[ozob]

EDITED: I've resolved several of these issues. Please disregard description below. I will start a new thread if needed to address smaller number of issues. Thanks.

Greetings,

I use a video editor that really wants a 'clean' XP install to function correctly. The suggestion from the maker (Avid aka Pinnacle) is to install XP in a dual boot configuration. Instructions were to simply boot from the XP cd and follow the prompts, since the existing SP OS will be detected and it will ask what you want to do. Fair enough, but... a few complications seem to occur. XP wont boot from the cd drive. When I try to run the install program from the cd after XP has already loaded, it returns a message something like, 'can't install it because what is on the computer is newer than what is on the cd'. The cd is XP Pro SP1, the computer has been upgraded to SP2, so I presume this is the issue. This seems to preclude this approach.

Prior to this effort, I did battle with some ugly malware and such. All of that is gone now, but there was some damage done along the way. For example, most, but not all, of my XP accessories are gone. Most of my applications can no longer be found Start>All Programs. (I run most of them from the desktop or tray icons, and those not there I can execute from their installed locations, so this doesn't seem like a big deal at the moment). All of my routinely used aps run fine. No evident damage to aps.

So, here is the hardware setup:
RAID 1 controller on the motherboard is enabled, and first in line for boot. Works like a champ.
CD/DVD is next in line on the boot sequence (the device works fine, but Windows wont boot from this device when I put it first in the boot sequence. Goes to the RAID. When I disable the RAID controller above I get the 'Missing NTLDR Press Ctrl-Alt-Dlt to restart' message.) Installed on the secondary IDE channel on the motherboard.
A formatted, but otherwise blank, hard drive is installed on the motherboard's primary IDE channel, and visible to XP. This is where I want to install the second XP for dual boot. Currently 3rd in line for the boot sequence.
I have another ATA133 interface installed on a PCI slot. It takes care of a drive used only for data, not booting. Works fine.

I have an XP Pro SP2 disk for another computer that I own, if that simplifies any of the repair activities. I have, obviously, my original XP Pro SP1 disk, with valid keys for all of these. (I don't cheat)

I guess I dislike the idea of repairing 'down' to SP 1 and then reinstalling all of the upgrades. There must be hundreds of them by now?)

How shall I approach this?

Thanks a bunch.

Edited by ozob, 25 June 2006 - 08:51 AM.

[Advertisements]

You can only dual-boot on the one hard drive, if that's what you're referring to. If you want two XP installations on two different drives, that's not dual-booting, its just whichever drive is set to boot from first.

To get a dual-boot configuration, you need to either use something like PartitionMagic (to shrink your current partition and make a new one and install XP into that), or boot off your original XP CD and do it from there (taking note of course that this will wipe the drive).

[Neil Jones]

You can only dual-boot on the one hard drive, if that's what you're referring to. If you want two XP installations on two different drives, that's not dual-booting, its just whichever drive is set to boot from first.

To get a dual-boot configuration, you need to either use something like PartitionMagic (to shrink your current partition and make a new one and install XP into that), or boot off your original XP CD and do it from there (taking note of course that this will wipe the drive).