Tim

Distinguished
Mar 31, 2004
1,833
0
19,780
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Hi there,

Trying but failing to get 3 active partition's from 1 x 80 gig Maxtor drive.
Firstly I created one 20 gig active partition and 3 x 19 gig logical
partitions and loaded XP Pro onto the first active partition. Then I loaded
Casper XP and copied the first partition to logical partition 2 and then 3.
Then altered the boot.ini file for disk 2 to show partition 2 and for disk 3
to show partition 3.

Then using Partition Magic 8 I changed the logical partitions 2 and 3 to
primary and set logical partition 2 as active not a problem it booted up
when back into PM8 and set logical partition 3 as active tried to boot but
all I got was 'autochk not found' skipping autochk and then it just reboots.

So I tried the following text into each partitions boot.ini file

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro
(Backup on partition 2)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro
(Backup on partition 3)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

All works well it appears that each partition boots but if I change the
desktop picture in one partition it changes in the other 2 partitions
leaving me to think that the 3 independent partitions I thought I had made
are not.

So any ideas on how I can have 3 totally separate and independent partitions
by just copying 1 partition to the other 2 or am I going to have to do 3
separate installs to the 3 separate active partitions and use Boot Magic to
control the boot sequence?



Many thanks, Tim.
 

Jon

Distinguished
Dec 4, 2003
618
0
18,980
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

The "default=" line in the boot.ini would need a different partition number
for each partition (otherwise you're just booting into the same version of
Windows on partition 1)

Jon


"Tim" <erat@NOSPAMblueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:Oa%23ZV5QiFHA.3288@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Hi there,
>
> Trying but failing to get 3 active partition's from 1 x 80 gig Maxtor
> drive.
> Firstly I created one 20 gig active partition and 3 x 19 gig logical
> partitions and loaded XP Pro onto the first active partition. Then I
> loaded
> Casper XP and copied the first partition to logical partition 2 and then
> 3.
> Then altered the boot.ini file for disk 2 to show partition 2 and for disk
> 3
> to show partition 3.
>
> Then using Partition Magic 8 I changed the logical partitions 2 and 3 to
> primary and set logical partition 2 as active not a problem it booted up
> when back into PM8 and set logical partition 3 as active tried to boot but
> all I got was 'autochk not found' skipping autochk and then it just
> reboots.
>
> So I tried the following text into each partitions boot.ini file
>
> [boot loader]
>
> timeout=30
>
> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
>
> [operating systems]
>
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
> Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
>
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro
> (Backup on partition 2)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
>
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro
> (Backup on partition 3)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
>
> All works well it appears that each partition boots but if I change the
> desktop picture in one partition it changes in the other 2 partitions
> leaving me to think that the 3 independent partitions I thought I had made
> are not.
>
> So any ideas on how I can have 3 totally separate and independent
> partitions
> by just copying 1 partition to the other 2 or am I going to have to do 3
> separate installs to the 3 separate active partitions and use Boot Magic
> to
> control the boot sequence?
>
>
>
> Many thanks, Tim.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
 
G

Guest

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

The default line is used if you don't select another operating system.
The partition number in the default line will not cause the computer to boot
to the same Windows.
--
Ron Sommer

"Jon" <Email_Address@SomewhereOrOther.com> wrote in message
news:eokRXORiFHA.2916@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> The "default=" line in the boot.ini would need a different partition
> number for each partition (otherwise you're just booting into the same
> version of Windows on partition 1)
>
> Jon
>
>
> "Tim" <erat@NOSPAMblueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:Oa%23ZV5QiFHA.3288@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>> Hi there,
>>
>> Trying but failing to get 3 active partition's from 1 x 80 gig Maxtor
>> drive.
>> Firstly I created one 20 gig active partition and 3 x 19 gig logical
>> partitions and loaded XP Pro onto the first active partition. Then I
>> loaded
>> Casper XP and copied the first partition to logical partition 2 and then
>> 3.
>> Then altered the boot.ini file for disk 2 to show partition 2 and for
>> disk 3
>> to show partition 3.
>>
>> Then using Partition Magic 8 I changed the logical partitions 2 and 3 to
>> primary and set logical partition 2 as active not a problem it booted up
>> when back into PM8 and set logical partition 3 as active tried to boot
>> but
>> all I got was 'autochk not found' skipping autochk and then it just
>> reboots.
>>
>> So I tried the following text into each partitions boot.ini file
>>
>> [boot loader]
>>
>> timeout=30
>>
>> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
>>
>> [operating systems]
>>
>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
>> Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
>>
>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro
>> (Backup on partition 2)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
>>
>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro
>> (Backup on partition 3)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
>>
>> All works well it appears that each partition boots but if I change the
>> desktop picture in one partition it changes in the other 2 partitions
>> leaving me to think that the 3 independent partitions I thought I had
>> made
>> are not.
>>
>> So any ideas on how I can have 3 totally separate and independent
>> partitions
>> by just copying 1 partition to the other 2 or am I going to have to do 3
>> separate installs to the 3 separate active partitions and use Boot Magic
>> to
>> control the boot sequence?
>>
>>
>>
>> Many thanks, Tim.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
 
