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How to use 2 operating systems?


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#1
G-bo

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Hi folks,great site here by the way.I'll keep this as short as I can.I have two hard drives,one has xp sp3 and one has sp2.As I use one system for music and midi recording and mastering it was necessary to run 2 operating systems,one for my recording and one for regular use(e-mail ect.)This allows me to avoid some incompatability issues with the software and avoid system crashes.This setup works fine except that to change operating systems I have been removing the side of the tower and switching the data transfer wire and the power cable to the other hard drive,then when finished recording powered down and switch them back.As you can imagine this is getting pretty tedious so I was wondering if there was a better way to switch between the two systems?Appreciate any help you could tell me.Cheers.
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#2
isimaster

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Plug in both drives, go to your Bios, and change the HD boot Order.
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#3
G-bo

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Thanks for the feedback isimaster,just wondering if my hard drives should be set any particular way(slave or master)also when you say adjust the bios settings could you please explain a little further.I know how to get into the bios but know little or next to nothing about tweaking it's settings.Thanks again.Cheers.
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#4
G-bo

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Well I hooked up both hard drives and entered the bios and chose the hard drive I wanted but it will only let me acess the one operating system.If anyone has any info on what I might be doing wrong would much appreciate it.Cheers.
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#5
isimaster

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Could you give me some specs on your machine.
Are your drives IDE or Sata ?
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#6
G-bo

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Both my drives are sata
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#7
isimaster

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chose the hard drive I wanted but it will only let me acess the one operating system.

Which one?
you should see one as PM (Primary Master) one as SM (secondary master)
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#8
G-bo

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well both of my operating systems are xp.in my bios it does not say primary or master where Iam looking.it does show the size of the hd however and this is how i chose it.am i missing something in the bios maybe,Idon't know my way around there too good.
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#9
isimaster

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Each bios is a little different, the part your looking for is"Hard drive Boot priority",
It should be in "Advanced BIOS Features" You change the order using the + or - keys.
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#10
G-bo

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Thanks isimaster I'm going to try that now. will post back with results.Cheers.
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#11
G-bo

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well that worked out pretty good isimaster.I can now disable the hd that I'm not using.Thanks for all your help,much appreciated.One last thing I noticed was that both my hard drives show even tho I'm only using one.This is proably normal I suppose,just curious.Thanks again,Cheers.
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#12
isimaster

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Your Welcome!!

One last thing I noticed was that both my hard drives show even tho I'm only using one.

Yes that is normal. For a moment just think of it as if you had one bootable drive and added another for extra space.
The only difference is they are both bootable.
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#13
G-bo

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Kool,thanks again isimaster really appreciate all you're help.Guess I can put the side back on my tower now.Lol.Cheers.
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