Step By Step Guide for 2 XP Installs

Is there a simple, step by step guide to getting two xp installations setup with Acronis OSS on one hard drive, with each not being able to see the other install?

Thanks,
CJ

 

Just do the first install as normal, then before you do the second install create the partition before hand, you don’t have to format it, then set it as the Active partition on the hard drive. You could do this with fdisk from a Win98/ME startup floppy. Then boot again from the XP CD and point it to this Active partition and format and install.

This should ensure both XP’s are independent and have their own ntloaders. Just to be on the safe side you could also hide the first install’s partition before you do the second install. This should not be necessary if everything is correct, as it is the Active status of partitions that determine where the ntloader goes.

Once the second install is complete you will need a boot manager to get to the first install again, or you could make a boot floppy. Then you could either use the boot manager to hide installs from each other, or use the Disk Management tool in each XP to remove the other drive.