G

Guest

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

"Tim" <erat@NOSPAMblueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:Oa%23ZV5QiFHA.3288@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Hi there,
>
> Trying but failing to get 3 active partition's from 1 x 80 gig Maxtor
> drive.
> Firstly I created one 20 gig active partition and 3 x 19 gig logical
> partitions and loaded XP Pro onto the first active partition. Then I
> loaded
> Casper XP and copied the first partition to logical partition 2 and then
> 3.
> Then altered the boot.ini file for disk 2 to show partition 2 and for disk
> 3
> to show partition 3.
>
> Then using Partition Magic 8 I changed the logical partitions 2 and 3 to
> primary and set logical partition 2 as active not a problem it booted up
> when back into PM8 and set logical partition 3 as active tried to boot but
> all I got was 'autochk not found' skipping autochk and then it just
> reboots.
>
> So I tried the following text into each partitions boot.ini file
>
> [boot loader]
>
> timeout=30
>
> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
>
> [operating systems]
>
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
> Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
>
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro
> (Backup on partition 2)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
>
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Pro
> (Backup on partition 3)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
>
> All works well it appears that each partition boots but if I change the
> desktop picture in one partition it changes in the other 2 partitions
> leaving me to think that the 3 independent partitions I thought I had made
> are not.
>
> So any ideas on how I can have 3 totally separate and independent
> partitions
> by just copying 1 partition to the other 2 or am I going to have to do 3
> separate installs to the 3 separate active partitions and use Boot Magic
> to
> control the boot sequence?
>
>
>
> Many thanks, Tim.
>
I think the problem is that you copied the installation from the first
partition (probably C:) on to the other two partitions (D: and E: ?). All
of the registry entries in all three copies point to C: as being where
Windows is installed.
So when you boot to "Microsoft Windows XP Pro (Backup on partition 2)" the
boot files will be read from the second partition (D:), but Windows will be
loaded from the first partition (C:) as will all the applications.

You could use Boot Magic to control the boot sequence, and hide the other
partitions. However, Windows might still find them and use the "wrong" copy
of C: (I've seen this happen). Three separate installs would be the safest
way to go in my opinion.
In that case, only the first partition needs to be active, the others can be
logical partitions within an extended partition.
Hope this helps.
 
G

Guest

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

"Tim" <erat@NOSPAMblueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
> Trying but failing to get 3 active partition's from 1 x 80 gig
> Maxtor drive. Firstly I created one 20 gig active partition
> and 3 x 19 gig logical partitions and loaded XP Pro onto the
> first active partition. Then I loaded Casper XP and copied
> the first partition to logical partition 2 and then 3. Then
> altered the boot.ini file for disk 2 to show partition 2 and
> for disk 3 to show partition 3.
>
> Then using Partition Magic 8 I changed the logical partitions
> 2 and 3 to primary and set logical partition 2 as active not a
> problem it booted up when back into PM8 and set logical
> partition 3 as active tried to boot but all I got was 'autochk
> not found' skipping autochk and then it just reboots.
>
> ...(snipped)...
>
> So any ideas on how I can have 3 totally separate and
> independent partitions by just copying 1 partition to the
> other 2 or am I going to have to do 3 separate installs to the
> 3 separate active partitions and use Boot Magic to control
> the boot sequence?

As the other replies suggested, there are basically two issues that can trip
you up: the ARCpath in boot.ini, and the partition signatures in the
registry. You'll find plenty of details on my webpage at
www.goodells.net/multiboot.

It sounds like you're already aware of the changes that need to be made to
boot.ini. However, your technique of creating logical partitions and
converting them to primary is likely to have left your partition table
entries out of order, so you can't be sure what numbers you should be using
in the boot.ini ARCpaths. (The ARCpath references are to the order found in
the partition table, not the order of the physical partitions on disk.)

I don't use CasperXP (and don't see a value in it to you for this project),
but I believe it would normally tweak the registry on the copy to keep
things straightened out. However, your technique of copying to a logical
partition and then converting that logical to a primary may have screwed up
what CasperXP "fixed", so I'm not sure we can blame CasperXP here.

I would start over and use PM instead of CasperXP, simply using PM to copy
partition-1 to the other two partitions. Your step-by-step didn't mention
BootMagic, so I'll assume that isn't yet installed to complicate the matter.
You didn't say--are these NTFS partitions? Doesn't BootMagic still require
a FAT32 partition? (BTW, there are better choices than BootMagic, when you
get that far.)