2 harddrives 2 OS's?

Question

How can i switch between 2 harddrives with 2 different OS's all plugged in at the same time? ( Is this even possible)

One is windows xp sp2 and the other is the lasted ubuntu

Answer 1

Yes it is possible, only if you install one OS first on your first hard drive and then install another as a new OS on a different hard drive.
You need to make sure to select the second hard drive while installing the second OS and not replaing the first one.

It will automatically create a boot menu where you can select which OS you want to run.

But if you have 2 OSs on both hard drives from different PCs, then you cannot.

Answer 2

You need to use a good bootloader and partitioning software program in order to accomplish this. The best thing you can do is use the partitioning software first to format the drives and make the appropriate partitions with the correct filesystem, then install the 2 OS's on the 2 harddrives and lastly: make sure one OS install loads a bootloader to the MBR or try to find one that you can install afterwards. It should be possible to find a good one. The bootloaders that work very well are GRUB and LILO, both are used heavily for Linux, but you can use them to boot almost any OS, provided you know how to add extra lines to the config files.

Answer 3

Always install windows first. When you set up UBUNTU it will create the boot menu.

A better option, if you have two hard drives, is to partition the first and install both operating systems on it. Then you keep the second for storing your data from both operating systems.

This makes easier whenever you have to re-install one of the OS'.

If you ever need to repair your boot menu - use SuperGrub.

Answer 4

Ubuntu should install the GRUB boot manager, which will allow you to choose which OS you want to boot into, but you will only be able to boot the computer into one OS at a time. To switch between XP and Ubuntu, you would need to restart the computer.

Answer 5

Yes, you can, and you don't even have to have 2 HDs, as long as the OSs are on different partitionsEasy with Win NT4, 2000, XP, even LINUX.
For 2 HDs, set one up with your favorite OS. Then install the 2nd HD. Boot off of the next OS installation CD/DVD, and chose the 2nd HD for the location.

Answer 6

XP's bootloader extremely sucks. it somewhat is basically responsive to itself. So specific, you will possibly prefer to place in vista first, then xp. yet another selection is to apply a bootloader like GRUB, that's what maximum linux distributions use. yet, GRUB could additionally load living house windows. So for occasion, in case you install vista, then xp, then ubuntu, ubuntu might immediately configure the boot menu with all 3 os's.

Answer 7

You can switch between two OSs on one drive, too.

Check out a utility called "GRUB" (The Grand Unified Booter). You'll
end up putting Windows on the master drive cause its a prima donna
but most other OSs will be happy no matter which drive you put them on.

Answer 8

Yes it's possible it's called duel boot it's very easy to set up while installing you OS's but not so easy if you've already got them set up on disk your best bet is to get a boot manager a good one and free to is the gag boot manager get it here http://gag.sourceforge.net/ but beware you can get into big trouble if you're not too computer savvy

Answer 9

Entirely feasible. When you turn on your computer, just hit either F8 or F5 to choose your O.S.

Answer 10

i dont even know if that is possible