Second Drive

BruceMyers48 · Feb 28, 2002

I plan to put two drives in my PC. I will be running XP Home. To keep allmy drive letters in order should I not set the second drive to logical or primary partitions.One more question.If Xp is on one drive and 98 the second could it cause registry problems down the road. I was told my a tech. that even if one is NTFS and the other Fat32 it could cause registry problems, I tend to believe just the oposite that there should not be any conflict between the two.Thanks By the way I my self appreciate all the time and help that is offered on Toms Hardware. Bruce

btvillarin · Feb 28, 2002

I think your Windows XP drive should be the primary master, and the new one would be your primary slave.

If you want to install Win98, I'd suggest you do that first before WinXP. <A HREF="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/gettingstarted/multiboot.asp" target="_new">Here's a How-To for Mulitbooting.</A>

If you're in Win98 and WinXP is using the NTFS filesystem, then Win98 won't see the Windows XP partition, okay?

Why can't you just split that first hard drive to Win98 and WinXP, instead of using two? Then, you can split the new hard drive to house the paging/swap file in the first partition, and your data to the rest.

I hope I wasn't too confusing.

<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/btvillarin" target="_new">My Website</A>-reorganized & updated everyday

Zlash · Feb 28, 2002

And if thier running off of seperate drives i don't see how you could get registry problems. Win98 wouldn't even be able to see the xp drive or make changes on it.

...

Toejam31 · Feb 28, 2002

It's always better when dual-booting, if you have the option, to place each operating system in the first partition on a separate hard drive. For instance, Microsoft recommends that WinXP always be installed in this manner.

With this method, if a hard drive fails, the user still has a bootable operating system. And ... in the past, I have seen operating systems like Windows 2000 in a dual-boot configuration with Win98 (on the same drive) manage to corrupt the Master Boot Records of both partitions if Win2K begins to have major errors ... requiring a format and reinstallation of Win98. Theoretically, it shouldn't happen ... but in the real world, well, things can be different. I've seen it happen more than once, and so, it is possible.

If I was dual-booting ... Windows 98 would be on the Primary hard drive, and Windows XP on the slave. I would install Win98, first. That's the easiest method, as you know.

Toejam31

My Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=6847" target="_new">Toejam31's Tantalizing Tantric Toy</A>
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____________________________________________________________

"Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

Toejam31 · Feb 28, 2002

Your second hard drive must have a primary DOS partition, or you won't be able to add a file system, or assign a drive letter. Whether it's an active partition is another story.

To install a second hard drive, run FDISK off a DOS/Win95/98 startup disk. Create a Primary Partition. Do NOT make it active. Format the new disk from the GUI, especially if you are already running NTFS on the primary disk with WinXP.

"If Xp is on one drive and 98 the second could it cause registry problems down the road."

They don't share a common Registry, and I fail to see how one could cause Registry corruption in the other. And the file system you choose for a partition also has nothing to do with the corresponding Registry in each OS.

This guy doesn't sound like the world's most educated tech, IMHO.

Now ... let's start from the beginning. You are going to install two hard drives. Hypothetically, I'm assuming from your statements that you are going to run two different operating systems.

FDISK the first hard drive. Create a Primary partition. Make this one active. Install Win98 in that partition, with the FAT32 file system. The Win98 CD will allow you choose the file system and format the partition.

Note: If you wish to have more than one partition on the drive, you will have to select the option NOT to use all the available drive space for the Primary partition. Instead, select a percentage of the space. The next partition, (and any others) must be created as extended partitions. Then, in order to have a drive letter, a logical partition must be created within the extended partition.

Always reboot after creating partitions.

Now ... you have a choice, before installing WinXP. You can either create the partitions on the second drive with FDISK, or you can do it with the WinXP installation CD. Install the OS ... and make your choice during the installation as to the file system you prefer.

Personally, I prefer to use FAT32 initially, just in case there is a problem when installing the second OS. Then it is an easy matter to repartition and format the drive from DOS, if necessary. It is not difficult to convert a FAT32 file system to NTFS from within WinXP, once you have ascertained that the OS is stable.

That's my opinion.

If you would like more information on how to use FDISK, or how to partition a drive ... just say so!

Comments?

Toejam31

My Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=6847" target="_new">Toejam31's Tantalizing Tantric Toy</A>
Second Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=15942" target="_new">Toey's Dynamite DDR Duron</A>
____________________________________________________________

"Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

btvillarin · Feb 28, 2002

It's always better when dual-booting, if you have the option, to place each operating system in the first partition on a separate hard drive. For instance, Microsoft recommends that WinXP always be installed in this manner.

There's one choke from me.

With this method, if a hard drive fails, the user still has a bootable operating system. And ... in the past, I have seen operating systems like Windows 2000 in a dual-boot configuration with Win98 (on the same drive) manage to corrupt the Master Boot Records of both partitions if Win2K begins to have major errors ... requiring a format and reinstallation of Win98.

Another choke...

If I was dual-booting ... Windows 98 would be on the Primary hard drive, and Windows XP on the slave. I would install Win98, first. That's the easiest method, as you know.

Three chokes in a 12 hour period! Man, I'm just whiffin left and right. Well, that's a FYI for me. Thanks for pointing that out.

This guy doesn't sound like the world's most educated tech, IMHO.

That's how I feel about myself when people asks me questions, most of the time. :frown:

<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/btvillarin" target="_new">My Website</A>-reorganized & updated everyday

AndrewT · Feb 28, 2002

any clue how I can get back the space 2K and XP stole from me on my drives after removing them? Look like it keep some info in the hidden partition, every time I install it again I end up with the old settings I put in the first time, freaky! Also it crash the same way it did the first time LOL

I just want to whipe my drives clean and start over. fdisk didn't do it, also it was a biotch to get other drive from ntfs to fat32 again. So far it's nothing but pain! LOL at least the xp icons look pretty :lol:

Handsome A7V133 looking for long term relationship with a XP CPU. Prefer non smoker.

Toejam31 · Feb 28, 2002

"That's how I feel about myself when people asks me questions, most of the time."

Don't sweat it, bt. You gave him a feasible answer. I just wanted to point out a few things in the thread that I had run across in the past.

Remember, we're all on the same team, and it's all cool. I respect your opinion and your knowledge. You are a real asset to the Community, IMO.

Toey

My Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=6847" target="_new">Toejam31's Tantalizing Tantric Toy</A>
Second Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=15942" target="_new">Toey's Dynamite DDR Duron</A>
____________________________________________________________

"Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

Toejam31 · Feb 28, 2002

I can think of a couple of different ways to reclaim that lost space.

The first would be to download and install (on a floppy) a disk maintenance program supplied by your hard drive manufacturer. Most have a "low-level format" or an erase function in the program that writes ones and zeros to the drive, effectively removing the great majority of data on the disk, including the partitions.

The next method would be to load an operating system on a drive, and install <A HREF="http://www.powerquest.com/products/desktop.html" target="_new">Partition Magic</A>. This would allow you to "see" all the partitions on either drive, and re-allocate the space.

Toejam31

My Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=6847" target="_new">Toejam31's Tantalizing Tantric Toy</A>
Second Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=15942" target="_new">Toey's Dynamite DDR Duron</A>
____________________________________________________________

"Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

AndrewT · Mar 1, 2002

Well all I got with this maxtor is a maxblast floppy. I'll look and see if there is anything low level format related on it. PM7 cost 100$ up here, little too much for one time use, at least I think. thanks

Handsome A7V133 looking for long term relationship with a XP CPU. Prefer non smoker.

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