Windows 2000 Pro install-OEM

[kenner]

I had an empty hard drive and the windows cd sitting around so I decided to load the OS to see what it loosk like. First I ran Seagates tools and set the HD up for NTFS. With that the cd/windows 2000 setup locked up almost immediately. the banner said it was loading necesary drivers,etc but three hours later it hadn't done anything so I shut if off. Next I ran Seatools again and set up the partition as FAT32. This time it appeared it would load. at least it went further but bogged down and quit looking for a SCSI driver. Are OEM cd's that specific in that you can only use them for the original pc manufacturer? I don't know what company this cd was designated for install.

[Paul Komski]

Try booting to the CD with no partitions defined; all unallocated space. The setup should then partition and format it as part of the installation.

Alternatively copy the i386 folder from the CDROM to a FAT partition big enough to hold the folder. Then (FROM A WIN9x BOOT FLOPPY) enter C:\i386\winnt at the A:\> prompt

[Sylvander]

"copy the i386 folder from the CDROM to a FAT partition big enough to hold the folder"
I tried using the free bootable "Emergency Boot CD" [EBCD] to copy Windows installation files to a FAT32 Partition [I like to use a partition other than C: then leave the files there permanently so Windows can fetch a file when it needs it without asking for them] and then running the installation from there.
Holding them on a partition other than C: means you can zero-fill or reformat C: [so as to restore an image of C:] and not lose these files.
It was surprisingly easy and seemed rather powerful.
I explained how I did it at the bottom of the EBCD thread linked below.

How to make a “Smart Boot Manager” floppy
http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41498
This makes it easier to boot a chosen drive [particularly the one holding the EBCD].

How to make an EBCD bootable CD
http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41485
This has a number of useful utilities included including "Image" [for DOS, by Terabyte] & "File Manager".

[Paul Komski]

I like to use a partition other than C: then leave the files there permanently so Windows can fetch a file when it needs it without asking for them
With Win2K and WinXP it doesnt matter a lot if the you have a small primary partition at the start of the drive. This will become the C: (or system) drive but only contain boot.ini and the other boot files from the setup. The Windows files and folders will be on any other designated partition (the boot partition as MS calls it) and it is that partition that one would image/restore and not the C: drive.

[Sylvander]

I'm having difficulty understanding the total meaning of what you are saying. :confused:

What is "This" that will become C: ?
Does 2K/XP automatically make a tiny partition [at the start of the drive] that it designates as C: and calls the "System Drive", and it automatically holds there certain key system files used for the boot process?
And during the installation procedure the user is asked to designate SOME OTHER partition [with a letter other than C] to hold all the main body of the files?

[Paul Komski]

The NT-based OSes (and the DOS-based OSes for that matter) will use or attempt to use the current active partition (which must be a primary partition) as the system partition. That is to say they will change its boot sector and install boot files into that partition when the installation begins. These are files that don't take up a great deal of space and so the system partition can be kept small.

By default the Windows/WinNT folder and the other installation files and folders are installed onto the same partition but they don't have to be.

Under DOS-based windows one can actually nominate an alternative partition (and give the Windows folder another name for that matter) for the "installation files". For this to happen that partition must have been created in advance and will be accessed by the dynamic Drive Letter assignments that DOS-based Windows installations use.

Under NT-based Windows it is more straightworward since any accessible HDD can be easily accessed and partitions created and formatted for the installation files as part of the setup process. These partitions are referenced numerically (in boot.ini) and the drive letters only "fixed" once the OS is booted-up. This partition (as distinct from the system partition) is known as the boot partition by Microsoft and I keep to the same nomenclature - even if it is confusing.

Thus, for example, one can keep say a 500MB FAT partition at the start of the drive. Keep installation files on it. Keep a number of dos utilities on it so they can be run from any MSDOS boot floppy. Always be able to read and modify boot.ini directly from DOS. Have it available for any BootManager files (since many boot managers do need a FAT partition for them to be able to access.

The boot partition is the partition that all the Windows and Program Files and so forth will be installed onto and is the one that one would normally want to image or make backups from. Such a system partition can also be backed-up of course and it will always be tiny and very quick to image and restore. One just needs to remember to NOT format C: in advance of a clean reinstallation but to format or restore the boot partition whatever drive letter it happens to have.

[Sylvander]

Sorry if I seem obtuse, but I'm struggling to understand some of these terms as used by yourself. :confused:

1. Installation Files
Do you mean this to refer to the files that are installed to a partition as part of the Windows installation?
[I normally think of things by that name as being those files that form part of the Windows installation program, that are used to do the installing if Windows.]

2. System Partition
Could you define this and highlight the difference between it and the Boot Partition.
Is this the partition into which the Windows files are installed, or the Boot Files, and what's the difference?

3. Boot Files
What are these?

4. Boot Partition
"The boot partition is the partition that all the Windows and Program Files and so forth will be installed onto"
In which case, what the heck is the "System Partition"?
A different name for the same thing? Or is there a subtle difference?

[Paul Komski]

I tried using the free bootable "Emergency Boot CD" [EBCD] to copy Windows installation files to a FAT32 Partition [I like to use a partition other than C: then leave the files there permanently so Windows can fetch a file when it needs it without asking for them]
Installation files (as in your quote) are the contents of the Win98 folder or the i386 folder from a Win98 or a WinXP installation CD respectively.

The System Partition and the Boot Partition may be one and the same thing and usually are when there is a single partition/single HDD system. The System partition is always the Active Partition if booting directly from the mbr. The Boot partiton is that partition where the Windows files are loaded. Thus on a multiboot system one might have Windows98 on the Active partition but have Windows2000 on a logical partition on the same HDD and WindowsXP on another HDD altogether. These three partitions are all Boot Partitions though all are booted-up by starting from the System Partition, where boot.ini and the other boot-loader files are stored. In this situation boot.ini will choose which of the three Boot partitions (and which winows folder on it) to boot.

Usually when single booting one chooses defaults and then one has the Boot Partition and the System Partiton as one and the same. One does not have to follow this default and one can choose any accessible partition (for the OS in question) to be its Boot Partiton.

Microsoft's Definition at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314470

I have aped MS's definitions for the sake of "clarity" - though personally I think it is a confusing nomenclature if only because the Windows/WinNT folder gets referred to as the "system folder".

"Boot files" should by now be obvious; they are boot.ini, ntldr, ntdetect.com, etc under WinXP and io.sys, msdos.sys, etc under Win98.