2 SATA Drives - Kubuntu and Windows XP

A few days ago I purchased another hard drive for my computer. A 160gig SATA drive (my main computer only has SATA connections for the hard drive data). I bought the extra drive so I could install Kubuntu Linux and keep windows on my current hard drive, and just have a dual boot system. Sounds easy enough.

I put in the second hard drive as the primary drive and moved Windows to the secondary drive. Inserted the Kubuntu CD and proceeded to install. The installer came up great and asked which drive I wanted to install Kubuntu to. I chose the new 160gig drive.

After the install (~20 minutes or so) I rebooted the computer. Straight into Kubuntu. Hmmm...I thought. Maybe just a GRUB reconfiguration. After poking around a bit I noticed that Kubuntu had installed to the 80gig drive where my Windows was. BUMMER!! Good thing I made all those backups!

Checking around a bit further, I found that what I could do was:

1. Put the new 160gig disk as Primary
2. Install WindowsXP
3. Put the Kubuntu hard drive back as Primary
4. Edit GRUB to tell it that there was another hard drive there with WindowsXP
   

Now it was time to just install Windows to the new 160gig drive since I had Kubuntu installed and running great. Unplugged the 80gig drive and plugged in the 160gig drive as Primary. The installer came up and said "No Disk Found". BUMMER!!! Now what?

Checking around, I found that, in order to install a fresh copy of Windows XP, using a SATA drive, you have to install it as a SCSI / RAID. Why? Dunno. In order to do this, you need to put the drivers on a floppy disk. I don't have a floppy drive on my main computer. Now what to do?

OK. I have an older computer running Windows 2K that does have a floppy drive. Hook the Win2K computer to the router and download the drivers and copy them to a floppy disk. Then I can put the floppy drive into my main computer to load the drivers during install of WindowsXP.

Great! It works! Windows is installing...now for the fun part. Does Kubuntu boot? Will Windows boot?

The computer restarted and I had just go ahead and boot to Kubuntu. Fired up a command prompt and started editing two files.

The first file was /boot/grub/menu.lst This file is a list for grub to tell it what is loaded and where. I added the following section

title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
chainloader +1

What this does is tell Grub that Windows is there. It is located actually at hd1. However, Windows is picky. It likes to be first, but fortunately, it's not that smart. We have to trick it into thinking it is actually the first OS to boot. That is what the map(hd0) (hd1) does.

Now for the real fun part. Can I restart the computer, boot into Windows and then restart and boot into Kubuntu with no problems.

Success!!!! It works!!!

The Utility Knife

When I first took my current position, I was hired to do a few things. Mainly to connect MFP's (multi-function products) to customers networks and give support on these machines.

A few weeks later I was asked if I knew anything about websites. I had actually been doing websites as a freelancer to just about anybody that needed it and would pay for it. So, I told my boss "Sure, I can make websites". He then proceeded to tell me that the printing service that we had, needed a website. I mocked up a couple of drafts in Photoshop and showed them to him. He liked one and with a few revisions, the site was up and running.

A few weeks after that, I was asked if I knew anything about databases. Well, yeah, I knew some stuff about databases. I had worked with Access as well as MySQL, so sure. It was then brought to my attention that the IT Admin in our home office was leaving. This Admin was in charge of the company wide program that handled our customer database. It was then my duty to make any changes that were needed and fix any problems that would occur. And dealing with sales professionals, there would always be problems where a computer was involved.

Now my job consisted of connecting MFP's that were sold to our clients, web site development and database administrator.

After a few months, we started to have some networking issues. Computers couldn't connect to the domain, printers would drop off the network, high traffic. I ran an analysis of the network and determined that a switch was causing the problems. Then enters the position of Network Administrator for the branch.

Now I have four positions within the branch of the company.

At around the same time as this was going on, the print services department, needed some custom software to process quotes to customers as well as keep track of the jobs they had done. The company hired a third party company to design this software. However, there's not maintenance contract. The developer of the software came to our office and gave me an overview of the software (done in FileMaker I might add), and that was it. I did buy a book on FileMaker to help understand how to get around in it. It is still a poorly designed application (FileMaker, not what was developed for us).

Now I have five positions within the branch of the company.

The company that I work for also is a vendor for a third party imaging software. This software allows the client to scan paper documents, make them electronic and index them anyway they want for later retrieval. There was one sales rep. that was in charge of selling, installing and maintaining the software to our clients. Notice I said, "was". Since this sales rep. has left the company, it is now my responsibility to take this job over.

Now I have six positions within the branch of the company.

Do not take this the wrong way. I like the feeling that I am needed within the company and that they can count on me as “the go-to-guy”. But there are times, just like anyone else, I get very stressed. I have so much on my plate sometimes that I don't know what to dig into first. Sure, I could have told them that I couldn't do it. Or that I wouldn't do it. But, if I didn't do it, who would? Hire someone else? I doubt that. I take on these responsibilities for the better of the company. But sometimes I question my judgment.

What do I get out of taking on all these responsibilities? I get a pretty nice pay-check. I get a free car with gas and insurance that I don't have to pay for. I get a free cellphone with free long distance that I don't have to pay for. But in the end...I still end up with an ulcer.