I have recently added a second hard drive, and used Acronis Partition Magic to partition the disc into two smaller ones. I would like to be able to install the ME O/S onto one of the partitions so that I can run the disk as a completely seperate entity from the C drive. This is really with a view to "safety first" and being able to recover important backed up info without having to re-install the system in the event of a C drive crash. However, if I try to install the O/s from the supplied CD program disc (a Dell labelled disc), it automatically defaults to the C drive, so I can't install it clean to the new E drive, which is what I want to do. Does anyone know how I can install the O/s from the CD onto E. Alternatively, can I copy the existing system from C to E just by copying the "C/Windows" folder to E, or does it require something more complex than this? Any help appreciated DaveKnight2001 Confused & perplexed!

The setup disk installs the OS to the default bootable C drive.The system files used to boot are always on the C drive but you can change the Windows path to E drive at the beginning of the setup(and change the drive letter only with the mouse pointer and backspace).You can also have a separate partition to keep the program setup files and drivers to speed up a full reinstall but it won't make any difference using E drive instead of C drive for the Windows folder:when you crash...you crash.It is safer to make incremental backups of your critical files and folders on a daily basis for instance but you need the appropriate software for this.Do not copy and paste the Windows folder:you will loose your system and the registry will be corrupted.Good luck.

You should read: "Do not cut and paste the Windows folder".Copying won't accomplish anything but waste hard drive space but cut and paste will destroy the setup as explained.

If you didn't get a diagnostic floppy with the drive, go to the HDD manufacturer's website & download their software. You should be able to "clone" the contents of your old HDD onto the new drive. It will copy everything though...not just the OS. Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @8x210mhz 512mb PC3200 Ti4200/8X 128mb WDC 60GB

You could remove the first drive and jumper the second (new) drive as primary. This will then allow you to create a primary partition on it and make the drive Active (with FDISK). This should allow you to install the OS from the CD. Once you have it booting and running, you can then re-jumper it back to "slave" and put the first drive back in. Now, you should be able to enter into the BIOS setup and select the drive to boot from (C: or D:) if you want to do it that way. It allows you to boot from this backup copy of Windows. It will not be updated with anything from the first drive. Or you can use one of the boot managers to select the boot drive.

I don't understand why you'd need to install the operating system twice. Run the OS from the primary hard drive and archive your documents to the second hard drive. You ~can~ dual-boot multiple copies of ME on the same computer. But it's tricky and involves boot managers and hidden partitions. As mentioned you can 'ghost' the entire contents from the first hard drive to the second. But as far as being a practical method for regular backup, I'm not sure. Perhaps an automated backup system? -Bob