MK808 said:
I have XP Pro SP 2 and Outlook 2002 SP 3 on my current C Drive.
I want do Clean install XP Pro SP 2 and Outlook 2003 on a different
drive then be able to boot from either to use the Files and Settings
Wizard to import my current settings to the new installation. Can
someone tell me how to do this or another method to be able to
boot from either for a while until I get the new installation dailed in.
I will eventually format the current C and use it for storage.
The easiest way to do this is to use the BIOS's Hard Drive
Boot Order to make one or the other hard drive control booting.
This keeps each OS on independent hard drives without the
need for multi-booting and without the later need to convert the
multi-boot menu back to mono-booting.
To do this, install the fresh OS on the 2nd hard drive while
the 1st hard drive is unconnected. The OS will be installed as
a mono-boot, completely independent of the 1st OS, and it
will call its own partition "C:" when it runs. While doing the
installation, it doesn't matter how the HD is jumpered or to which
port it's connected - by virtue of it being the only HD connected in
the system, it will automatically be at the head of the BIOS's Hard
Drive Boot Order, and it will get control at startup. Since each
OS will call its own partition "C:", each will refer to the other OS's
partition by some other letter. This will not be a problem as long
as there are no shortcuts that refer to another partition.
To select an HD from which to boot when there are 2 HDs
connected, you must know how the HDs are prioritized in the
BIOS's Hard Drive Boot Order. For PATA (i.e. "IDE") HDs,
the *default* order is:
Primary Master,
Primary Slave,
Secondary Master,
Secondary Slave.
For SATA HDs, the *default* Hard Drive Boot Order just
follows the numbering of the SATA pors, with the lowest port
number first.
The BIOS will usually use the HD manufacturer's model no. of
the HD in its listing of the Hard Drive Boot Order, so it helps if the
HDs have different model numbers. It will also help you in
recognizing which OS has started up if you put a folder on the
Desktop with a name that identifies the OS version, or you can
use different Desktop background images for the 2 OSes. Since
each HD will have a full set of boot files for the OS that resides
on it, when you no longer have a use for the 1st HD, simply
reformat it using the Disk Manager in the 2nd HD's OS.
*TimDaniels*.
