computer advice needed

[wrnchplr]

I want to set up 2 hard drives both with there own os so my roommate can have her own hard drive. how would I do this?
Thanks

 

[olywrestle]

I don't think you can set it to have 2 OS, if you did, you woudl have to change the BIOS to specify which drive is your Boot drive each time. It would probably be easier to have 2 drives and then set up different profiles in XP and give permission to a specific drive for her and one for you...

 

[MattL]

Easiest would be a drive in a removeable case.

 

[Herzog]

or a selectable dual boot program.

 

[wrnchplr]

or a selectable dual boot program.

I have been trying to find one. any suggestions??

 

[Herzog]

Not sure if it will work...

But try to go ahead and install XP onto the other disk and see if it gives a dual boot option when the computer starts up after install (ntldr).

 

[way2nosty]

Not sure if it will work...

But try to go ahead and install XP onto the other disk and see if it gives a dual boot option when the computer starts up after install (ntldr).

You have to modify the boot.ini file. whatever os you install last will be the one that you will need to modify. an interesting thing about XP is the volume lables are dynamic, you can have both drives be c: based on where they boot from.

you will need to add to your boot.ini

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="My super OS" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

(all one line) just be warned if you mess it up you will have to flip disks and fix it. I would backup the boot.ini copy it and name it boot1.ini so you can rename it back if it gets messed up.

 

[wrnchplr]

Thanks I will give that a try. Does anyone know anything about linex and if it would work better???

 

[way2nosty]

Thanks I will give that a try. Does anyone know anything about linex and if it would work better???

That's the dark side Luke...

Linux has several flavors that look and feel like XP buy why get the copy when you already have the original. KDE and Gnome are both pretty good environments there are some issues with open office and M$ office etc.

 

[NoTrax]

Linux is the easiest solution, and I think you can install windows on two partitions and have two boot options.

 

[olywrestle]

wow, I can tell I am too dumb to be posting on this topic.....

 

[mbryson]

That's the dark side Luke...

Linux has several flavors that look and feel like XP buy why get the copy when you already have the original. KDE and Gnome are both pretty good environments there are some issues with open office and M$ office etc.

?????? ???????? dark side----Linux? I'd submit that Redmond, Washington is the headquarters of the 'dark' side. Linux isn't perfect, but it doesn't claim to be (as it's competition does). I'm not a big Linux geek, but I'd rather learn that than the Winders crap. The kicker about Winders XP, is it's FINALLY what was promised to be delivered in 1995.

 

[wrnchplr]

Linux is the easiest solution, and I think you can install windows on two partitions and have two boot options.

I know with linux you can setup 2 boot options, I just can't get it to install all the way. I got a copy of Debian and it does the whole install but the desktop never shows.

 

[wrnchplr]

That's the dark side Luke...

Linux has several flavors that look and feel like XP buy why get the copy when you already have the original. KDE and Gnome are both pretty good environments there are some issues with open office and M$ office etc.

I like the dark side of things, the problem with XP is I am cheap and don't want to spend the money, linux is free.

 

[way2nosty]

I'm not ripping on Linux. It has it's uses, It isn't as well suited to Desktop applications as others would have you beleive. It makes a great "Black Box" server etc. If windows could use memory like linux does the performance would double. I perfer BSD to the true "Linux" environment because of the port/package driven system and security. and you can run KDE or Gnome on it. I rarely do I prefer the purity of a black screen. If someone tells you that Linux is more secure then Windows Smack them for me - the security isn't in the os or the box it is in the person that manages it. You can run MacOS on top of a 5.4 BSD kernel it's pretty well free if you can find someone to donate a level 0 dump of their os. Mac OSX+ are built on BSD 4.3 and next year will start coming on Intel Hardware - there is some rumors that Mac os will turn Open source like Sun did.

 

[Caleb]

I'd have to agree with Marc 100% on this

if you have a high speed connection then just download another disc,yours is prolly corrupt or scartched or something. Setting up Linux nowadays is no harder than installing windows.

I have used Fedora Linux in the past and have been very pleased with it. There is also a TON of support boards and forums for it since its one of the most widely used distributions.

 

[mbryson]

......... next year will start coming on Intel Hardware - there is some rumors that Mac os will turn Open source like Sun did.

It's next year.......check apple.com. There are laptops out (I'm not sure of their shipping date----I just noticed them when buying a couple of G5 workstations).

 

[way2nosty]

It's next year.......check apple.com. There are laptops out (I'm not sure of their shipping date----I just noticed them when buying a couple of G5 workstations).

My apologies - it is next year

 

[Bone Down]

Take a look at Ubuntu has both KDE and Gnome desktop, installs really easy.

I have been running on my laptop now for the better part of 5 weeks (dual boot for the first 2.5 (winxppro / ubuntu 5.10)).

I have been very happy with this and the newest OpenOffice 2.0 I have had zero problems with sharing files with co workers, in fact they don't even know that I am running linux at all.

Ubuntu is debian based as well.

I am only having one minor issue and I will get to the bottom of it soon enough and that is vpn connection to my work intranet, once this is fixed I will be win free for my day to day work stuff.

 

[Pathos]

I got a copy of Debian and it does the whole install but the desktop never shows.

A quick way to tell if you actually installed X (the "desktop") is to just try to start it manualy .... login and type startx. If it comes up then it is just a problem with XDM / KDM / GDM or whatever display manager you are using not being loaded at startup.