DeltaX Multibooting

Hi All,

Thought we had forgot. :D Not so. The hard drive thread died out more quickly than maybe it should have as there were a number of issues still remaining to talk about in my opinion. There also seemed a desire to move into multibooting more quickly.

So it is time for Multibooting to start on DeltaX. Again, we will proceed from the simple to the complex and cover quite a number of multiboot scenarios. One might think that multibooting a single hard drive would be the easiest to accomplish. That is not so as there are many more factors that go into this type of multibooting that have to be considered.

The easiest multibooting type to start with would be that of two hard drives in a single computer. In my recollection of “stuff”, Sarkazztic did quite a bit of work in this area. As a result I tried, successfully, to set up two hard drives, each with its own operating system. This was the easiest to understand and figure out. Why? Because all that was needed was another hard drive.

I chose WIN98SE and XP Home. Two Western Digital 40 GB hard drives were used in this configuration. I utilized a store bought Compaq Presario Model 5360 computer to show that this could be accomplished.

The first HDD was installed, Fdisked into 5 partitions of 8GB each, and all partitions formatted. In this particular case WIN98 was installed and then upgraded to WIN98SE. Once this was done, this hard drive was replaced with the second hard drive and WINXP Home was installed. The XP CD did it all by the way. Just follow the prompts. As a note, the NTFS file system was installed the first time.

With this finished, I took out this hard drive and reinstalled the WIN98SE hard drive in the primary IDE position and the WINXP hard drive in the computer but unconnected. When I wanted to change operating systems, the computer was shut down, case opened, and the IDE cable switched to the WINXP hard drive. The disadvantages here was having to shutdown and open the case, and the fact that with some cases installing 2 hdds can be a problem causing you to change out the drives also.

There is an answer to this as a lot of you know. But this is the simplest and easiest of mutibooting procedures to understand and try on your computer. It has the least amount of factors to
consider. :) :)

That is the most simple way of doing it.

They do make a Trios switch that will take up a 5 1/4 bay that lets you switch between up to 3 hdds.
Caution when using this switch you must shutdown, turn the power off, then make the selection for which hdd to use. If not, you will burn out the contacts. Seen the aftermath of hot switching. Not nice.

Small correction...the easiest multiboot system is 2 OS'es on the same drive, different partitions. Fx. a primary partition with Win98 and an extended partition with a logical drive containing W2K/XP. And this can further be extended by a 3rd system (W98, W2K, XP).

Train,

It is the most simple as we have not brought in BIOS, third party software which is plentiful, or controller cards, etc. And for those that do not wish to spend lots of money on a second hard drive you might pick up a small one on EBAY (less that 10GB but not less than 1GB) worth the money, or find one at a thrift shop, a garage sale, or a computer shop that upgrades hardware such as hard drives.

If you have two hard drives, the next step would be as Train pointed out the addition of the Trios switch which you can not only add up to three hard drives as Train pointed out but what if you hooked contoller cards to the back of the Trios Switch? All sorts of possibilities emerge. And guess what, with a Trios switch, you might lose a third of your storage system but no more unless you lost the MOBO or powersupply.

On BT, a Delta Computer, built online with the "Crew", it has had A Trios switch (3 Hard drives), a controller card, and a SCSI Kit all at the same time. What we are doing is only limited by your imagination as you follow along.

Also, your back up possibilities increase substantially with a second hard drive or a third. Your computer has just become more powerful as a result of just a few changes.

The possibilities with adding certain hardware are mindboggling. And remember also, a burned CD backup will certainly pay big dividends in case you make a mistake in configuring something.

kallikru
Easiest hardware wise, yes. But it is not as technical software wise so to speak. That will be gotten to though.

Believe it or not I have been asked how to do just what GG1 posted.

Hi kallikru, Oops - Train beat me looks like. We have not gotten to Bios yet in so far as using it to change the boot. Which is certainly easier then physically changing cables. Thanks for getting in on this thread. Now if I could burn to CD what you and the rest know. Hmmm. Maybe I can get some ideas by watching Matrix again. :D :D

Now another way of going about greengoose's method of physically disconnecting the unwanted drive is to use a hard drive caddy. This is a device that sits in an external 5¼" drive bay and will allow different hard drives to be plugged into it. Of course, you need a spare drive bay to install it, and they seem to be in short supply on most cases.


