XP to Windows 7

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bobster

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I have a Dell Inspiron 530, Intel dual 2.2 CPU computer running XP/Sp3/IE8

with all updates. It has 3 identical, 320G SATA HDs, all cloned to the same

software, and 2 gigs of memory. The three HDs are located in the two

internal positions and one external enclosure. I have been given a gift of

a legal Windows 7 disk and wish to install W7 on one of the drives. My

questions:



If I install W7 on one of the HDs, I realize that the XP (and everything

else) on that HD is gone and I have no problem with that as I will still

have two fully operational XP systems and all my apps on the two other HDs.

But will I still be able to boot up to these XP drives or will the

installation of W7 change my BIOS settings or some other change that will

prevent me from doing this. What I really want to accomplish is to get W7

up and running on one of my HDs but still be able to re-boot into one of my

2 remaining XP drives. In other words, a triple boot, one W7 system and two

XP systems.



Why would I want to do this? Well, my XP/IE8 works beautifully and I don't

want to do anything to screw it up but I realize I'll have to switch to W7

eventually. The ideal situation for me would be to retain the XP capability

on one HD, with another HD containing the clone of the first one for a back

up, and the third HD with W7 as a learning tool to get comfortable with W7.



Any problem with doing this?
 
lets see if I got this right...

on your 2 internal HD you have an XP installation on each HD and therefore

you are dualbooting????and both are exactly the same?

Plus you have a "cloned" external drive which is an exact copy of HD #1 and

#2???



If you disconnect the external drive and boot from the W7 disk during the

process pick

one of the internal HD to install to..W7 will create the dual boot and change

the MBR on the

other drive to reflect this dual boot. Be aware that the MBR will be on the XP

HD and as such

if you remove this drive your system will not boot without a W7 repair.

Look at

www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8057-dual-boot-installation-windows-7-xp.html





The other way is if your mobo BIOS supports the F12 boot menu option.

By disconnecting all drives except the drive where you will install W7 onto

there is no MBR change on the XP drive and you just do a normal installation.

Then when W7 is up and running you reconnect the XP drive. During the boot

process you should see a quick message to push F12 and a small window pops up

where you can pick the HD to boot from.



peter



--

If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate

or disruptive,please ignore it.

If you dont know how to ignore a posting complain

to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate :-)



"bobster" wrote in message

news:#Rus98TpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> I have a Dell Inspiron 530, Intel dual 2.2 CPU computer running XP/Sp3/IE8

> with all updates. It has 3 identical, 320G SATA HDs, all cloned to the same

> software, and 2 gigs of memory. The three HDs are located in the two

> internal positions and one external enclosure. I have been given a gift of

> a legal Windows 7 disk and wish to install W7 on one of the drives. My

> questions:

>

> If I install W7 on one of the HDs, I realize that the XP (and everything

> else) on that HD is gone and I have no problem with that as I will still

> have two fully operational XP systems and all my apps on the two other HDs.

> But will I still be able to boot up to these XP drives or will the

> installation of W7 change my BIOS settings or some other change that will

> prevent me from doing this. What I really want to accomplish is to get W7

> up and running on one of my HDs but still be able to re-boot into one of my

> 2 remaining XP drives. In other words, a triple boot, one W7 system and two

> XP systems.

>

> Why would I want to do this? Well, my XP/IE8 works beautifully and I don't

> want to do anything to screw it up but I realize I'll have to switch to W7

> eventually. The ideal situation for me would be to retain the XP capability

> on one HD, with another HD containing the clone of the first one for a back

> up, and the third HD with W7 as a learning tool to get comfortable with W7.

>

> Any problem with doing this?

>

>
 
Peter, you said,



"lets see if I got this right...

on your 2 internal HD you have an XP installation on each HD and therefore

you are dualbooting????and both are exactly the same?

Plus you have a "cloned" external drive which is an exact copy of HD #1 and

#2???"



Yes, that is correct. It sounds kinda crazy but I wanted a "hot spare" on

the 2nd internal drive and an external spare in the event the of a computer

failure. With HD prices at want to do anything to screw it up but I realize I'll have to switch to W7

> eventually. The ideal situation for me would be to retain the XP

> capability

> on one HD, with another HD containing the clone of the first one for a

> back

> up, and the third HD with W7 as a learning tool to get comfortable with

> W7.

>

> Any problem with doing this?

>

>[/color]
 


> "bobster" wrote in message

> news:#Rus98TpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> I have a Dell Inspiron 530, Intel dual 2.2 CPU computer running

>> XP/Sp3/IE8

>> with all updates. It has 3 identical, 320G SATA HDs, all cloned to the

>> same

>> software, and 2 gigs of memory. The three HDs are located in the two

>> internal positions and one external enclosure. I have been given a gift

>> of

>> a legal Windows 7 disk and wish to install W7 on one of the drives. My

>> questions:

>>

>> If I install W7 on one of the HDs, I realize that the XP (and everything

>> else) on that HD is gone and I have no problem with that as I will still

>> have two fully operational XP systems and all my apps on the two other

>> HDs.

>> But will I still be able to boot up to these XP drives or will the

>> installation of W7 change my BIOS settings or some other change that will

>> prevent me from doing this. What I really want to accomplish is to get

>> W7

>> up and running on one of my HDs but still be able to re-boot into one of

>> my

>> 2 remaining XP drives. In other words, a triple boot, one W7 system and

>> two

>> XP systems.

>>

>> Why would I want to do this? Well, my XP/IE8 works beautifully and I

>> don't

>> want to do anything to screw it up but I realize I'll have to switch to

>> W7

>> eventually. The ideal situation for me would be to retain the XP

>> capability

>> on one HD, with another HD containing the clone of the first one for a

>> back

>> up, and the third HD with W7 as a learning tool to get comfortable with

>> W7.

>>

>> Any problem with doing this?





"bobster" wrote in message

news:u2CHDrUpKHA.5328@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> Peter, you said,

>

> "lets see if I got this right...

> on your 2 internal HD you have an XP installation on each HD and therefore

> you are dualbooting????and both are exactly the same?

> Plus you have a "cloned" external drive which is an exact copy of HD #1

> and

> #2???"

>

> Yes, that is correct. It sounds kinda crazy but I wanted a "hot spare" on

> the 2nd internal drive and an external spare in the event the of a

> computer

> failure. With HD prices at
 
Anna,



Thanks for the sage advice. Yes, I have upgraded to Casper 6.0 but since my

external HD enclosure is connected via a SATA port, the new USB boot

capability didn't provide much usable new capability. Not a problem for me

as both 5.0, and now 6.0 are super reliable, and I have always been able to

boot from the external enclosure-mounted HD as it is connected to a SATA

port via an eSATA cable. And yes, you are correct, my Dell Inspiron 530

supports USB2 and has the F12 capability to select the boot drive. I also

know how to change the boot order in the BIOS via the F2 button.



What I have never done is to format a drive into multiple partitions , each

with a new drive letter. The procedure in the XP Help and Support section

sounds pretty straightforward so I'll probably give it a try.



Thanks again for your help.



"Anna" wrote in message

news:O$GjBicpKHA.5588@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...



> "bobster" wrote in message

> news:#Rus98TpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> I have a Dell Inspiron 530, Intel dual 2.2 CPU computer running

>> XP/Sp3/IE8

>> with all updates. It has 3 identical, 320G SATA HDs, all cloned to the

>> same

>> software, and 2 gigs of memory. The three HDs are located in the two

>> internal positions and one external enclosure. I have been given a gift

>> of

>> a legal Windows 7 disk and wish to install W7 on one of the drives. My

>> questions:

>>

>> If I install W7 on one of the HDs, I realize that the XP (and everything

>> else) on that HD is gone and I have no problem with that as I will still

>> have two fully operational XP systems and all my apps on the two other

>> HDs.

>> But will I still be able to boot up to these XP drives or will the

>> installation of W7 change my BIOS settings or some other change that will

>> prevent me from doing this. What I really want to accomplish is to get

>> W7

>> up and running on one of my HDs but still be able to re-boot into one of

>> my

>> 2 remaining XP drives. In other words, a triple boot, one W7 system and

>> two

>> XP systems.

>>

>> Why would I want to do this? Well, my XP/IE8 works beautifully and I

>> don't

>> want to do anything to screw it up but I realize I'll have to switch to

>> W7

>> eventually. The ideal situation for me would be to retain the XP

>> capability

>> on one HD, with another HD containing the clone of the first one for a

>> back

>> up, and the third HD with W7 as a learning tool to get comfortable with

>> W7.

>>

>> Any problem with doing this?





"bobster" wrote in message

news:u2CHDrUpKHA.5328@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> Peter, you said,

>

> "lets see if I got this right...

> on your 2 internal HD you have an XP installation on each HD and therefore

> you are dualbooting????and both are exactly the same?

> Plus you have a "cloned" external drive which is an exact copy of HD #1

> and

> #2???"

>

> Yes, that is correct. It sounds kinda crazy but I wanted a "hot spare" on

> the 2nd internal drive and an external spare in the event the of a

> computer

> failure. With HD prices at
 


>> "bobster" wrote in message

>> news:#Rus98TpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>> I have a Dell Inspiron 530, Intel dual 2.2 CPU computer running

>>> XP/Sp3/IE8

>>> with all updates. It has 3 identical, 320G SATA HDs, all cloned to the

>>> same

>>> software, and 2 gigs of memory. The three HDs are located in the two

>>> internal positions and one external enclosure. I have been given a gift

>>> of

>>> a legal Windows 7 disk and wish to install W7 on one of the drives. My

>>> questions:

>>>

>>> If I install W7 on one of the HDs, I realize that the XP (and everything

>>> else) on that HD is gone and I have no problem with that as I will still

>>> have two fully operational XP systems and all my apps on the two other

>>> HDs.

>>> But will I still be able to boot up to these XP drives or will the

>>> installation of W7 change my BIOS settings or some other change that

>>> will

>>> prevent me from doing this. What I really want to accomplish is to get

>>> W7

>>> up and running on one of my HDs but still be able to re-boot into one of

>>> my

>>> 2 remaining XP drives. In other words, a triple boot, one W7 system and

>>> two

>>> XP systems.

>>>

>>> Why would I want to do this? Well, my XP/IE8 works beautifully and I

>>> don't

>>> want to do anything to screw it up but I realize I'll have to switch to

>>> W7

>>> eventually. The ideal situation for me would be to retain the XP

>>> capability

>>> on one HD, with another HD containing the clone of the first one for a

>>> back

>>> up, and the third HD with W7 as a learning tool to get comfortable with

>>> W7.

>>>

>>> Any problem with doing this?





> "bobster" wrote in message

> news:u2CHDrUpKHA.5328@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>> Peter, you said,

>>

>> "lets see if I got this right...

>> on your 2 internal HD you have an XP installation on each HD and

>> therefore

>> you are dualbooting????and both are exactly the same?

>> Plus you have a "cloned" external drive which is an exact copy of HD #1

>> and

>> #2???"

>>

>> Yes, that is correct. It sounds kinda crazy but I wanted a "hot spare"

>> on

>> the 2nd internal drive and an external spare in the event the of a

>> computer

>> failure. With HD prices at you might want to consider...

>

> If I recall correctly from a number of your prior posts you use the Casper

> disk-cloning program. I'm assuming you've upgraded to the recently

> released

> Casper 6 program so you probably know that the program now has the happy

> capability of booting the cloned contents from a USB external HDD

> assuming,

> of course, that your motherboard's BIOS supports that capability as well.

> (I'm virtually (but not absolutely!) certain your Dell has that

> capability.)

>

> So why not use the USBEHD as your "destination" drive, even to the extent

> (should you desire) of dividing its disk space into two partitions so that

> the device can contain the cloned contents of both your XP & Win7 systems?

> Naturally I'm assuming your USBEHD would have sufficient disk space to

> contain the contents of both OSs.

>

> One of your internal HDDs would contain the XP OS and the other internal

> HDD

> would contain the Win7 OS. Presumably you would set the BIOS boot priority

> order to whichever drive you usually boot to but it would be a simple

> matter

> to change the boot priority order as the need arises.

>

> Thus your USBEHD would serve as comprehensive backups of both operating

> systems and should the need arise where you need to boot to either OS

> contained on the USBEHD it would be a simple matter to do so.

> Anna





"bobster" wrote in message

news:u2ATKzepKHA.3748@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> Anna,

>

> Thanks for the sage advice. Yes, I have upgraded to Casper 6.0 but since

> my

> external HD enclosure is connected via a SATA port, the new USB boot

> capability didn't provide much usable new capability. Not a problem for

> me

> as both 5.0, and now 6.0 are super reliable, and I have always been able

> to

> boot from the external enclosure-mounted HD as it is connected to a SATA

> port via an eSATA cable. And yes, you are correct, my Dell Inspiron 530

> supports USB2 and has the F12 capability to select the boot drive. I also

> know how to change the boot order in the BIOS via the F2 button.

