Format XP

[cramd]

I upgraded a Win/2000 machine to XP Pro - my ending results were two operating systems on my "C" drive--not good....(WIN/2000 & XP PRO). So I reformatted from scratch with XP Boot Diskettes - worked well.....except I now have a C & D drive, both with FAT32 partitions. I want one partition - but I'm not sure if I want the "C" drive to be FAT32 or NTFS while running XP Pro. I will reformat again, I "think" I need to delete both partitions, then create one partition - hopefully will end with one drive--"C" and then allow the XP Pro to install again..
My ending question is - with XP Pro - a 20 gig hard drive, do I want NTFS or FAT32??
Any suggestions??
cramd

 

[franklin97355]

NTFS is where M$ is moving and I haven't found any major problems with it except some utilities haven't been updated to work with it.

 

[ShadowWalker11]

NTFS is DEFINITELY the way to go - faster, more efficient, you'll thank at least one of us (yourself or me, ha ha)

 

[cramd]

Thanks for the suggestions......NTFS it is.
cramd

 

[Papa4]

I have had to migrate 25 systems from Win98 to WinXP Pro
recently. I found out the hard way that it is best to buy
a new hard disk, install it as Drive_C and the old disk as
Drive_D. Then go ahead and install XP on the new hard disk,
using XP using an unatteded install. You will need to create a file named WINNT.SIF on the floppy and edit it to suit your desires; then set the PC to boot from the CD, insert the floppy in the drive, and the XP install disk in the CDRom and reboot.

When you are done, you can copy the users "stuff" over from
the old hard drive so that nothing gets lost. Leave it this way for a few days because the user always remembers something that he/she MUST have right after you format the old hard drive.

I would convert to NTFS because it is more efficient. If you can leave the old hard drive installed, you can leave it FAT or convert it also.

Enclosed is my WINNT.SIF You will notice that I commented out the autopartition. I have changed other things such as the key to protect myself.....

;SetupMgrTag
; =====================================================
;
; Lords XP Workstation: JOE
;
; =====================================================

[Data]
UseBIOSToBoot = 1
; AutoPartition=1
MsDosInitiated="0"
UnattendedInstall="Yes"

[Unattended]
UnattendMode=FullUnattended
OemSkipEula=Yes
OemPreinstall=No
TargetPath=\WINDOWS
FileSystem=ConvertNTFS

[GuiUnattended]

ProfilesDir = "C:\USERS"
AdminPassword="admin"
EncryptedAdminPassword=NO
OEMSkipRegional=1
TimeZone=35
OemSkipWelcome=1

[UserData]
ProductKey=GPHRY-GMMH0-HFYJK-298J8-V74FR
FullName="Joe Smith"
OrgName="Junk Computers, Inc."
ComputerName=JOE

[Display]
Xresolution=800
YResolution=600
Vrefresh=75

[TapiLocation]
CountryCode=1
Dialing=Tone
AreaCode=770

[RegionalSettings]
LanguageGroup=1
Language=00000409

[Branding]
BrandIEUsingUnattended=Yes

Home_Page=yahoo.com [Proxy] ...=Yes WINS=No NetBIOSOptions=0 PAPA4

 

[cramd]

Papa4--
Thanks for your helpful post. I will not give the users any of their stuff back.....seems to be full of games and viruses......very little "real" work was needed from this pc and I was able to save that to a floppy. Your WINNT.SIF file will be of use.....
Thanks again!
cramd

 

[wolluf]

Papa4 - I'd use something like Ghost (with sysprep) - create one template install and clone to other 25 machines - better than unattended install IMO (if machines similar hardware).