altitude909
Best Advice Ever: RTFM
instead of having 2 installs of the same OS, why not just make 2 separate hardware profiles, one for music with everything that you dont want on and one for everyday use
S
studio23
...Uh?...
Personally if I was going to install a dual boot windows system, I would create 2 partitions on the first drive, install one copy of XP on each partition, and then use the second drive as a dedicated audio drive. That way you would not ever be using the same drive to run your OS and record audio
P-J
Rank Amateur
Amen to that. I wouldn't go down the 'two installs' route at all but if I did, your way makes much more sense.
altitude909
Best Advice Ever: RTFM
*sigh*
ppl. what you are doing makes absolutely zero sense. There is a feature in windows which is designed to do exactly what you are doing and you DO NOT have to have a separate partition nor do you have to intstall windows twice on the same machine. All you do is open system/hardware/hardware profiles, copy your current one, reboot. Now on bootup, you will be prompted which profile you want to use, choose your second one and then you can disable all the hardware and services you want and those settings will be remain defaults in that profile only.
ppl. what you are doing makes absolutely zero sense. There is a feature in windows which is designed to do exactly what you are doing and you DO NOT have to have a separate partition nor do you have to intstall windows twice on the same machine. All you do is open system/hardware/hardware profiles, copy your current one, reboot. Now on bootup, you will be prompted which profile you want to use, choose your second one and then you can disable all the hardware and services you want and those settings will be remain defaults in that profile only.
P-J
Rank Amateur
O
Ozzman
New member
Boot.ini
You can right-click on My Computer or go into the Control Panel to find System properties. There, you go into the advanced tab, to the Startup and Recovery group. Under that, is a Settings button. If you click that, it will open the boot.ini file.
Windows may not boot if the boot.ini file is corrupted. It complains about a missing or corrupted hal.dll file, which it prompts you to restore. The problem may clear on a reboot, usually if you return to a single drive setup to recover.
The boot order can be set using the Recovery console, after booting to the setup CD. The Recovery Console is an advanced diagnostic mode of Windows XP with special tools that will allow you to restore the boot.ini file.
When you reach the command prompt, type the following command and then press Enter: bootcfg /rebuild
The bootcfg utility will scan your hard drives for any Windows XP installations and then display the results. Follow the remaining steps to add your Windows XP installation to the boot.ini file.
The first prompt asks Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All).
Type Y in response to this question and press Enter.
The next prompt asks you to Enter Load Identifier:
This is the name of the operating system. For example, type Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition and press Enter.
The final prompt asks you to Enter OS Load options:.
Type /Fastdetect here and press Enter.
Take out the Windows XP CD, type exit and then press Enter to reboot.
Don't you just love the M$ way?
You can right-click on My Computer or go into the Control Panel to find System properties. There, you go into the advanced tab, to the Startup and Recovery group. Under that, is a Settings button. If you click that, it will open the boot.ini file.
Windows may not boot if the boot.ini file is corrupted. It complains about a missing or corrupted hal.dll file, which it prompts you to restore. The problem may clear on a reboot, usually if you return to a single drive setup to recover.
The boot order can be set using the Recovery console, after booting to the setup CD. The Recovery Console is an advanced diagnostic mode of Windows XP with special tools that will allow you to restore the boot.ini file.
When you reach the command prompt, type the following command and then press Enter: bootcfg /rebuild
The bootcfg utility will scan your hard drives for any Windows XP installations and then display the results. Follow the remaining steps to add your Windows XP installation to the boot.ini file.
The first prompt asks Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All).
Type Y in response to this question and press Enter.
The next prompt asks you to Enter Load Identifier:
This is the name of the operating system. For example, type Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition and press Enter.
The final prompt asks you to Enter OS Load options:.
Type /Fastdetect here and press Enter.
Take out the Windows XP CD, type exit and then press Enter to reboot.
Don't you just love the M$ way?
Toddskins
Member
Total overkill
I just started reading this thread a few minutes ago, and you are correct that this is not necessary. Then Altitude 909 hit the nail on the head regarding the XP feature "hardware profiles".
