How to access two hard drives? each with a different OS

[ilikelegance]

Can I have two OS on two different hard drives active at the same time, and switch between the two?

One hard drive has Win Xp and the other one has Linux Mint. The computer only loads when one hard drive is connected to the motherboard. If both are connected, it doesn't fully load.

I've never tried linux before. It was recommended.

[bobcollard]

Can I have two OS on two different hard drives active at the same time, and switch between the two?

One hard drive has Win Xp and the other one has Linux Mint. The computer only loads when one hard drive is connected to the motherboard. If both are connected, it doesn't fully load.

I've never tried linux before. It was recommended.

I don't think so, you would need two operating systems with two motherboards to run them alternately on one monitor. When we speak of dual booting we mean the option of booting one or the other system not both at once.

[pompom]

Welcome to Linux Mint!

This is Linux and you can have anything you want à la carte. Check out VirtualBox. I am running both Linux Mint and WinXP at the same time.

Cheers,

pompom

[ilikelegance]

So is the technical problem that "If both hard drives are connected to the motherboard, the computer doesn't fully load" due to the fact the hard drives each have a different OS?

If I wanted to transfer files from one OS to the other OS, then does this imply that I won't be able to? since I can't access both hard drives without a virtualization software like VirtualBox?

[markcynt]

Can you please explain exactly what you are trying to accomplish?

Then we can give you the best solution.

[bobcollard]

If I wanted to transfer files from one OS to the other OS, then does this imply that I won't be able to? since I can't access both hard drives without a virtualization software like VirtualBox?

Linux can read and write to most any format except HFS+ that I know of. So you could use it to transfer files between the two HDs I think part of the understanding problems are your use of the OSs rather than formats. On one Motherboard you can only run one system at a time, virtual box lets you run another system inside the one you are using, but, you are still using just one system. We test other systems inside a virtual box and run them rather than reformatting our drives.

[StanTheMan]

If you first have WinXP installed on the master drive , and up and running ,
then adding a slave drive , try a Linux Live disk with GPartEd runnibg LIVE and format the second drive as ext3 . ( or better make three partitions on the slave drive as mentioned below.)
Then you should be able to run the Linux installer disk.
Linux can be installed on one partition , but it works better on three partitions (one for Root ' / ' , one for swap , and one for /home .)
When Mint is installed , it will allow you to mount the Windows XP drive for access to read .

[ilikelegance]

Well my thinking went, "if I have two OSs installed, then why not switch between both," (I get tired of running the same OS all day, everyday.. -_-) but as already expressed, that is currently technologically Impossible ='(

I didn't know it "work[ed] better on three partitions (one for Root ' / ' , one for swap , and one for /home .)" and just clicked the defaulted (I forget) one partition the installer presented.

I just installed it 'cos it was minty and pretty.. ^_^ Thanks!

[Pilosopong Tasyo]

The computer only loads when one hard drive is connected to the motherboard. If both are connected, it doesn't fully load.

What do you mean it doesn't fully load? Any error messages or beep codes? Your last phrase is a tad vague.

"If both hard drives are connected to the motherboard, the computer doesn't fully load" due to the fact the hard drives each have a different OS?

Nope. I don't think this is an operating system issue. It is possible that you're dealing with a hardware-specific issue as far as your hard drives are concerned. If your hard drives are IDE devices and they share the same cable, they might be both set as Master. Check the pins at the back of each drive and change one to Slave.

Check your computer's BIOS settings. Does it detect both devices correctly? Also there's a setting there where you can change the boot priority of your drives.

Another possibility that I can think of is both hard drives are set as active partitions. There are other possible reasons why neither o/s would boot when the hard drives are connected to the motherboard at the same time.

Can I have two OS on two different hard drives active at the same time, and switch between the two?

As for being able to run both operating systems at the same time, other members already pointed it out, so the next best thing would be run one o/s as host and the other as a virtual machine if you want to run more than one o/s at the same time. That's what I also do on my main rig.

If I wanted to transfer files from one OS to the other OS, then does this imply that I won't be able to? since I can't access both hard drives without a virtualization software like VirtualBox?

Once you sort out the hardware issue first, then you already won half the battle. That said, it is far easier to transfer files under Linux since the o/s has the capability to read and write Windows' file system (FAT/FAT32/NTFS). It's just a matter of mounting the Windows partition, then you can copy and paste files to your heart's delight. Unfortunately, Windows is not so flexible; so unless there are 3rd party tools that allows you access to non-Windows file systems, good luck with that.