format win2k or winxp in the fastest way.

[EvCloud]

i got a few pc, with win2k and win xp on it. for testing purpose, i often format it and reinstall.
so what the quickest way to do it ?

any idea ?

 

[batmang]

hrmm, prolly just to boot off the cd and format it with the cd.

 

[rmrf]

have you thought of using a program such as norton ghost? we use that for our production lab where we are constantly reimaging pc's with clean images. this will format the drive as it is copying the installation files, usually takes about 15 minutes for image, and another 10 for sysprep, all in all, it seems to be worth it.

 

[EvCloud]

i cannot use norton ghost, since those com are not connected together.

while reboot from the cd takes too much time.(because of the loading of the drivers, etc)
plus there is no format command in the main screen, only delete partition, unless boot to recovery console.

hence i'm searching for another faster way, to do the job.

Any idea ??

 

[Booty]

Originally posted by: EvCloud
i cannot use norton ghost, since those com are not connected together.

while reboot from the cd takes too much time.(because of the loading of the drivers, etc)
plus there is no format command in the main screen, only delete partition, unless boot to recovery console.

hence i'm searching for another faster way, to do the job.

Any idea ??

The ghost image is stored on CD(s), so if you have a burner installed you should be able to use it.

Other than that, I'm sure there's rescue/boot disks you could use... partition magic disks, for example. You can probably even download some tools from the drive manufacturer(s) to put on a floppy and go to town...

 

[EvCloud]

Originally posted by: Booty

Originally posted by: EvCloud
i cannot use norton ghost, since those com are not connected together.

while reboot from the cd takes too much time.(because of the loading of the drivers, etc)
plus there is no format command in the main screen, only delete partition, unless boot to recovery console.

hence i'm searching for another faster way, to do the job.

Any idea ??

The ghost image is stored on CD(s), so if you have a burner installed you should be able to use it.

Other than that, I'm sure there's rescue/boot disks you could use... partition magic disks, for example. You can probably even download some tools from the drive manufacturer(s) to put on a floppy and go to town...

how do i get those partition magic disks, or the download site from the manufacturer?
i dun think boot disk made by win2k or winXp wil work, because they only can boot to ms-dos, but cannot format the pc.
if i use win98 boot disk, it cannot detect the file system, as i use ntfs.

 

[mee987]

maybe im missing something here, but why cant you just install winxp like normal? when it asks where you want to install, it gives you the option to format the drive.

and partition magic costs money

 

[EvCloud]

i think it did not give the option to format the com.
but to delete the partition.
i'm thinking is there other ways rather them deleting the whole partition??

 

[NogginBoink]

Create an unattended answer file called winnt.sif on a floppy disk.

See d:\support\tools\deploy.cab\ref.chm on your XP CD for details.

 

[mee987]

just select an existing partition, then it will give you 5 (im pretty sure) options:
keep filesystem intact (no changes)
format ntfs (full)
format fat32 (full)
format ntfs (quick)
format fat32 (quick)

i suggest ntfs quick. the only thing "quick" leaves out is that it doesnt check the entire disk for integrity or something like that.