"Calab" <myspam@csd.ca> wrote in
news:emW8X1xoIHA.524@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl:

>
> "David Walker" <none@none.com> wrote in message
> news:Xns9A8685D64985DavidWalker@207.46.248.16...
>| "Calab" <myspam@csd.ca> wrote in
>| news:e0d8qAxoIHA.3860@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl:
>|
>| >
>| > "David Walker" <none@none.com> wrote in message
>| > news:Xns9A86767FC2873DavidWalker@207.46.248.16...
>| >| I'm trying to temporarily have the Boot and System disks, NOT be
>| >| the first partition on my primary master drive.
>| >
>| > Which partition was Windows originally installed on?
>| >
>|
>| It was originally installed on the C partition/volume, the first one
>| on
> the
>| primary master disk.
>
> That is why it's the system volume. You won't be able to move it to a
> new partition and change the new partition to C:
>

What do you mean "that's why it's the system volume"? How does windows
know what volume it was "originally" installed on? I am booting from an
exact duplicate that I created while running from a third, unrelated
partition.


>| That shouldn't matter if I boot the server from a floppy and then
>| select the second partition/volume on the primary master disk, should
>| it?
>
> Yes... The system partition is treated differently from any other
> partitions.
>

I know that, but how is it determined that this volume IS the "system"
partition? I am not booting the OS from it, and I am not booting the
hardware from it.

According to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314470, "The system volume
refers to the disk volume that contains the hardware-specific files that
are needed to start Windows, such as Ntldr, Boot.ini, and Ntdetect.com".

That means that the floppy disk should be called the System volume, not
the first hard disk partition. I *know* that Boot.ini was read from the
floppy, because I marked the entries in there slightly differently, so I
could tell it apart from the boot.ini in the first partition on the hard
disk.

So I don't understand why you are saying the "system volume is treated
differently". I'm trying to figure out why the first hard disk
partition IS the system volume, in spite of KB article 314470.

> Is there any reason you can't install to a different partition and
> leave the current C: partition alone?
>

There are several reasons -- I want the eventual Server 2003 partition
to have the drive letter C; I want it to be in the first partition on
the primary master disk; and I want to make absolutely sure that
everything from the old system is (eventually) gone -- therefore, I want
to delete and recreate the partition in the first 24 GB of the primary
master disk.

If I install to a different partition, I will always have the first
partition holding Boot.ini, Ntldr, and ntdetect.com, and nothing else of
any use, and it will always have drive letter C. That "wastes" a whole
partition and offends my sense of order!


David Walker