FAT32 and NTFS (am I stuck? )

[Samsonid]

Quick question:

-A HardDrive has been formated with FAT32 to run Win98
-Can this Drive be formated with NTFS to run Win2K ?

Sometime ago I heard someone say that this is a very low level operation which is very difficult to do... so am I stuck with FAT32?

Thanks

PS. Instead of FDISK should I use "EZ Drive", "DrivePro", DiscWizard, or MaxBlast to perform hard drive installation (formating, re-formating etc) ??

 

[magomago]

no. windows2k can run on FAT32. I wouldn't reccomend NTFS as when i try to install windows it says "NTFS brings all these great features blah blah blah, but you cannot revert from it" and that is where i say "M$, you own the OS, not the HD"

 

[Sunner]

If you're gonna run Win2K on that box, just format the disk with NTFS, no lowlevel format required.

magomago
What it means is, you can convert a FAT16/32 drive to NTFS using the convert utility, but you can't do it the other way around, there's nothing preventing you from formatting an NTFS partition to FAT32 should you want to for some reason.

 

[Drewpy]

If you are replacing your old OS with Win2K, you don't need any of the utilities you mentioned. During the install of Win2K you will be given the option to reformat your hard drive in NTFS. You will only need FDisk if you are changing the sizes of your current partitions (if any).

additionally I'm quite sure that Partition Magic allows you to convert an NTFS partition to Fat32.

 

[n0cmonkey]

There is a FAQ on converting FAT32 to NTFS. It mentions a way to do it without losing data, but you make backups anyways dont you?

You can convert from NTFS to FAT32 using partition magic, but why would you want to?

 

[KROME]

you can convert the drive by typing in this command at a command prompt but only once youve already upgraded to 2K and as previously stated it should ask you if you want to upgrade the drive to NTFS during the installation in either case no data is lost


convert C: /fs:ntfs where C: is the letter of your drive

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: magomago
no. windows2k can run on FAT32. I wouldn't reccomend NTFS as when i try to install windows it says "NTFS brings all these great features blah blah blah, but you cannot revert from it" and that is where i say "M$, you own the OS, not the HD"

That is not an accurate statement. PartitionMagic 8 can change a drive from FAT32 or NTFS and back as often as you like. In fact I used that to solve a problem in NTFS with the location of the reserved MFT area. NTFS has a lot of advantages, but also you do give up a lot of usable HDD space because it reserves about 20% of what is available for its own use in the reserved MFT area.

 

[Samsonid]

n0cmonkey wrote:

You can convert from NTFS to FAT32 using partition magic, but why would you want to?

-Win2K is one of the most stable yet (I am not considering XP for political reasons).

-However, even as solid as Win2k maybe, I have heard that those who do experience instabilities, is mostly because they are running it on top of FAT32.

Drewpy wrote:

If you are replacing your old OS with Win2K

Yes but I want no traces of 98SE on my system while upgrading to Win2k.
How does Win2k do it? Is it a bootable CD?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Samsonid
n0cmonkey wrote:

You can convert from NTFS to FAT32 using partition magic, but why would you want to?

-Win2K is one of the most stable yet (I am not considering XP for political reasons).

-However, even as solid as Win2k maybe, I have heard that those who do experience instabilities, is mostly because they are running it on top of FAT32.

Notice the order I put them in. I think no Win2k system should be running on FAT32.

Drewpy wrote:

If you are replacing your old OS with Win2K

Yes but I want no traces of 98SE on my system while upgrading to Win2k.
How does Win2k do it? Is it a bootable CD?

Yes, its a bootable cd. Boot off of it, preferably format the drive, andn everything should be great.

 

[TheOmegaCode]

Notice the order I put them in. I think no Win2k system should be running on FAT32.

I don't think the OS should be installed on FAT32. However, I really wish that I had formatted my data drive in FAT32, because of Linux mount reasons.

Yes, its a bootable cd. Boot off of it, preferably format the drive, andn everything should be great.

This is how I install 2k, it only works if you have a win98 CD, which it sounds like you might (well, actually, I prefer an unattend.txt and a network boot disk ).

