Network install of XP

[Patrick Dunford]

We have done one network install of XP from Windows 98, where it
converted the FAT32 partition on the fly to NTFS.

I've heard that converted partitions can be up to 10% slower than NTFS
partitions formatted from scratch.

So I was wondering:

* Is it possible to boot the computer from a floppy disk, format the C
drive as NTFS, then make a network connection and do a network install of
XP?

I'm assuming that XP can make its own boot disk, and that this disk might
include a format command. Maybe it also includes network support.

If network support is not available, Bart's Network Boot Disk
(http://www.nu2.nu/bootdisk/network/) should allow me to boot and connect
to the network to run the XP install from a network share.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

We have done one network install of XP from Windows 98, where it
converted the FAT32 partition on the fly to NTFS.

I've heard that converted partitions can be up to 10% slower than NTFS
partitions formatted from scratch.

So I was wondering:

* Is it possible to boot the computer from a floppy disk, format the C
drive as NTFS, then make a network connection and do a network
install of XP?

I'm assuming that XP can make its own boot disk, and that this disk
might include a format command. Maybe it also includes network
support.

If network support is not available, Bart's Network Boot Disk
(http://www.nu2.nu/bootdisk/network/) should allow me to boot and
connect to the network to run the XP install from a network share.

Where did you get the blurb about converted partitions being slower?

http://unattended.sourceforge.net/
http://unattended.msfn.org/

 

[Johan Arwidmark]

If you have Software Assurance agreement with Microsoft you can use
Windows PE as your deployment platform. In Windows PE you can use
diskpart and format to create and format NTFS volumes without
converting. Windows PE also have network support

regards
Johan Arwidmark

Windows User Group - Nordic
http://www.wug-nordic.net

 

[Patrick J. LoPresti [MVP]]

No, you cannot install directly onto an NTFS partition from DOS.
FAT->NTFS conversion is required.

I have done hundeds of DOS-based installs of Windows NT and never
noticed any performance problems. It probably depends a lot on your
exact system and workload.

That said, Microsoft has two DOS-based tools which mitigate the
performance issues. They are called OFORMAT and CVTAREA. See
<http://unattended.sourceforge.net/faq.html#ntfs>.

- Pat
MVP, Windows Server - Setup/Deployment
http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

 

[Patrick Dunford]

Where did you get the blurb about converted partitions being slower?

Somewhere on the MS website it says this is true if the app is not
written with NT/2000 in mind.

 

[Patrick Dunford]

No, you cannot install directly onto an NTFS partition from DOS.
FAT->NTFS conversion is required.

Funny you say that. I ran Oformat and cvtarea on the disk, then booted
from a floppy, logged onto the network and ran winnt on the share to
start the installation. Never missed a beat.

 

[Patrick J. LoPresti]

Funny you say that. I ran Oformat and cvtarea on the disk, then
booted from a floppy, logged onto the network and ran winnt on the
share to start the installation. Never missed a beat.

What does that have to do with installing directly onto an NTFS
partition from DOS?

I guess I am missing your point.

- Pat

 

[Patrick Dunford]

What does that have to do with installing directly onto an NTFS
partition from DOS?

I guess I am missing your point.

I booted from an MSDos startup disk, ran the conversion tools, booted
from another MSDos disk and started the install, no problem

 

[Patrick J. LoPresti]

I booted from an MSDos startup disk, ran the conversion tools, booted
from another MSDos disk and started the install, no problem

OFORMAT and CVTAREA are not conversion tools. They just prepare a FAT
partition to make its conversion more efficient after Windows is
installed.

At no time did you access an NTFS partition from DOS.

- Pat