Does anyone know how I can get Windows to ask me to select which OS I want to use when starting up my computer? I have Windows 7 on my C Drive and Windows XP on my D Drive and I want to be able to choose at startup which OS to use. At the moment, the two drives are connected via the same IDE cable and the jumpers are set to 'cable select'. Any advice would be welcome!
Using two hard drives with different OS
- Thread starter selmar47
- Start date
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I run XP Pro & Vista Home; how did you install the two OS? Are C & D two physical partitions on the same drive or are they completely different drives? If you installed the 2nd OS while the first is still active setup will give you the option to select & format a new partition in which to install the second OS, both systems will then be displayed at the initial boot menu giving around 10 seconds to select the 2nd non default system. If you installed the two OS on separate drives independent of each other (i.e. without both drives installed), the boot menu will not appear as the primary/secondary OS information will not have been written into the primary drive boot sector as part of setup so you will never get the option appear; if this is the case (as far as I’m aware), you will have to reinstall one OS, usually the one you want to be the default.
What you need is a boot loader
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/
is a good one, it displayes a DOS screen to enable you to switch between OS, I use it for a dual windows/linux machine.
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/
is a good one, it displayes a DOS screen to enable you to switch between OS, I use it for a dual windows/linux machine.
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I think what you’ve done is either swapped the drives around on the IDE cable or installed the second OS isolation of the 1st which is why the system doesn’t see the original. When you fitted the new drive & initially re-installed XP, did you leave the original drive where it was or move it onto the slave IDE cable connector, effectively making it drive D? If so, that’s why the system no longer sees the original XP OS as there is no information that it exists in the primary boot sector on what is now your master drive C; if you want both OS to appear in the boot menu, you must install the second OS with the first still visible in the primary boot sector or it won’t work.
You will have to re-install XP onto what is now your slave drive (D). You don’t have to install into a logical partition on your master C drive. Stick the OS disc in, boot & initiate setup; you will be asked if you want to reinstall (reformatting the existing C drive) or do a new OS install. Chose new installation & you will then be asked where you want to install the new OS & both drives should appear in a menu at the bottom of the screen; chose the D drive & setup will then re-format & install a new XP OS on that drive. After setup has completed, you will see a boot menu showing both OS allowing you to chose but, unfortunately, XP will be the default OS as it picks the latest install as default; I have no idea if you can change it.
I have used “Boot Magic” (a boot loader) in the past but it wasn’t without problems & I don’t think it works with the new file systems anyway; better to use Windows own boot manager.
You will have to re-install XP onto what is now your slave drive (D). You don’t have to install into a logical partition on your master C drive. Stick the OS disc in, boot & initiate setup; you will be asked if you want to reinstall (reformatting the existing C drive) or do a new OS install. Chose new installation & you will then be asked where you want to install the new OS & both drives should appear in a menu at the bottom of the screen; chose the D drive & setup will then re-format & install a new XP OS on that drive. After setup has completed, you will see a boot menu showing both OS allowing you to chose but, unfortunately, XP will be the default OS as it picks the latest install as default; I have no idea if you can change it.
I have used “Boot Magic” (a boot loader) in the past but it wasn’t without problems & I don’t think it works with the new file systems anyway; better to use Windows own boot manager.
Hi Richard
Thanks for explaining all that to me. It sounds a little complicated, but I'm sure I'll get through it if I read your answer carefully and take my time! I'll let you know how it works out. I have to go to Manchester for a few days, so it will have to wait until I get back to Plymouth. I'll be in touch after or if I can find the time to try it while I'm still here, I'll let you know sooner.
Thanks a mill!
Les
Thanks for explaining all that to me. It sounds a little complicated, but I'm sure I'll get through it if I read your answer carefully and take my time! I'll let you know how it works out. I have to go to Manchester for a few days, so it will have to wait until I get back to Plymouth. I'll be in touch after or if I can find the time to try it while I'm still here, I'll let you know sooner.
Thanks a mill!
Les
Hi Richard! You are the man! I did what you said and reinstalled Windows XP on my 'D' Drive and it just booted into Windows XP without any options to select another operating system. I then re-installed Windows 7 and it gave me the choice of where to install, so I selected my 'C' drive. After installation and all updates to both Windows versions I now have the option at startup to choose either Windows 7 or an Earlier Version of Windows! Brill! I think I made a mess of it originally, by un-plugging my 'D' Drive during the installation of Windows 7 onto my 'C' Drive. I read about it somewhere on the internet, so that's why I did it. Wrong is seems. Anyway, thank you very much for pointing me in the right direction. Much appreciated.
Les.
Les.
I’ve been using multiple operating systems for many years now, I used to visit a lot of rather “dodgy” web sites (that’s for software & key cracks not porn 
!) & it’s where all the “nasty people” plant their bugs so it’s easy to get infected if your not careful; I found it very useful to have a standby OS if your main one “goes down”, so to speak. I’ve installed such systems many times, it’s not difficult but not always easy to get folks to understand that its important to follow the correct install procedure for any additional OS; glad it worked out for you.
!) & it’s where all the “nasty people” plant their bugs so it’s easy to get infected if your not careful; I found it very useful to have a standby OS if your main one “goes down”, so to speak. I’ve installed such systems many times, it’s not difficult but not always easy to get folks to understand that its important to follow the correct install procedure for any additional OS; glad it worked out for you. 
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I seem to remember you need XP Pro not home edition. I have Windows98se and XP pro plus Memphis the latter a Linux system uses a floppy to start the boot.
But in XP Control Panel then System under Advanced then startup and recovery under Default operating system I can select which it normally starts in.
Under that is edit and in a file called "Boot" it has:-
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
C:\="Microsoft Windows 98"
That is something to do with which system is in use and it was all done automatic when I loaded XP. But think it needs to be XP pro?
But in XP Control Panel then System under Advanced then startup and recovery under Default operating system I can select which it normally starts in.
Under that is edit and in a file called "Boot" it has:-
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
C:\="Microsoft Windows 98"
That is something to do with which system is in use and it was all done automatic when I loaded XP. But think it needs to be XP pro?
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