I want to install a second copy of XP on my PC. the reason is that the kids and their friends use the computer for messenger, p2p, games etc and have managed to get it infected with a few viruses i've had difficulty getting rid of and also the thing tends to gets bogged down and sluggish with so many installs/ uninstalls. So i want to run two separate copies, one for me and another for them to screw around with as they please.
The route i have taken is to perform a clean install of xp then split my hard disk into two equal primary partitions using partition magic keeping my original xp installation on first partition. I don't have an Xp installation Cd, only a Restore CD from computer manufacturer that gives gives no other option than reformatting hard disk into one partition and restoring xp. So i attempted to make a copy of my XP partition using norton ghost, but this crashed every time so ended up using maxtor dos utility for copying image of xp to new primary partition.
I now have identical copies of XP on two primary partitions. i edited the boot.ini on the original active partition to take account of new xp installation and cool, everything works fine. i get the option screen at boot-up and can select from either XP installation and both seem to run fine.
But in order to keep my installation secure from the kids and to avoid any viruses getting on my partition i want my copy of XP to be hidden from the kids when they boot into theirs. So, i tried installing BootMagic, but can't get it to load the 2nd copy on the new partition. i have setup the 2nd xp copy in the configuration utility selecting the correct partition that it is installed in. When i boot PC, bootmagic option screen appears
displaying both xp copies. The original xp install on first partition loads fine (well what actually happens is that it goes from bootmagic to Xp's own OS selection menu allowing me to choose again) , but when i select the 2ndXP copy on new partition from Bootmagic menu , the screen changes to something like "setting up machine to load Xp" but hangs there and doesn't go any further
I have tried several other boot managers including bootit ng, os loader, but none will load the 2nd copy of XP on the new partition, the screen just goes blank. Even without any boot manager installed and the 2nd partition set to active i cant get the new copy of xp to run withouht using the XP OS boot menu from the boot.ini on original partition. Before setting 2nd partition to active i did update the copy of original boot.ini to take account of this XP copy being on 2nd partition and not first.
Can anyone suggest what i need to do to be able to get BootMagic ,or any other boot manager with ability to hide chosen partition at startup, to load my copy of xp on second partiton. i guess that there must be settings/files that the 2nd copy of xp must use from first partition in order to load but after spending a lot of time researching online i'm none the wiser. I'd be greatful to anyone who could help, thanks
The route i have taken is to perform a clean install of xp then split my hard disk into two equal primary partitions using partition magic keeping my original xp installation on first partition. I don't have an Xp installation Cd, only a Restore CD from computer manufacturer that gives gives no other option than reformatting hard disk into one partition and restoring xp. So i attempted to make a copy of my XP partition using norton ghost, but this crashed every time so ended up using maxtor dos utility for copying image of xp to new primary partition.
I now have identical copies of XP on two primary partitions. i edited the boot.ini on the original active partition to take account of new xp installation and cool, everything works fine. i get the option screen at boot-up and can select from either XP installation and both seem to run fine.
But in order to keep my installation secure from the kids and to avoid any viruses getting on my partition i want my copy of XP to be hidden from the kids when they boot into theirs. So, i tried installing BootMagic, but can't get it to load the 2nd copy on the new partition. i have setup the 2nd xp copy in the configuration utility selecting the correct partition that it is installed in. When i boot PC, bootmagic option screen appears
displaying both xp copies. The original xp install on first partition loads fine (well what actually happens is that it goes from bootmagic to Xp's own OS selection menu allowing me to choose again) , but when i select the 2ndXP copy on new partition from Bootmagic menu , the screen changes to something like "setting up machine to load Xp" but hangs there and doesn't go any further
I have tried several other boot managers including bootit ng, os loader, but none will load the 2nd copy of XP on the new partition, the screen just goes blank. Even without any boot manager installed and the 2nd partition set to active i cant get the new copy of xp to run withouht using the XP OS boot menu from the boot.ini on original partition. Before setting 2nd partition to active i did update the copy of original boot.ini to take account of this XP copy being on 2nd partition and not first.
Can anyone suggest what i need to do to be able to get BootMagic ,or any other boot manager with ability to hide chosen partition at startup, to load my copy of xp on second partiton. i guess that there must be settings/files that the 2nd copy of xp must use from first partition in order to load but after spending a lot of time researching online i'm none the wiser. I'd be greatful to anyone who could help, thanks
