Windows 2000 pro install with no CDROM

[mike]

I have a Dell Optiplex with no CDROM drive and a new hard disk that is
formatted NTFS. I need to install Windows 2000 Pro - I've copied the
I386 folder onto the drive (hooked up the drive as a slave on a working
2000 pro machine) but because it's formatted as NTFS, I can't get to a
DOS prompt to run the winnt.exe setup command.

I know that if the drive was formatted FAT, I could just boot to a DOS
floppy and run the command, but is there any way to do this if the
drive is already formatted NTFS?

 

[Steve Parry [MVP]]

I have a Dell Optiplex with no CDROM drive and a new hard disk that is
formatted NTFS. I need to install Windows 2000 Pro - I've copied the
I386 folder onto the drive (hooked up the drive as a slave on a
working
2000 pro machine) but because it's formatted as NTFS, I can't get to a
DOS prompt to run the winnt.exe setup command.

I know that if the drive was formatted FAT, I could just boot to a DOS
floppy and run the command, but is there any way to do this if the
drive is already formatted NTFS?

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/NtfsDos.html

any help

 

[mike]

Got an error/message saying "cannot run from DOS command prompt"

 

[John Bell]

I think you have to run the winnt32.exe instead of the winnt.exe if I'm not
mistaken.

John Bell

 

[mike]

He tried winnt and winnt32. He just ended up reformatting the drive as
FAT and copied the files and then booted to a WIN98 floppy. Thanks for
the help, but still like to know if there is a way to accomplish that
task.

Mike