how do i set the jumpers for a dual-boot, dual HDD PC system and which boot.ini file must i change?

Question

i'm trying to merge my g/friend's pc with mine, but i want to maintain each OS independantly and i am having trouble booting up her OS. mine (master HDD disk 0) boots fine, and i have tried modifying the boot.ini's on each PC multiple different ways, so i think it's a jumper setting that i'm getting wrong on the slave device.

Answer 1

First of all, I'm assuming we're dealing with a desktop computer and not a laptop/notebook machine. If that's not the case, read no further.

Equip your PC with two removable HDs installed in their mobile racks. These mobile rack devices of which I speak are two-piece affairs - the rack itself and the inner tray or caddy (in which the hard drive resides) that slides into the rack. They come in all-aluminum models or a combination of aluminum-plastic ranging in price from about $15 to $50. Naturally, your desktop computer case will need two 5¼" bays that are available to house the
mobile racks. Mobile racks come in various versions, depending upon whether the hard drive to be housed is an IDE/ATA, SATA, or SCSI device. A Google search for "removable hard drive mobile racks" will result in a wealth of information on these products and their vendors.

The installation of these devices is simplicity itself - no more difficult than installing a CD-ROM. After they're installed you just plop the hard drive into the removable tray (caddy), make two simple connections (power & data cable), and slide the tray into the mobile rack. Note that the removable hard drive mobile racks we are discussing are designed to be installed in desktop computers and not laptop or notebook computers. The size, weight, and design considerations of laptops/notebooks
do not allow for this hardware configuration.

These mobile racks are nearly always equipped with a ON-OFF keylock, so a simple turn of the key, in effect, activates the HD. For added security you can push or pull the removable tray in or out using the tray's handle and thus electrically/physically connect or disconnect the HD from the system.
No more difficult than opening or closing a small desk drawer.

Do you see the enormous advantages of this type of hardware configuration for your desktop computer? You can boot to either HD without the need to enter the BIOS. There is no need to modify the boot.ini files. Each drive is effectively isolated from each other, but if for any reason you want both drives connected during bootup, you can achieve that configuration as well.
It's an ideal system for computing with different operating systems or. as your interest is, multiple XP operating systems.

Another significant advantage is that now you can have an *unlimited* number of HDs at your disposal by simply using additional removable trays to house the drives.

As far as the dip switches, your harddrive manufacturer should have documentation on how to set for a slave drive.

Answer 2

no jumpers need set as long as the drives are both seen, boot.ini only looks at one drive normally but you can edit the drive from 0 to 1, and BTW merging means coming together not keeping apart, wrong concept or wrong word but wrong