Splitting 1 computer to act as 2 ?? ??

I鈥檓 not sure this is possible but is there some way I can split my computer to act as 2 separate computers?- I know you can have two separate log in and desktops etc. But is there a way you can have a computer running as two totally different machines??





Basically my dad uses the computer for some important work stuff and I just want to mess around on it and basically experiment on stuff so is there away I can split the computer so if I do anything wrong it wont have a detrimental effect on my dads side? ? ?and every thing he has saved on there will be safe??Splitting 1 computer to act as 2 ?? ??
You sure can, what you need to do is have dad back up all his important stuff, reinstall windows, but make 2 partitions.....One partition will be for you to tinker on, and one will be for dad to work on ';2 operating systems on 2 different partitions';...... Even if you totally nuke your part of the partition, your dads stuff will be just fine.....Then you can just reinstall the operating system on your partition and try to nuke it again! lol





I like David's idea also, you can install another drive then install another operating system on that as well, without having to even touch your dads drive....then you can nuke it till the cows come home and never bother a single file on dads drive....





If you really like playing around, try a linux operating system that boots from a cd, ';never writes to disk unless you tell it to'; it literally runs from the memory.....I just intalled linux on a laptop thats been sitting around for about a year with no hard drive in it....and I have never messed with linux, it is soooooo cool....





http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd鈥?/a>Splitting 1 computer to act as 2 ?? ??
ya. there's a way for splitting ur system into two machines. u can use VIRTUAL PC to do this. first create a virtual dist with this software. Then ur system splits into two. u can obtain the freeware tools VMWARE PLAYER, VMX WIZARD from vmware.com. after creating a virtual disk u can install any os in the virtual disk. This os will act as another computer. U can create a LAN connection between these for file transfer.





All u need is a minimum of 512MB RAM. 256 can be used. but it will slow down ur computer. I will sound good with 512 and above.
Yes. You have to either install a second hard drive or repartition the existing drive to support dual boot.





When you start the computer it will ask you which operating system you want to use.





If it were me, I'd install a slide mount whereby you and your dad can have your own hard drives and just slide them in the front of the computer. It sounds like you want to experiment, so that would keep your father's stuff safe on a totally separate drive and allow you to experiment away.





Go for it! That's how I learned 30 years ago.
dual boot systems.





or different user accounts.





get you own and stop living off your dad.
you can add on a new hard disc and log in with your hard disc