might want to post here https://www.wilderssecurity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=84 and ask about useing the same OS on different snapshots just to make sure.

 

You can easily do it with two partitions on one drive, although I personally prefer to use two physical drives.

Just install a second instance of Windows to the second partition/drive. When you are done, it will be the default one launched, but you will be given the opportunity to select the system to boot at startup. You can edit the descriptions in boot.ini Select Start>>Control Panel>System, select Advanced tab and Settings button in Startup and Recovery, select Edit under System Startup. Notepad will pop up and you'll see something like

Code:

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Secondary XP Boot Partition" /fastdetect 

Just edit the text in the quotes following WINDOWS= (they'll both be the same if you haven't edited it previously - which might be a good thing to do) to provide a desciption you and Dad can easily follow.

Blue

 

thanks all. i will attempt either or both of this solutions when i have more spare time.

 

On this computer, I have successfully dualbooted Windows XP Home and Pro using different partitions. So it should very well be possible, but in your case, both your installations will say Windows XP Professional on the boot up screen, which can make it difficult to know which is your installation and which is your dad's. For me, I get the two options saying XP Home and XP Pro....

 

Firecat,

That why I recommended editing the text strings as indicated above, they are the descriptors shown at bootup and can be anything you want. The defaults are as you indicate and tied to the version of Windows used.

Blue

 

Hello,
I find BZ's suggestion the best solution. But if you are afraid of editing configuration files, you might want to define hardware profiles - they will be listed differently at bootup.
Mrk