>

> What I have never done is to format a drive into multiple partitions ,

> each

> with a new drive letter. The procedure in the XP Help and Support section

> sounds pretty straightforward so I'll probably give it a try.

>

> Thanks again for your help.





bobster:

Your having an external enclosure that has SATA-to-SATA connectivity

(presumably in addition to USB-connectivity) is really an ideal situation.

Since (AFAIK) your Dell Inspiron 530 is not equipped with an eSATA port it

didn't occur to me that you were working with that type of external device.

I would guess that you've either installed a eSATA (or SATA) adapter in the

desktop machine to achieve that capability or directly connect your external

device to an available SATA connector on the motherboard.



In any event the fact that you can directly boot from the external device is

certainly an advantage. And (usually) a SATA-connected HDD considerably

outperforms a USB-connected HDD assuming USB 2.0 capability. (Things may

dramatically change when we move to USB 3.0).



It's really a simple & straightforward matter using the XP Disk Management

snap-in to multi-partition the external HDD. You should have no difficulty

doing so. Since (I assume) you will be using the external HDD as your

"destination" drive you can start "fresh" so to speak and delete the current

partition on that drive and then multi-partition the drive and finally clone

the contents of the two OSs to the appropriate partition.



If & when the time comes when you need to directly boot to one of the two

cloned systems on the external HDD you would ordinarily use Disk Management

to "Mark Partition as Active" (assuming that partition is not already shown

as the "active" partition). All that's involved is a simple right-click on

the drive's listing and selecting the preceding command from the sub-menu.

And, of course, change the boot priority order in the BIOS upon bootup so

that the system will boot to the external disk.

Anna
 
Anna wrote:

>>> "bobster" wrote in message







> bobster:

> Your having an external enclosure that has SATA-to-SATA connectivity

> (presumably in addition to USB-connectivity) is really an ideal situation.

> Since (AFAIK) your Dell Inspiron 530 is not equipped with an eSATA port it

> didn't occur to me that you were working with that type of external

> device.

> I would guess that you've either installed a eSATA (or SATA) adapter in

> the

> desktop machine to achieve that capability or directly connect your

> external

> device to an available SATA connector on the motherboard.



I think it does have an eSATA port already, Anna, unless I'm losing my

memory.



I also have a Dell Inspiron 530 Desktop, and have in the past used a Vantec

eSATA/USB2 external HD enclosure for backup, although now I'm using a second

*internal* SATA drive for that purpose, since its simpler and presumably

faster (and I've been using it a fair amount just to get a clean restore

after various software tests - otherwise I'd use an external backup).
 


> Anna wrote:

>

>

>> bobster:

>> Your having an external enclosure that has SATA-to-SATA connectivity

>> (presumably in addition to USB-connectivity) is really an ideal

>> situation.

>> Since (AFAIK) your Dell Inspiron 530 is not equipped with an eSATA port

>> it

>> didn't occur to me that you were working with that type of external

>> device.

>> I would guess that you've either installed a eSATA (or SATA) adapter in

>> the

>> desktop machine to achieve that capability or directly connect your

>> external

>> device to an available SATA connector on the motherboard.





"Bill in Co." wrote in message

news:%23XrZRTqpKHA.1556@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> I think it does have an eSATA port already, Anna, unless I'm losing my

> memory.

>

> I also have a Dell Inspiron 530 Desktop, and have in the past used a

> Vantec eSATA/USB2 external HD enclosure for backup, although now I'm using

> a second *internal* SATA drive for that purpose, since its simpler and

> presumably faster (and I've been using it a fair amount just to get a

> clean restore after various software tests - otherwise I'd use an external

> backup).





Bill:

Thanks for the correction. I recall working on one of those Dell Inspiron

530s some time ago and I didn't recall that it was equipped with an eSATA

port. So I just assumed the OP had either installed an eSATA adapter in one

of the PCI slots or made a direct connection from his/her SATA external

enclosure to one of the motherboard's SATA connectors.

Anna
 
Anna wrote:

>> Anna wrote:

>>

>>

>>> bobster:

>>> Your having an external enclosure that has SATA-to-SATA connectivity

>>> (presumably in addition to USB-connectivity) is really an ideal

>>> situation.

>>> Since (AFAIK) your Dell Inspiron 530 is not equipped with an eSATA port

>>> it

>>> didn't occur to me that you were working with that type of external

>>> device.

>>> I would guess that you've either installed a eSATA (or SATA) adapter in

>>> the

>>> desktop machine to achieve that capability or directly connect your

>>> external

>>> device to an available SATA connector on the motherboard.

>

>

> "Bill in Co." wrote in message

> news:%23XrZRTqpKHA.1556@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>> I think it does have an eSATA port already, Anna, unless I'm losing my

>> memory.

>>

>> I also have a Dell Inspiron 530 Desktop, and have in the past used a

>> Vantec eSATA/USB2 external HD enclosure for backup, although now I'm

>> using

>> a second *internal* SATA drive for that purpose, since its simpler and

>> presumably faster (and I've been using it a fair amount just to get a

>> clean restore after various software tests - otherwise I'd use an

>> external

>> backup).

>

>

> Bill:

> Thanks for the correction. I recall working on one of those Dell Inspiron

> 530s some time ago and I didn't recall that it was equipped with an eSATA

> port. So I just assumed the OP had either installed an eSATA adapter in

> one

> of the PCI slots or made a direct connection from his/her SATA external

> enclosure to one of the motherboard's SATA connectors.

> Anna



Well, in retrospect, my memory might be off, and maybe I put in a bracket

(with the connector) that came with the Vantec enclosure kit - now I'm not

so sure. Old age may be setting in. :-) Maybe bobster can clarify it.

Since I'm only now using the second internal SATA drive as a backup, I can't

recall for sure.
 
Anna,



Yes, my Inspiron 530 did not have an eSATA port as delivered but when I

bought the full up WD 320 gig HD kit, it came with an eSATA cable and a

rear mounted port connector assembly for an external HD. The other end

connected to one of the unused SATA ports on my mother board. I've never

had any problem in booting from this HD which is mounted in an eSATA/USB

capable Vantec external enclosure.



I still have a few concerns about proceeding with the changes we have been

discussing. As I mentioned, I have 3 identical HDs, mounted in internal

position 1, internal position 2, and the Vantec mounted one. They each have

been assigned a single drive letter (C, E, and F) although they each have 3

partitions. One of my concerns is if I use the external mounted one as my

destination drive, and re-partition it into 2 or more partitions, with 2 or

more new drive letters, each of those partitions will be smaller than the

size of the drive letter partitions on the two internal drives. Casper will

probably tell me that there isn't enough free space to clone either internal

drive to a partition on the external drive. If that happens I would

probably junk the whole process, especially if it meant I would have to

re-partition my internal drive to mirror my external destination drive.



I know the above sounds like the rantings of a novice in drive formatting,

but having a trouble-free XP/IE-8 system, I am reluctant to try and

re-format it's HD in order to accommodate a single HD backup system for XP

and Windows 7. Maybe I should just leave things as they are currently

configured, download Windows 7 onto my first internal HD, clone that to the

Vantec external drive, then replace the HD in the Vantec with another 320 g

WD (which I already have) and clone the second internal drive (with XP/IE-8

on it) to this HD. This sounds complicated but I can change a drive in the

Vantec in about 5 minutes.



I'm going to "cool it" for a few days while I decide how to proceed as there

is no hurry to do anything.



Any additional comments will be appreciated.





"Anna" wrote in message

news:eDIWoAnpKHA.2076@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...



>> "bobster" wrote in message

>> news:#Rus98TpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>> I have a Dell Inspiron 530, Intel dual 2.2 CPU computer running

>>> XP/Sp3/IE8

>>> with all updates. It has 3 identical, 320G SATA HDs, all cloned to the

>>> same

>>> software, and 2 gigs of memory. The three HDs are located in the two

>>> internal positions and one external enclosure. I have been given a gift

>>> of

>>> a legal Windows 7 disk and wish to install W7 on one of the drives. My

>>> questions:

>>>

>>> If I install W7 on one of the HDs, I realize that the XP (and everything

>>> else) on that HD is gone and I have no problem with that as I will still

>>> have two fully operational XP systems and all my apps on the two other

>>> HDs.

>>> But will I still be able to boot up to these XP drives or will the

>>> installation of W7 change my BIOS settings or some other change that

>>> will

>>> prevent me from doing this. What I really want to accomplish is to get

>>> W7

>>> up and running on one of my HDs but still be able to re-boot into one of

>>> my

>>> 2 remaining XP drives. In other words, a triple boot, one W7 system and

>>> two

>>> XP systems.

>>>

>>> Why would I want to do this? Well, my XP/IE8 works beautifully and I

>>> don't

>>> want to do anything to screw it up but I realize I'll have to switch to

>>> W7

>>> eventually. The ideal situation for me would be to retain the XP

>>> capability

>>> on one HD, with another HD containing the clone of the first one for a

>>> back

>>> up, and the third HD with W7 as a learning tool to get comfortable with

>>> W7.

>>>

>>> Any problem with doing this?





> "bobster" wrote in message

> news:u2CHDrUpKHA.5328@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>> Peter, you said,

>>

>> "lets see if I got this right...

>> on your 2 internal HD you have an XP installation on each HD and

>> therefore

>> you are dualbooting????and both are exactly the same?

>> Plus you have a "cloned" external drive which is an exact copy of HD #1

>> and

>> #2???"

>>

>> Yes, that is correct. It sounds kinda crazy but I wanted a "hot spare"

>> on

>> the 2nd internal drive and an external spare in the event the of a

>> computer

>> failure. With HD prices at you might want to consider...

>

> If I recall correctly from a number of your prior posts you use the Casper

> disk-cloning program. I'm assuming you've upgraded to the recently

> released

> Casper 6 program so you probably know that the program now has the happy

> capability of booting the cloned contents from a USB external HDD

> assuming,

> of course, that your motherboard's BIOS supports that capability as well.

> (I'm virtually (but not absolutely!) certain your Dell has that

> capability.)

>

> So why not use the USBEHD as your "destination" drive, even to the extent

> (should you desire) of dividing its disk space into two partitions so that

> the device can contain the cloned contents of both your XP & Win7 systems?

> Naturally I'm assuming your USBEHD would have sufficient disk space to

> contain the contents of both OSs.

>

> One of your internal HDDs would contain the XP OS and the other internal

> HDD

> would contain the Win7 OS. Presumably you would set the BIOS boot priority

> order to whichever drive you usually boot to but it would be a simple

> matter

> to change the boot priority order as the need arises.

>

> Thus your USBEHD would serve as comprehensive backups of both operating

> systems and should the need arise where you need to boot to either OS

> contained on the USBEHD it would be a simple matter to do so.

> Anna





"bobster" wrote in message

news:u2ATKzepKHA.3748@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> Anna,

>

> Thanks for the sage advice. Yes, I have upgraded to Casper 6.0 but since

> my

> external HD enclosure is connected via a SATA port, the new USB boot

> capability didn't provide much usable new capability. Not a problem for

> me

> as both 5.0, and now 6.0 are super reliable, and I have always been able

> to

> boot from the external enclosure-mounted HD as it is connected to a SATA

> port via an eSATA cable. And yes, you are correct, my Dell Inspiron 530

> supports USB2 and has the F12 capability to select the boot drive. I also

> know how to change the boot order in the BIOS via the F2 button.

>

> What I have never done is to format a drive into multiple partitions ,

> each

> with a new drive letter. The procedure in the XP Help and Support section

> sounds pretty straightforward so I'll probably give it a try.

>

> Thanks again for your help.





bobster:

Your having an external enclosure that has SATA-to-SATA connectivity

(presumably in addition to USB-connectivity) is really an ideal situation.

Since (AFAIK) your Dell Inspiron 530 is not equipped with an eSATA port it

didn't occur to me that you were working with that type of external device.

I would guess that you've either installed a eSATA (or SATA) adapter in the

desktop machine to achieve that capability or directly connect your external

device to an available SATA connector on the motherboard.



In any event the fact that you can directly boot from the external device is

certainly an advantage. And (usually) a SATA-connected HDD considerably

outperforms a USB-connected HDD assuming USB 2.0 capability. (Things may

dramatically change when we move to USB 3.0).



It's really a simple & straightforward matter using the XP Disk Management

snap-in to multi-partition the external HDD. You should have no difficulty

doing so. Since (I assume) you will be using the external HDD as your

"destination" drive you can start "fresh" so to speak and delete the current

partition on that drive and then multi-partition the drive and finally clone

the contents of the two OSs to the appropriate partition.



