NTFS and FAT32

D

darkrats

Let's say I have 2 partitions on the same hard drive.

Drive C contains the OS and Applications and is formatted NTFS.
Drive D contains a copy of my Windows XP install disk and various other
setup programs and is fortmatted FAT32.

Can I still use a Windows 98 boot floppy to format Drive C using the "format
c:" command?
Can I then use the command "d:\windowsxp\i386\winnt.exe" to begin a new
installation of Windows XP?

After installing Windows XP on Drive C (NTFS) will I still see and be able
to use all the setup files on Drive D (FAT32)?

After installing Windows XP on Drive C (NTFS) can I use a DOS copy of Ghost
(on a floppy) to copy Drive C (NTFS) to another partition for backup?
And does that backup partition also need to be formatted NTFS?


Thanks!

darkrats
 
J

JasonA

It can be done if installing from I386 directory (I have found with the OEM
version that I get an error hal.dll on boot-up - using the upgrade CD worked
but haven't tried (with the upgrade version) copying to hard drive and
installing from there as I copied after I installed).

Also, run FDISK first to delete the partition - will find a non-dos
partition (doesn't recognise NTFS partitions as DOS) and re-create it.

I have done this type of install with Windows 98 as the OS but wasn't
successful with the OEM version of Windows. Installing from CD would be
simpler as the booting from CD provides all the steps (you would only need
to format the partition without deleting it) because this XP start-up
process can read NTFS partitions.
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

See below.

darkrats said:
Let's say I have 2 partitions on the same hard drive.

Drive C contains the OS and Applications and is formatted NTFS.
Drive D contains a copy of my Windows XP install disk and various other
setup programs and is fortmatted FAT32.

Can I still use a Windows 98 boot floppy to format Drive C using the "format
c:" command?

Yes, but if you do then you will format the second partition,
which normally appears as drive D:. However, you don't
need to do this anyway - see your next question.
Can I then use the command "d:\windowsxp\i386\winnt.exe" to
begin a new installation of Windows XP?

Yes, but there is no need to format the first partition under
DOS. Just start the WinXP installation, then allow the first
partition to be formatted when prompted.
After installing Windows XP on Drive C (NTFS) will I still see and be able
to use all the setup files on Drive D (FAT32)?
Yes.

After installing Windows XP on Drive C (NTFS) can I use a DOS copy of Ghost
(on a floppy) to copy Drive C (NTFS) to another partition for backup?
And does that backup partition also need to be formatted NTFS?

Yes, provided that your version of Ghost supports imaging
NTFS partitions.
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

You write "Also, run FDISK first to delete the partition -
will find a non-dos partition (doesn't recognise NTFS
partitions as DOS) and re-create it.". This is unnecessary
and it won't work: fdisk.exe will not let you delete the
primary partition while an extended partition exists.
 
J

Jonny

darkrats said:
Let's say I have 2 partitions on the same hard drive.

Drive C contains the OS and Applications and is formatted NTFS.
Drive D contains a copy of my Windows XP install disk and various other
setup programs and is fortmatted FAT32.

Can I still use a Windows 98 boot floppy to format Drive C using the
"format c:" command?
Can I then use the command "d:\windowsxp\i386\winnt.exe" to begin a new
installation of Windows XP?

After installing Windows XP on Drive C (NTFS) will I still see and be able
to use all the setup files on Drive D (FAT32)?

After installing Windows XP on Drive C (NTFS) can I use a DOS copy of
Ghost (on a floppy) to copy Drive C (NTFS) to another partition for
backup?

If the version of Ghost you're using supports what you're doing/attempting,
yes.
And does that backup partition also need to be formatted NTFS?

You didn't say which animal you're speaking of. In caution, I provided
answers to both.
A ghost copy makes an identical copy including the filesystem (NTFS) to
blank space on some hard drive you select.
An imaged copy, makes no difference which filesystem the imaged partition
file is stored on.
 
I

Infosink

x-no-archive: yes

If you are using a DOS type floppy you can create the Ghost backup image of
any harddrive partition, but that image must be written to media or a
partition formatted with a system that the floppy supports reading and
writing to - usually FAT16 and FAT32 formatted harddrive partitions. Most
DOS type floppies do not support writing to NTFS formatted partitions. So
while you can Ghost an NTFS formatted partition using the floppy, the Ghost
image itself must be stored on a FAT type partition.
 
J

Jonny

Infosink said:
x-no-archive: yes


If you are using a DOS type floppy you can create the Ghost backup image
of
any harddrive partition, but that image must be written to media or a
partition formatted with a system that the floppy supports reading and
writing to - usually FAT16 and FAT32 formatted harddrive partitions. Most
DOS type floppies do not support writing to NTFS formatted partitions. So
while you can Ghost an NTFS formatted partition using the floppy, the
Ghost
image itself must be stored on a FAT type partition.

If true, odd. DI 6.0/2002, if run from windows 9X/ME or a dos floppy, the
image file can be stored on an NTFS partition. Even the XP's version of
NTFS.
 
P

Pegasus \(MVP\)

Jonny said:
If true, odd. DI 6.0/2002, if run from windows 9X/ME or a dos floppy, the
image file can be stored on an NTFS partition. Even the XP's version of
NTFS.

It's not true. Several imaging programs such as DriveImage
have their own inbuilt NTFS driver. This enables them to
run under DOS yet read/write an NTFS partition.
 
D

darkrats

Thanks for all the replies.
Tomorrow, I'll check out your information.

I will do a clean install of Windows XP making it NTFS.
I will leave one of my partitions FAT32.
I'll then see if, using my ghost floppy, I can ghost c drive to the FAT32
drive and then back again.
 
I

Infosink

Yes, it depends on the program. Ghost will and won't depending on the
version etc. etc. DOS type disks themselves will not read/write NTFS without
third party software - check the specs.
 
S

Steve N.

darkrats said:
Thanks for all the replies.
Tomorrow, I'll check out your information.

I will do a clean install of Windows XP making it NTFS.
I will leave one of my partitions FAT32.
I'll then see if, using my ghost floppy, I can ghost c drive to the FAT32
drive and then back again.

If the resulting ghosted image file excedes 4GB it will not work; FAT32
file size limit is one byte less than 4GB.

Steve N.
 

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