How do I make a startup disk in Win2k?

[Shooters]

I'm about to format my hard drive and do a clean install of Win2k. How do I make a startup disk in Win2k? I went to the control panel, but I can't seem to find it. Also, is there anything different from Win98 that I need to do when I do a clean install of Win2k or is it pretty much the same procedure?

Sorry, one more thing.....what's the difference between FAT32 and NTFS and which one should I do? I'm using a 10 GB drive as my primary hard drive.

Thanks,
Shooters

 

[SUOrangeman]

It may be easier/faster to use the Win2K bootable CD. You can partition/format with it. For the FAT32/NTFS question, it really depends on whether you need the added features (like security, compression, etc.) of NTFS at the possible penalty of speed (not a drastic oenalty though).

-SUO

 

[Raincity]

You can create a emergency repair disk by going to backup option in the system tools folder in win2k. NTFS is the NT file system that uses a smaller disk cluster size and offers more security than fat32. Win2k was optimized to use NTFS but you can use fat32 without any real loss in performance. If you are still using Win98 or Winme also, you may want to stick with fat32 so both operating systems can read the contents of all your logical drives.

Rain

 

[Shooters]

Okay, I don't think I have the Win2k bootable cd because I got this cd from my university for 5 bucks and they didn't provide any sort of manual.....just one cd that says "Microsoft Windows 2000 Pro", but it might have the bootable cd utilities on it; sometimes they put everything on one cd. Will I be able to format, partition, and do all of the clean install stuff with the emergency repair disk that Raincity mentioned. Also, where exactly is the emergency repair disk thing. I can't seem to find it. I've looked in C:\Windows\System and in the Control Panel.

Thanks,
Shooters

 

[Floyd]

The Emergency Repair Disk is part of the Backup utility. However, I don't know why it has been suggested, it has absolutely nothing to do with a clean installation...it is only for fixing a corrupted or otherwise damaged installation.

And although I'm not expressly familiar with the Windows CD's distributed by universities, I have no reason to believe it wouldn't be bootable. Make sure your BIOS is setup up to boot from CD (boot sequence something like A:, CD, C:), pop in the CD and see if it will boot. As others have mentioned, it has built-in facilities for partitioning and formatting.

Best regards,
Floyd

 

[Shooters]

Okay, I browsed the cd and found two boot disk files. One is MAKEBOOT.EXE and the other is MAKEBT32.EXE. They were both in the boot disk folder. Does anyone know the difference between the two and which one I should use?

Thanks,
Shooters

 

[bigguy1]

Just click on the makeboot.exe file and it will prompt you to get 4 floppys ready then it will copy all instalation files onto the floppys.
To install win2k insert floppy 1 and reboot comp and follow the instructions on screen it is that simple.
I would use FAT32 unless you need the extra security as the only way to go back to FAT32 from NTFS is to del the partition or use a third party program.

bigguy1