If & when the time comes when you need to directly boot to one of the two

cloned systems on the external HDD you would ordinarily use Disk Management

to "Mark Partition as Active" (assuming that partition is not already shown

as the "active" partition). All that's involved is a simple right-click on

the drive's listing and selecting the preceding command from the sub-menu.

And, of course, change the boot priority order in the BIOS upon bootup so

that the system will boot to the external disk.

Anna
 
"Bill in Co." wrote:

>

> Well, in retrospect, my memory might be off, and maybe I put in a bracket

> (with the connector) that came with the Vantec enclosure kit - now I'm not

> so sure. Old age may be setting in. :-) Maybe bobster can clarify it.

> Since I'm only now using the second internal SATA drive as a backup, I can't

> recall for sure.



Perhaps it is time to join the Geriatric Society of United States where

you can meet fellow geriatric Pig-Bear.
 
Bill,



See my last post to Anna regarding my "as delivered" Inspiron 530

configuration. The first WD 320g HD I bought was the full kit and contained

the eSATA cable and rear adapter/connector. The other identical HDs were

bought as "bare drives" which go for as little as $40 and come with nothing

but the drive.



And, BTW, thanks for your comments as well as those from Peter.



===========================================

"Bill in Co." wrote in message

news:O9SMQzrpKHA.1544@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

Anna wrote:

>> Anna wrote:

>>

>>

>>> bobster:

>>> Your having an external enclosure that has SATA-to-SATA connectivity

>>> (presumably in addition to USB-connectivity) is really an ideal

>>> situation.

>>> Since (AFAIK) your Dell Inspiron 530 is not equipped with an eSATA port

>>> it

>>> didn't occur to me that you were working with that type of external

>>> device.

>>> I would guess that you've either installed a eSATA (or SATA) adapter in

>>> the

>>> desktop machine to achieve that capability or directly connect your

>>> external

>>> device to an available SATA connector on the motherboard.

>

>

> "Bill in Co." wrote in message

> news:%23XrZRTqpKHA.1556@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>> I think it does have an eSATA port already, Anna, unless I'm losing my

>> memory.

>>

>> I also have a Dell Inspiron 530 Desktop, and have in the past used a

>> Vantec eSATA/USB2 external HD enclosure for backup, although now I'm

>> using

>> a second *internal* SATA drive for that purpose, since its simpler and

>> presumably faster (and I've been using it a fair amount just to get a

>> clean restore after various software tests - otherwise I'd use an

>> external

>> backup).

>

>

> Bill:

> Thanks for the correction. I recall working on one of those Dell Inspiron

> 530s some time ago and I didn't recall that it was equipped with an eSATA

> port. So I just assumed the OP had either installed an eSATA adapter in

> one

> of the PCI slots or made a direct connection from his/her SATA external

> enclosure to one of the motherboard's SATA connectors.

> Anna



Well, in retrospect, my memory might be off, and maybe I put in a bracket

(with the connector) that came with the Vantec enclosure kit - now I'm not

so sure. Old age may be setting in. :-) Maybe bobster can clarify it.

Since I'm only now using the second internal SATA drive as a backup, I can't

recall for sure.
 


>>> "bobster" wrote in message

>>> news:#Rus98TpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>>> I have a Dell Inspiron 530, Intel dual 2.2 CPU computer running

>>>> XP/Sp3/IE8

>>>> with all updates. It has 3 identical, 320G SATA HDs, all cloned to the

>>>> same

>>>> software, and 2 gigs of memory. The three HDs are located in the two

>>>> internal positions and one external enclosure. I have been given a

>>>> gift

>>>> of

>>>> a legal Windows 7 disk and wish to install W7 on one of the drives. My

>>>> questions:

>>>>

>>>> If I install W7 on one of the HDs, I realize that the XP (and

>>>> everything

>>>> else) on that HD is gone and I have no problem with that as I will

>>>> still

>>>> have two fully operational XP systems and all my apps on the two other

>>>> HDs.

>>>> But will I still be able to boot up to these XP drives or will the

>>>> installation of W7 change my BIOS settings or some other change that

>>>> will

>>>> prevent me from doing this. What I really want to accomplish is to get

>>>> W7

>>>> up and running on one of my HDs but still be able to re-boot into one

>>>> of

>>>> my

>>>> 2 remaining XP drives. In other words, a triple boot, one W7 system

>>>> and

>>>> two

>>>> XP systems.

>>>>

>>>> Why would I want to do this? Well, my XP/IE8 works beautifully and I

>>>> don't

>>>> want to do anything to screw it up but I realize I'll have to switch to

>>>> W7

>>>> eventually. The ideal situation for me would be to retain the XP

>>>> capability

>>>> on one HD, with another HD containing the clone of the first one for a

>>>> back

>>>> up, and the third HD with W7 as a learning tool to get comfortable with

>>>> W7.

>>>>

>>>> Any problem with doing this?





>> "Anna" wrote in message

>> news:O$GjBicpKHA.5588@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> bobster:

>> In addition to the suggestion offered you by Peter, here's another option

>> you might want to consider...

>>

>> If I recall correctly from a number of your prior posts you use the

>> Casper

>> disk-cloning program. I'm assuming you've upgraded to the recently

>> released

>> Casper 6 program so you probably know that the program now has the happy

>> capability of booting the cloned contents from a USB external HDD

>> assuming,

>> of course, that your motherboard's BIOS supports that capability as well.

>> (I'm virtually (but not absolutely!) certain your Dell has that

>> capability.)

>>

>> So why not use the USBEHD as your "destination" drive, even to the extent

>> (should you desire) of dividing its disk space into two partitions so

>> that

>> the device can contain the cloned contents of both your XP & Win7

>> systems?

>> Naturally I'm assuming your USBEHD would have sufficient disk space to

>> contain the contents of both OSs.

>>

>> One of your internal HDDs would contain the XP OS and the other internal

>> HDD

>> would contain the Win7 OS. Presumably you would set the BIOS boot

>> priority

>> order to whichever drive you usually boot to but it would be a simple

>> matter

>> to change the boot priority order as the need arises.

>>

>> Thus your USBEHD would serve as comprehensive backups of both operating

>> systems and should the need arise where you need to boot to either OS

>> contained on the USBEHD it would be a simple matter to do so.

>> Anna

>

>

> "bobster" wrote in message

> news:u2ATKzepKHA.3748@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> Anna,

>>

>> Thanks for the sage advice. Yes, I have upgraded to Casper 6.0 but since

>> my

>> external HD enclosure is connected via a SATA port, the new USB boot

>> capability didn't provide much usable new capability. Not a problem for

>> me

>> as both 5.0, and now 6.0 are super reliable, and I have always been able

>> to

>> boot from the external enclosure-mounted HD as it is connected to a SATA

>> port via an eSATA cable. And yes, you are correct, my Dell Inspiron 530

>> supports USB2 and has the F12 capability to select the boot drive. I

>> also

>> know how to change the boot order in the BIOS via the F2 button.

>>

>> What I have never done is to format a drive into multiple partitions ,

>> each

>> with a new drive letter. The procedure in the XP Help and Support

>> section

>> sounds pretty straightforward so I'll probably give it a try.

>>

>> Thanks again for your help.





> "Anna" wrote in message

> news:eDIWoAnpKHA.2076@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...



> bobster:

> Your having an external enclosure that has SATA-to-SATA connectivity

> (presumably in addition to USB-connectivity) is really an ideal situation.

> Since (AFAIK) your Dell Inspiron 530 is not equipped with an eSATA port it

> didn't occur to me that you were working with that type of external

> device.

> I would guess that you've either installed a eSATA (or SATA) adapter in

> the

> desktop machine to achieve that capability or directly connect your

> external

> device to an available SATA connector on the motherboard.

>

> In any event the fact that you can directly boot from the external device

> is

> certainly an advantage. And (usually) a SATA-connected HDD considerably

> outperforms a USB-connected HDD assuming USB 2.0 capability. (Things may

> dramatically change when we move to USB 3.0).

>

> It's really a simple & straightforward matter using the XP Disk Management

> snap-in to multi-partition the external HDD. You should have no difficulty

> doing so. Since (I assume) you will be using the external HDD as your

> "destination" drive you can start "fresh" so to speak and delete the

> current

> partition on that drive and then multi-partition the drive and finally

> clone

> the contents of the two OSs to the appropriate partition.

>

> If & when the time comes when you need to directly boot to one of the two

> cloned systems on the external HDD you would ordinarily use Disk

> Management

> to "Mark Partition as Active" (assuming that partition is not already

> shown

> as the "active" partition). All that's involved is a simple right-click on

> the drive's listing and selecting the preceding command from the sub-menu.

> And, of course, change the boot priority order in the BIOS upon bootup so

> that the system will boot to the external disk.

> Anna





"bobster" wrote in message

news:u0uYf$rpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> Anna,

>

> Yes, my Inspiron 530 did not have an eSATA port as delivered but when I

> bought the full up WD 320 gig HD kit, it came with an eSATA cable and a

> rear mounted port connector assembly for an external HD. The other end

> connected to one of the unused SATA ports on my mother board. I've never

> had any problem in booting from this HD which is mounted in an eSATA/USB

> capable Vantec external enclosure.

>

> I still have a few concerns about proceeding with the changes we have been

> discussing. As I mentioned, I have 3 identical HDs, mounted in internal

> position 1, internal position 2, and the Vantec mounted one. They each

> have

> been assigned a single drive letter (C, E, and F) although they each have

> 3

> partitions. One of my concerns is if I use the external mounted one as my

> destination drive, and re-partition it into 2 or more partitions, with 2

> or

> more new drive letters, each of those partitions will be smaller than the

> size of the drive letter partitions on the two internal drives. Casper

> will

> probably tell me that there isn't enough free space to clone either

> internal

> drive to a partition on the external drive. If that happens I would

> probably junk the whole process, especially if it meant I would have to

> re-partition my internal drive to mirror my external destination drive.

>

> I know the above sounds like the rantings of a novice in drive formatting,

> but having a trouble-free XP/IE-8 system, I am reluctant to try and

> re-format it's HD in order to accommodate a single HD backup system for XP

> and Windows 7. Maybe I should just leave things as they are currently

> configured, download Windows 7 onto my first internal HD, clone that to

> the

> Vantec external drive, then replace the HD in the Vantec with another 320

> g

> WD (which I already have) and clone the second internal drive (with

> XP/IE-8

> on it) to this HD. This sounds complicated but I can change a drive in

> the

> Vantec in about 5 minutes.

>

> I'm going to "cool it" for a few days while I decide how to proceed as

> there

> is no hurry to do anything.

>

> Any additional comments will be appreciated.





bobster:

It seems to me that the most straightforward & efficient configuration in

your situation based upon your objective of working with two different

operating systems and having at your disposal two internal HDDs plus an

external HDD is to...

1. Install the XP system on one internal HDD.

2. Install the Win7 system on the other internal HDD.

3. Utilize your external HDD as the "destination" HDD, and use your Casper

disk-cloning program as the vehicle to contain the cloned contents of each

of the two internal HDDs. As I previously indicated you would

multi-partition the external HDD into two partitions to accommodate the

cloned contents of each OS.



Naturally this assumes that the 320 GB external HDD you're working with

contains sufficient disk space to contain those cloned contents. You haven't

indicated the total amount of data you're working with in each of those two

systems but I'm assuming each of the external drive's partitions you create

would be sufficient in size to accommodate the cloned contents of that

particular OS. Is that a reasonable assumption?



I'm also assuming each of your two internal HDDs will be single-partitioned.

Given the configuration I'm suggesting I see no reason to multi-partition

these drives.



Forget about drive letter assignments re the external HDD. They are of *no*

relevance in this situation. The same is true of your internal HDDs. As an

example...



Let's say your XP OS is installed on internal HDD #1 and your Win7 OS is

installed on internal HDD #2. Now you decide to boot to your XP OS. Assuming

the BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to HDD #1 the system

will boot to that drive which of course will receive the C: drive letter

assignment.



Since your second internal HDD containing the Win7 is also connected as a

secondary HDD at this point it will receive a non-C: drive letter

assignment. Again the drive letter assigned to that drive during this

operation is of no consequence based upon what we are discussing.



Let's say at another time you now desire to boot to your Win7 OS. Assuming

the BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to your HDD #2, the

system will boot to that drive which of course will receive the C: drive

letter assignment. Since your first internal HDD containing the XP OS is

also connected as a secondary HDD at this point it will receive a non-C:

drive letter assignment. Again, the drive letter assigned to that drive,

i.e., "HDD #1" during this operation is of no consequence based upon what we

are discussing.



And so on & so on...