BTW - I'm sure if anyone still has questions or would like to add anything to the previous DeltaX thread there's no reason why we can't have more than one going at the same time.

Hmmm, I still disagree. The simplest way, as I see it, is still using one harddrive and two systems like Win98/W2K-XP since W2K and XP has the builtin ability of setting up a boot menu during installation to choose which system to boot at startup - without the user having to do anything fancy...let alone open the box or install an HD switch to switch between any two hard drives. No need to mess with the bios for this to work.

Or am I missing something...?

But I agree that the two-HDD method is the most primitive which doesn't require any knowledge about dual boot at all.

Hi Karl,

I don't think it's the simplest way either, but I think the idea is that we discuss all the different ways of multi-booting, and the way greengoose described is certainly a good place to start.

No we have not covered the Bios bit. Which iswhen booting go into your bios and reset the boot order....hdd 0 will be lets say be XP and hdd1 will be your 98SE install.
This method is used by a number of people and the main thing is to remember is what OS is on what hdd. And for those that have onboard ATA controllers they can also select between the contoller or IDE to boot first.

But, if say XP is installed, it is installed in fat32, then all partitions can be accessed. Remember that Fat can not see NTFS partitions but NTFS can see Fat/Fat32.

Hi Kallikru, I am not exactly sure what you mean unless you are referring to the built in bootloader that resides in NTFS. Please explain how this is done from the standpoint of starting with a blank hard drive and install both OSs. Then, how would you boot either OS. :)

The built in bootloader is exactly what I'm referring to... :D

I would like to post this before we abandon the idea of using two hard drives, if I may...

Using two hard drives has a few advantages besides being the least complex to setup and keep operational. Showing some additional benefits for both desktop and laptop users, the use of two drives should be well considered for its benefits when deciding on the dual-boot system you will be using. Such a system as this may very well be the best choice for you.

One benefit is that a case of corruption has little chance of taking out both drives, and the computer always has at least one drive that is ready to run. The expense associated with having an extra drive is really negligable when considering that if a drive with two operating systems goes out, not only must the drive be replaced, but also both operating systems. You ARE shut-down. Guess what? On a dual drive system, a replacement drive is already available, and it even has an operating system already on it. You remain operational.

There are two ways of looking at this:
1. You have as many computers as you have hard drives. Add to that, all of your systems use identical components; and each system can run different operating systems. Or

2. You have one computer with an unlimited backup of operating systems, for which you only need to provide a drive and an operating system.

See..?

Seriously, outside of regular maintenance, there shouldn't be any need for additional tinkering within the BIOS or the need for any software for switching between the two drives. So, there is less complication, of which the most difficult task is to switch from one drive to the other. Hardly difficult to do, I would think. As such, you can do all of your work using one, and the other can do all of the fun things, all without ever interfering with one-another. A nice way of doing things…

As to remembering which drive has what on it? Isn't that what sticky notes are for? :D

Hi All,

Kallikru disagrees with me on which method is the easiest. And goodness knows he sure helped me along with many others when I first got started. I received a PM from another of the old Delta Crew who wrote that they agreed with Kallikru.

A good debate on which or what is what we need here. Why? Because not one of us is an undisputed overall expert in computers. The subject is to vast for a single person to know it all.

But getting back to what Kallikru and I were discussing. This was approached from the standpoint that a new person that might want to dual boot two operating systems could do so and be successful and not have to know anything about BIOS, much about files systems, hard drives, partitioning, third party apps, etc. This is why I started more on the hardware side of it - something you can see touch or feel.

To me, you have to start with the simplest number of ideas and work up to make it easier. The Model T Ford was a simple car to work on, but not necessarily the easiest.

I have had some pretty good discussions/debates with others but I have learned one thing on VirDr and that is anyone who knows something about computers and is willing to help others has my utmost respect. And as you older people/members know, when I am wrong or make a mistake I surely admit it. As do the others I have also noticed.

But on the point we are discussing, I do not yield as yet. :) I have not been convinced. If you have an opinion, please please join in. We need all the viewpoints we can. This thread can be one of the best threads we have ever done on VirDr but it needs all your inputs.

And Kallikru, many thanks for posting what you did so we could cover this better. :) :)

Stickey notes Ridgerunr? :D :D