Questions about XP install on dual boot system

[FroGGer]

I've used XP for a long time. I switched to Vista and now decided to dual boot. I'm expecting to use majority of XP. Anyways, I installed XP on a single hard drive. I previously had it installed on my RAID 0 array where Vista is now installed. There reason I tell you this is because I have several questions. First, is there a large performance difference between XP on a RAID 0 partition (the raid 0 is made up of 2 raptors) and a single 16MB cache 250 GB WD hard drive? It's only been a week, but I'm noticing the XP install is acting up. Maybe it's just me.

Second question, when I boot somehow the computer thinks there are 2 XP installs on the computer and the menu with 2 XP installations comes up. I'm not sure which install to delete on the boot.ini tab in msconfig. I'm assuming the second one??

The last question: Everytime I boot into windows XP the XP install recognizes the hard drives and I get the "found new hardware wizard". I have several drives. The single non raid drives are installed themselves with no problem. The two hard drives that make up the raid array won't install. if I run the found new hardware wizard, it says it can't find a driver for the device and the the single RAID 0 drive doesn't show up the XP. I don't necessarily need it since Vista in installed on it, but it should show up right away so I don't have to go through the wizard each time i boot up. Also, the hard drives, even the one XP is installed on, show up in the "safely remove hardware" window if I open it. I noticed it when I was removing a jump drive. I've never seen this before and don't know how to fix it. Do I have to install drivers for hard drives. The hard drives are SATA.

Also, when I try to restart or shut down the computer it won't power off. The monitor turns off and I can't wake it up. The system just hangs until I turn it off manually.

I'm using a EVGA 680i mobo

[Kheldar]

the best way to setup a dual boot system is to use multiple HD - put the os on them one at a time (ie disconnect hd when installing os onto the next disk) - you can then use your bios to set which hd to boot from - that way you have 2 independent OS's. atm your os's are connected and a failure in one may cause the other to fail.

check the device manager - if its got yellow ? then you'll need to install drivers

[FroGGer]

That's how it is setup....

The VISTA install is on a RAID 0 array and the XP install is on a single 250 GB hard drive. I have to go to the BIOS to change which hard drive to install to.. It's kind of annoying. Is there any way to get around this??? I've tried VistaBootPro, but it doesn't recognize the XP install (it's on a different damn hard drive!!)

[Darthtanion]

I do not run a RAID, but I do have XP and Vista on different hard drives. Both are SATA drives and as long as you install XP first, Vista will recognize the other OS and give you a DOS based boot screen when you crank up the PC that lets you choose which OS to load.

[FroGGer]

Maybe that's the problem. I had installed Vista first, and then 2 months later decided to dual boot because I had issues with VIsta. I tried to use vistabootpro but it couldn't find the xp install. damn

[Darthtanion]

Yes, as far as I know you have to install XP first. Same goes for those who dual boot with Linux... install XP first and Linux will automatically detect your Windows install; at least the distros I have played with always do.