Kony's "Clean Install" for Win2K

[Citizen Bob]

Does this procedure allow you to do what Kony calls a "clean install"?

In one of the Knowledge Base articles, Microsoft Support recommends
the following procedure:

+++
Delete all of your boot disk partitions after creating a full-system
backup, create partitions of the same size as your original
partitions, install Windows 2000, and then restore your full-system
backup:

1. Create a full-system backup by using the Windows 2000 Backup tool.
For information about how to do so, view Backup Help.
2. Verify that your full-system backup contains all of your data, and
is in good working order.
3. Start your computer using disk 1 of the Windows 2000 installation
disks, or the Windows 2000 CD-ROM if your computer supports booting
from CD-ROM.
4. When you are prompted to install Windows 2000 to one of the
partitions on your boot disk, note the size of all of the partitions
on your boot disk, and then delete all of the partitions on your boot
disk.
5. Create partitions on your boot disk that are the same size as your
original partitions.
6. Install Windows 2000.
7. After Windows 2000 Setup finishes, use Windows 2000 Backup to
restore your full-system backup.
+++++

What this does not tell us is whether to Restore the backup by
overwriting existing files from the new install of Win2K.

Just to be safe I would want to re-install SP4.

 

[kony]

Does this procedure allow you to do what Kony calls a "clean install"?

I don't understand what could be misinterpreted about a
"Clean Install". You start out with no operating system, or
rather, no repair or upgrade of an existing system... if you
were just going to dual boot between an already existing OS
and this new install, the new install still qualifies as
clean.

In one of the Knowledge Base articles, Microsoft Support recommends
the following procedure:

+++
Delete all of your boot disk partitions after creating a full-system
backup, create partitions of the same size as your original
partitions, install Windows 2000, and then restore your full-system
backup:

No need. If you really want to delete your partition, then
recreate it- go ahead but it shouldn't be necessary.

1. Create a full-system backup by using the Windows 2000 Backup tool.
For information about how to do so, view Backup Help.
2. Verify that your full-system backup contains all of your data, and
is in good working order.
3. Start your computer using disk 1 of the Windows 2000 installation
disks, or the Windows 2000 CD-ROM if your computer supports booting
from CD-ROM.
4. When you are prompted to install Windows 2000 to one of the
partitions on your boot disk, note the size of all of the partitions
on your boot disk, and then delete all of the partitions on your boot
disk.

No that is ridiculous, nobody in their right mind will start
deleting all the partitions on their boot drive without
another just cause.


Start out with a partition that doesnt' have windows
installed. Boot the CD (or copy the CD files to a folder on
a FAT32 partition then boot DOS w/Smartdrive support and run
winnt.exe from the I386 folder) and just install. There's
no extra steps involved, but if you want to delete
everything/partitions on your drive, and there's no data
you'd lose, you could do that, but "could" doesnt' mean
"need to".

 

[Citizen Bob]

I don't understand what could be misinterpreted about a
"Clean Install". You start out with no operating system, or
rather, no repair or upgrade of an existing system... if you
were just going to dual boot between an already existing OS
and this new install, the new install still qualifies as
clean.

The procedure outlines starts with a fresh install of the OS.

I was referring to the reconstruction of the previous configuration
once the fresh install was accomplished and tested.

 

[kony]

The procedure outlines starts with a fresh install of the OS.

I was referring to the reconstruction of the previous configuration
once the fresh install was accomplished and tested.

Huh?

Unless there's something particular you're needing that you
didn't mention, there's no need to be deleting partitions to
move settings and files from one installation of an OS to
another.

 

[Citizen Bob]

Unless there's something particular you're needing that you
didn't mention, there's no need to be deleting partitions to
move settings and files from one installation of an OS to
another.

I did not give that part about deleting partitions any consideration
because it was based on the particular problem being addressed by that
KB article. I brought the part I considered relevant to your
attention. Now I wish I had excised the unnecessary parts, like the
part about deleting partitions.

My question remains: Is that procedure a reasonable way to go about
creating a clean install with the prior configuration? If so, I would
think when you did the Restore, you would have to tell ntbackup not to
overwrite existing files or else what is the point of the fresh
install in the first place.

But more importantly what about the Registry. Ntbackup has a provision
for backing up the "System State" but I do not know what happens with
a Restore of this item since I have not used it. Will it fill in those
Registry Keys that are not present in the fresh install? Does it obey
the restriction not to overwrite existing keys? What about restoring
the data in a given Key that is missing? IOW, will using ntbackup with
the System State create a correct representation of the old
configuration?

 

[kony]

I did not give that part about deleting partitions any consideration
because it was based on the particular problem being addressed by that
KB article. I brought the part I considered relevant to your
attention. Now I wish I had excised the unnecessary parts, like the
part about deleting partitions.

My question remains: Is that procedure a reasonable way to go about
creating a clean install with the prior configuration?

No, because that's not a "clean installation".
A clean installation is the opposite, it's quite
specificially NOT doing anything more to transfer from your
old installation, yet.

Then comes making a backup, and testing the clean
installation.

After that you can do whatever you want to it, since you can
always go back to the clean installation to make a different
change.

You seem to keep wanting a comprehensive migration from your
old installation to a new one. That's more likely to
reproduce the existing problem. We can't know if the
problem will persist or not doing it- you could try it but
the more conservative approach is not to plan it like you
are doing, rather to take it one step at a time.