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Alberto Spelta · Guest

my question is:
is possible install windows on a slave disk ?
i have a computer with 2 operating system installed, windows is
installed on the slave disk, first partition.
is possible startup windows without switch it on master channell ?

thanks

Alberto

Dave Patrick · Guest

"Alberto Spelta" wrote:
| my question is:
| is possible install windows on a slave disk ?
* Yes
| i have a computer with 2 operating system installed, windows is
| installed on the slave disk, first partition.
| is possible startup windows without switch it on master channell ?
* Don't know what this means.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

R. C. White · Guest

Hi, Alberto.

It depends on your definition of "install". Also, we have to deal with some
backwards terminology that WinXP has inherited from legacy computer systems.
As many authors have pointed out, "we boot from the system partition and
keep the operating system files in the boot volume". :>(

The few "system files" (typically, only NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM and boot.ini)
must all be in the Root of the "system partition". This is the Active
primary partition on the primary master drive, typically C:\. (All NT-based
versions of Windows (Win2K, WinXP, etc.) use these same filenames, although
the actual contents of the files vary with the version of Windows. The
WinXP version of NTLDR knows how to deal with Win2K, but the Win2K version
knows nothing about WinXP, which did not exist when the Win2K version was
written.)

Each installation of Windows creates a "boot folder" (\WinNT for Win2K;
\Windows for WinXP and other versions, by default) and puts all its
multi-megabytes of operating system files in that. During Setup, YOU decide
where to put that; whichever volume you choose will become the "boot volume"
for that installation. Each installation, of course, should be in a
separate volume, but that volume can be in just about any partition on any
hard drive in your computer. By volume, I mean either a primary partition
or a logical drive in an extended partition. Many users install Windows in
the system partition, so Drive C: is both the system partition and the boot
volume for that installation.

When the computer starts, C:\NTLDR uses C:\boot.ini to choose which Windows
version to boot and to see where to find it, then C:\NTDETECT.COM loads
Windows from wherever C:\boot.ini points. So NTLDR, etc., must ordinarily
be in the Root of the primary master, but WinXP can be "installed" into
\Windows on the slave - or anywhere else in your computer.

All this discussion is based on the native Windows system. I don't know
anything about Boot Magic or BootIT.NG or other third-party boot managers.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@corridor.net
Microsoft Windows MVP

"Alberto Spelta" <aspel@tin.it> wrote in message
news:eRVYIvhqEHA.1300@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...

Karl · Guest

Alberto,

It is possible to install windows on a slave drive.
Master and slave are simply terms used by the bios to
interact with the drives. You could for example, have a
master drive with a simple volume and only data files and
a slave drive with an active primary partition and
windows xp/2k.

There are several factors that determine which drive will
boot. One is the BIOS and another is the "active
partition" flag. In many newer BIOS versions you can
choose which ide drive to boot to first, second, and
third. The bios will search the drives in the order you
specify untill it finds an active partition and then it
will boot that partition. For example, if you have 2 ide
drives on your primary ide interface, you would have a
master and a slave. In the bios you could choose to boot
order you can choose IDE-0 or IDE-1. If you choose IDE-1
as your boot device, you would be telling the bios to
ignore IDE-0 (master) and look at IDE-1 (slave) for a
Operating System.

You need to check the partition on your slave drive to
see if it is set as "active". If it is, it is bootable.
The next problem to overcome is the order in which your
BIOS tries to boot to the drives. Depending on the BIOS
in your system, you may or may not be able to do this.
You may want to give your system manufacturer a call.

It is also possible to setup a slave drive and install
windows on it and still boot to the OS on your master
drive. For this to work, the master drive has to be
modified by the second OS that you are installing.
Windows 2k or XP will put their boot loader files on the
master drive but their %systemroot% folder (Windows for
XP and WINNT for 2000) can be located on a seperate
drive. This can be difficult to setup correctly.

Their is one more option, you can buy a hardware device
that occupies a empty drive bay and gives you a physical
switch that changes which drive is connected as master.
This allows you to shutdown, flip a switch, and boot back
up to a different HD without physically disconnecting or
moving and drives around.

Hope that helps.

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