[138] in winnt
Re: A Fresh Hard Disk for NT
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Rob Smyser)
Fri May 1 09:46:52 1998
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 16:58:08 -0400
To: tjm@MIT.EDU, winnt@MIT.EDU
From: Rob Smyser <smyser@MIT.EDU>
In-Reply-To: <199804302015.QAA11224@salticus-peckhamae.MIT.EDU>
Tim,
the key concern here is mainly can you complete a reinstall if the hard
disk is blank? If you have the three boot floppies and CD from a release
copy of NT Workstation (and I suspect you do) then you can boot from the
floppies and complete the process on the Dell you describe with a blank disk.
As I remember, the Windows NT install process includes a step where you
can specify whether to install NTFS, and whether to convert the existing
file system or simply reformat the drive as NTFS. You are also asked if
you want to upgrade your existing NT or if you want to replace it.
I'd recommend:
- replace the existing NT installation
- choose a fresh NTFS file system
That should accomplish your mission without the moral quandary :-) of
formatting beforehand in DOS. Saves time too.
Rob
At 04:15 PM 4/30/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Machine: Dell Optiplex GXL 5100
>
>The above machine came preloaded a couple of years ago
>with Windows 95, before we really supported NT. I also
>needed 95 for some software that wouldn't run on 3.1.
>Anyhow, I've now upgraded my system to NT4.0, but I'm
>getting problems off and on, and I'd like to re-install
>NT, and blow away all of the contents on my hard disk.
>How do I do this? Format C:\ seems kinda harsh!
>----
>NOTE: This message was sent using a WWW form. The address tjm@mit.edu
>was typed manually, and may easily be incorrect.
>
