Further "tests" & "experiment" type things - Re: Installing WinXp on a 2nd Hard Disk, on a System with w98(SE)

"Jeff Gaines" <jgaines_newsid@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:xn0eaqco8x5sfv00a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> On 08/12/2005 pmj wrote:
>
>> Bunging the WinXP straight onto the 2nd Hard Disk means that both
>> the existing w98SE Installation & the new WinXP Installation would
>> be available to use (Dual Booting), while the rest of it is
>> investigated & found out about.

(& can be used for doing various other "mucking around type things,
finding out what can (& can't) be done... as borne out below!)
:-)

<snip>
> If you're in an experimental mood can you wipe the disk completely
> (remove all the partitions), go through the process again but this
> time create a primary partition and an extended partition using
> the XP installer, and then install XP into a logical drive in the
> extended partition. I have never tried that and it would be good
> to know if it is possible.
>
> I'd have a go but I've got a serious re-install due in the next few
> days and some eBay purchases on their way I want to play with :-)

OK...
Here's an Update on that little "experiment"!...

*** WARNING!!! ***
This Post is a bit long & may not interest some people...

But it explains a way of doing some stuff with things like WinXP
& w98 etc, that might be of some use to some other people...
:-)

I didn't actually do it exactly in the way you suggested - cos
(as Pierrepoint & I already pointed out, that is actually a perfectly
normal way of doing a WinXP Install which many people do, & it works
fine, but I'll do it if you really want)
:-)

What I did, was to try & see if I could do all of that sort of thing
from *within* windoze! - Using the GUI (Graphical User Interface) Disk
Management Utility thingy (to Delete/Create the Partitions you wanted)
& Dragging & Dropping Folders & Files, rather than using MSDOS Command
Line type stuff (FDisk etc) or the Partitioning thingy that the WinXP
Installer uses...
:-)

I Booted up into the (new) WinXP Installation & Created an Extended
Partition (in the UnAllocated Space on the Disk, that was available,
having created the original ((Primary) Partition that the WinXP was
Installed into) - incidentally, I didn't use all of the available Space
on the Disk for this Extended Partition.

In that Extended Partition, I then Created a "Logical Drive" (again,
not using all of the available Space in the (newly Created) Extended
Partition for it)

I chose *not* to Format it, at that stage, leaving it "Raw".

I then Booted up into the (original) w98SE Installation (on the
(single) Primary Partition which occupies all the available Space
on the *other* Physical Hard Disk)

Using windoze explorer, I looked at what it was showing about the
Drives & it all looked right - there was the C: Drive (on the 1st
Physical Hard Disk), that I was currently Booted into.

& there was the Primary Partition (on the 2nd Physical Hard Disk),
that the WinXP was Installed into (that showed up as Drive E: -
the CDRom was Drive D:)

& there was another Drive (the newly Created "Raw", UnFormatted "Logical
Drive"), in the Extended Partition.

I RightClicked on it & Formatted it - BTW - With all of the Drives,
I used FAT32 on them, so I could see & access them all, using w98)

I then Dragged & Dropped the windoze (XP) *Folder* (complete with all
its Sub Folders & Files, from the Drive containing the WinXP
Installation, thus *Copying* them to the (newly Formatted) Drive,
in the Extended Partition - I did the same with the "Program Files"
& "Documents & Settings" Folders (& Files), Dragging & Dropping them,
Copying them all, lock, stock & barrel to the new Drive...

I checked the Number of Files & Folders & the exact total Size,
to make sure everything had been Copied across OK - no need to Copy
the "Recycled" or "System Volume Information" Folders, or the
Pagefil.sys & Hiberfil.sys Files, cos WinXP will just Recreate them,
when it finds that they aren't there.

& then I thought I would see how well it would Boot up (into that
(Copied) WinXP Installation), without a primary Partition on the Disk...

So I fired up an MSDOS Command Prompt window (from within the w98 that
I was Booted up into) & ran FDisk!...
:-)

That showed the Partitions on the 2nd Physical Hard Disk, exactly
as expected - I then *Deleted* the Primary Partition (the one that
contained the Installation of WinXP, that I had just Copied over to
the other Partition) on the 2nd Physical Hard Disk, using FDisk...
:-)

That left just the Extended Partition, with it's (single) Logical
Drive in it, containing the (Copied) Files & Folders from the WinXP
Installation.

I checked that the Boot.ini (on the Primary Partition on the 1st
Physical Hard Disk) still contained the right Entry -

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINXPH="M$ WinXP Home"

That's the "ARC Path" to the WinXP Installation, that the Boot.ini
File uses, to tell what Installation to Boot Up into - "rdisk(1)" is
the *2nd* Physical Hard Disk (rdisk(0) being the first) & "partition(1)"
being the *1st* Partition on that Disk.

