2nd HDD as backup XP OS

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eric
  • Start date Start date
E

Eric

Hello,

Sort of an odd question: I have this *feeling* that the main HDD on my
PC is about the die. So, I purchased a 2nd Maxtor ATA/EIDE drive to
use primarily to backup important files. But, I'd also like to use it
as a bootable drive in case the main goes down. Is this possible? I
have XP on the main drive, and I also want to install XP on the 2nd.
So, I guess I'm asking about how to setup a dual-boot sytem with XP on
both drives, with the ability to see the 2nd drive from the main drive
to use for file backups. If that makes sense.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

~ Eric
 
Eric said:
Hello,

Sort of an odd question: I have this *feeling* that the main HDD on my
PC is about the die. So, I purchased a 2nd Maxtor ATA/EIDE drive to
use primarily to backup important files. But, I'd also like to use it
as a bootable drive in case the main goes down. Is this possible? I
have XP on the main drive, and I also want to install XP on the 2nd.
So, I guess I'm asking about how to setup a dual-boot sytem with XP on
both drives, with the ability to see the 2nd drive from the main drive
to use for file backups. If that makes sense.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

~ Eric
Click to expand...
I would install the new drive and use Ghost or similar to clone the boot
drive onto it - making it an exact copy of your current boot drive. Then,
leaving it as a non-master drive, you could use it to store any files you
want, and if the worst happened you would then just make the cloned drive
the master and away you go... In fact, most BIOS's these days allow you to
choose which drive to boot from at boot-up, so you would'nt even need to
change anything physically you could choose at will which drive to boot
from....
I ghost image my C: drive to my storage drive once a week anyway, just in
case.
Graham
 
GTS said:
I would install the new drive and use Ghost or similar to clone the boot
drive onto it - making it an exact copy of your current boot drive. Then,
leaving it as a non-master drive, you could use it to store any files you
want, and if the worst happened you would then just make the cloned drive
the master and away you go... In fact, most BIOS's these days allow you to
choose which drive to boot from at boot-up, so you would'nt even need to
change anything physically you could choose at will which drive to boot
from....
I ghost image my C: drive to my storage drive once a week anyway, just in
case.
Graham
Click to expand...

After the clone, I'd immediately would start the clone as the primary drive.
Why wait for the accident to happen? So clone, power down, swap disks. Use
the unreliable disk as scratch disk.

What is the feeling based on anyway?
 
Well, my PC is going on 5 years old and is still running fine (knock
on wood), but lately it's been crashing significantly more often.
And, I've gotten a disk error on statup twice. Just little things
like that.

Thanks for these solutions! Will look around for a cheap copy of
Ghost. Any suggestions there?

~ E
 
Eric said:
Well, my PC is going on 5 years old and is still running fine (knock
on wood), but lately it's been crashing significantly more often.
And, I've gotten a disk error on statup twice. Just little things
like that.

Thanks for these solutions! Will look around for a cheap copy of
Ghost. Any suggestions there?
Click to expand...
Well all you actually need is the DOS Ghost executable - about 1mb - and a
boot disk. The retail package of Ghost contains a Windows version of it plus
all sorts of tools you won't need. The CD does contain the DOS .exe file
though, so I would get it off a freinds CD or check the disks that came with
your mobo as they often provide Ghost for free. Alternatively, Maxtor
provide their own cloning utility on their website for free, and it's meant
to work as good as Ghost anyway...
a.. Creates a bootable MaxBlast 3 installation diskette.
b.. Compatible with Windows 95, 95B, 98, Me, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000,
and Windows XP.
c.. Breaks the 528 MB, 2.1 GB, 4.2 GB, 8.4 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB and 137 GB
capacity barriers.
d.. Support both FAT32 and NTFS drive partitions.
e.. Easy to use, Graphical Interface (GUI) with mouse and printer support.
f.. Supports up to four ATA devices in the same system*.
g.. The copy feature lets you make an exact duplicate of your existing
hard drive.
h.. Fast ATA and Serial ATA compatible.
i.. The installation tutorial option allows you to view the installation
process before physically installing your Maxtor ATA hard drive.
Note: There must be at least one Maxtor ATA Disk Drive installed in the
system for MaxBlast 3 to run.
 
Sort of an odd question: I have this *feeling* that the main HDD on my
PC is about the die. So, I purchased a 2nd Maxtor ATA/EIDE drive to
use primarily to backup important files. But, I'd also like to use it
as a bootable drive in case the main goes down. Is this possible? I
have XP on the main drive, and I also want to install XP on the 2nd.
So, I guess I'm asking about how to setup a dual-boot sytem with XP on
both drives, with the ability to see the 2nd drive from the main drive
to use for file backups. If that makes sense.
Click to expand...

I followed that logic on my old Win98SE machine with no trouble, doing a
clone every week and keeping the important files updated through a batch
file run once per hour.
It worked great, but when I moved to XP Pro I was advised by M$ and Symantec
not to keep another drive in the system with an identical copy of the OS.
The consensus was that although it may work fine for a day, week, or month,
eventually it would become confused and write something to the wrong drive.
See page 8 of this link:

http://radified.com/Ghost/ghost_1.htm

Here there is a clear warning that to boot with the clone in place and
running is an invitation to instantaneous disaster with any OS. I disagree
in that I've accessed these drives for short periods of time to retrieve a
file, or whatever, with no trouble in XP--and as I said ran a clone
full-time in Win98SE. But I take Symantec's caveats seriously:

"CAUTION: Do not start the computer after cloning until the instructions say
to do so. Starting a computer from the hard drive when the computer has two
Active partitions can damage program installations and trigger configuration
changes that you might not be able to reverse without restoring backups."

