Need a dual XP installation. Best steps to take?

I have 2 x SATA II drives. I want to one drive for 2 x XP installations, and the other for data. The 2 XP installations will be different, one for general work and other purely for gaming.

At the moment the drive for XP has 2 partitions. I would like to install XP in each, and select at boot which installation to use. Ideally, when I have booted into a selected XP installation, it should be drive C and the other installation/partition should be invisible.

I have TI 11 and DD 10. I would appreciate a step-by-step guide the best way to achieve this. Other guides on here appear to use an image of one installation for a second installation, I want two different installations.

I don't mind starting from scratch

 

Doctor Jellybean,

Everything you need to know is here...

http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/index.htm

You can skip the section on Fixing Boot Records in Logical Partitions.

I understand you want to install WinXP twice. Easy. Install your boot manager as the very last step.

 

Thank you.

Hmm, Partition Magic, DOS, Images ... not quite what I had in mind.

Let me see if I got this right, using DD boot disk.

1) Boot with DD, make partition 1 active.
2) Boot with XP setup disc, install into partition 1.
3) After install, boot with DD, make partition 2 active.
3) Boot with XP setup disc, install into partition 2.
4) After install, boot with DD, create OSS partition and install OS Selector.

The reason why I don't want to use an image, is because I have created a setup disc with nLite which disables quite a few services, etc, which is my gaming platform. The other setup disc is a more general one for ordinary use.

 

For Partition Magic, read Disk Director. Forget DOS and images.

Correct.

In DD you have to edit both OS partitions. One will be Pri, Act and the other is Pri, Hid.

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=192299#23

 

Hi Doctor JellyBean,

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. Windows XP does not have to be installed strictly on Drive C:. In fact, on this computer, I have two copies of Windows XP HE installed and either operating system is installed on Drive C:\. One copy is installed in Partition E: and the other copy is installed in Partition G:.

One copy is used for Beta Testing and the other is also used for Beta Testing, but with different Graphic Driver versions installed.

I use Windows XP Boot Manager to boot into each. And both copies use the same My Documents folder, because it is installed on a seperate Hard Drive.

So if you would like to start from scratch, you can. I have a 160 GB Hard Drive, partitioned into 4 partitions. One is C:, One is for Drive Images, Then one operating system and the other operating system.

I installed Windows XP, without hiding any partitions. In fact, it is best that you don't, because you can install from the CD, without the need of providing for prior ownership, especially from using an Upgrade CD, to install from.

 

thecreator,

You are multi-booting the Microsoft Way.

http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/principles.htm

Doctor Jellybean wants to multi-boot the Third-Party Way.

 

Yes, this is a viable option , one that can be less complicated and easier to reinstall in case of any foul-ups. On many machines/set-ups, hiding an XP partition is superfluous and hundreds of thousands of XP users have found this out (here I am taking only a small percentage of total XP users to extrapolate this number).

Depending on your set-up , using Microsoft's loader can be ( or as nearly as can be ) as isolated as a "hidden" partition ( here I must amend that hiddenness on the same partition/Hard Disk is not really as hidden as one would expect, as Microsoft seems to have "telepathic" capabilities [even with hidden partitions]).

Perhaps Freud's "unconscious" extends to nearly 'emergent' software like XP.

Nonetheless, if healthy internet habits are observed, the chances are that inter-partition separation is maintained with the majority of users using the required anti-malware applications as one would use on a single/hidden system.

Again, I must maintain that this is only one of many rational options used frequently by myriads of users successfully.

 

And it works beautifully too! Many thanks!

 

Excellent. Any problems getting OSS to work? How did you do it?

 

Prob the long way lol.

01 ) Booted with DD disc.
02 ) Deleted both existing partitions.
03 ) Created Partition 1, set to Primary & Active.
04 ) Rebooted and installed XP from disc on Partition 1.
05 ) Rebooted after installation to check it was booting ok.
06 ) Rebooted with DD disc.
07 ) Created Partion 2, set to Primary & Active, Hidden Partition 1.
08 ) Rebooted and installed XP from disc on Partition 2.
09 ) Rebooted after installation to check it was booting ok.
10 ) Rebooted with DD disc.
11 ) Created Partition 3, FAT32, set to Primary & Active.
12 ) Installed OSS, selected custom install and installed into Partition 3.
13 ) Rebooted, OSS started and found both OS installs.
14 ) With Partition 1 selected and set Active, set Partition 2 Hidden.
15 ) With Partition 2 selected and set Active, set Partition 1 Hidden.
16 ) Tested both from OSS, no problems.

I guess I can't set the OSS Partition(3) Hidden, otherwise it won't boot?

Even more joy when I installed TI in first XP installation, and found that the TI Recovery Manager co-exists quite happily with OSS.

 

That's a great summary. I'll use it as a reference for questions on dual booting.

The Third Party Way is much cleaner than the alternative. There is no cross talk. Either OS can be deleted without affecting the other as they are independent. It also avoids certain image restore problems (particularity drive letter issues) as the OS are independent. And if you want to install 15 independent OS on the one HD, you can.

 

I don't use OSS and I'd be interested in knowing too.

 

It has no effect. OSS overrides the settings so that it stays visible in order to boot.

I agree. I prefer uniformity, in both installs the drive letter is C, whereas with the Microsoft Way, in one instance it would be C but in the other it can be anything except C.

Now I might just try Ubuntu out!

 

That is a great post. Just what I wanted to know. Thanks.

I wonder why these steps are not listed in the help menus?

 

This should be a sticky I think, I too need to install dual XP's just on seperate drives of a 2 hdd system. Wondering what most people use for boot manager, how user friendly, and reliable your choice has been.