yep, switching the autodetection off in the bios is definitely not the way to do it.
disabling an IDE port/controller might work, though that would mean you'll lose two devices at once.
having a manual switch on the power lines of the hard drives will work, though can sometimes give problems with autodetection due to master, master with slave, slave, cable detect annoyances.
swapping hard drives using a drive bay would be ideal, though that takes up a 5"1/4 slot for each drive you want to be able to swap and end up becoming a logistical nightmare when you have many drives to swap around for each machine...

Choose your poison.

If you have spare 5.25" bays then some sort of removable drive system is the way to go. I like Icy Dock units, but those are expensive. You can also find cheaper clones in the usual places.

Yah, you might wanna hit up Ali Express for a box of 10 or 20 or something.

BitWrangler wrote on 2021-05-22, 21:49:

Yah, you might wanna hit up Ali Express for a box of 10 or 20 or something.

I was lucky to cheaply get a box of MB123AK units from a guy who had just switched all his office computers from PATA to SATA.

weedeewee wrote on 2021-05-22, 20:37:

yep, switching the autodetection off in the bios is definitely not the way to do it. disabling an IDE port/controller might wor […]
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yep, switching the autodetection off in the bios is definitely not the way to do it.
disabling an IDE port/controller might work, though that would mean you'll lose two devices at once.
having a manual switch on the power lines of the hard drives will work, though can sometimes give problems with autodetection due to master, master with slave, slave, cable detect annoyances.
swapping hard drives using a drive bay would be ideal, though that takes up a 5"1/4 slot for each drive you want to be able to swap and end up becoming a logistical nightmare when you have many drives to swap around for each machine...

Choose your poison.

I don't like any of those options, sadly. I'll have to think more on this. It may depend on what I'm going to do for imaging the drives. It may be that I won't reinstall the OSs I'll just image them back.

Thanks for all the suggestions though, it seems the long and the short of it is that there's no real way to do it without physically disabling the drive.

I will experiment with changing boot order first. However I think that can lead to XP installing to the D: drive, which is useless 😀

Velociraptor wrote on 2021-05-23, 01:01:

I will experiment with changing boot order first. However I think that can lead to XP installing to the D: drive, which is useless 😀

Enjoy your descent into madness 🤣

edit: you might want to try software solutions, like System Commander, it changes partition ids to hide one OS from another.

I didn't expect changing, hiding or temporarily removing partitions to work.

Windows XP for example today insisted that the primary disk have a compatible partition so it can put the boot loader on. It wouldn't continue without it so even if I did manage to conceal the partition it would still fail, I think.

Which led me to learning something - it looks like whatever I do in BIOS only lasts until BIOS hands over to the OS. So regardless of the boot order I select, regardless of the disks identified it doesn't matter, once it gets to the OS install section the list is reset and it will want to do something to the first disk on the list.

This may be fixed later along the line with UEFI for all I know, but it's not relevant for the purposes we use on these boards!

That means there's only three ways to do it that I can think of.

* Physically disable/remove/unpower the other disks

* Install onto the first disk in the system and then image onto another (this could cause problems perhaps)

* Install onto second disk, let it create the mess on the first disk, clean the mess and then fix the boot loader somehow

The 2nd and 3rd options could introduce more problems than they're worth so I've got the side of the machine open now, as annoying as it is, because that way I can be sure

no uefi will do nothing for it.

changing the disc partition types has always worked, since no os would risk... (ahum) to open, access, read or write to an unknown partition.

it get's even better when your boot drive isn't your 'first' drive according to the os.

Yes, but XP won't install unless it can create a boot loader on the first drive according to the OS. So the entire drive needs to be hidden not just the partition.

I'd suggest a low-tech electronic solution: put a 4-way switch onto a blank 5.25" plate, then wire the GND for the drives through that switch. Set to desired position before boot and enjoy a single working drive.

dionb wrote on 2021-05-23, 14:03:

I'd suggest a low-tech electronic solution: put a 4-way switch onto a blank 5.25" plate, then wire the GND for the drives through that switch. Set to desired position before boot and enjoy a single working drive.

GND? surely you mean the voltages 5V and 12V.

dionb wrote on 2021-05-23, 14:03:

I'd suggest a low-tech electronic solution: put a 4-way switch onto a blank 5.25" plate, then wire the GND for the drives through that switch. Set to desired position before boot and enjoy a single working drive.

Something like that could work. And perhaps when I strip them down I'll do something. I'd want to be able to enable/disable each drive as I only need them to be gone for when I install the OS, after that I can use Plop! to boot properly.

weedeewee wrote on 2021-05-23, 14:42:

dionb wrote on 2021-05-23, 14:03:

I'd suggest a low-tech electronic solution: put a 4-way switch onto a blank 5.25" plate, then wire the GND for the drives through that switch. Set to desired position before boot and enjoy a single working drive.

GND? surely you mean the voltages 5V and 12V.

That would be my thought as well. Drives will always be grounded by the case.

Can you hijack the drive ready line or something.