by Baphomet » Tue Jun 03, 2008 6:46 pm
It CAN be done but I'm going to let someone else explain the Ins-n-Outs of exactly how to set it up. The problem, such as it is, is that frequently GRUB and your PC's BIOS handle boot priorities a little differently and unless something is different in 8.04/1.8 you run the very real risk of a GRUB error, since BIOS (most commonly) presents the IDE drives first (in boot priority) where the kernel presents the IDE drives last (in boot priority). So there is a critical issue in mixed-drive systems where one of the drives may not be recognized and where Grub will experience issues trying to boot to a specific drive. Trust me, I tried it. If you wish to pursue this, it most certainly CAN be done, but it requires an expertise beyond my ability. Also, this issue does not ALWAYS manifest itself this way; frequently, but not always. Sometimes it's a simple matter of adjusting the boot priority in the system BIOS.
The simpler, and in my opinion better solution in many ways, is to install Windows XP then install Ultimate on the same SATA drive and then use the IDE drive as a slave-drive for data, system backups, etc.
Do as you wish, of course, but that would be my personal recommendation. But then too, I'm awfully big on backing things up.
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