Now let's say that while you've booted to your XP OS ("HDD #1"), you decide

to clone the contents of that drive to one of the two partitions you

previously created on your external HDD. Understand that when you originally

multi-partitioned that external HDD into two partitions the drive letters

assigned to each of those partitions is of no consequence in terms of our

present discussion except in "telling" Casper which partition should act as

the destination drive for the purposes of receiving the cloned contents of

your HDD #1. Let's say, as an example, you will be cloning the contents of

that drive to the F: partition on the external HDD, the other partition

having been assigned the G: drive letter assignment.



You will use the same basic process to clone the contents of your Win7 OS

contained on internal HDD #2, but this time using the "G:" partition as the

recipient of those cloned contents.



So now you have your external HDD containing the cloned contents of your XP

& Win7 systems. The fact that the two partitions on the external HDD have

been designated F: & G: are really of no relevance here. Since your external

HDD is a bootable device you will be able to boot to either of the OSs

contained on the external HDD. Let's say you desire to boot to the cloned XP

OS contained on partition F:. (As I previously indicated you will have to

first ensure that the selected partition is marked "Active"; I previously

explained that simple process using Disk Management) . Then ensure that the

BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to your external HDD.

The system will then boot to the cloned XP OS on your external HDD and

receive a C: drive letter assignment. The partition containing the cloned

Win7 OS will receive a non-C: letter assignment, possibly retaining the G:

drive letter assignment. In any event the drive letter assigned to the

latter partition is of no relevance re our discussion.



Once again, you would follow the same basic process should you desire to

boot to the cloned Win7 OS on the external HDD. Again ensuring that the

partition containing that OS is marked "Active" and the BIOS boot priority

order indicates a first HDD boot to your external HDD.



Obviously there are different approaches one can take to meet your

objectives but as I stated I believe the approach I'm suggesting is a

sensible one under your circumstances.

Anna
 
Anna,



Thanks again for clarifying several things that were bothering me regarding

the use of the external drive in a multi partition mode. Since I haven't

downloaded the Windows 7 OS yet, I don't know its footprint size. The XP

installation is about 40 gigs including all of my apps so I would guess that

the W7 installation sans apps would be less than that. I would think that 3

80 gig partitions on the external drive would be about right. I will let

you know how it works out when I finally decide to tackle it.



================================================================

"Anna" wrote in message

news:OYKd2EupKHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...



>>> "bobster" wrote in message

>>> news:#Rus98TpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>>> I have a Dell Inspiron 530, Intel dual 2.2 CPU computer running

>>>> XP/Sp3/IE8

>>>> with all updates. It has 3 identical, 320G SATA HDs, all cloned to the

>>>> same

>>>> software, and 2 gigs of memory. The three HDs are located in the two

>>>> internal positions and one external enclosure. I have been given a

>>>> gift

>>>> of

>>>> a legal Windows 7 disk and wish to install W7 on one of the drives. My

>>>> questions:

>>>>

>>>> If I install W7 on one of the HDs, I realize that the XP (and

>>>> everything

>>>> else) on that HD is gone and I have no problem with that as I will

>>>> still

>>>> have two fully operational XP systems and all my apps on the two other

>>>> HDs.

>>>> But will I still be able to boot up to these XP drives or will the

>>>> installation of W7 change my BIOS settings or some other change that

>>>> will

>>>> prevent me from doing this. What I really want to accomplish is to get

>>>> W7

>>>> up and running on one of my HDs but still be able to re-boot into one

>>>> of

>>>> my

>>>> 2 remaining XP drives. In other words, a triple boot, one W7 system

>>>> and

>>>> two

>>>> XP systems.

>>>>

>>>> Why would I want to do this? Well, my XP/IE8 works beautifully and I

>>>> don't

>>>> want to do anything to screw it up but I realize I'll have to switch to

>>>> W7

>>>> eventually. The ideal situation for me would be to retain the XP

>>>> capability

>>>> on one HD, with another HD containing the clone of the first one for a

>>>> back

>>>> up, and the third HD with W7 as a learning tool to get comfortable with

>>>> W7.

>>>>

>>>> Any problem with doing this?





>> "Anna" wrote in message

>> news:O$GjBicpKHA.5588@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> bobster:

>> In addition to the suggestion offered you by Peter, here's another option

>> you might want to consider...

>>

>> If I recall correctly from a number of your prior posts you use the

>> Casper

>> disk-cloning program. I'm assuming you've upgraded to the recently

>> released

>> Casper 6 program so you probably know that the program now has the happy

>> capability of booting the cloned contents from a USB external HDD

>> assuming,

>> of course, that your motherboard's BIOS supports that capability as well.

>> (I'm virtually (but not absolutely!) certain your Dell has that

>> capability.)

>>

>> So why not use the USBEHD as your "destination" drive, even to the extent

>> (should you desire) of dividing its disk space into two partitions so

>> that

>> the device can contain the cloned contents of both your XP & Win7

>> systems?

>> Naturally I'm assuming your USBEHD would have sufficient disk space to

>> contain the contents of both OSs.

>>

>> One of your internal HDDs would contain the XP OS and the other internal

>> HDD

>> would contain the Win7 OS. Presumably you would set the BIOS boot

>> priority

>> order to whichever drive you usually boot to but it would be a simple

>> matter

>> to change the boot priority order as the need arises.

>>

>> Thus your USBEHD would serve as comprehensive backups of both operating

>> systems and should the need arise where you need to boot to either OS

>> contained on the USBEHD it would be a simple matter to do so.

>> Anna

>

>

> "bobster" wrote in message

> news:u2ATKzepKHA.3748@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> Anna,

>>

>> Thanks for the sage advice. Yes, I have upgraded to Casper 6.0 but since

>> my

>> external HD enclosure is connected via a SATA port, the new USB boot

>> capability didn't provide much usable new capability. Not a problem for

>> me

>> as both 5.0, and now 6.0 are super reliable, and I have always been able

>> to

>> boot from the external enclosure-mounted HD as it is connected to a SATA

>> port via an eSATA cable. And yes, you are correct, my Dell Inspiron 530

>> supports USB2 and has the F12 capability to select the boot drive. I

>> also

>> know how to change the boot order in the BIOS via the F2 button.

>>

>> What I have never done is to format a drive into multiple partitions ,

>> each

>> with a new drive letter. The procedure in the XP Help and Support

>> section

>> sounds pretty straightforward so I'll probably give it a try.

>>

>> Thanks again for your help.





> "Anna" wrote in message

> news:eDIWoAnpKHA.2076@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...



> bobster:

> Your having an external enclosure that has SATA-to-SATA connectivity

> (presumably in addition to USB-connectivity) is really an ideal situation.

> Since (AFAIK) your Dell Inspiron 530 is not equipped with an eSATA port it

> didn't occur to me that you were working with that type of external

> device.

> I would guess that you've either installed a eSATA (or SATA) adapter in

> the

> desktop machine to achieve that capability or directly connect your

> external

> device to an available SATA connector on the motherboard.

>

> In any event the fact that you can directly boot from the external device

> is

> certainly an advantage. And (usually) a SATA-connected HDD considerably

> outperforms a USB-connected HDD assuming USB 2.0 capability. (Things may

> dramatically change when we move to USB 3.0).

>

> It's really a simple & straightforward matter using the XP Disk Management

> snap-in to multi-partition the external HDD. You should have no difficulty

> doing so. Since (I assume) you will be using the external HDD as your

> "destination" drive you can start "fresh" so to speak and delete the

> current

> partition on that drive and then multi-partition the drive and finally

> clone

> the contents of the two OSs to the appropriate partition.

>

> If & when the time comes when you need to directly boot to one of the two

> cloned systems on the external HDD you would ordinarily use Disk

> Management

> to "Mark Partition as Active" (assuming that partition is not already

> shown

> as the "active" partition). All that's involved is a simple right-click on

> the drive's listing and selecting the preceding command from the sub-menu.

> And, of course, change the boot priority order in the BIOS upon bootup so

> that the system will boot to the external disk.

> Anna





"bobster" wrote in message

news:u0uYf$rpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> Anna,

>

> Yes, my Inspiron 530 did not have an eSATA port as delivered but when I

> bought the full up WD 320 gig HD kit, it came with an eSATA cable and a

> rear mounted port connector assembly for an external HD. The other end

> connected to one of the unused SATA ports on my mother board. I've never

> had any problem in booting from this HD which is mounted in an eSATA/USB

> capable Vantec external enclosure.

>

> I still have a few concerns about proceeding with the changes we have been

> discussing. As I mentioned, I have 3 identical HDs, mounted in internal

> position 1, internal position 2, and the Vantec mounted one. They each

> have

> been assigned a single drive letter (C, E, and F) although they each have

> 3

> partitions. One of my concerns is if I use the external mounted one as my

> destination drive, and re-partition it into 2 or more partitions, with 2

> or

> more new drive letters, each of those partitions will be smaller than the

> size of the drive letter partitions on the two internal drives. Casper

> will

> probably tell me that there isn't enough free space to clone either

> internal

> drive to a partition on the external drive. If that happens I would

> probably junk the whole process, especially if it meant I would have to

> re-partition my internal drive to mirror my external destination drive.

>

> I know the above sounds like the rantings of a novice in drive formatting,

> but having a trouble-free XP/IE-8 system, I am reluctant to try and

> re-format it's HD in order to accommodate a single HD backup system for XP

> and Windows 7. Maybe I should just leave things as they are currently

> configured, download Windows 7 onto my first internal HD, clone that to

> the

> Vantec external drive, then replace the HD in the Vantec with another 320

> g

> WD (which I already have) and clone the second internal drive (with

> XP/IE-8

> on it) to this HD. This sounds complicated but I can change a drive in

> the

> Vantec in about 5 minutes.

>

> I'm going to "cool it" for a few days while I decide how to proceed as

> there

> is no hurry to do anything.

>

> Any additional comments will be appreciated.





bobster:

It seems to me that the most straightforward & efficient configuration in

your situation based upon your objective of working with two different

operating systems and having at your disposal two internal HDDs plus an

external HDD is to...

1. Install the XP system on one internal HDD.

2. Install the Win7 system on the other internal HDD.

3. Utilize your external HDD as the "destination" HDD, and use your Casper

disk-cloning program as the vehicle to contain the cloned contents of each

of the two internal HDDs. As I previously indicated you would

multi-partition the external HDD into two partitions to accommodate the

cloned contents of each OS.



Naturally this assumes that the 320 GB external HDD you're working with

contains sufficient disk space to contain those cloned contents. You haven't

indicated the total amount of data you're working with in each of those two

systems but I'm assuming each of the external drive's partitions you create

would be sufficient in size to accommodate the cloned contents of that

particular OS. Is that a reasonable assumption?



I'm also assuming each of your two internal HDDs will be single-partitioned.

Given the configuration I'm suggesting I see no reason to multi-partition

these drives.



Forget about drive letter assignments re the external HDD. They are of *no*

relevance in this situation. The same is true of your internal HDDs. As an

example...



Let's say your XP OS is installed on internal HDD #1 and your Win7 OS is

installed on internal HDD #2. Now you decide to boot to your XP OS. Assuming

the BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to HDD #1 the system

will boot to that drive which of course will receive the C: drive letter

assignment.



Since your second internal HDD containing the Win7 is also connected as a

secondary HDD at this point it will receive a non-C: drive letter

assignment. Again the drive letter assigned to that drive during this

operation is of no consequence based upon what we are discussing.



Let's say at another time you now desire to boot to your Win7 OS. Assuming

the BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to your HDD #2, the

system will boot to that drive which of course will receive the C: drive

letter assignment. Since your first internal HDD containing the XP OS is

also connected as a secondary HDD at this point it will receive a non-C:

drive letter assignment. Again, the drive letter assigned to that drive,

i.e., "HDD #1" during this operation is of no consequence based upon what we

are discussing.



And so on & so on...



Now let's say that while you've booted to your XP OS ("HDD #1"), you decide

to clone the contents of that drive to one of the two partitions you

previously created on your external HDD. Understand that when you originally

multi-partitioned that external HDD into two partitions the drive letters

assigned to each of those partitions is of no consequence in terms of our

present discussion except in "telling" Casper which partition should act as

the destination drive for the purposes of receiving the cloned contents of

your HDD #1. Let's say, as an example, you will be cloning the contents of

that drive to the F: partition on the external HDD, the other partition

having been assigned the G: drive letter assignment.



You will use the same basic process to clone the contents of your Win7 OS

contained on internal HDD #2, but this time using the "G:" partition as the

recipient of those cloned contents.



So now you have your external HDD containing the cloned contents of your XP

& Win7 systems. The fact that the two partitions on the external HDD have

been designated F: & G: are really of no relevance here. Since your external

HDD is a bootable device you will be able to boot to either of the OSs

contained on the external HDD. Let's say you desire to boot to the cloned XP

OS contained on partition F:. (As I previously indicated you will have to

first ensure that the selected partition is marked "Active"; I previously

explained that simple process using Disk Management) . Then ensure that the

BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to your external HDD.

