The loader is on C:

Original system only had one drive (WD 40GB w/Win98SE). After XP was
released, bought the 80GB (Now D and installed XP. Wanted to continue to
use 98, since I had quite a bit of development software loaded there, thus
the dual-boot.

"Uncle John" wrote:

> Bonobo
>
> Where is the boot loader located? Is it on disk 0 or disk 1? Or on a
> removable media? If you post here I will think about how best to solve your
> problem, which I now understand, and reply tomorrow.
>
> --
> Uncle John
> "Bonobo" <Bonobo@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2FC82D84-2FFA-4EAE-86E4-A3282F707AC0@microsoft.com...
> >I do appreciate all the comments that have been given so far. I've taken
> > into consideration all the issues raised.
> >
> > Will try to answer some of Uncle John's concerns within his post. See
> > below.
> >
> > "Uncle John" wrote:
> >
> >> Pegasus
> >>
> >> I believe you misunderstood me, I said
> >>
> >> " Casper XP or Acronis True Image do routinely copy or clone the old
> >> drive C
> >> to the new drive D. It will boot and Windows will of course call the new
> >> drive D and call the old drive C ........."
> >>
> >> That is, if the original system disk is
> >> " Disk 0 'D' " and the new disk is
> >> " Disk1 'C' "
> >
> > The original system disk is Disk0 'C' ; which is a 40GB WD with Win98SE
> > that
> > is on the way 'South'
> > Disk1 'D'; is a 80GB WD with XP Pro.
> >
> > The system is set for dual booting; I can select Win98, XP or Recovery
> > Console. Both drives are formatted Fat32.
> >
> >> the drive letter "D" will be maintained if the new disk is booted as the
> >> new
> >> system disk the drive letters will be reversed. In the management
> >> Console
> >> you will then see
> >> "Disk 1 'D'
> >> "Disk 0 'C' "
> >>
> >> To go further and change the Drive letter of the [new] System Disk to 'C'
> >> I
> >> would need use software that usually works involving the change of mount
> >> points and registry addresses which is very time consuming and not 100%
> >> certain: I only do this if the drive letter had been corrupted already.
> >>
> >
> > I've seen a post (can't recall where) that states that there is some
> > utility
> > that will allow 'Find & Replace' on enties in the Registry. Given some of
> > the other problems Pegasus has outlined, not sure if this will entirely
> > fix
> > all the problems.
> >
> > Would like to know if anyone has had experience with this sort of utility.
> >
> >
> >> Since neither of us saw the original post we do not know why the poster
> >> was
> >> trying to change the drive letter so may this technical chat is
> >> irrelevant!
> >> --
> >
> > In a nutshell, I would like to wind up with C: being XP on a 160GB drive
> > (New), the current XP disk (which is D to be used as additional storage
> > (after everything has been moved to the new disk and cleaned up to see all
> > current programs and Registry entries as belonging on C. This takes the
> > current C: (which is on the way South) out of the equation.
> >
> > Didn't think it would be this difficult, but learning everyhour. Again,
> > thanks for all the feedback and if there are others who have gone through
> > this, would really appreciate hearning about your experience.
> >
> > Bonobo1
> >
> >
> >> Uncle John
> >> "Pegasus" <I.can@fly.com> wrote in message
> >> news:eQOy3FA%23FHA.1312@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> >> >I did not see the "very" original post, hence my reply to what
> >> > appears to be the first respondent.
> >> >
> >> > I have never ever seen a successful move of a Windows
> >> > installation from one drive to another, unless the drive
> >> > letter was maintainted (which is, in fact, possible). There
> >> > are three reasons:
> >> > - The registry is full of references to the original drive letter.
> >> > They would have to be fixed, without inadvertently altering
> >> > strings that do not relate to drive letters (e.g. altering
> >> > "Office:smarttags" to "Officc:smarttags").
> >> > - There are a number of binary references in the registry to
> >> > the system drive letter. They must be changed too, without
> >> > inadvertent corruption.
> >> > - There are also some disk files that contain drive letter references.
> >> >
> >> > Now I'm not dogmatic about this. When I see a reasonable number
> >> > of independent reports from competent posters that products like
> >> > TrueImage can do it reliably then I'll accept it. Your claim is one
> >> > solitary report - perhaps there will be more.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > "Uncle John" <unclejohn@uselesnospam.com> wrote in message
> >> > news:#gbbtz$9FHA.2676@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> >> >> Pegasus
> >> >> Is the original post, which I do not see, talking about changing
> >> >> drives
> >> >> or
> >> >> drive letters?
> >> >> Of course it is easy simple to move System from Windows Drive "D" to
> >> >> "C"
> >> >> provided the user remembers that Windows does not assign drive letter
> >> >> in
> >> > the
> >> >> same order as the bios.
> >> >>
> >> >> Casper XP or Acronis True Image do routinely copy or clone the old
> >> >> drive
> >> > C
> >> >> to the new drive D. It will boot and Windows will of course call the
> >> >> new
> >> >> drive D and call the old drive C but underneath the GUI it knows that
> >> >> what
> >> >> it says it what it means, a bit like Alice in Wonderland!
> >> >>
> >> >> With boot disk switching in the bios it can be tricky, without using
> >> >> Explorer, to know which disk has booted unless some prominent new
> >> >> object
> >> > it
> >> >> placed on the original desktop just before rebooting
> >> >>
> >> >> --
> >> >> Uncle John
> >> >> "Pegasus (MVP)" <I.can@fly.com> wrote in message
> >> >> news:uJ2ISo99FHA.356@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> >> >> > 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!
> >> >> >
> >> >> >
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>