(I did it that way, so I could then try it with another (Primary)
Partition as well & see how it goes, if this worked OK)

I then ReBooted the Machine & at the Boot Menu chose the Entry for the
WinXP Installation (which, remember *was*, previously in the Primary
Partition, but was now, having been Copied over & Deleted from there,
in a Logical drive in the Extended Partition)...

& it Booted up into it fine!!!
Not a murmur!
:-)

I was actually (half) expecting it to whinge & moan, saying various
stuff wasn't where it should be, or where it expected it to be , or to
Pause for a while, while it did a "Recover from a Serious Error" type
thing (which is normally what happens when you muck around with things
like that a bit too much) - but it didn't! - It all Booted up with no
probs at all!
:-)

OK, now for the final "test" - cos this (at the moment) is with it
Booted up into & Running WinXP from the Logical Drive in the Extended
Partition, but *without* any Primary Partition on that (2nd) Physical)
Hard Disk.

So...
I have now Created (using the WinXP GUI Disk Management Utility) a
Primary Partition on the Hard Disk (replacing the one that I previously
Deleted, using FDisk, from within w98)...

I've Formatted it (using FAT32 again), so that both windoze
Installations will be able to see it OK, when it next Boots Up - My
reasoning being that if it wasn't Formatted, then it might not be a
"fair" test, when Booting up, if it isn't "visible" to the Operating
System(s) - it's been Allocated a Drive Letter of "F:", BTW (this is
still from within WinXP)

I've obviously got to alter/edit the Boot.ini File (on the Primary
Partition on the 1st Physical Hard Disk), so that it now points to the
*2nd* Partition on the 2nd Physical Hard Disk, cos the Primary Partition
that has just been Created, will (I think!) count as the "partition(1)"
& there isn't any Operating System on that (at the mo! - I'll also try
that later)...

Oh!!!
WinXP has actually *already* (Automagically!) Changed the Boot.ini
File!!!
I just Opened it up in Notepad, expecting to have to Edit it myself -
& windoze has noticed that there's now another Partition on the Hard
Disk & it's actually changed the "partition(1)" Entry in the Boot.ini
File to "partition(2)", itself!
:-)

OK...
I *think* I've got it clear in my mind what *should* happen,
when I ReBoot it & I'll see if it all still Boots Up OK...

Well, w98 Boots up fine (as it should, cos nothing's really changed
on the 1st Physical Hard Disk, that it's Installed on), with the
"New" Drive (the one that is the Primary Partition on the 2nd
Physical Hard Disk, showing up as Drive "D:" - cos w98 uses the normal
MSDOS based Lettering Conventions.

Now - Lets see if poor old WinXP can cope with all the various changes
that have been made to the Hard Disks, since it was last Booted Up -
that sort of thing can often trip it up, necessitating various stuff
using the Command Line Recovery Console, or even a complete Re-Install
to sort things out...

LOL!!!
Yep!
:-)

It all Booted Up Ok, into the WinXP, just fine!
:-)

That's the WinXP Installation that *was* (originally) Installed into
a Primary Partition on the 2nd Physical Hard Disk, but was *Copied*
over to a Logical Drive, in an Extended Partition, then the Primary
Partition was deleted completely, then Recreated & the Boot.ini File
was changed (Automagically) to suit the new arrangement & it all works
great!
:-)

I dunno what all that "Faffing" around has actually proved (or achieved)
though?
:-)

& OK - It wasn't done exactly in the way that you suggested - but it
*does* show, fairly conclusively I reckon<g> (which may well be of some
actual, practical use for Hawkeye?), that it's all fairly resilient &
that WinXP *will* happily Boot Up when Installed (or actually just
*Copied*, as in this case) into a Logical Drive, in an Extended
Partition, with a Primary Partition on the Hard Disk as well.

& (almost all of) it can be done using the windoze GUI! - No need to
do loads of stuff at a Black & scary, foreboding, looking MSDOS Command
Prompt, using FDisk for everything - which is (partly) what I was trying
to show.

Using FDisk for it all *does* work fine though & is the more usual(!?)
way of doing it, or it can all be done with the Partitioning thing that
is Part of the WinXP Install stuff as well.

So long as you know a bit about what's what & what you are intending
to do, it all works OK.

& hopefully, some of this will be useful, for anybody else who wants
to try various things like that & isn't sure whether or not it will
all work properly.
:-)

BTW - There's now *still* plenty of Space that has yet to be Allocated
to any (other) Partitions on the Hard Disk, so for another little
experiment, p'raps we can try Creating a few more Partitions & bunging
some more Installations of WinXP (or even w98?<g>) into them?...
:-)

Either doing it the more Conventional way - Installing from the CD,
or p'raps by Copying the current WinXP Installation Folders & Files,
(from "outside" WinXP, p'raps using the w98, like before?), onto another
Drive again?...
:-)

--
pmj


.

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