problem with windows 2000 pro clean install

[simpatico]

I have two questions in this post. first I don't know how to install it with a fat 32 format,
the second is my 80 GB drive show (when using w98 boot disk in fdisk) as a 10 GB maximum capacity drive........
I don't know what's wrong fdisk won't let me to increase the size of the primary partition.......
My machine originally have 2disk drives,
a WD 40 GB drive where I have wxp installed,
and the 80 GB slave as a Ghost images back up files........
I've decided to install Win 2k pro in the 80GB drive,
so I first used the WD floppy utility that came with the drive when I bought it,
and did a format with it, and then I disconnected my master 40GB drive from the cable and connected the 80 GB drive at the end of the cable,
and un-jumped it I also disconnected one optical disk (slave) drive,
and two PCI cards,
and now this is what I'm working with: one optical (mastered) drive and the 80GB un-jumped disk drive and of course the graphic card , I need serious guidance on this problem what am I doing wrong ! I've been trying to solve this problem for the last 3 days and I must confess I'm going a little bit CRAZZZZZY, hey! hey!! no shouting please, and no talking to your self ether.....
my hardware set up as it stand now
Asus A7N8X De LuXE
AMD ATHLON XP 2600+ 208 FSB 333
PAIR OF KINGSTON DDR 256MB PC2700-333 MHZ
PSU- THERMALTAKE WOOO9R 420WATTS DUAL FAN
VGA ATI RADEON 9500 128 MB -128DDR
HDD-1 WESTERN DIGITAL 80 GB 8MB CASHE
SONY DDU1621 DVD READER
Thx :confused: but still :cool: Help needed as soon as possible

[adjackson39]

To make sure that I understand you correctly you want to clean install Windows 2000 on your 80gb drive using fat32.

First, I am lost as to why you removed the 40gb drive. Are you trying to save the data on the drive, or are you going to wipe it also. If you are going to wipe it then you should leave the drive in the computer and set it as the slave to the 80gb drive on IDE 1, then connect you optical drive to IDE 2 and set it as master.

Second, why are you removing the PCI cards, is this an attempt to troubleshoot the computer? I would reccomend that you leave the PCI cards in the computer to ensure all the drivers are installed with the Windoes 2000 setup. This will help you later on (When you would have to install the devices and configure the drivers).

Third, when installing Windows 2000 setup there is a included drive partitioner. I would reccomend the use of that tool to work around the issue with fdisk only seeing 10gb of the drive. Also make sure that your BIOS has identified the drive correctly, if it has not, then correct the entry and try again.

Finally, are you aware of the ability of Windows 2000 to dual boot? This would allow you to have both copy's of Windows to be on the same computer at the same time. To do this simply run the Windows 2000 setup from within the OS you want to dualboot then select "Clean Install" when prompted for the type of install. When doing this setup your 40gb drive as the Master then the 80gb drive as the slave and tell the Windows 2000 setup that you want to install it when prompted.

Oh yeah, about installing using fat32 for Windows 2000, all you have to do is setup the drive as fat32 using a partitioning program, then select it from the Windows 2000 setup program. (I am not sure if the installer partitioning program supports setting up a fat32 partition to install to, however this is a big possibility.)

If you have anymore questions, or would like clarification on anything that I have said then don't hesitate to e-mail me at:
frobro390@aol.com

Don't worry, the reason I use AOL is because I work for them. LOL

Anyways, I hope this helps you...

Anthony

[simpatico]

HI adjackson39 thank you for you time and help.
I took out the cards and the master disk drive and the optical slave to simplify things.
I figure to install them later. after a solid installation of w2k pro,
and them I'll format the 40GB disk which now have wxp pro, with a lot of programs and stuff and it's not running too good anyway,
and use it as a Ghost files recipient etc.
Then after I've installed w2k pro,
I'll partition the 80GB disk with 2 partition and in the second partition I'll install a new wxp pro,
which I already have bought, but the imperative issue now is:

how to resolve the 10GB thing that is bugging me quite a bit,
I've checked the bios and it shows,
the primary master as WDC WD 800 - 00ET and that's correct, and the other problem is that I don't quite understand why w2k won't install on a fat 32 partition it insist in creating a ntfs partition to install it at least in my case,
on my other PC I've w2k pro installed with the fat 32 files without a problem.
In that case I've installed it to a partition and from windows ,
but in dos maybe it's a different question, I don't know the answer to.
In the WD disk the jumper configuration on top of the fisical disk,
show that unjuped is the setting for a single drive without a slave maybe the jumper setting is my problem,
I hope I've answered what you where asking. :)

[adjackson39]

Hey Simpatico,

Here is what I was able to come up with, this is a link to Western Digital's Knowledge Base regarding the fdisk issue and it inability to see the full size of the drive, it also includes a link to Microsofts fix.

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=5zjE9*3h&p_lva=&p_faqid=236&p_created=1014857672&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTMyJnBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9NCZwX3Byb2R fbHZsMT05MSZwX3Byb2RfbHZsMj05MyZwX2NhdF9sdmwxPTgxJnBfc29ydF9ieT1kZmx0JnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=

Long link I know, anyways this should fix your problem right up.

Good Luck,

Anthony

[crjdriver]

Both win2k and xp will not format a >32 gig hd as fat32. They can use a large hd formatted as fat32, however it must be formatted by something like PM or a win9x boot disk. To get around this, partition into <32 gig; you will see the option to format as fat32. Next question WHY would you want to use fat32 rather than ntfs? The only reason to use fat32 would be a dual boot system with win9x; both win2k and xp use ntfs.

[simpatico]

Hi adjackson39 and thx for the help. I was able to install win 2k and I took this approach. I discarded the fdisk and WD utility ideas totally, I first, deleted the problematic 2gb ntfs partition...( that in a early attempt I created with w2k pro).. I did this with a little free utility called kill disk,
then hooked up the disk in question as a slave,
and using my master disk to boot up, then I just formatted the disk with PM and partitioned the 80 gb to 30 + with fat 32,( this is a must cause of the w2k "imposed" disk size limits) in one part, and the a second part to about 45+ gb,
then disconnected the master and hooked up the 80gb (this time unjumped) and booted with w2k pro CD in the bay,
and bingo, all I had to do was to choose where to install, and setup started and w2k pro installed perfectly and, fast too! After installing some hardware and drivers etc etc, I started installing wxp pro on the second part and that's it, I'm writing this from my w2k pro Rig, as a dual boot machine.
I think wxp is good , but w2k pro is a gem of a OS and when it's tweaked properly, which I haven't done yet, the boot up time is really only a few seconds slower than wxp pro, thx again