Clean 2000 install

[Darrell]

I am currently running ME. Plan on doing a clean install
of Windows 2000. I have 2 80 gig HD's currently at FAT32.
If I install 2000 and select NTFS for my main HD, do I
have to format and fdisk both disks to make it run
correctly? Do I need to backup my slave drive (#2) bbefore
I do this to avoid losing data? Any help would be
appreciated and I could not find this addressed in the
FAQ's. Thanks
..

 

[Danny Sanders]

If I install 2000 and select NTFS for my main HD, do I

have to format and fdisk both disks to make it run
correctly? Do I need to backup my slave drive (#2) bbefore
I do this to avoid losing data?

I would backup *anything* you can't afford to loose. A "clean install" as
opposed to an "upgrade" is because you format and install a fresh copy of
the operating system instead of installing over the previous.

I would boot from the Win 2k CD, delete, recreate, and format (NTFS) *only*
the drive/partition with ME on it. Install Win 2k on that partition, then
use the Win 2k convert.exe utility to convert the other drive/partition(s).
The convert utility *should* preserve your files, but I would *still* have a
backup if the files are *that* important.
See:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;214579

hth
DDS W 2k MVP MCSE