How to partition and format a HDD correctly for Win2K Pro

[Guest]

Hello:

I have a question for the masses...

I'm a newbie to Win 2K, please be gentle with me...

I was using Win ME, and my OEM HDD failed...

I bought a Maxtor Diamond Max Plus ATA 133 80 gig drive to replace the baked
40 gig Maxtor...

I thought the BIOS would be able to handle this swap without incident (I
looked into a BIOS upgrade but for the cost I could have replaced the
motherboard)...

I used the MaxBlast v3.6 software that came with the drive to partition and
format the disk (NTFS)without incident...

Iloaded the OS without incident...

I loaded Norton Sytem Works 2005 Pro without incident...

Later, I tried to instal a sub-component of Norton Sytem Works 2005 Pro
(Norton Go-Back v5.0)...

During install, a banner came up saying that install was stopped because
Norton Go-Back isn't compatible with Direct Drive Overlays...

I contacted Maxtor and they said that MaxBlast wouuld only install a DDO if
it found the BIOS wasn't capable of handling the drive size...

Norton of course bowed out saying it must be a problem with the OS or the
hardware (where do they get these people from)...

Does anyone know how I can format this disk and partition it in a manner
that does not involve installing a DDO?

As I said previously, I'm a newbie to Win 2K, it doesn't seem to have
anything in common with 95,98 or ME...

I thought about using a 98 or ME start disk so I could use FDISK but in a
preliminary run it doesn't seem to offer the NTFS file system (doh)...

Help?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

"Vlad the Symantec Impaler" <Vlad the Symantec
(e-mail address removed)> wrote in message

Hello:

I have a question for the masses...

I'm a newbie to Win 2K, please be gentle with me...

I was using Win ME, and my OEM HDD failed...

I bought a Maxtor Diamond Max Plus ATA 133 80 gig drive to replace the baked
40 gig Maxtor...

I thought the BIOS would be able to handle this swap without incident (I
looked into a BIOS upgrade but for the cost I could have replaced the
motherboard)...

I used the MaxBlast v3.6 software that came with the drive to partition and
format the disk (NTFS)without incident...

Iloaded the OS without incident...

I loaded Norton Sytem Works 2005 Pro without incident...

Later, I tried to instal a sub-component of Norton Sytem Works 2005 Pro
(Norton Go-Back v5.0)...

During install, a banner came up saying that install was stopped because
Norton Go-Back isn't compatible with Direct Drive Overlays...

I contacted Maxtor and they said that MaxBlast wouuld only install a DDO if
it found the BIOS wasn't capable of handling the drive size...

Norton of course bowed out saying it must be a problem with the OS or the
hardware (where do they get these people from)...

Does anyone know how I can format this disk and partition it in a manner
that does not involve installing a DDO?

As I said previously, I'm a newbie to Win 2K, it doesn't seem to have
anything in common with 95,98 or ME...

I thought about using a 98 or ME start disk so I could use FDISK but in a
preliminary run it doesn't seem to offer the NTFS file system (doh)...

Help?

What disk size does your BIOS report?

I suggest you boot the machine with your Win2000 CD, then
allow the installation process to partition and format your hard
disk. If it is an 80 GByte hard disk then I would use 10 GBytes
for Win2000 and the rest for your data. This would make
subsequent repairs and installations much, much easier than
having just one large partition.

Note that Win2000 does not rely on the BIOS when
dealing with hard disks. It's only during the startup phase
that the BIOS plays a role.

 

[Guest]

Hi:

The BIOS shows the total disk size during the post...

I feel the same about the partitions, I generally use three (OS, Programs,
Data)...

I didn't realize that the Max Blast software would put a DDO on the system...

Maxtor said the software wouldn't use it unless it had to, but I think
that's a pile...

That's why I want to see if the OS will load without the DDO...

I think the DDO is actually slowing my system down for some reason...

Thanx for your help...

BTW, I've seen Dave Patrick suggesting the use of "DelPart" and he gives an
FTP link for the reskit.exe download...

Any idea what it does or where I could find info regarding it's use and
function?

Thanx

B

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

"Vlad the Symantec Impaler"

Hi:

The BIOS shows the total disk size during the post...

I feel the same about the partitions, I generally use three (OS, Programs,
Data)...

I didn't realize that the Max Blast software would put a DDO on the system...

Maxtor said the software wouldn't use it unless it had to, but I think
that's a pile...

That's why I want to see if the OS will load without the DDO...

I think the DDO is actually slowing my system down for some reason...

Thanx for your help...

BTW, I've seen Dave Patrick suggesting the use of "DelPart" and he gives an
FTP link for the reskit.exe download...

Any idea what it does or where I could find info regarding it's use and
function?

Thanx

B

Delpart is a handy sledge hammer for deleting partitions.
It will deal with anything. You can get it from here:
http://www.russelltexas.com/delpart.htm

To use it, you will have to boot the machine with a
Win98 boot disk (www.bootdisk.com).

