Can I do the following, is there anything to watch out for?
I want to install my old 5200rpm 40gig hard drive on to IDE 2 and install windows XP Pro on to that drive.
Is this correct?
ide 1 has (dvd-rom as slave) and end of cable (Hard Drive "C" master)

ide 2 fit (dvd-rw as slave) end of cable ( new hard drive set as master)

1/ Is it correct to set both hard drives as Master if on different ide controller?
2/ Ok to have two identical operating systems on 2 different channels?
3/ Will windows XP give me the choice of which drive to boot up ?

cheers
riggie

1 - Yes
2 - Yes
3 - Yes, as long as XP is installed as the last OS it will detect other OS's and add them to the boot loader menu

Hi AcidBath
Thankyou for your response will give it ago.
cheers
riggie

There is no way I would use a hard drive on the same controller as an optical drive (CD/DVD drive).

Most controllers will default to the slower ATA33 of the optical drive instead of ATA66, ATA100 or ATA133, so the hard drive will be slower.

It's only some new controllers that can cope with the differences in speed, but even then I would still have both hard drives on the Primary Controller as Master/Slave and both optical drives on the Secondary Controller as Master/Slave.

thanks for that Insomniac, I hear what your saying, but I was concerned about the effect of the writer on the same channel as the dvd-rom, this is supposed to slow down the process of copying DVD's or CD's as well.

Anyway I have fitted the drive ( before I read your posting) it shows up in the bios with all the info cylinder etc.
The drive is set to AUTO in the AMIBIOS.
It showed up on my desktop as new hardware installed ok.
I dont think it was formatted !

But It does not show up in my computer?

But it does in "Partition Magic" which gives an option of installing a operating system on that drive but I am not sure if thats the way to go.

What do I do now so I can put winXP Pro on, and be given the chance on start up of which operating system to run?
Will just installing XP Pro using Part/Magic do the job or, should i set something up in the bios first?

I was concerned about the effect of the writer on the same channel as the dvd-rom, this is supposed to slow down the process of copying DVD's or CD's as well.


That is from the old days when drives didn't have buffer underrun protection or it didn't work very well.

You should really be copying an image to your hard drive first then burning it to CD anyway.

Even if you did do a "on the fly" copy, as in CD to CD, burn proof or buffer underrun protection would stop just about all problems.

Anyway, it's up to you.


If you are going to be installing XP you don't really need Partition Magic.

It's not showing up in My Computer because it hasn't had a partition table or boot sector put on it yet.

I would just install XP on that drive. Don't worry about boot up options for now, they can be easily adjusted later if need be.

Hi Insomniac,
Thanks for your advice by the way.
I have XP Pro on Local disk (G)
How do I configure Computer or XP
to let me run (C) or (G)
When do you get the opportunity to select drive ?

What i would like is for my daughter to be able to run (C)
and I will run (G)
cheers
riggie

Ah the magic word and one of my favourites, "daughter". :)

Why do you want two copies of XP BTW?

Why not just physically install everything, then just format and do a clean install to the Primary Master hard drive? (you can always create an admin account for you and another account for your daughter)


If you really want more than one operating system, and depending on exactly what you want, then they can be configured by either,

Right-clicking My Computer, then Manage as well as,

Right-click My Computer, Properties, then Advanced tab, under Startup and Recovery click Settings, then under System Startup.

P.S If your daughter is over 21, please ask her to contact me so we can discuss this matter further.

Hi Insomniac
Well it's a long story, it involves sp2 knacking up all my online gaming, an MSN virus, kids and passwords, do I have to go on. lol
I just wanted the computer basically split in two, we did have our own user accounts etc but it still gets messed up.
As for my daughter I cannot divulge any information ;) lol.
cheers m8y
riggie

Fair enough, you now have all the basic information, so how you set it up or use it is entirely up to you.

Good luck.

Just one thing
When the computer boots up I have choice of two identical XP Pros
can I add names or modify these titles.

Right-click My Computer, Properties, then Advanced tab, under Startup and Recovery click Settings, then under System Startup.

Under system start up it has XP Pro fastdetect
and XP Pro fastdetect/ no execute=optin

I don't know, I've never tried it. You may be able to.

Also, you can set which one it will default to, and set the time delay etc.

Any other settings involve editing the boot.ini file which is what XP uses to boot up.

On the Startup and Recovery tab click Edit.

Only ever play with this after you have made a copy or it might not boot up.

HERE (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q289022) is some information on editing it.