Take the win98 CD, and boot to it. Boot to the CD-Rom, then boot system with CD-Rom support.

a:\ fdisk /mbr
a:\ d: (assuming D: is your cd-rom)
d:\ cd win98
d:\win98\ smartdrv (now take out your Win98CD)
d:win98\ cd..
d:\ cd i386
d:\i386\ winnt

And windows asks where the install files are, point it to your cd rom, and you're good to go...

*edit*
BTW, when your computer restarts, don't boot from the win2k cd, boot off the hdd. It should default to Windows 2000 Installation.

 

[Samsonid]

n0cmonkey wrote:

Notice the order I put them in. I think no Win2k system should be running on FAT32.

Oops, you have been "wrongfully accused" (I wasn't reading carefull enough). I stand corrected!
Sorry about that.



Thanks to the people in here for your very helpfull responses. Much appreciated !

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Samsonid
n0cmonkey wrote:

Notice the order I put them in. I think no Win2k system should be running on FAT32.

Oops, you have been "wrongfully accused" (I wasn't reading carefull enough). I stand corrected!
Sorry about that.



Thanks to the people in here for your very helpfull responses. Much appreciated !

Not a big deal

 

[Drewpy]

Originally posted by: TheOmegaCode
This is how I install 2k, it only works if you have a win98 CD, which it sounds like you might (well, actually, I prefer an unattend.txt and a network boot disk ).

Take the win98 CD, and boot to it. Boot to the CD-Rom, then boot system with CD-Rom support.

a:\ fdisk /mbr
a:\ d: (assuming D: is your cd-rom)
d:\ cd win98
d:\win98\ smartdrv (now take out your Win98CD)
d:win98\ cd..
d:\ cd i386
d:\i386\ winnt

And windows asks where the install files are, point it to your cd rom, and you're good to go...

*edit*
BTW, when your computer restarts, don't boot from the win2k cd, boot off the hdd. It should default to Windows 2000 Installation.

why would you go through all that trouble? The Win2K cd is bootable. No need to boot off Win98, and swap... Unless you like the extra steps. Just go with the easy and simple:
1) Put the Win2K cd in your cdrom drive
2) reboot your computer (just hit the reset button, who cares about win98 now that you're replacing it)
3) enter the BIOS and change the primary boot device to your cdrom drive, save changes and exit
4) when your computer boots again, it will start the Win2K install.

* edit: I don't know how to count :·P *

 

[masterxfob]

i've been running w2k pro for the last week and i've gotta say it's tons better than win98se. i'm beating myself for not switching sooner

 

[TheOmegaCode]

Originally posted by: Drewpy

why would you go through all that trouble? The Win2K cd is bootable. No need to boot off Win98, and swap... Unless you like the extra steps. Just go with the easy and simple:
1) Put the Win2K cd in your cdrom drive
2) reboot your computer (just hit the reset button, who cares about win98 now that you're replacing it)
3) enter the BIOS and change the primary boot device to your cdrom drive, save changes and exit
4) when your computer boots again, it will start the Win2K install.

* edit: I don't know how to count :·P *

For me, it's actually faster. It's really a breeze. Usually when you boot to the 2k CD for the first time, it takes forever. I also like to wipe the MBR before I install an OS, it's just something I do.

 

[Derango]

Originally posted by: TheOmegaCode

Originally posted by: Drewpy

why would you go through all that trouble? The Win2K cd is bootable. No need to boot off Win98, and swap... Unless you like the extra steps. Just go with the easy and simple:
1) Put the Win2K cd in your cdrom drive
2) reboot your computer (just hit the reset button, who cares about win98 now that you're replacing it)
3) enter the BIOS and change the primary boot device to your cdrom drive, save changes and exit
4) when your computer boots again, it will start the Win2K install.

* edit: I don't know how to count :·P *

For me, it's actually faster. It's really a breeze. Usually when you boot to the 2k CD for the first time, it takes forever. I also like to wipe the MBR before I install an OS, it's just something I do.

The OS wipe's the MBR during the install anyway.