Question about using OSS boot at Win2k3/WinVista

Discussion in 'Acronis Disk Director Suite' started by ticarson, Jan 28, 2008.

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  1. ticarson

    ticarson Registered Member

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    Hello Gentlemen!

    I am new to these forums and can't seem to find an existing post/solution for my problem. Can anyone offer some help please?

    I have two hdd's hdd(1) has Win2k3 and hdd(2) has WinVista. I would like to be able to use OSS to boot from either hdd.

    I have created a small partition to install OSS and have tried to make it primary, so that I can select which OS to boot. With no success

    Is there a step by step for this? I would like to not have to reinstall either OS.

    Any help much appreciated in advance.

    Thanks
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 28, 2008
  2. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    How do you currently boot between Win2k3 and Vista? Do you change the boot drive? Do you use Vista's boot manager?

    In other words, are the drives independent or are they both booting from one drive (the Win2k3 drive, for example)?

    Is your Vista installation from a standard Microsoft OEM or Retail Vista DVD? (Not a "Brand" OEM Vista installation.)

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    The OSS partition doesn't need to be Primary or Active in order to work. Each OS entry in OSS needs to have the correct partition set Active and the other partition/drive hidden (if that's how it was setup). You may also have to make sure the Disk Order is set correctly, depending on how you currently boot your system.

    The change to OSS may be easy or it may be difficult. It just depends on your current setup.
     
  3. ticarson

    ticarson Registered Member

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    MudCrab,

    Thanks for the reply. I currently boot only from hdd1(Win2k3). I created the small FAT32 partition on this hdd. I am not using any boot managers. Both drives are independent. I believe my WinVista is MS OEM.

    I installed OSS on the small FAT32 partiton and was hoping to boot from it by making it the active partition, but it currently still boots directly into Win2k3.

    Will I/should I have to do the following steps:

    1 - Image the current partition containing Win2k3.
    2 - Delete both partitions on hdd1
    3 - Create a new FAT32 as primary
    4 - Create another partition for Win2k3
    5 - Install OSS on the FAT32 partition
    6 - Restore Win2k3 image on 2nd partition
    7 - Configure OSS to boot hdd1(Win2k3) and hdd2(WinVista)

    Are these the right steps?

    Thanks again in advance.
     
  4. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
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    Just to be clear, are you switching between booting Win2k3 and Vista by physcially changing drives/connectors or by BIOS switching?

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    Having a backup image of your current drives is a good idea. That way you can restore them if they get messed up by OSS.

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    You shouldn't have to clear the Win2k3 drive. If you already have Win2k3 booting and have the small OSS partition, then you should be okay.

    You said you installed OSS, but it still boots to Win2k3. Can you be more specific?
    Did you install OSS from Win2k3 or from the DD CD?
    Does Win2k3 show up in the OSS menu or have you not been able to get into the OSS menu?

    If it's possible, you may want to get OSS working with the Win2k3 drive first and then add the Vista drive. In any case, the Disk Order will need to be set so that the booting drive is the first drive in the list. (Vista drive first for Vista OSS entry. Win2k3 drive first for Win2k3 OSS entry.)
     
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