 

[Guest]

Hey.

You can to use Partition Magic, it works every time!!.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Maybe the current version of PQMagic does but previous
versions failed consistently when there was a problem with
the partition table. It would simply not touch them. Have
you ever dealt with one of those?

Furthermore, PQMagic costs money. Delpart is free!

 

[David TY]

I'd assign well over 10GB for the system partition.
20GB minimum, IMHO.

David Kinston
melbourne.au

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Win2000 will require between 1 and 2 GBytes. You must
have a very large number of applications if you require a
minimum of 20 GBytes for the system partition. In all the
machines I have seen so far (about 200), none exceeded
6 GBytes.

 

[Guest]

Thanx for your input gentlemen, I appreciate your efforts on my behalf...

Does anyone know what the Reskit executable does?

Or can anyone direct me to a link that would explain it?

Thanx again

B

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

What Resource Kit executable?


"Vlad the Symantec Impaler"

 

[Guest]

Morning:

Dave Patrick left an ftp link in a thread aboout formatting a HDD but there
was no explanation as to what the file did or why he suggested it...

Here's the link

ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/reskit/nt31/i386/reskit.exe

It's a 4meg file

B

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hello:

I have a question for the masses...

I'm a newbie to Win 2K, please be gentle with me...

I was using Win ME, and my OEM HDD failed...

Had you made sure that your PC's other hardware components were capable
of supporting Win2K? This information will be found at the PC's
manufacturer's web site, and on Microsoft's Windows Catalog:
(http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx)

You also should have taken a few minutes to ensure that there are Win2K
device drivers available for all of the machine's components. There may
not be, if the PC was specifically designed for Win98/Me. Also bear in
mind that PCs designed for, sold and run fine with Win9x/Me very often
do not meet Win2K's much more stringent hardware quality requirements.
This is particularly true of many models in Compaq's consumer-class
Presario product line or HP's consumer-class Pavilion product line.
Win2K, like WinNT before it, is quite sensitive to borderline defective
or substandard hardware (particularly motherboards, RAM and hard drives)
that will still support Win9x.

I bought a Maxtor Diamond Max Plus ATA 133 80 gig drive to replace the baked
40 gig Maxtor...

I thought the BIOS would be able to handle this swap without incident (I
looked into a BIOS upgrade but for the cost I could have replaced the
motherboard)...

BIOS upgrades are almost always free, are you sure that you found the
correct information? Check on the web site of the motherboard's
manufacturer. If there are no firmware BIOS upgrade available, and the
only way to upgrade the BIOS is to replace the CMOS chip, you'll need to
choose from a couple of options:

1) Return the 80 Gb HDD and exchange it for a smaller one (37 Gb) that
your BIOS can handle.

2) Replace the entire motherboard.

I used the MaxBlast v3.6 software that came with the drive to partition and
format the disk (NTFS)without incident...

MaxBlast has been rendering hard drives partially useless for years,
now. It was once of limited usefulness with MS-DOS and Win95, but has
been completely unnecessary to later operating systems. I don't know
why Maxtor keeps providing it, and then not warning consumers of the
dangers inherent in it's use.

Iloaded the OS without incident...

I loaded Norton Sytem Works 2005 Pro without incident...

Later, I tried to instal a sub-component of Norton Sytem Works 2005 Pro
(Norton Go-Back v5.0)...

During install, a banner came up saying that install was stopped because
Norton Go-Back isn't compatible with Direct Drive Overlays...

Makes perfect sense; partition imaging applications must work at the
lowest level of the file system, a level now occupied by the DDO. Since
there's absolutely no reason for anyone to be using DDOs anymore,
Symantec didn't see the need to (and maybe couldn't) design their
product to deal with obsolete DDOs.

I contacted Maxtor and they said that MaxBlast wouuld only install a DDO if
it found the BIOS wasn't capable of handling the drive size...

There was no need to use the MaxBlast software to prepare the hard
drive for use. Maxtor should not be distributing it any more.

Norton of course bowed out saying it must be a problem with the OS or the
hardware (where do they get these people from)...

Well, if you've an antique motherboard whose BIOS cannot be upgraded to
handle hard drives larger than 37 Gb, they're partially correct - you do
have a hardware problem. You're correct in surmising, however, that
this has *nothing* to do with the operating system. It's a limitation
of Ghost.

Does anyone know how I can format this disk and partition it in a manner
that does not involve installing a DDO?

You'll need to consult Maxtor for instructions on how to remove all
traces of MaxBlast and its insidious DDO. Once the hard drive is
returned to a pristine state, Simply boot from the Win2K 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.)



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

The Windows Resource Kits contain all sorts of useful tools.
You have to download or buy it to find out what which ones
you could use. As I said before, you can use delpart.exe to
delete any partition on your disk.


"Vlad the Symantec Impaler"

 

[George Hester]

Almost everytime. The GUI can be a killer

 

[George Hester]

Just make sure there is always 2GB free space on the disk holding WINNT. That's sufficient for government work