I installed Win XP Pro over a Win XP Home Backup and screwed things up. I
like to just format the HD again, but want to make sure that it is in the
NTFS format. How do I do that. Can I format it from the WIN XP CD. or can I
use a win98 startup disk to format the HD. Will the win98 startup disk
format the new HD in the old FAT 32 system? Any help is
appreciated.......Peter

http://www.fdisk.com/fdisk/


"PeterM" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:so2dnU68J-QVPczcRVn-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I installed Win XP Pro over a Win XP Home Backup and screwed things up. I
> like to just format the HD again, but want to make sure that it is in the
> NTFS format. How do I do that. Can I format it from the WIN XP CD. or can
I
> use a win98 startup disk to format the HD. Will the win98 startup disk
> format the new HD in the old FAT 32 system? Any help is
> appreciated.......Peter
>

On Wed, 22 Sep 2004 08:55:52 -0700, PeterM wrote:

> I installed Win XP Pro over a Win XP Home Backup and screwed things up. I
> like to just format the HD again, but want to make sure that it is in the
> NTFS format. How do I do that. Can I format it from the WIN XP CD. or can I
> use a win98 startup disk to format the HD. Will the win98 startup disk
> format the new HD in the old FAT 32 system? Any help is
> appreciated.......Peter

Use the Win XP CD to delete the partition. Then recreate it, choosing to
format in NTFS.

Note: If XP is setup and ready to go, use "convert" to change to NTFS.
A good general discussion on FAT*/NTFS (including some pointers on
converting the file system) can be found here:
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfs.htm
--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows XP Shell/User

Many thanks, that will certainly get me started.......Peter

"Ray Lewis" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> http://www.fdisk.com/fdisk/
>
>
> "PeterM" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:so2dnU68J-QVPczcRVn-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > I installed Win XP Pro over a Win XP Home Backup and screwed things up.
I
> > like to just format the HD again, but want to make sure that it is in
the
> > NTFS format. How do I do that. Can I format it from the WIN XP CD. or
can
> I
> > use a win98 startup disk to format the HD. Will the win98 startup disk
> > format the new HD in the old FAT 32 system? Any help is
> > appreciated.......Peter
> >
>
>

"PeterM" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:so2dnU68J-QVPczcRVn-(E-Mail Removed)...
>I installed Win XP Pro over a Win XP Home Backup and screwed things up. I
> like to just format the HD again, but want to make sure that it is in the
> NTFS format. How do I do that. Can I format it from the WIN XP CD. or can
> I
> use a win98 startup disk to format the HD. Will the win98 startup disk
> format the new HD in the old FAT 32 system? Any help is
> appreciated.......Peter

========================

Can I enter this discussion with some questions? I have just installed a
second HDD as a slave on a very slightly older PC. I took this HDD from a PC
at another home location and I would like to re- format it.

XP was on the slave HDD as OEM, consequently it runs currently on NTFS (I'm
not sure I understand what that means). On the older system I had added XP
over Millennium. That master HDD still runs on FAT32 (I'm not sure what that
means either).

Reading this current discussion leads me to several questions.

How do I format my slave HDD? Do I partition? What file system, NTFS or
FAT32?

Do I need to change my current master HDD FAT32 system?. If so, how?

Do file systems have to match on master and slave HDD's?

Sorry to be a bother but I don't know much about this ... but would like to
learn. Thanks, Denzil

On Wed, 22 Sep 2004 11:47:21 -0700, Denzil Hathway wrote:

> "PeterM" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:so2dnU68J-QVPczcRVn-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I installed Win XP Pro over a Win XP Home Backup and screwed things up. I
>> like to just format the HD again, but want to make sure that it is in the
>> NTFS format. How do I do that. Can I format it from the WIN XP CD. or can
>> I
>> use a win98 startup disk to format the HD. Will the win98 startup disk
>> format the new HD in the old FAT 32 system? Any help is
>> appreciated.......Peter
>
> ========================
>
> Can I enter this discussion with some questions? I have just installed a
> second HDD as a slave on a very slightly older PC. I took this HDD from a PC
> at another home location and I would like to re- format it.
>
> XP was on the slave HDD as OEM, consequently it runs currently on NTFS (I'm
> not sure I understand what that means). On the older system I had added XP
> over Millennium. That master HDD still runs on FAT32 (I'm not sure what that
> means either).
>
> Reading this current discussion leads me to several questions.
>
> How do I format my slave HDD? Do I partition? What file system, NTFS or
> FAT32?
>
> Do I need to change my current master HDD FAT32 system?. If so, how?
>
> Do file systems have to match on master and slave HDD's?
>
> Sorry to be a bother but I don't know much about this ... but would like to
> learn. Thanks, Denzil

