Thank you so much, Ron.  I understood everything you said, and you filled in all the blanks.  Your explanation of the MBR cleared up a LOT of confusion for me.  I know what do do now.  Please double-check me though.

To answer your question first - my end goal....

                                                Cable 1    
    Master:   HD3 (New Caviar320) replacing HD1 as the system drive
    ............    HD1 (Current OS Seagate120) eventually wiped clean and removed
    Slave:     HD2 (Old Caviar320) backup drive (no change to this one)
                              (I also keep a redundant backup on a WD Passport)

                                                Cable 2
    Master:   DVD-Writer
    Slave:     DVD-Reader    (eventually... I will keep HD1 here for a while as insurance)

The caveat is that I want to be able to use HD1 while I take my time setting up HD3 as it's eventual replacement. I need to be able to boot to EITHER HD1 or HD3 for several weeks at least, AND also to have access to the data on BOTH HDs (one at a time as system, the other as just files and folder that I can access). I need whichever drive boots up to boot up lettered as C:\ (I can change the other letters as need be - after which I hope each MBR (or whatever) remembers the setup of drive letters for each boot drive). 

Assuming that I have two completely separate installs with only one bootable HD present during each OS install - and that I switch between them using the BIOS boot order... Will Windows care if the NON-booted drive contains a bootable partition?   Will I still be able to access both partitions on the non-booting drive as just files and folders?  (I keep my documents and email "folders" on a separate partition to exclude them from the system image files; they are backed up separately.)

From what you said, I assume I can jumper HD1 as SLAVE on the DVD cable and yet still choose it to become the C:\ boot drive as needed (via the BIOS).

I can replace HD1 with HD3 (jumpered as master), install XP and the hardware on it, then reinstall HD1 (re-jumpered as slave) on the DVD cable. Then I can go into the BIOS on the way to bootup and switch the boot order for HD1 and HD3 as necessary.  This way each bootable drive will have it's OWN MBR, that will see the other bootable drive as just another drive, if I understand you correctly.  And when I remove HD1, I won't have a problem with the MBR disappearing with HD1 because HD3 will have its very own MBR

When my new system is all finished and ready to use, I can wipe HD1 to pass on to someone else for a backup drive, and reinstall my DVD-reader as slave on cable 2. (I disconnected it because my cables were tied up so nicely out of the way of the big fans, but at this point they will be loose anyway). This could be several months down the road, however, until I'm sure I have everything I need off of HD1.

I don't know if I have the jumper settings for the DVD-Writer and this way I won't have to change them. I have the settings for HD1 and will only have to set them once as slave and then pass it on that way. The DVD-Reader is the only iffy thing - if I can find the slave setting for it; I'm pretty sure it is set as master now.  I hope either it is set with toggle switches or there was a storage post for the little rubber bands.

Why a new install? Mostly to get rid of a pernicious nVidia file I allowed to install with the hardware (before I made the first image) and that apparently can only be removed by reinstalling the system and NOT installing that item. At least that's what weeks of research turned up. Apparently it is this file that makes Windows SO slow to shut down. 

I purchased a retail copy of XP Home SP2 when I built this machine (with help), so since both copies are on the same machine (with the same hardware hash) and both cannot be run simultaneously, and also it's a temporary situation, there should be no "license conflict". When I bought this, a Windows agent told me that if MS ever stopped supporting XP, they would no longer require "activation"; we'll see if that turns out to be true, particularly since so many people have opted to keep XP as long as possible.

One new question, since you seem to understand the MBR. You answered one thing that concerned me - the master boot record belongs to the booted OS, rather than to the hardware/BIOS/CMOS. 

What exactly is IN the MBR? 

Acronis True Image offers to include it in the creation and restoration of image files of partition C, but I wasn't sure what was in it. If it contains things like the letters assigned to the various drives, then whether I wanted to backup/restore it would depend on whether I wanted to keep my current drive designations or whether I wanted them to match the C-image I was restoring (assuming I had reassigned them since creating the image).

Aside from the (Windows re-assignable) drive letters, where is the actual HD partition information kept?  BIOS?  What happens to that if you flash a BIOS update?

Someone posted the jumper settings for the Seagate Barracuda 120GB - and I cannot find it to save my life!   Could that kind person please post it again?

Thank you everyone for your help - I've been trying to get this locked down for awhile now - I'm afraid to begin something like this until I'm sure I understand exactly what I'm doing with no grey areas.  Thank you all for your generous help  This forum is a godsend.  (I doubt I'll be asking the Geek Squad for any more info - LOL).

AnnaSummers





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