Windows on 2 hard drives in 1 PC
- Thread starter m22au
- Start date
Magna
Administrator
You'll need to make sure the 2nd HD is partitioned with a Primary partition, then make that the Active partition, set it up as Primary Master on the Primary IDE channel, run your CMOS setup when booting (usually by hitting the "Delete" key) and have your computer auto-detect your hard drives. All of this makes it the bootable drive, then you'll need to install whatever version of Windows you prefer and away you go.
Assuming your current version of Windows is installed on your C: partition, prior to doing the above you could "Ghost" it over (using the Symantec utility or something similar like DriveCopy), then you wouldn't have to reinstall and reconfigure it.
This is actually more complicated than it first seems.
If you are just upgrading the drive then do as Magna said. Install the new drive as the second drive. Set your BIOS to autodetect. Then boot and run a DOS box. Partition the new drive with FDISK and format it with Format D: (Win95/98/ME). IF this is 2000/XP please say so, things are much different. Also, format a blank floppy with FORMAT A:/S. Then copy C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\FDISK.EXE to A: Take the floppy out and keep it handy.
To copy the OS, I would use XXCOPY from http://www.datman.com/ (It's free!!)
This may not work on Win2000/XP. Check their site - they have a HOWTO about it.
After copying the OS, remove the original drive, install the new drive as the primary master. You may have to rejumper the drive after moving the cable. Also disable the second drive in BIOS.
Boot from the floppy. Run FDISK again. Choose "2" Set Active partition. Save the changes and reboot. You should be good to go.
If this is Windows2000/XP things will be different. Also if you intend to dual boot please post.
Mike
If you are just upgrading the drive then do as Magna said. Install the new drive as the second drive. Set your BIOS to autodetect. Then boot and run a DOS box. Partition the new drive with FDISK and format it with Format D: (Win95/98/ME). IF this is 2000/XP please say so, things are much different. Also, format a blank floppy with FORMAT A:/S. Then copy C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\FDISK.EXE to A: Take the floppy out and keep it handy.
To copy the OS, I would use XXCOPY from http://www.datman.com/ (It's free!!)
This may not work on Win2000/XP. Check their site - they have a HOWTO about it.
After copying the OS, remove the original drive, install the new drive as the primary master. You may have to rejumper the drive after moving the cable. Also disable the second drive in BIOS.
Boot from the floppy. Run FDISK again. Choose "2" Set Active partition. Save the changes and reboot. You should be good to go.
If this is Windows2000/XP things will be different. Also if you intend to dual boot please post.
Mike