Hi Guys,It happens flight after flight. While flying the PMDG's B737 aircraft. After a few hours of flight, BAM: CTD.Well I finally got tired of it and completely removed everything. I reformatted my hard drive.I have a question, I think it can be done, but I never tried anything like this before.I have a 74 GB, 10,000 RPM, 8MB Cache SATA Raptor as my C drive.I just purchased a 150 GB, 10,000 RPM, 16 MB Cache SATA Raptor for my D drive.I installed Windows XP Pro on my C drive and installed all my needed programs.I want to install Windows XP Pro on my new D drive and install nothing but my flight sim (FS2004) program and add-ons.I want to have the option during boot-up to select which operating system I want to boot-up from (C drive or D drive).So my question is, can this be done?. If so, any ideas on how to do this?.Thanks Guys!!!

The installation itself isn't a problem. Just boot from the WinXP CD and install the second copy to the D drive (it's the same process as the original install except for the different drive designation). You can specify the installation partition (drive D) at the beginning of the setup. The installer will recognize that there is another WinXP copy on the C drive and will automatically redo the boot.ini file such that each time you boot the machine you will be given a choice as to which WinXP install to use. I can't speak to the activation issue with the second copy but I assume there may be one unless it is a volume-license key install. Doug

Hi Doug,Thanks, I thought it could be done. Well, now I just have to wait until the drive gets here.This is going to be another all-day-install (%$@).1. I have to install FS20042. Install FS2004's update3. 40+ FS Genesis CD's4. Ultimate Terrain5. Birds Eye View6. PMDG, LDS, Dreamfleet, Feelthere, Vans, Jet City, and PSS aircraft7. All my PAI aircraft and flight plans8. Addon Airports9. FSBuild10.Simcharts11.Fuel Planners12.Squawkbox13.FSUIPC14.Activesky15.FS2Crew16.FS Passengers17.Enviro18.All my FS2004 Effects (Hope I can Find Them All).19.FS Water20.USA RoadsOnce thats done I have to setup my system using FS-GS's System Unification. Good thing I wrote everything out and still have it!Guess once all this is done, I'll back up my FS2004 system using my HP Dual Layer DVD drive.It's going to be a LOOOOOOOOONG Day!!!.Thanks for the help and quick response!!!

I am right there with you in the middle of a reinstall now. It is about the 4th in 2 days :( It is actually not as bad as it sounds, I was using the time to expirement with RAID setups, etc. Anyway, here is what I have been doing for the last several years after losing everything on a crash.3 HDDs:1 drive has the OS and all my non flight stuff (what the typical home computer user would need, I will call this the "main disk)The other 2 drives have an OS and just my flight sim stuff. ("flight disks) When I am ready to sim I simply unplug the main disk and plug in the flight disks. Granted this is a lot of in and out of the case, but it only takes about 30 seconds, and then no matter how bad I mess something up I still have the "main computer" and do not lose anything important. (Not that the sim stuff is not important of course) Also it allows me to run FS without any additional programs processes stealing resources. Just a thought, so far it has worked well for me.Robert

I've been doing this for some time now. I see someone else has provided instructions on how to set up a dual boot XP system.Let me just add that with a couple of small batch (command) files, a couple of icons, and a couple of copies of the boot.ini file, you can switch your default OS and reboot with one double click of the mouse. This way, you do not have to click start, shutdown, restart computer, then wait for the OS chooser menu to appear and then make your selection.Here's how (once you have finished setting your dual boot system):Make two copies of your boot.ini file. Call one boot.wxp and the other boot.fs9.Edit boot.wxp and set it up thus:(Note: some of the lines have word wrapped. Compare closely to your own boot.ini files and be carefull. Save a copy of your original boot.ini somewhere safe.)[boot loader]timeout=5default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS[operating systems]multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Windows XP Pro Main System" /noexecute=allwaysoff /fastdetectmulti(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINDOWS="Windows XP Pro Flight Sim" /noexecute=allwaysoff /fastdetectVery important! Do NOT change any of the "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)" numbers in the brackets.Do change your "default=" line by copying the "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS" part of the line that is your normal Windows XP and appending it after "default=". You may also want to change the timeout value, it is in seconds.Edit your boot.fs9 file thus:[boot loader]timeout=5default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINDOWS[operating systems]multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Windows XP Pro Main System" /noexecute=allwaysoff /fastdetectmulti(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)WINDOWS="Windows XP Pro Flight Sim" /noexecute=allwaysoff /fastdetectAgain, copy the "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS" part from the line for your FS9 copy of XP and append it after "default=".Now create two command files. Call the first one "bootfs9.cmd" and paste the following into it:@echo offattrib -r -s -h boot.inicopy boot.fs9 boot.inishutdown -r -f -t 01exitCall the second one bootwxp.cmd and paste the following into it:@echo offattrib -r -s -h boot.inicopy boot.wxp boot.inishutdown -r -f -t 01exitFinally, on your normal WinXP desktop, create a shortcut icon to bootfs9.cmd. And, on your FS9 XP desktop, create a shortcut icon to bootwxp.cmd.Once all this is done, you can just double click on the icon and your system will automatically shutdown and reboot into the other copy of XP. As soon as you double click the icon, you can go get a sandwich and a beer, and your system will be ready to go when you get back.A final word of warning. If you really mess up the boot.ini file, it may be difficult to get your system booted. I am not responsible for anything that may happen to your system. This works for me. Your milage may vary.Have fun!...jim

Hi Guys,Well, the drive arrived today, installed without any problems. I now have Windows XP Pro on my C and D drive with an option to boot to either drive.Now I just have to re-install my Flight Sim program and add-ons.Thanks for the help!!!