Dual Boot XP Question (Copy Installs?)

I just re-partitioned my main system drive into 3 smaller Primary partitions, and I want to have 3 XP-Pro installs, one per partition. I re-installed XP-Pro SP2 from the CD onto partition 1 as my Primary OS - no problems.

I already had an optimized XP Pro install on another HD that is ideal for Audio Production, so I tried to Ghost it over to the new system drive on the 2nd partition using the Ghost 2002 boot disk. I editied the Boot.ini file so I could boot this second OS. I can see the 2nd OS in the Boot Menu, and I can even select it from the boot menu, but It won't get any further than the Windows "Welcome" screen w/mouse pointer, and freezes. I tried to repair it with the Repair Console, and even tried to "fix" it by letting the Windows XP Installer try to fix it, too (but is freezes shortly after promptimg for the CD-Key - happened 3 times).

I assume I am missing an important step to Ghosting an OS to a different partition? Does this pre-existing XP install need to be "told" that its System Drive is now "Partition 2" on this drive, or what?

I went ahead and did a fresh XP install on the 2nd partition, and all is well (Dual Boot - no issues). Did the same on the 3rd partition, and I now have a triple boot XP Pro on a single HD! I would still love to know how to Ghost an OS from one partition to another as 3 fresh installs took A LONG TIME!!!...

PS - Before I would just have 1 OS per Hard Drive (1 partition per drive), and this was not an issue, and I could copy/Ghost OS Images back and forth all day long (I'd use the BIOS's Boot Menu to select which HD I wanted to boot from). Now with multiple OS's on multiple PARTITIONS of a single drive, issues arise when ghosting.

Thanks

I suspect you ran into problems because the "drive letter" changed...

I was informed that it is the fact that I was "Ghosting" an ACTIVE partition to the Second Partition, thus forcing 2 "Active Partitions" on a single drive, and apparently this freaks out the MBR. I am going to finalize my 3 fresh installs, and just image them as 3 seperate images.

I was told that Partition Magic would likely allow me to copy partitions back and forth while specifying the active partition. I maight pick up "partition Magic" and play around with it...

Thanks

I'm just curious as to why you would need three installs of XP on the same rig.

LOL. Everybody asks me that! There are a few reasons:

My main XP install is my "Everything" install, and has all the bells and whistles, and runs most anything I want to put on it. Network/Filesharing, Firewall, Antivirus, Spybot, CD Burning programs, MP3 Jukebox, etc etc.

My second XP install is dedicated to Audio Production with Nuendo and Waves software, and is "DAW Optimized" ("DAW" = Digital Audio Workstation), and totally stripped down (even disabled the NIC). This allows maximum power and reliability when doing my Audio Engineering on this rig. Have not crashed with an optimized install! But I have crashed my "Everything Install" when using it for Audio Production. Peace of mind...

My 3rd install is for "questionable Use" . Bit Torrent, WinMX, or worse gets used on this 3rd install, and I am hoping to isolate any possible viruses/nasties to this partition. I am trying Kapersky Antivirus, and it SMOKES NAV Professional! This was another reason to re-install everything - to get rid of NAV .

And, the most important reason - because I like to experiment! It is how I learn...

I previously had my main install and my "DAW Optimized" Install on 2 seperate small drives, but I wanted to free up more room in the PC for my new 300Gig 16MB SATA Drive, and my drive bays were all full. This is why I needed to figure this stuff out...

Sufficient reply?