change boot volume to system volume

[James]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.configuration_manage (More info?)

I recently bought a new hard drive. I have WinXP on my old hard drive
and commenced to install WinXP on my new hard drive using the WinXP on
my old hard drive, i.e. i formatted new drive and opened install disks
through old WinXP. I eventually want to use my new hard drive as the
boot drive; however the WinXP install was done as a secondary system.
The new drive contains no system volume that contains the files
necessary for booting. Firstly, how do I get a system volume onto the
new drive without reloading WinXP? Secondly, can I have two drives
each with WinXP on them and each with the boot files on them? Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.configuration_manage (More info?)

James wrote on 21-Aug-2004 10:05 PM:

> I recently bought a new hard drive. I have WinXP on my old hard drive
> and commenced to install WinXP on my new hard drive using the WinXP on
> my old hard drive, i.e. i formatted new drive and opened install disks
> through old WinXP. I eventually want to use my new hard drive as the
> boot drive; however the WinXP install was done as a secondary system.
> The new drive contains no system volume that contains the files
> necessary for booting. Firstly, how do I get a system volume onto the
> new drive without reloading WinXP? Secondly, can I have two drives
> each with WinXP on them and each with the boot files on them? Thanks.

1) You can't get the system files on the new drive and repoint the
Windows folder without at least doing a repair install, and you have to
do that carefully or you end up in the same place.

2) Yes, you can have two independent installations of Windows XP, one on
each drive, but according to at least one MS spokesperson, this violates
your XP license (unless you buy two) and the native bootloader can't
handle it, although you can use the BIOS to switch boot devices. Another
alternative is a third-party bootloader.

You might want to install XP fresh on the new drive. Use your XP CD to
do a fresh install. Temporarily disconnect the old drive while doing
this. Then reconnect the drive and use File and Settings Transfer wizard
to move your data and settings from the old system to the new. Post back
if you want more details, but basically you run FAST on the old system
and save a file somewhere, then run FAST on the new system and import
the file you saved in the previous step. Then you can wipe the old
Windows folder and Program Files, etc from the old drive and use it as
additional storage, if it's in good shape.

Be sure to update your fresh install with the XP firewall turned ON.
Otherwise, you get infected before your updates are downloaded and
installed. You can also slipstream SP1 or SP2 into a Gold release
installer and burn that to a CD in order to install XP with SP2 already in.

--
Kent W. England, Microsoft MVP for Windows Security