How can you make a hard drive bootable?

[Myst]

I have 2 hard drives on my computer, and I have windows xp installed on the secondary one. In order for me to boot, I need both drives in my computer.. one that has the boot info and one that has the actual XP.

Is there anyway that if I removed my main drive, could I still boot from my secondary hard drive? That is, how can I make that secondary drive bootable so it doesnt need the primary one to supply all the boot info to the computer?

[Babaganoosh]

Wait...what do you mean you have your boot info on the first drive? Isn't the XP installation bootable?

[Iron Fist]

Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management and create new NTFS partition and format

If your still lost, you should be bringing it into a computer shop.

[eroticsexxx]

What happened in this case is that Windows XP installed

NTLDR
NTDETECT.COM
BOOT.INI

on the primary drive and the OS and other files were installed on the second.

You will have to do several things:

1. copy those three files to the drive that has the OS on it (note: They are hidden system files)
2. use a partition editor to mark that drive as bootable (active)
3. edit the boot.ini to reflect the drive change (which actually may not be necessary if you merely put the secondary hard drive in the primary's place (IDE or SATA port))
4. reboot after removing the primary drive.

OR you can remove the main drive, then boot into windows setup from your Windows XP CD and

1. Press the R key when prompted to start the Recovery Console.
2. When Recovery Console starts, it will prompt you to enter a number corresponding to the Windows XP installation that you need to repair. In most cases, you'll enter "1" (which will be the only choice). If you press ENTER without typing a number, Recovery Console will quit and restart your computer.
3. Enter your Administrator password. If you don't enter the correct password, you cannot continue.
4. At the Recovery Console command prompt, enter "fixmbr" (no quotes) and then verify that you want to proceed.
5. Repeat #4 but use the fixboot command

You should be fine after that. Worse case scenario is that you'll have to do a Windows XP repair installation, but the other steps should work in any regard.

[d-null]

nice reply eroticsexxx

I should look into it a bit more myself, but I am curious as to how this might work out with a laptop that never came with xp disks (the restore is all on the hard drive).... is it possible somehow to use what is on the laptop harddrive to prepare another bootable har drive with the xp from the laptop ?

[shake]

The bootloader that windows comes with isn't very good. If you can install something like GRUB http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_GRUB You could then boot into any OS you want nice and easy

[eroticsexxx]

Originally Posted by d-null

I should look into it a bit more myself, but I am curious as to how this might work out with a laptop that never came with xp disks (the restore is all on the hard drive).... is it possible somehow to use what is on the laptop harddrive to prepare another bootable har drive with the xp from the laptop ?

good question.

Most partition based recovery images are proprietary, so there isn't much you can do in terms of generating an install CD from that partition. The best bet is to simply ask a friend/family member/technician/ or the manufacturer to make/send you a copy of their CD. Granted you don't need a code because you already have yours.

An important point in this regard that needs to be highlighted is that Microsoft's Indian call centers have been advised NOT to activate your copy of Windows if you are installing/migrating your copy of XP onto another computer, even if the previous computer has crashed. The text book answer to their inquiry of why you are re-activating is that it is the SAME pc with different hardware installed.

I got really pissed at a Microsoft activation tech the other day when a client's system had blown up (mainboard, power supply, etc), but the hard drive was still intact and was able to boot cleanly in a new system. When I called to activate Windows, the activation tech had the nerve to tell me that I could not complete activation, even though the other system was dead as a doornail. In other words, he told me that I HAD to ignore a fully working and legitimate copy of windows on that hard drive, with all of the client's programs AND files, simply because I had put it into a new system. He mentioned that my only recourse would involve blatant wasting of my time (and my client's) by REINSTALLING from scratch with a brand new XP license purchase for the new PC.

Needless to say that reinstall did not happen and my client is chugging away on that same old hard drive in that new system.

[CIVMatt]

format c: /s

[d-null]

thanks for your expertise eroticsexxx in this thread and others, appreciated

is there a problem with that 'copy protection' windows verification update crap if you try to do it that way with other disks on other hardware? (I forget the exact name they had for it, but I'm talking about the online based verifiction system they had where it somehow determines that your windows install is not legit)

[eroticsexxx]

Originally Posted by d-null

thanks for your expertise eroticsexxx in this thread and others, appreciated

is there a problem with that 'copy protection' windows verification update crap if you try to do it that way with other disks on other hardware? (I forget the exact name they had for it, but I'm talking about the online based verifiction system they had where it somehow determines that your windows install is not legit)

There is some good info about the way Windows product activation works in this article.

Basically the system checks and logs the following:
* Display Adapter
* SCSI Adapter (if present)
* IDE Adapter (effectively the motherboard)
* Network Adapter (NIC) and its MAC Address
* RAM Amount Range (i.e., 0-64mb, 64-128mb, etc.)
* Processor Type
* Processor Serial Number
* Hard Drive Device
* Hard Drive Volume Serial Number (VSN)
* CD-ROM / CD-RW / DVD-ROM

this information is serialized, sent to MS and a code is returned and stored on your PC. IF anything changes the algorithm doesn't add up and it asks you to reactivate.

I've used the same hard drive and copy of Windows on several PC's at random times over the years (activation and all), but recently they have clamped down a bit (re: the experience in my last post). There isn't a problem, per se, but more of an inconvenience in the way that you must activate the hardware if need be.

Microsoft doesn't seem to realize that the future of computing lies in being able to take programs and files effortlessly from device to device, which obviously means taking the OS too, especially when it comes to virtualization technologies. MS is catching on, but far too slowly to stem the tide of Linux and Apple.

[d-null]

how were you able to activate it without M$ cooperation?