duplicating an os

[techdoc]

hi guys this one question born out of curiosity - is it possible to duplicate any current windows operating systems on the same computer?? like i have xp and 2k running.is it possible to install another copy of either xp or 2k on my computer?? and if so how?? just the precautions and the major steps.thanks in advance

 

[walking-techie]

first question: dude y do u want 2 do this

answer to ur question: yes u can do it, but get ready for many conflicts .. its a super idea for experimenting, but with not much productive results

best of luck

 

[#/bin/sh]

duplicate ... lol

 

[techdoc]

its just for experimenting with some softwares that i have, and i dont want to mess up my current configuration.has anybody tried this?? i got the idea from the documentation for acronis bootmanager.they say its perfectly possible.

 

[richard nightly]

I have 2 SATA drives and I have installed XP on both when each was the only drive attached to the computer as the C drive - so both the drives are marked as the active drive - now when I want to start XP on the second drive I go into BIOS and select the other drive as the drive to boot from.

The advantage I see on my way of working is that if I run into problems with the C drive I can just remove it and boot off the next drive - I have had 2 HDD failures in the last six months - both were the C drive - and if I did not have this setup I would have one dead drive - and the other would not be usable if it was setup as the D drive until I have another C drive in front of it - as the OS would not start. The 2 installs of XP never hassle each other - they remain totally independant to each other. I have run my Windows this way for years ever since Windows 3.

I hardly ever run the OS on the second drive - it is there only for emergencies like when I need to do a selective restore of a Ghost image. Or if I want to trial install any software or drivers I feel may be troublesome.

 

[adit_sen]

yup dude its possiblem and i have also done it cause it comes in quite handy when ur computer decides to go to hawaii for a vacation....! just use norton ghost to create a image of ur os as a single file(indcludes all progs uve installed), and anytime u wanna reload ur os...use the image and it'll take u no less than 5 mins....

peace

 

[sujithtom]

Curiosity help in the progress of mankind. We must not question it..

 

[demoninside]

Ya u can do it
( sssshhhhh i'hv tried it )
so can do it

 

[whistler]

Do It In style !!

try VMWare or MS Virtual PC for this purpose and u will never regret !!

 

[[deXter]]

If you just want to experiment with some softwares without messing up your system, a better and easier option is to use a virtual machine like Microsoft Virtual PC or VMware (like whistler suggested). VPC and Vmware supports 'undo' so you can always revert the changes that you made to your virtual comp..

On the other hand, if you want to install the second OS as a backup copy or for other reasons, you can go ahead and install directly (of course, make an empty partition first). You dont even need a third party boot manager, XP/2k will automatically modify your boot.ini and you can boot off either of the OSs directly without any BIOS etc involved.

 

[saROMan]

Previously i had Win 98 , 2000 Proff ,server and XP installed on diff part....

now I use 98 + 2000 Server and 2000 proff + Xp proff ..........for diff works .... the trick is i use 2 diff hdd ....when ever i wanna use server i just make 1st hdd active ...and when wann XP make 2nd active....havnt recived probs..atall........

 

[techdoc]

hi dexter plz answer these questions 1- is it possible for me to install 2k again?? i presently have 2k and xp installed.i have read somewhere that during installations of the windows oses its better to install the older ones first asit prevents some complications like modifying the mbr etc..

2-i have an empty partition do its a logical partition and do i have to convert it into a primary partition b4 installing or should i install straightaway either 2k or xp on to it???

3-and whistler what is this vmware/ms virtual pc?? where can i get more info on vmware / ms virtual pc ???

thanks all of u guys for the prompt suggestions and replies..

 

[[deXter]]

1- is it possible for me to install 2k again?

Yes. Since XP is based on 2K, you should face no such problems. Anyways, you can always manually change your boot.ini. As a preventive measure, backup your boot.ini, and incase your new boot.ini doesnt contain the other OSs( xp) you can manually add them by looking at your original boot.ini

2-i have an empty partition do its a logical partition and do i have to convert it into a primary partition b4 installing or should i install straightaway either 2k or xp on to it???

Theres no need to do anything. However, its better if you delete the partition first. The installer will detect the unallocated space and partition it as it finds appropriate.

3- Ok, although this question was asked to Whistler.. I hope you guys don't mind me answering this first

VMware and MS Virtual PC are virtualization softwares. Its like a computer within a computer. In simple terms, these programs emulate an entire computer. So you can have virtual hardware, etc and the program behaves just like a real computer does, ie- it has a BIOS, has a virtual HDD that requires formatiing and installation of an OS, etc, all this running in your real comp simultaneously. The applications are many- for instance, you can have 2k, xp etc running simultaneously at the same time, in totally different environments. (No reboots, partitioning, etc). Plus the Virtual machine is a totally controlled environment, so if anything goes bad in the VPC, it wont affect your real comp. For instance, if you got some virus and want to test it out, you can try it in a virtual machine and watch the effects without your real comp getting affected. Plus you can always undo or reverse the changes you have done to your virtual comp

Of course, running a virtual comp will take a slight performance hit, but the speed depends on the kind of hardware you have. A minimum of 256 MB ram is required in most cases.

Check this screenshot, for eg. (Click to enlarge)

*www.vmware.com/products/desktop/img/ws4_small3.gif

As you can see, Redhat8 and W2K are running simultaneously in Windows XP

For more info, visit:

*www.vmware.com
*www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx

*img62.photobucket.com/albums/v189/dextersgenius/signature1.gif

 

[techdoc]

thanks dexter that was great info buddy. rightnow downloading vmware.sure gonna give it a try.

 

[techdoc]

btw onemore question which is better vmware or virtual pc???

 

[demoninside]

Which u can get for free