The system will then boot to the cloned XP OS on your external HDD and

receive a C: drive letter assignment. The partition containing the cloned

Win7 OS will receive a non-C: letter assignment, possibly retaining the G:

drive letter assignment. In any event the drive letter assigned to the

latter partition is of no relevance re our discussion.



Once again, you would follow the same basic process should you desire to

boot to the cloned Win7 OS on the external HDD. Again ensuring that the

partition containing that OS is marked "Active" and the BIOS boot priority

order indicates a first HDD boot to your external HDD.



Obviously there are different approaches one can take to meet your

objectives but as I stated I believe the approach I'm suggesting is a

sensible one under your circumstances.

Anna
 


>>>> "bobster" wrote in message

>>>> news:#Rus98TpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>>>> I have a Dell Inspiron 530, Intel dual 2.2 CPU computer running

>>>>> XP/Sp3/IE8

>>>>> with all updates. It has 3 identical, 320G SATA HDs, all cloned to

>>>>> the

>>>>> same

>>>>> software, and 2 gigs of memory. The three HDs are located in the two

>>>>> internal positions and one external enclosure. I have been given a

>>>>> gift

>>>>> of

>>>>> a legal Windows 7 disk and wish to install W7 on one of the drives.

>>>>> My

>>>>> questions:

>>>>>

>>>>> If I install W7 on one of the HDs, I realize that the XP (and

>>>>> everything

>>>>> else) on that HD is gone and I have no problem with that as I will

>>>>> still

>>>>> have two fully operational XP systems and all my apps on the two other

>>>>> HDs.

>>>>> But will I still be able to boot up to these XP drives or will the

>>>>> installation of W7 change my BIOS settings or some other change that

>>>>> will

>>>>> prevent me from doing this. What I really want to accomplish is to

>>>>> get

>>>>> W7

>>>>> up and running on one of my HDs but still be able to re-boot into one

>>>>> of

>>>>> my

>>>>> 2 remaining XP drives. In other words, a triple boot, one W7 system

>>>>> and

>>>>> two

>>>>> XP systems.

>>>>>

>>>>> Why would I want to do this? Well, my XP/IE8 works beautifully and I

>>>>> don't

>>>>> want to do anything to screw it up but I realize I'll have to switch

>>>>> to

>>>>> W7

>>>>> eventually. The ideal situation for me would be to retain the XP

>>>>> capability

>>>>> on one HD, with another HD containing the clone of the first one for a

>>>>> back

>>>>> up, and the third HD with W7 as a learning tool to get comfortable

>>>>> with

>>>>> W7.

>>>>>

>>>>> Any problem with doing this?





>>> "Anna" wrote in message

>>> news:O$GjBicpKHA.5588@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>> bobster:

>>> In addition to the suggestion offered you by Peter, here's another

>>> option

>>> you might want to consider...

>>>

>>> If I recall correctly from a number of your prior posts you use the

>>> Casper

>>> disk-cloning program. I'm assuming you've upgraded to the recently

>>> released

>>> Casper 6 program so you probably know that the program now has the happy

>>> capability of booting the cloned contents from a USB external HDD

>>> assuming,

>>> of course, that your motherboard's BIOS supports that capability as

>>> well.

>>> (I'm virtually (but not absolutely!) certain your Dell has that

>>> capability.)

>>>

>>> So why not use the USBEHD as your "destination" drive, even to the

>>> extent

>>> (should you desire) of dividing its disk space into two partitions so

>>> that

>>> the device can contain the cloned contents of both your XP & Win7

>>> systems?

>>> Naturally I'm assuming your USBEHD would have sufficient disk space to

>>> contain the contents of both OSs.

>>>

>>> One of your internal HDDs would contain the XP OS and the other internal

>>> HDD

>>> would contain the Win7 OS. Presumably you would set the BIOS boot

>>> priority

>>> order to whichever drive you usually boot to but it would be a simple

>>> matter

>>> to change the boot priority order as the need arises.

>>>

>>> Thus your USBEHD would serve as comprehensive backups of both operating

>>> systems and should the need arise where you need to boot to either OS

>>> contained on the USBEHD it would be a simple matter to do so.

>>> Anna





>> "bobster" wrote in message

>> news:u2ATKzepKHA.3748@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>> Anna,

>>>

>>> Thanks for the sage advice. Yes, I have upgraded to Casper 6.0 but

>>> since

>>> my

>>> external HD enclosure is connected via a SATA port, the new USB boot

>>> capability didn't provide much usable new capability. Not a problem for

>>> me

>>> as both 5.0, and now 6.0 are super reliable, and I have always been

>>> able

>>> to

>>> boot from the external enclosure-mounted HD as it is connected to a SATA

>>> port via an eSATA cable. And yes, you are correct, my Dell Inspiron 530

>>> supports USB2 and has the F12 capability to select the boot drive. I

>>> also

>>> know how to change the boot order in the BIOS via the F2 button.

>>>

>>> What I have never done is to format a drive into multiple partitions ,

>>> each

>>> with a new drive letter. The procedure in the XP Help and Support

>>> section

>>> sounds pretty straightforward so I'll probably give it a try.

>>>

>>> Thanks again for your help.





>> "Anna" wrote in message

>> news:eDIWoAnpKHA.2076@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>> bobster:

>> Your having an external enclosure that has SATA-to-SATA connectivity

>> (presumably in addition to USB-connectivity) is really an ideal

>> situation.

>> Since (AFAIK) your Dell Inspiron 530 is not equipped with an eSATA port

>> it

>> didn't occur to me that you were working with that type of external

>> device.

>> I would guess that you've either installed a eSATA (or SATA) adapter in

>> the

>> desktop machine to achieve that capability or directly connect your

>> external

>> device to an available SATA connector on the motherboard.

>>

>> In any event the fact that you can directly boot from the external device

>> is

>> certainly an advantage. And (usually) a SATA-connected HDD considerably

>> outperforms a USB-connected HDD assuming USB 2.0 capability. (Things may

>> dramatically change when we move to USB 3.0).

>>

>> It's really a simple & straightforward matter using the XP Disk

>> Management

>> snap-in to multi-partition the external HDD. You should have no

>> difficulty

>> doing so. Since (I assume) you will be using the external HDD as your

>> "destination" drive you can start "fresh" so to speak and delete the

>> current

>> partition on that drive and then multi-partition the drive and finally

>> clone

>> the contents of the two OSs to the appropriate partition.

>>

>> If & when the time comes when you need to directly boot to one of the two

>> cloned systems on the external HDD you would ordinarily use Disk

>> Management

>> to "Mark Partition as Active" (assuming that partition is not already

>> shown

>> as the "active" partition). All that's involved is a simple right-click

>> on

>> the drive's listing and selecting the preceding command from the

>> sub-menu.

>> And, of course, change the boot priority order in the BIOS upon bootup so

>> that the system will boot to the external disk.

>> Anna

>

>

> "bobster" wrote in message

> news:u0uYf$rpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>> Anna,

>>

>> Yes, my Inspiron 530 did not have an eSATA port as delivered but when I

>> bought the full up WD 320 gig HD kit, it came with an eSATA cable and a

>> rear mounted port connector assembly for an external HD. The other end

>> connected to one of the unused SATA ports on my mother board. I've never

>> had any problem in booting from this HD which is mounted in an eSATA/USB

>> capable Vantec external enclosure.

>>

>> I still have a few concerns about proceeding with the changes we have

>> been

>> discussing. As I mentioned, I have 3 identical HDs, mounted in internal

>> position 1, internal position 2, and the Vantec mounted one. They each

>> have

>> been assigned a single drive letter (C, E, and F) although they each have

>> 3

>> partitions. One of my concerns is if I use the external mounted one as my

>> destination drive, and re-partition it into 2 or more partitions, with 2

>> or

>> more new drive letters, each of those partitions will be smaller than the

>> size of the drive letter partitions on the two internal drives. Casper

>> will

>> probably tell me that there isn't enough free space to clone either

>> internal

>> drive to a partition on the external drive. If that happens I would

>> probably junk the whole process, especially if it meant I would have to

>> re-partition my internal drive to mirror my external destination drive.

>>

>> I know the above sounds like the rantings of a novice in drive

>> formatting,

>> but having a trouble-free XP/IE-8 system, I am reluctant to try and

>> re-format it's HD in order to accommodate a single HD backup system for

>> XP

>> and Windows 7. Maybe I should just leave things as they are currently

>> configured, download Windows 7 onto my first internal HD, clone that to

>> the

>> Vantec external drive, then replace the HD in the Vantec with another 320

>> g

>> WD (which I already have) and clone the second internal drive (with

>> XP/IE-8

>> on it) to this HD. This sounds complicated but I can change a drive in

>> the

>> Vantec in about 5 minutes.

>>

>> I'm going to "cool it" for a few days while I decide how to proceed as

>> there

>> is no hurry to do anything.

>>

>> Any additional comments will be appreciated.





> "Anna" wrote in message

> news:OYKd2EupKHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> bobster:

> It seems to me that the most straightforward & efficient configuration in

> your situation based upon your objective of working with two different

> operating systems and having at your disposal two internal HDDs plus an

> external HDD is to...

> 1. Install the XP system on one internal HDD.

> 2. Install the Win7 system on the other internal HDD.

> 3. Utilize your external HDD as the "destination" HDD, and use your Casper

> disk-cloning program as the vehicle to contain the cloned contents of each

> of the two internal HDDs. As I previously indicated you would

> multi-partition the external HDD into two partitions to accommodate the

> cloned contents of each OS.

>

> Naturally this assumes that the 320 GB external HDD you're working with

> contains sufficient disk space to contain those cloned contents. You

> haven't

> indicated the total amount of data you're working with in each of those

> two

> systems but I'm assuming each of the external drive's partitions you

> create

> would be sufficient in size to accommodate the cloned contents of that

> particular OS. Is that a reasonable assumption?

>

> I'm also assuming each of your two internal HDDs will be

> single-partitioned.

> Given the configuration I'm suggesting I see no reason to multi-partition

> these drives.

>

> Forget about drive letter assignments re the external HDD. They are of

> *no*

> relevance in this situation. The same is true of your internal HDDs. As an

> example...

>

> Let's say your XP OS is installed on internal HDD #1 and your Win7 OS is

> installed on internal HDD #2. Now you decide to boot to your XP OS.

> Assuming

> the BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to HDD #1 the

> system

> will boot to that drive which of course will receive the C: drive letter

> assignment.

>

> Since your second internal HDD containing the Win7 is also connected as a

> secondary HDD at this point it will receive a non-C: drive letter

> assignment. Again the drive letter assigned to that drive during this

> operation is of no consequence based upon what we are discussing.

>

> Let's say at another time you now desire to boot to your Win7 OS. Assuming

> the BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to your HDD #2,

> the

> system will boot to that drive which of course will receive the C: drive

> letter assignment. Since your first internal HDD containing the XP OS is

> also connected as a secondary HDD at this point it will receive a non-C:

> drive letter assignment. Again, the drive letter assigned to that drive,

> i.e., "HDD #1" during this operation is of no consequence based upon what

> we

> are discussing.

>

> And so on & so on...

>

> Now let's say that while you've booted to your XP OS ("HDD #1"), you

> decide

> to clone the contents of that drive to one of the two partitions you

> previously created on your external HDD. Understand that when you

> originally

> multi-partitioned that external HDD into two partitions the drive letters

> assigned to each of those partitions is of no consequence in terms of our

> present discussion except in "telling" Casper which partition should act

> as

> the destination drive for the purposes of receiving the cloned contents of

> your HDD #1. Let's say, as an example, you will be cloning the contents of

> that drive to the F: partition on the external HDD, the other partition

> having been assigned the G: drive letter assignment.

>

> You will use the same basic process to clone the contents of your Win7 OS

> contained on internal HDD #2, but this time using the "G:" partition as

> the

> recipient of those cloned contents.

>

> So now you have your external HDD containing the cloned contents of your

> XP

> & Win7 systems. The fact that the two partitions on the external HDD have

> been designated F: & G: are really of no relevance here. Since your

> external

> HDD is a bootable device you will be able to boot to either of the OSs

> contained on the external HDD. Let's say you desire to boot to the cloned

> XP

> OS contained on partition F:. (As I previously indicated you will have to

> first ensure that the selected partition is marked "Active"; I previously

> explained that simple process using Disk Management) . Then ensure that

> the

> BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to your external HDD.

