Installation the same one copy of Windows into one PC is not a problem. Just install them into different partitions. The QUESTION is whether that is the best for a DAW. I'm still unsure whether the other installations of the same copy of Windows in the same PC (even though they are in different partitions) links the registry to the first partition installation. If so, the system is not optimized.
I know for sure installing 2 different copies of Windows into one PC doesn't link the registry - they are true separate OS. Is this true for one copy of Windows? Please, somebody confirm this.
Great info. Thanks all.
So is it confirm that the same window install in different partition WILL NOT share the same registry?
That is the problem, many applications are hardcoded with C:\ and I'm not talking about the installation files which you're able to mess around with and provide your own paths for during the installation prompt. The system files and registry add/remove/edit functions (which is what a Windows install is basically) do not bother, they directly write to the traditional C drive.
More than one installation of the same operating system (multiple instances of the same core libraries, headers, executables) in the same partition is not a sane or recognized practice in any OS, and you can't really call it "installing the same OS multiple times in the same partition". In Linux eg. /dev/sda1 can have only one / mount point including /boot. Well, one can of course chroot, say /x86 becomes the 32-bit root in a 64-bit system on demand. Then there are symlinks and path variables, so you can export PATH=whatever and you can dynamically be superman.
Let me rephrase - functions of applications hardcoded. I will not mention names, however chances of an average person installing one of those is near none, but not none. Neither are the numbers of such application small. You can have one entirely different partition hosting a different install of the OS, but if you do have the C drive mounted the bug gets its chance. Don't really know Windows' software management details beyond this, but as you have mentioned there is no problem (generally) since each installation will have its own registry hive and most applications are not unorthodox to cross-source.er... applications hardcoded to point to C:\Drive? er... nt really..
Windows XP is a fairly intelligent OS and blah blah yadda ...
From personal experience as well as an understanding of how it should work, I would probably say that the wrong installation was loaded.
You can't expect the Windows installer to provide you with a prompt similar to "Install Windows to C:\ and keep previous installation"![]()