It seems there is some misinformation in this thread. The basic facts are:

a) If WinXP saw the light of the day on drive D: then it must always
run off a drive letter D:. The reason is simple: The registry is full
of references to drive D:, and if the system drive is C: all of a sudden
then you will end up with a very unhappy Windows installation.

b) It is possible to run Windows off the very first partition while still
calling it "Drive C:". Unfortunately it is not an easy matter to arrange
this, and the probability of a mistake is high, resulting in an
unbootable system.

To avoid this type of problem in future, use a proper boot loader such
as XOSL. It's free. It lets you install any number of OSs on separate
partitions, each visible as drive C:.

You can resolve your current predicament as follows. It will give you
a large boot disk which you can use to store your data, with WinXP
still running off drive D:.

1. Install your 160 GByte disk temporarily as the secondary slave disk.
2. Launch WinXP.
3. Partition/format the 160 GByte disk.
4. Mark it as "active".
5. Copy these hidden files to it:
c:\ntldr
c:\ntdetect.com
c:\boot.ini
6. Disconnect the 40 GByte disk.
7. Make the 160 GByte disk the primary master disk.
8. See if you can boot into WinXP.
9. If you can't, use your WinXP CD to boot into the Recovery Console,
then issue these commands:
fixboot
fixmbr

This is a safe path to follow, because you keep both existing disks intact.


"BlÄckCaT" <BlckCaT@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5E632732-55FD-49AF-BD54-4E3B12E4276A@microsoft.com...
> Hello Bonobo,
>
> All that you want to do is possible, there are threads in these forums for
> doing a repair install of Xp as well as how to go about swapping hard
drives
> with Xp already installed.
>
> Do a search on "Repair Install Xp" as well as swapping harddrives with Xp
> already loaded on it ( I've gone through it a few months ago ) all went
> well the forums here are great....
>
> Cheers and good luck, you'll have no problems doing what you have planned.
>
> "Bonobo" wrote:
>
> > Have somewhat of a problem and not quite sure how to go about solving it
and
> > remain legal.
> >
> > Current system is:
> > C:\ = Western Digital 40GB (Win98SE) - Going bad
> > D:\ = Western Digital 80GB (XP Pro) - Used the most
> >
> > Current configuration is dual-booted. Very seldom do I use the Win98
and
> > have copied and save most of the files I'd want to keep. Both disk are
FAT32.
> >
> > What I would like to wind up with in the end is:
> > C:\ = Western Digital 160GB (With copied system from D: above) NEW
Drive
> > D:\ = Western Digital 80GB (Used for additional storage after
everthing
> > has been copied to the NEW C: and verified working correctly and old OS
> > deleted).
> >
> > This would then net the original C:\ (WD 40GB) gone.
> >
> > I've read in various post that one possible solution to the above is to
use
> > the Drive manufacturer's copy utility to make the move (if there is
one).
> > Assuming that one exist and it works, then my question becomes:
> >
> > How will I get the Registry to know that programs now exist on C: rather
> > than D:, and are there any other problems I might have to worry about.??
> >
> > I'm sure this has been asked numerous of times, but I've looked and have
not
> > found an answer that really makes me comfortable with undertaking the
task.
> > It's not a matter of will the C: die, but when; and I'd like to make the
move
> > before it does.
> >
> > Thanks for any assistance!