Formatting FIRST drive NTFS ?

[bcarwell]

I an a seminewb with a computer that will take Win2K. I want to
install it on the only drive in the system, which is currently FAT 32,
which I want to reformat NTFS. What do I use to do this before
installing Win2K ? I have an old floppy disk with FDISK on it that I
used to boot and partition the original drive for FAT 32 before
installing Win98, but I don't think that old FDISK supports NTFS does
it ? Seems like a chicken and the egg problem since the discussion I
see is about reformatting a second drive using WinXP or Win2K on the
primary drive. How can you format the primary drive that the OS is
going to reside on using the OS that isn't on the drive yet ?

Do I need something like Partition Magic, or is there a freebie utility
I can stick on a floppy that will partition and format for NTFS ?

Thanks for any help.

Bob

 

[Sid Knee]

Boot from your Win2K install CD.

You will be given the opportunity to delete existing partitions and
create and format (to fat or ntfs) a new partition.

After deleting the existing partition, be sure to cancel the install at
that point and then reboot the machine and re-start the install.
Otherwise you can get unexpected drive letter assignments.

 

[John John]

Just put the Windows 2000 CD in the machine and boot the pc with it.
Once the setup program loads necessary files and inspect the pc hardware
it will show you how the disk is divided and formated and you will be
offered the option to delete all partitions, create new one(s) and
format to the file system of your choice. There is no need for third
party tools to do this, just pay close attention to what is going on
during the setup sequence and read the information on the screen and
select the appropriate options. If you create more that 1 partition on
the disk it is good practice to exit the setup program after you create
the partitions the start again, that help eliminate the problem of
having Windows ending up on a drive other than "C", sometimes that
happens in these situations.

John

 

[bcarwell]

Thanks a bunch John and Sid for taking the time. Worked like a champ
and I'm now up and running. Great help !

Bob

 

[John John]

You're welcome.

John

 

[Sid Knee]

Thanks a bunch John and Sid for taking the time. Worked like a champ
and I'm now up and running. Great help !

Don't mention it! I get all kinds of help around here .... I'm happy
when I can give something back.