Denzil, your situation is different compared to the original poster in this
thread. They were working with the drive that XP boots from and it also
resides there. The considerations for changing file format under those
circumstances are a little more involved and their choices are more
limited.

XP is capable of reading drives that are formatted FAT32 or NTFS so, unless
you want to change this, you're fine with the formats as they are. NOTE:
Any files/folders on the FAT32 partition will not and cannot be protected
by XP's permissions. If you're wanting to clear that second drive to put
new things on it, you can:

- Delete what's on it now and use it as is
- Format the drive: Simply right click on that drive in My Computer or
Windows Explorer and select Format ~or~ use Administrative Tools> Disk
Management. You can elect to use FAT32 or NTFS during the process using
either method.

There is an additional option of using the command line interface to
format. If interested, check XP's Help file for information on
"command-line" Select "Command-line reference A-Z" from the search results
and scroll down to Format for a quick rundown on the needed syntax and the
available switches.

--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows XP Shell/User

Many thanks to you as well Sharon. Everything is working
swell....................Peter

"Sharon F" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Wed, 22 Sep 2004 08:55:52 -0700, PeterM wrote:
>
> > I installed Win XP Pro over a Win XP Home Backup and screwed things up.
I
> > like to just format the HD again, but want to make sure that it is in
the
> > NTFS format. How do I do that. Can I format it from the WIN XP CD. or
can I
> > use a win98 startup disk to format the HD. Will the win98 startup disk
> > format the new HD in the old FAT 32 system? Any help is
> > appreciated.......Peter
>
> Use the Win XP CD to delete the partition. Then recreate it, choosing to
> format in NTFS.
>
> Note: If XP is setup and ready to go, use "convert" to change to NTFS.
> A good general discussion on FAT*/NTFS (including some pointers on
> converting the file system) can be found here:
> http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfs.htm
> --
> Sharon F
> MS-MVP ~ Windows XP Shell/User

I do thank Sharon for answering my questions about re-formatting a slave HDD
under XP. There was one question unanswered though. Since the master HDD is
structured for FAT 32 should I change it to NTFC? If so, how do I do it? ...
and, by doing it, is there any danger to the programs and data already on
that drive?

I realize now that the drives do not have to match but since NTFC evidently
came later than FAT 32 that there must be some advantage to it. Like what?
Still anxious to learn, thanks, Denzil.

Dear Denzel, just my part, I wish I could help you. The answer will come,
these ladies and gents are great here, and are always here to help. My hat
off to them...........Peter

"Denzil Hathway" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:nRm4d.288637$Lj.252718@fed1read03...
> I do thank Sharon for answering my questions about re-formatting a slave
HDD
> under XP. There was one question unanswered though. Since the master HDD
is
> structured for FAT 32 should I change it to NTFC? If so, how do I do it?
....
> and, by doing it, is there any danger to the programs and data already on
> that drive?
>
> I realize now that the drives do not have to match but since NTFC
evidently
> came later than FAT 32 that there must be some advantage to it. Like what?
> Still anxious to learn, thanks, Denzil.
>
>
>

PeterM wrote:
> I installed Win XP Pro over a Win XP Home Backup and screwed things
> up. I like to just format the HD again, but want to make sure that
> it
> is in the NTFS format. How do I do that. Can I format it from the
> WIN
> XP CD. or can I use a win98 startup disk to format the HD. Will the
> win98 startup disk format the new HD in the old FAT 32 system? Any
> help is appreciated.......Peter


Simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the
opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of the
installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of boot
devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...B;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

--

Bruce Chambers

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