NTFS and FAT systems together

[Vernon]

I have recently had many problems getting STOP errors on
boot ups. Each time I have to run W2K recovery console
and do a chkdsk /r to fix problems. This takes care of
it, for a while. I run Norton Internet security and virus
packages and they have found nothing. I am thinking I am
seeing my hard rive die slowly. I just went and bought a
new 40G drive I would like to place as master drive and
use with FAT to ease troubleshooting in the future.
However I want to use my old drive as a second drive, but
it is NTFS, which made troubleshooting this whole mess a
nightmare. Can a W2K installation with FAT still read a
slave drive that is NTFS? If not, what other options do I
have?

Thanks!

Vernon

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Vernon.

Win2K (and WinXP) mixes and matches FAT and NTFS drives natively - and quite
transparently to the user. Whatever is causing your problem, this ain't it!

Go ahead and install your new HD as primary master, leaving your old drive
unconnected for now. Set your computer to boot from the CD. Insert the
Win2K CD-ROM, reboot, and let Setup partition and format your new HD.
(Unless you plan to install Win9x/ME on this computer, use NTFS all the
way.) Let Setup continue to install Win2K.

Then plug in your old HD as secondary or slave. Boot into Win2K and run
Disk Management. (Microsoft buried Disk Management under several layers of
keystrokes and now, 4 years later, many experienced users still haven't
found it. :>( One quick way is to type at the Run prompt: diskmgmt.msc )

Use Disk Management to reassign "drive" letters to the volumes on your old
HD. (You don't want your old Drive C: to still be C:, do you?. Left to its
own devices, Win2K assigns drive letters anew each time you reboot; if you
specifically assign the letters using Disk Management, Win2K will attempt to
honor your choices on each reboot.) Copy whatever data you need from the
old HD to the new. Then, if you like, you can use Disk Management to
repartition and/or reformat that old HD.

If you install Win2K on your new HD while your old HD is enabled (even as
secondary), Setup will see the old Drive C: on that drive and will assign a
new letter (F:?) to the new "system partition" it will create on your new
HD - and there is no easy way to get that new partition to become C:; you'll
have to REinstall it AGAIN. :>(

You will need to reinstall your applications after this. Even if the
executable and other program files are copied from the old HD, each app will
need to be reinstalled so that it can make the proper entries in the
Registry of the new installation. If you can use Ghost or another utility
to copy the Registry from the old HD to the new, you can then use the
"in-place upgrade" to reinstall Win2K itself while preserving the installed
apps. You are probably best off, though, to "bite the bullet" and reinstall
everything clean now.

RC