Not a Linux question, dual boot with master and slave?

Factual Questions
1

I installed a new hard drive with Windows XP pro, adding to my previous hard drive. Is there a way to set it so I don’t have to open up my computer every time I want to access my old XP boot? Forgive me if this has been answered before, all I could find were references to Linux and XP dual boot.

I have installed a new hard drive in my computer, because my old WindowsXP installation continually leaked memory through explorer.exe, even after a reinstall. I have to set the new drive to Master and the old drive to slave. As far as I can tell, there’s no way to make my system boot to a slave. I have a two year old Dell desktop, btw.

There are some applications still need to access on the old XP system, but opening the system and rearranging cables or jumper pins is a real headache.

2

In your new (master) XP Pro install, edit the following file in notepad:

C:\boot.ini

And change it to look something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=“WindowsNew” /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS=“WindowsOld”

This will allow you to select either your new XP install or old XP install on bootup.

HTH,

-SweepK

3

Thanks for the advice but there’s no “boot.ini” file on my new C: drive anywhere, I checked all subdirectories. Too bad, that would have been easy.

4

Hmm… should be there, it’s a system file though so you probably cannot see it.

You can edit it one of two ways:

  1. From the explorer window, go to Tools->Folder Options, then click on the “view” tab. In the “Advanced Settings” window, scroll down to the entry labeled “Hide protected operating system files”, and un-select that entry. Hit apply, and you should be able to see the boot.ini file.

  2. Open up a dos command line, and “cd” back to the “c” root directory. From there you can issue a “notepad boot.ini” to edit.

SweepK

5

oops… it’s also hidden as well :rolleyes:, so in the explorer view options window select “Show hidden files and folders” in addition to unchecking “hide protected operating system files”.

6

Actually, it’s even easier to use the feature in the control panel to edit it (instructions here.)