> The system will then boot to the cloned XP OS on your external HDD and

> receive a C: drive letter assignment. The partition containing the cloned

> Win7 OS will receive a non-C: letter assignment, possibly retaining the G:

> drive letter assignment. In any event the drive letter assigned to the

> latter partition is of no relevance re our discussion.

>

> Once again, you would follow the same basic process should you desire to

> boot to the cloned Win7 OS on the external HDD. Again ensuring that the

> partition containing that OS is marked "Active" and the BIOS boot priority

> order indicates a first HDD boot to your external HDD.

>

> Obviously there are different approaches one can take to meet your

> objectives but as I stated I believe the approach I'm suggesting is a

> sensible one under your circumstances.

> Anna





"bobster" wrote in message

news:ei4HZTupKHA.2076@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> Anna,

>

> Thanks again for clarifying several things that were bothering me

> regarding

> the use of the external drive in a multi partition mode. Since I haven't

> downloaded the Windows 7 OS yet, I don't know its footprint size. The XP

> installation is about 40 gigs including all of my apps so I would guess

> that

> the W7 installation sans apps would be less than that. I would think that

> 3

> 80 gig partitions on the external drive would be about right. I will let

> you know how it works out when I finally decide to tackle it.





bobster:

Well give the configuration I've suggested a try and see how it works out

for you. If after working with it you're dissatisfied with that approach,

then simply try another configuration possibly along the lines you

previously contemplated. Nearly needless to say you will be sure of course

to maintain comprehensive backups of your system(s) when making any

significant changes.



I'm not clear on why you would want to create *three* partitions on your

external HDD rather than two. Certainly there would be no problem or harm in

doing so since you've indicated you're working with total data roughly

approximating 40 GB in each of the two OSs so since you'll be working with a

320 GB HDD it would seem there's plenty of disk space to accommodate both of

the OSs. I suppose you're contemplating using the third partition to contain

other data of one sort or another.



But whatever you decide it would be interesting to later hear from you as to

how things worked out.

Anna
 
Anna,



Last night I was able to successfully partition my Vantec mounted HD into 3

volumes of approximately 80g each with the remaining space left un-

partitioned. These 3 new partitions each have a new drive letter assigned.

I used Casper to clone the "C" drive volume of my active drive to one of the

"new" partitions on the external Vantec mounted drive. I then was able to

successfully boot my XP system from that drive. As you guessed, It is my

intent to use the three partitions as XP and Win7 backups and the third

partition for general storage such as pictures, etc.





BTW, I used a free partitioning utility, EASUS Partition Master 5.0.1, to

partition the external drive. It was easy to use and did the job with a

minimum of fuss.



My next task will be to install Win 7 on my second internal HD. I'll

probably tackle that in the next few days. I'll let you know the result. I

have run the Windows 7 upgrade advisor from MS and with a few minor

exceptions, it looks like I am good to go.



===========================================================

"Anna" wrote in message

news:ejwFma0pKHA.5840@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...



>>>> "bobster" wrote in message

>>>> news:#Rus98TpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>>>> I have a Dell Inspiron 530, Intel dual 2.2 CPU computer running

>>>>> XP/Sp3/IE8

>>>>> with all updates. It has 3 identical, 320G SATA HDs, all cloned to

>>>>> the

>>>>> same

>>>>> software, and 2 gigs of memory. The three HDs are located in the two

>>>>> internal positions and one external enclosure. I have been given a

>>>>> gift

>>>>> of

>>>>> a legal Windows 7 disk and wish to install W7 on one of the drives.

>>>>> My

>>>>> questions:

>>>>>

>>>>> If I install W7 on one of the HDs, I realize that the XP (and

>>>>> everything

>>>>> else) on that HD is gone and I have no problem with that as I will

>>>>> still

>>>>> have two fully operational XP systems and all my apps on the two other

>>>>> HDs.

>>>>> But will I still be able to boot up to these XP drives or will the

>>>>> installation of W7 change my BIOS settings or some other change that

>>>>> will

>>>>> prevent me from doing this. What I really want to accomplish is to

>>>>> get

>>>>> W7

>>>>> up and running on one of my HDs but still be able to re-boot into one

>>>>> of

>>>>> my

>>>>> 2 remaining XP drives. In other words, a triple boot, one W7 system

>>>>> and

>>>>> two

>>>>> XP systems.

>>>>>

>>>>> Why would I want to do this? Well, my XP/IE8 works beautifully and I

>>>>> don't

>>>>> want to do anything to screw it up but I realize I'll have to switch

>>>>> to

>>>>> W7

>>>>> eventually. The ideal situation for me would be to retain the XP

>>>>> capability

>>>>> on one HD, with another HD containing the clone of the first one for a

>>>>> back

>>>>> up, and the third HD with W7 as a learning tool to get comfortable

>>>>> with

>>>>> W7.

>>>>>

>>>>> Any problem with doing this?





>>> "Anna" wrote in message

>>> news:O$GjBicpKHA.5588@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>> bobster:

>>> In addition to the suggestion offered you by Peter, here's another

>>> option

>>> you might want to consider...

>>>

>>> If I recall correctly from a number of your prior posts you use the

>>> Casper

>>> disk-cloning program. I'm assuming you've upgraded to the recently

>>> released

>>> Casper 6 program so you probably know that the program now has the happy

>>> capability of booting the cloned contents from a USB external HDD

>>> assuming,

>>> of course, that your motherboard's BIOS supports that capability as

>>> well.

>>> (I'm virtually (but not absolutely!) certain your Dell has that

>>> capability.)

>>>

>>> So why not use the USBEHD as your "destination" drive, even to the

>>> extent

>>> (should you desire) of dividing its disk space into two partitions so

>>> that

>>> the device can contain the cloned contents of both your XP & Win7

>>> systems?

>>> Naturally I'm assuming your USBEHD would have sufficient disk space to

>>> contain the contents of both OSs.

>>>

>>> One of your internal HDDs would contain the XP OS and the other internal

>>> HDD

>>> would contain the Win7 OS. Presumably you would set the BIOS boot

>>> priority

>>> order to whichever drive you usually boot to but it would be a simple

>>> matter

>>> to change the boot priority order as the need arises.

>>>

>>> Thus your USBEHD would serve as comprehensive backups of both operating

>>> systems and should the need arise where you need to boot to either OS

>>> contained on the USBEHD it would be a simple matter to do so.

>>> Anna





>> "bobster" wrote in message

>> news:u2ATKzepKHA.3748@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>> Anna,

>>>

>>> Thanks for the sage advice. Yes, I have upgraded to Casper 6.0 but

>>> since

>>> my

>>> external HD enclosure is connected via a SATA port, the new USB boot

>>> capability didn't provide much usable new capability. Not a problem for

>>> me

>>> as both 5.0, and now 6.0 are super reliable, and I have always been

>>> able

>>> to

>>> boot from the external enclosure-mounted HD as it is connected to a SATA

>>> port via an eSATA cable. And yes, you are correct, my Dell Inspiron 530

>>> supports USB2 and has the F12 capability to select the boot drive. I

>>> also

>>> know how to change the boot order in the BIOS via the F2 button.

>>>

>>> What I have never done is to format a drive into multiple partitions ,

>>> each

>>> with a new drive letter. The procedure in the XP Help and Support

>>> section

>>> sounds pretty straightforward so I'll probably give it a try.

>>>

>>> Thanks again for your help.





>> "Anna" wrote in message

>> news:eDIWoAnpKHA.2076@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>> bobster:

>> Your having an external enclosure that has SATA-to-SATA connectivity

>> (presumably in addition to USB-connectivity) is really an ideal

>> situation.

>> Since (AFAIK) your Dell Inspiron 530 is not equipped with an eSATA port

>> it

>> didn't occur to me that you were working with that type of external

>> device.

>> I would guess that you've either installed a eSATA (or SATA) adapter in

>> the

>> desktop machine to achieve that capability or directly connect your

>> external

>> device to an available SATA connector on the motherboard.

>>

>> In any event the fact that you can directly boot from the external device

>> is

>> certainly an advantage. And (usually) a SATA-connected HDD considerably

>> outperforms a USB-connected HDD assuming USB 2.0 capability. (Things may

>> dramatically change when we move to USB 3.0).

>>

>> It's really a simple & straightforward matter using the XP Disk

>> Management

>> snap-in to multi-partition the external HDD. You should have no

>> difficulty

>> doing so. Since (I assume) you will be using the external HDD as your

>> "destination" drive you can start "fresh" so to speak and delete the

>> current

>> partition on that drive and then multi-partition the drive and finally

>> clone

>> the contents of the two OSs to the appropriate partition.

>>

>> If & when the time comes when you need to directly boot to one of the two

>> cloned systems on the external HDD you would ordinarily use Disk

>> Management

>> to "Mark Partition as Active" (assuming that partition is not already

>> shown

>> as the "active" partition). All that's involved is a simple right-click

>> on

>> the drive's listing and selecting the preceding command from the

>> sub-menu.

>> And, of course, change the boot priority order in the BIOS upon bootup so

>> that the system will boot to the external disk.

>> Anna

>

>

> "bobster" wrote in message

> news:u0uYf$rpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>> Anna,

>>

>> Yes, my Inspiron 530 did not have an eSATA port as delivered but when I

>> bought the full up WD 320 gig HD kit, it came with an eSATA cable and a

>> rear mounted port connector assembly for an external HD. The other end

>> connected to one of the unused SATA ports on my mother board. I've never

>> had any problem in booting from this HD which is mounted in an eSATA/USB

>> capable Vantec external enclosure.

>>

>> I still have a few concerns about proceeding with the changes we have

>> been

>> discussing. As I mentioned, I have 3 identical HDs, mounted in internal

>> position 1, internal position 2, and the Vantec mounted one. They each

>> have

>> been assigned a single drive letter (C, E, and F) although they each have

>> 3

>> partitions. One of my concerns is if I use the external mounted one as my

>> destination drive, and re-partition it into 2 or more partitions, with 2

>> or

>> more new drive letters, each of those partitions will be smaller than the

>> size of the drive letter partitions on the two internal drives. Casper

>> will

>> probably tell me that there isn't enough free space to clone either

>> internal

>> drive to a partition on the external drive. If that happens I would

>> probably junk the whole process, especially if it meant I would have to

>> re-partition my internal drive to mirror my external destination drive.

>>

>> I know the above sounds like the rantings of a novice in drive

>> formatting,

>> but having a trouble-free XP/IE-8 system, I am reluctant to try and

>> re-format it's HD in order to accommodate a single HD backup system for

>> XP

>> and Windows 7. Maybe I should just leave things as they are currently

>> configured, download Windows 7 onto my first internal HD, clone that to

>> the

>> Vantec external drive, then replace the HD in the Vantec with another 320

>> g

>> WD (which I already have) and clone the second internal drive (with

>> XP/IE-8

>> on it) to this HD. This sounds complicated but I can change a drive in

>> the

>> Vantec in about 5 minutes.

>>

>> I'm going to "cool it" for a few days while I decide how to proceed as

>> there

>> is no hurry to do anything.

>>

>> Any additional comments will be appreciated.





> "Anna" wrote in message

> news:OYKd2EupKHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> bobster:

> It seems to me that the most straightforward & efficient configuration in

> your situation based upon your objective of working with two different

> operating systems and having at your disposal two internal HDDs plus an

> external HDD is to...

> 1. Install the XP system on one internal HDD.

> 2. Install the Win7 system on the other internal HDD.

> 3. Utilize your external HDD as the "destination" HDD, and use your Casper

> disk-cloning program as the vehicle to contain the cloned contents of each

> of the two internal HDDs. As I previously indicated you would

> multi-partition the external HDD into two partitions to accommodate the

> cloned contents of each OS.

>

> Naturally this assumes that the 320 GB external HDD you're working with

> contains sufficient disk space to contain those cloned contents. You

> haven't

> indicated the total amount of data you're working with in each of those

> two

> systems but I'm assuming each of the external drive's partitions you

> create

> would be sufficient in size to accommodate the cloned contents of that

> particular OS. Is that a reasonable assumption?

>

> I'm also assuming each of your two internal HDDs will be

> single-partitioned.

> Given the configuration I'm suggesting I see no reason to multi-partition

> these drives.

>

> Forget about drive letter assignments re the external HDD. They are of

> *no*

> relevance in this situation. The same is true of your internal HDDs. As an

> example...

>

> Let's say your XP OS is installed on internal HDD #1 and your Win7 OS is

> installed on internal HDD #2. Now you decide to boot to your XP OS.

> Assuming

> the BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to HDD #1 the

> system

> will boot to that drive which of course will receive the C: drive letter

> assignment.

>

> Since your second internal HDD containing the Win7 is also connected as a

> secondary HDD at this point it will receive a non-C: drive letter

> assignment. Again the drive letter assigned to that drive during this

> operation is of no consequence based upon what we are discussing.