This came from:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...88256c23007c0a64?OpenDocument&src=bar_sch_nam

So now I have a permanent D: drive that is in place only to house these
hourly backups. The clones are done once per week, rotating six drives in
mobil racks, removing them before rebooting into XP.
 
Bob Davis said:
I followed that logic on my old Win98SE machine with no trouble,
doing a clone every week and keeping the important files up-
dated through a batch file run once per hour. It worked great,
but when I moved to XP Pro I was advised by M$ and Symantec not to keep another drive in the system with an identical copy of
the OS. The consensus was that although it may work fine for
a day, week, or month, eventually it would become confused
and write something to the wrong drive. See page 8 of this link:

http://radified.com/Ghost/ghost_1.htm

Here there is a clear warning that to boot with the clone in place
and running is an invitation to instantaneous disaster with any OS.
I disagree in that I've accessed these drives for short periods of
time to retrieve a file, or whatever, with no trouble in XP--and as
I said ran a clone full-time in Win98SE. But I take Symantec's
caveats seriously:

"CAUTION: Do not start the computer after cloning until the
instructions say to do so. Starting a computer from the hard
drive when the computer has two Active partitions can damage
program installations and trigger configuration changes that
you might not be able to reverse without restoring backups."

This came from:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...88256c23007c0a64?OpenDocument&src=bar_sch_nam

So now I have a permanent D: drive that is in place only
to house these hourly backups. The clones are done once
per week, rotating six drives in mobil racks, removing them
before rebooting into XP.
Click to expand...


Follow the tip from Rod Speed/Folkert Rientra/et al and just
disconnect the source HD before booting up the clone HD
for the first time. Once that is done, both can be connected
while you boot up one or the other. The one not booting will
merely be seen as a Local Disk with an accessible file
structure.

In my system, I also have a removable IDE hard drive that
I use to do backups of 2 internal hard drives, but I put
*multiple* clones on the same backup hard drive. All that
is necessary to keep them from getting melded together
is to remember to boot the clone for the 1st time in isolation
from the source drive.

But the frequent physical disconnection of the source drive
gets tedious, and it ages the connectors and my aching back.
Right now I'm trying to figure a way to do that without having
to physically disconnect the source hard drive. Merely
removing power to the source drive does the trick if it's on a
dedicated IDE channel, or, if the clone shares a channel with
the source drive, it works if the clone is the Master. Otherwise,
the "dead" Master doesn't allow the Slave on the same channel
to boot.

*TimDaniels*
 
Timothy Daniels said:
But the frequent physical disconnection of the source drive
gets tedious, and it ages the connectors and my aching back.
Right now I'm trying to figure a way to do that without having
to physically disconnect the source hard drive. Merely
removing power to the source drive does the trick if it's on a
dedicated IDE channel, or, if the clone shares a channel with
the source drive, it works if the clone is the Master. Otherwise,
the "dead" Master doesn't allow the Slave on the same channel
to boot.
Click to expand...


I'm coming around to the conclusion that the simplest
approach is to assume that the clone will always be on
the removable HD and just toggle-switch off the power
to ALL the internal HDs before booting up the clone on
the removable HD for the 1st time. That would require
just one toggle switch and no extra software to run.

*TimDaniels*
 
"Timothy Daniels" commented:
I'm coming around to the conclusion that the simplest
approach is to assume that the clone will always be on
the removable HD and just toggle-switch off the power
to ALL the internal HDs before booting up the clone on
the removable HD for the 1st time. That would require
just one toggle switch and no extra software to run.
Click to expand...


I should have mentioned that the removable HD is jumpered
as "Master", and regardless of whether the cloned HD is a
Slave on the same IDE channel or either Master or Slave on
the other IDE channel, the power on the cloned HD could
always be cut and still allow the clone on the removable HD
to boot up for the 1st time in isolation.

*TimDaniels*
 
Timothy Daniels said:
"Timothy Daniels" commented:


I should have mentioned that the removable HD is jumpered
as "Master", and regardless of whether the cloned HD is a
Slave on the same IDE channel or either Master or Slave on
the other IDE channel, the power on the cloned HD could
always be cut and still allow the clone on the removable HD
to boot up for the 1st time in isolation.
Click to expand...

Three attempts and still can't get it right. I rest my case.
 
Timothy Daniels said:
Follow the tip from Rod Speed/Folkert Rientra/et al and just
disconnect the source HD before booting up the clone HD
for the first time. Once that is done, both can be connected
while you boot up one or the other. The one not booting will
merely be seen as a Local Disk with an accessible file
structure.

In my system, I also have a removable IDE hard drive that
I use to do backups of 2 internal hard drives, but I put
*multiple* clones on the same backup hard drive. All that
is necessary to keep them from getting melded together
is to remember to boot the clone for the 1st time in isolation
from the source drive.

But the frequent physical disconnection of the source drive
gets tedious, and it ages the connectors and my aching back.
Right now I'm trying to figure a way to do that without having
to physically disconnect the source hard drive.
Click to expand...
Merely removing power to the source drive does the trick if it's
on a dedicated IDE channel, or, if the clone shares a channel with
the source drive, it works if the clone is the Master. Otherwise,
the "dead" Master doesn't allow the Slave on the same channel
to boot.
Click to expand...

Ignore the clueless troll.
 
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