This is what I was about to suggest. Way too simple.
Lastly, to the Original Poster: Your main concern seems to be keeping your OS clean from viruses, spyware, and the like. There's a FANTASTIC, did you get that, I bold typed and underlined it, FANTASTIC solution that you must get. I don't even talk to people who come to me about their computer woes, if after I made this recommendation, they did not listen.
The answer is NORTON GHOST. Cost about $65 at Best Buy.
Your 2 harddrives is the perfect environment for what Ghost is known for. After you get XP running excellent and updated, and every known upgrade and patch in place (do all this before surfing the web in a casual way), you then run Norton Ghost backup image onto your 2nd harddrive.
What that means, is that a complete image of your C-drive, is made and stored in a folder on your 2nd hard disk. You just keep it there.
NOW, if you should have any type of disaster, at all!, you simply restore your C-Drive in a matter of 10 to 20 minutes. You run Ghost after the disaster; Ghost asks you where your backup image is; You tell Ghost it's on your 2nd drive (it will already know it and display it for you); you click and the backup image is restored over your C-drive. No trace of the disaster remains. Next, all prim and proper, ready to go again, like nothing happened.
So you run everything on 1 hard drive with 1 copy of XP, have 2 hardware profiles - one for music and the other for business/pleasure, and always put your data files on your 2nd hard drive for simplicity.
Nothing could be better.
I just started reading this thread a few minutes ago, and you are correct that this is not necessary. Then Altitude 909 hit the nail on the head regarding the XP feature "hardware profiles".
This is what I was about to suggest. Way too simple.
Lastly, to the Original Poster: Your main concern seems to be keeping your OS clean from viruses, spyware, and the like. There's a FANTASTIC, did you get that, I bold typed and underlined it, FANTASTIC solution that you must get. I don't even talk to people who come to me about their computer woes, if after I made this recommendation, they did not listen.
The answer is NORTON GHOST. Cost about $65 at Best Buy.
Your 2 harddrives is the perfect environment for what Ghost is known for. After you get XP running excellent and updated, and every known upgrade and patch in place (do all this before surfing the web in a casual way), you then run Norton Ghost backup image onto your 2nd harddrive.
What that means, is that a complete image of your C-drive, is made and stored in a folder on your 2nd hard disk. You just keep it there.
NOW, if you should have any type of disaster, at all!, you simply restore your C-Drive in a matter of 10 to 20 minutes. You run Ghost after the disaster; Ghost asks you where your backup image is; You tell Ghost it's on your 2nd drive (it will already know it and display it for you); you click and the backup image is restored over your C-drive. No trace of the disaster remains. Next, all prim and proper, ready to go again, like nothing happened.
So you run everything on 1 hard drive with 1 copy of XP, have 2 hardware profiles - one for music and the other for business/pleasure, and always put your data files on your 2nd hard drive for simplicity.
Nothing could be better.
Last edited:
P-J
Rank Amateur
He lives in Sweden. Not all of us live in America
I'm not so sure. I think Acronis True Image 11 is better. In fact, almost all alternatives to Symantec/Norton products seem to me to be. Although I've used them really only for mass imaging at work.
Yes, and then you have to install the myriad of software you use again, anything you've installed in-between making the image and now, and anything you've changed. Learning how to avoid viruses and spyware is a much better solution. Plus the fact that running Windows as a normal, plain-jane user is perfectly possible if you're not installing software left right and centre.
Not that I've ever used it, but a I also hear from a lot of the 'Joe users' I know that say they have a lot of success with System Restore in XP.
Last edited:
solo2racr
SUCK, SQUEEZE, BANG, BLOW
Setting up 2 hardware profiles is great and fine unless you use a USB keyboard. 
P-J
Rank Amateur
Setting up 2 hardware profiles is great and fine unless you use a USB keyboard.
Just enable 'Legacy USB support' in the BIOS. What's the problem?
P-J
Rank Amateur
altitude909
Best Advice Ever: RTFM
I love how the OP has not replied since the original post
Cause u knw.........
Cause u knw.........