>

> Let's say at another time you now desire to boot to your Win7 OS. Assuming

> the BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to your HDD #2,

> the

> system will boot to that drive which of course will receive the C: drive

> letter assignment. Since your first internal HDD containing the XP OS is

> also connected as a secondary HDD at this point it will receive a non-C:

> drive letter assignment. Again, the drive letter assigned to that drive,

> i.e., "HDD #1" during this operation is of no consequence based upon what

> we

> are discussing.

>

> And so on & so on...

>

> Now let's say that while you've booted to your XP OS ("HDD #1"), you

> decide

> to clone the contents of that drive to one of the two partitions you

> previously created on your external HDD. Understand that when you

> originally

> multi-partitioned that external HDD into two partitions the drive letters

> assigned to each of those partitions is of no consequence in terms of our

> present discussion except in "telling" Casper which partition should act

> as

> the destination drive for the purposes of receiving the cloned contents of

> your HDD #1. Let's say, as an example, you will be cloning the contents of

> that drive to the F: partition on the external HDD, the other partition

> having been assigned the G: drive letter assignment.

>

> You will use the same basic process to clone the contents of your Win7 OS

> contained on internal HDD #2, but this time using the "G:" partition as

> the

> recipient of those cloned contents.

>

> So now you have your external HDD containing the cloned contents of your

> XP

> & Win7 systems. The fact that the two partitions on the external HDD have

> been designated F: & G: are really of no relevance here. Since your

> external

> HDD is a bootable device you will be able to boot to either of the OSs

> contained on the external HDD. Let's say you desire to boot to the cloned

> XP

> OS contained on partition F:. (As I previously indicated you will have to

> first ensure that the selected partition is marked "Active"; I previously

> explained that simple process using Disk Management) . Then ensure that

> the

> BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to your external HDD.

> The system will then boot to the cloned XP OS on your external HDD and

> receive a C: drive letter assignment. The partition containing the cloned

> Win7 OS will receive a non-C: letter assignment, possibly retaining the G:

> drive letter assignment. In any event the drive letter assigned to the

> latter partition is of no relevance re our discussion.

>

> Once again, you would follow the same basic process should you desire to

> boot to the cloned Win7 OS on the external HDD. Again ensuring that the

> partition containing that OS is marked "Active" and the BIOS boot priority

> order indicates a first HDD boot to your external HDD.

>

> Obviously there are different approaches one can take to meet your

> objectives but as I stated I believe the approach I'm suggesting is a

> sensible one under your circumstances.

> Anna





"bobster" wrote in message

news:ei4HZTupKHA.2076@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> Anna,

>

> Thanks again for clarifying several things that were bothering me

> regarding

> the use of the external drive in a multi partition mode. Since I haven't

> downloaded the Windows 7 OS yet, I don't know its footprint size. The XP

> installation is about 40 gigs including all of my apps so I would guess

> that

> the W7 installation sans apps would be less than that. I would think that

> 3

> 80 gig partitions on the external drive would be about right. I will let

> you know how it works out when I finally decide to tackle it.





bobster:

Well give the configuration I've suggested a try and see how it works out

for you. If after working with it you're dissatisfied with that approach,

then simply try another configuration possibly along the lines you

previously contemplated. Nearly needless to say you will be sure of course

to maintain comprehensive backups of your system(s) when making any

significant changes.



I'm not clear on why you would want to create *three* partitions on your

external HDD rather than two. Certainly there would be no problem or harm in

doing so since you've indicated you're working with total data roughly

approximating 40 GB in each of the two OSs so since you'll be working with a

320 GB HDD it would seem there's plenty of disk space to accommodate both of

the OSs. I suppose you're contemplating using the third partition to contain

other data of one sort or another.



But whatever you decide it would be interesting to later hear from you as to

how things worked out.

Anna
 
Anna,



I have been reading up on the possible pitfalls when downloading Windows 7

to an operating XP computer. One quotation (see below) kinda scared me as

I definitely do not want to affect in any way, or lose my XP capability.



"When installing a computer operating system, you will need to reinstall all

existing hardware (i.e. printers, network cards, etc.)."



My question:



If, when I get Win 7 installed and "all existing hardware (i.e. printers,

network cards, etc.) have been reinstalled (changed to suit Win7, I assume),

and I decide to boot up to one of my HDs that have the XP system on it, will

I still have a completely unmodified operational XP system or will the

hardware interface changes made to accommodate Win 7 screw up my XP

operation?



Sorry if I sound like an old worry wart (I'm 80) but I'm somewhat paranoid

about screwing up or losing my superbly operating XP based system.



TIA for you answer





"Anna" wrote in message

news:ejwFma0pKHA.5840@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...



>>>> "bobster" wrote in message

>>>> news:#Rus98TpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>>>> I have a Dell Inspiron 530, Intel dual 2.2 CPU computer running

>>>>> XP/Sp3/IE8

>>>>> with all updates. It has 3 identical, 320G SATA HDs, all cloned to

>>>>> the

>>>>> same

>>>>> software, and 2 gigs of memory. The three HDs are located in the two

>>>>> internal positions and one external enclosure. I have been given a

>>>>> gift

>>>>> of

>>>>> a legal Windows 7 disk and wish to install W7 on one of the drives.

>>>>> My

>>>>> questions:

>>>>>

>>>>> If I install W7 on one of the HDs, I realize that the XP (and

>>>>> everything

>>>>> else) on that HD is gone and I have no problem with that as I will

>>>>> still

>>>>> have two fully operational XP systems and all my apps on the two other

>>>>> HDs.

>>>>> But will I still be able to boot up to these XP drives or will the

>>>>> installation of W7 change my BIOS settings or some other change that

>>>>> will

>>>>> prevent me from doing this. What I really want to accomplish is to

>>>>> get

>>>>> W7

>>>>> up and running on one of my HDs but still be able to re-boot into one

>>>>> of

>>>>> my

>>>>> 2 remaining XP drives. In other words, a triple boot, one W7 system

>>>>> and

>>>>> two

>>>>> XP systems.

>>>>>

>>>>> Why would I want to do this? Well, my XP/IE8 works beautifully and I

>>>>> don't

>>>>> want to do anything to screw it up but I realize I'll have to switch

>>>>> to

>>>>> W7

>>>>> eventually. The ideal situation for me would be to retain the XP

>>>>> capability

>>>>> on one HD, with another HD containing the clone of the first one for a

>>>>> back

>>>>> up, and the third HD with W7 as a learning tool to get comfortable

>>>>> with

>>>>> W7.

>>>>>

>>>>> Any problem with doing this?





>>> "Anna" wrote in message

>>> news:O$GjBicpKHA.5588@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>> bobster:

>>> In addition to the suggestion offered you by Peter, here's another

>>> option

>>> you might want to consider...

>>>

>>> If I recall correctly from a number of your prior posts you use the

>>> Casper

>>> disk-cloning program. I'm assuming you've upgraded to the recently

>>> released

>>> Casper 6 program so you probably know that the program now has the happy

>>> capability of booting the cloned contents from a USB external HDD

>>> assuming,

>>> of course, that your motherboard's BIOS supports that capability as

>>> well.

>>> (I'm virtually (but not absolutely!) certain your Dell has that

>>> capability.)

>>>

>>> So why not use the USBEHD as your "destination" drive, even to the

>>> extent

>>> (should you desire) of dividing its disk space into two partitions so

>>> that

>>> the device can contain the cloned contents of both your XP & Win7

>>> systems?

>>> Naturally I'm assuming your USBEHD would have sufficient disk space to

>>> contain the contents of both OSs.

>>>

>>> One of your internal HDDs would contain the XP OS and the other internal

>>> HDD

>>> would contain the Win7 OS. Presumably you would set the BIOS boot

>>> priority

>>> order to whichever drive you usually boot to but it would be a simple

>>> matter

>>> to change the boot priority order as the need arises.

>>>

>>> Thus your USBEHD would serve as comprehensive backups of both operating

>>> systems and should the need arise where you need to boot to either OS

>>> contained on the USBEHD it would be a simple matter to do so.

>>> Anna





>> "bobster" wrote in message

>> news:u2ATKzepKHA.3748@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>> Anna,

>>>

>>> Thanks for the sage advice. Yes, I have upgraded to Casper 6.0 but

>>> since

>>> my

>>> external HD enclosure is connected via a SATA port, the new USB boot

>>> capability didn't provide much usable new capability. Not a problem for

>>> me

>>> as both 5.0, and now 6.0 are super reliable, and I have always been

>>> able

>>> to

>>> boot from the external enclosure-mounted HD as it is connected to a SATA

>>> port via an eSATA cable. And yes, you are correct, my Dell Inspiron 530

>>> supports USB2 and has the F12 capability to select the boot drive. I

>>> also

>>> know how to change the boot order in the BIOS via the F2 button.

>>>

>>> What I have never done is to format a drive into multiple partitions ,

>>> each

>>> with a new drive letter. The procedure in the XP Help and Support

>>> section

>>> sounds pretty straightforward so I'll probably give it a try.

>>>

>>> Thanks again for your help.





>> "Anna" wrote in message

>> news:eDIWoAnpKHA.2076@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>> bobster:

>> Your having an external enclosure that has SATA-to-SATA connectivity

>> (presumably in addition to USB-connectivity) is really an ideal

>> situation.

>> Since (AFAIK) your Dell Inspiron 530 is not equipped with an eSATA port

>> it

>> didn't occur to me that you were working with that type of external

>> device.

>> I would guess that you've either installed a eSATA (or SATA) adapter in

>> the

>> desktop machine to achieve that capability or directly connect your

>> external

>> device to an available SATA connector on the motherboard.

>>

>> In any event the fact that you can directly boot from the external device

>> is

>> certainly an advantage. And (usually) a SATA-connected HDD considerably

>> outperforms a USB-connected HDD assuming USB 2.0 capability. (Things may

>> dramatically change when we move to USB 3.0).

>>

>> It's really a simple & straightforward matter using the XP Disk

>> Management

>> snap-in to multi-partition the external HDD. You should have no

>> difficulty

>> doing so. Since (I assume) you will be using the external HDD as your

>> "destination" drive you can start "fresh" so to speak and delete the

>> current

>> partition on that drive and then multi-partition the drive and finally

>> clone

>> the contents of the two OSs to the appropriate partition.

>>

>> If & when the time comes when you need to directly boot to one of the two

>> cloned systems on the external HDD you would ordinarily use Disk

>> Management

>> to "Mark Partition as Active" (assuming that partition is not already

>> shown

>> as the "active" partition). All that's involved is a simple right-click

>> on

>> the drive's listing and selecting the preceding command from the

>> sub-menu.

>> And, of course, change the boot priority order in the BIOS upon bootup so

>> that the system will boot to the external disk.

>> Anna

>

>

> "bobster" wrote in message

> news:u0uYf$rpKHA.4836@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>> Anna,

>>

>> Yes, my Inspiron 530 did not have an eSATA port as delivered but when I

>> bought the full up WD 320 gig HD kit, it came with an eSATA cable and a

>> rear mounted port connector assembly for an external HD. The other end

>> connected to one of the unused SATA ports on my mother board. I've never

>> had any problem in booting from this HD which is mounted in an eSATA/USB

>> capable Vantec external enclosure.

>>

>> I still have a few concerns about proceeding with the changes we have

>> been

>> discussing. As I mentioned, I have 3 identical HDs, mounted in internal

>> position 1, internal position 2, and the Vantec mounted one. They each

>> have

>> been assigned a single drive letter (C, E, and F) although they each have

>> 3

>> partitions. One of my concerns is if I use the external mounted one as my

>> destination drive, and re-partition it into 2 or more partitions, with 2

>> or

>> more new drive letters, each of those partitions will be smaller than the

>> size of the drive letter partitions on the two internal drives. Casper

>> will

>> probably tell me that there isn't enough free space to clone either

>> internal

>> drive to a partition on the external drive. If that happens I would

>> probably junk the whole process, especially if it meant I would have to

>> re-partition my internal drive to mirror my external destination drive.

>>

>> I know the above sounds like the rantings of a novice in drive

>> formatting,

>> but having a trouble-free XP/IE-8 system, I am reluctant to try and

>> re-format it's HD in order to accommodate a single HD backup system for

>> XP

>> and Windows 7. Maybe I should just leave things as they are currently

>> configured, download Windows 7 onto my first internal HD, clone that to

>> the

>> Vantec external drive, then replace the HD in the Vantec with another 320

>> g

>> WD (which I already have) and clone the second internal drive (with

>> XP/IE-8

>> on it) to this HD. This sounds complicated but I can change a drive in

>> the

>> Vantec in about 5 minutes.

>>

>> I'm going to "cool it" for a few days while I decide how to proceed as

>> there

>> is no hurry to do anything.

>>

>> Any additional comments will be appreciated.





> "Anna" wrote in message

> news:OYKd2EupKHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> bobster:

> It seems to me that the most straightforward & efficient configuration in

> your situation based upon your objective of working with two different

> operating systems and having at your disposal two internal HDDs plus an

> external HDD is to...

> 1. Install the XP system on one internal HDD.

> 2. Install the Win7 system on the other internal HDD.

> 3. Utilize your external HDD as the "destination" HDD, and use your Casper

> disk-cloning program as the vehicle to contain the cloned contents of each

> of the two internal HDDs. As I previously indicated you would

> multi-partition the external HDD into two partitions to accommodate the

> cloned contents of each OS.

>

> Naturally this assumes that the 320 GB external HDD you're working with

> contains sufficient disk space to contain those cloned contents. You

> haven't

> indicated the total amount of data you're working with in each of those

> two

> systems but I'm assuming each of the external drive's partitions you

> create

> would be sufficient in size to accommodate the cloned contents of that

> particular OS. Is that a reasonable assumption?

>

> I'm also assuming each of your two internal HDDs will be

> single-partitioned.

> Given the configuration I'm suggesting I see no reason to multi-partition

> these drives.

>

> Forget about drive letter assignments re the external HDD. They are of

> *no*

> relevance in this situation. The same is true of your internal HDDs. As an

> example...

>

> Let's say your XP OS is installed on internal HDD #1 and your Win7 OS is

> installed on internal HDD #2. Now you decide to boot to your XP OS.

> Assuming

> the BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to HDD #1 the

> system

> will boot to that drive which of course will receive the C: drive letter

> assignment.

>

> Since your second internal HDD containing the Win7 is also connected as a

> secondary HDD at this point it will receive a non-C: drive letter

> assignment. Again the drive letter assigned to that drive during this

> operation is of no consequence based upon what we are discussing.

>

> Let's say at another time you now desire to boot to your Win7 OS. Assuming

> the BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to your HDD #2,

> the

> system will boot to that drive which of course will receive the C: drive

> letter assignment. Since your first internal HDD containing the XP OS is

> also connected as a secondary HDD at this point it will receive a non-C:

> drive letter assignment. Again, the drive letter assigned to that drive,

> i.e., "HDD #1" during this operation is of no consequence based upon what

> we

> are discussing.

>

> And so on & so on...

>

> Now let's say that while you've booted to your XP OS ("HDD #1"), you

> decide

> to clone the contents of that drive to one of the two partitions you

> previously created on your external HDD. Understand that when you

> originally

> multi-partitioned that external HDD into two partitions the drive letters

> assigned to each of those partitions is of no consequence in terms of our

> present discussion except in "telling" Casper which partition should act

> as

> the destination drive for the purposes of receiving the cloned contents of

> your HDD #1. Let's say, as an example, you will be cloning the contents of

> that drive to the F: partition on the external HDD, the other partition

> having been assigned the G: drive letter assignment.

>

> You will use the same basic process to clone the contents of your Win7 OS

> contained on internal HDD #2, but this time using the "G:" partition as

> the

> recipient of those cloned contents.

>

> So now you have your external HDD containing the cloned contents of your

> XP

> & Win7 systems. The fact that the two partitions on the external HDD have

> been designated F: & G: are really of no relevance here. Since your

> external

> HDD is a bootable device you will be able to boot to either of the OSs

> contained on the external HDD. Let's say you desire to boot to the cloned

> XP

> OS contained on partition F:. (As I previously indicated you will have to

> first ensure that the selected partition is marked "Active"; I previously

> explained that simple process using Disk Management) . Then ensure that

> the

> BIOS boot priority order indicates a first HDD boot to your external HDD.

> The system will then boot to the cloned XP OS on your external HDD and

> receive a C: drive letter assignment. The partition containing the cloned

> Win7 OS will receive a non-C: letter assignment, possibly retaining the G:

> drive letter assignment. In any event the drive letter assigned to the

> latter partition is of no relevance re our discussion.

>

> Once again, you would follow the same basic process should you desire to

> boot to the cloned Win7 OS on the external HDD. Again ensuring that the

> partition containing that OS is marked "Active" and the BIOS boot priority

> order indicates a first HDD boot to your external HDD.

>

> Obviously there are different approaches one can take to meet your

> objectives but as I stated I believe the approach I'm suggesting is a

> sensible one under your circumstances.

> Anna





"bobster" wrote in message

news:ei4HZTupKHA.2076@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> Anna,

>

> Thanks again for clarifying several things that were bothering me

> regarding

> the use of the external drive in a multi partition mode. Since I haven't

> downloaded the Windows 7 OS yet, I don't know its footprint size. The XP

> installation is about 40 gigs including all of my apps so I would guess

> that

> the W7 installation sans apps would be less than that. I would think that

> 3

> 80 gig partitions on the external drive would be about right. I will let

> you know how it works out when I finally decide to tackle it.





bobster:

Well give the configuration I've suggested a try and see how it works out

for you. If after working with it you're dissatisfied with that approach,

then simply try another configuration possibly along the lines you

previously contemplated. Nearly needless to say you will be sure of course

to maintain comprehensive backups of your system(s) when making any

significant changes.



I'm not clear on why you would want to create *three* partitions on your

external HDD rather than two. Certainly there would be no problem or harm in

doing so since you've indicated you're working with total data roughly

approximating 40 GB in each of the two OSs so since you'll be working with a

320 GB HDD it would seem there's plenty of disk space to accommodate both of

the OSs. I suppose you're contemplating using the third partition to contain

other data of one sort or another.



But whatever you decide it would be interesting to later hear from you as to

how things worked out.

Anna
 


> "Anna" wrote in message

> news:ejwFma0pKHA.5840@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> bobster:

> Well give the configuration I've suggested a try and see how it works out

> for you. If after working with it you're dissatisfied with that approach,

> then simply try another configuration possibly along the lines you

> previously contemplated. Nearly needless to say you will be sure of course

> to maintain comprehensive backups of your system(s) when making any

> significant changes.

>

> I'm not clear on why you would want to create *three* partitions on your

> external HDD rather than two. Certainly there would be no problem or harm

> in

> doing so since you've indicated you're working with total data roughly

> approximating 40 GB in each of the two OSs so since you'll be working with

> a

> 320 GB HDD it would seem there's plenty of disk space to accommodate both

> of

> the OSs. I suppose you're contemplating using the third partition to

> contain

> other data of one sort or another.

>

> But whatever you decide it would be interesting to later hear from you as

> to

> how things worked out.

> Anna





"bobster" wrote in message

news:uF2c$V1pKHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> Anna,

>

> Last night I was able to successfully partition my Vantec mounted HD into

> 3

> volumes of approximately 80g each with the remaining space left un-

> partitioned. These 3 new partitions each have a new drive letter

> assigned.

> I used Casper to clone the "C" drive volume of my active drive to one of

> the

> "new" partitions on the external Vantec mounted drive. I then was able to

> successfully boot my XP system from that drive. As you guessed, It is my

> intent to use the three partitions as XP and Win7 backups and the third

> partition for general storage such as pictures, etc.

>

>

> BTW, I used a free partitioning utility, EASUS Partition Master 5.0.1, to

> partition the external drive. It was easy to use and did the job with a

> minimum of fuss.

>

> My next task will be to install Win 7 on my second internal HD. I'll

> probably tackle that in the next few days. I'll let you know the result.

> I

> have run the Windows 7 upgrade advisor from MS and with a few minor

> exceptions, it looks like I am good to go.





bobster:

As previously discussed there's certainly no harm in creating three

partitions on your external HDD and since you plan to use that third

partition for specialized data backup it makes sense to have

multi-partitioned the drive in the way you did.



But why did you leave "unallocated" disk space on the disk? Are you planning

to utilize that disk space sometime in the future for add'l data storage?

Just curious.



While there's no harm in using the EASEUS Partition Master program to

undertake the disk partitioning scheme - it's a fine program based on the

limited experience I've had with it - there really was no reason why you

couldn't have used Disk Management to carry out the multi-partitioning of

your external HDD.



Are you aware that you could have also used your Casper disk-cloning program

to multi-partition your external HDD as well? It's one of the nice features

of the program. Ordinarily you would do this when you initially clone the

contents of your "source" drive to the external HDD. For example, let's say

you intended to clone the contents of your XP OS on your internal HDD #1 to

the external drive. You could use Casper to create the partition on the

external HDD of whatever size you desired (as long, of course, that it was

sufficient in size to hold the cloned contents). Then undertake the same

process when you cloned the contents of your Win7 OS on your internal HDD #2

to the external HDD. And finally create one or more partitions on the

unallocated disk space of the external HDD should there be any unallocated

disk space remaining.

Anna
 
"bobster" wrote in message

news:%23cmOuV2pKHA.1544@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

> Anna,

>

> I have been reading up on the possible pitfalls when downloading Windows 7

> to an operating XP computer. One quotation (see below) kinda scared me

> as

> I definitely do not want to affect in any way, or lose my XP capability.

>

> "When installing a computer operating system, you will need to reinstall

> all

> existing hardware (i.e. printers, network cards, etc.)."

>

> My question:

>

> If, when I get Win 7 installed and "all existing hardware (i.e. printers,

> network cards, etc.) have been reinstalled (changed to suit Win7, I

> assume),

> and I decide to boot up to one of my HDs that have the XP system on it,

> will

> I still have a completely unmodified operational XP system or will the

> hardware interface changes made to accommodate Win 7 screw up my XP

> operation?

>

> Sorry if I sound like an old worry wart (I'm 80) but I'm somewhat paranoid

> about screwing up or losing my superbly operating XP based system.

>

> TIA for you answer





bobster:

No, there's no problem here that will affect your XP system since your XP OS

will be installed on one HDD and the Win7 OS on another HDD. So when you

boot to your XP OS (as previously discussed) the system will detect only

those drivers, configurations, etc. that have been installed in connection

with your XP OS. And when you boot to your Win7 OS (with the HDD containing

the XP OS now a secondary HDD in the system) there will similarly be no

adverse impact on your XP OS re Win7 drivers, configurations, etc. under

those circumstances.

Anna
 
Anna,



I've hit a snag. When I partition my external HD into 3 partitions, only

one (always the first) partition can contain a bootable volume. The second

and third partitions have unique drive letters assigned but my BIOS

recognizes only the first volume drive letter in its lists of bootable

drives. I have found no way of changing the BIOS to overcome this

limitation.



When I go to XP disk management, the first volume shows up as the "primary

partition" while the second and third volumes show up as "extended partition

logical drives". When I right click on either of these two partitions,

there is no "mark partition as active" option as there is when right

clicking the first partition. I have tried using XP, EASEUS and Casper to

partition the external HD into 3 partitions and all resulted in three

partitions in which only partition one could be used to boot. The

limitation may possibly be in the Casper cloning concept but I have read

their use notes and can't find an answer to the problem.



At this point it appears to me that I cannot have two bootable partitions on

a single hard drive unless I go to a true dual boot configuration for W7 and

XP. At this point I am considering reverting to my "plan" B approach, i.e.

using two separate external HDs in the Vantec enclosure. I have an extra HD

and changing them in the enclosure is a five minute task.



If you have any other thoughts let me know.



TIA

"Anna" wrote in message news:uSSphL3pKHA

HDs.3980@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...



"bobster" wrote in message

news:%23cmOuV2pKHA.1544@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

> Anna,

>

> I have been reading up on the possible pitfalls when downloading Windows 7

> to an operating XP computer. One quotation (see below) kinda scared me

> as

> I definitely do not want to affect in any way, or lose my XP capability.

>

> "When installing a computer operating system, you will need to reinstall

> all

> existing hardware (i.e. printers, network cards, etc.)."

>

> My question:

>

> If, when I get Win 7 installed and "all existing hardware (i.e. printers,

> network cards, etc.) have been reinstalled (changed to suit Win7, I

> assume),

> and I decide to boot up to one of my HDs that have the XP system on it,

> will

> I still have a completely unmodified operational XP system or will the

> hardware interface changes made to accommodate Win 7 screw up my XP

> operation?

>

> Sorry if I sound like an old worry wart (I'm 80) but I'm somewhat paranoid

> about screwing up or losing my superbly operating XP based system.

>

> TIA for you answer





bobster:

No, there's no problem here that will affect your XP system since your XP OS

will be installed on one HDD and the Win7 OS on another HDD. So when you

boot to your XP OS (as previously discussed) the system will detect only

those drivers, configurations, etc. that have been installed in connection

with your XP OS. And when you boot to your Win7 OS (with the HDD containing

the XP OS now a secondary HDD in the system) there will similarly be no

adverse impact on your XP OS re Win7 drivers, configurations, etc. under

those circumstances.

Anna
 
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