Installing XP

[jublee]

Hi ya,

I'm just in the middle of installing XP, i've formatted the HD and restarted the p.c to boot from CD first, now i'm at the following message and not sure which to choose,

Format The Partition Using NTFS (quick)
Format The Partition Using Fat (quick)
Format The Partition Using NTFS
Format The Partition Using Fat
Convert To NTFS
Leave the current file system (no Changes)

Bear in mind that i have already formatted the HD


Cheers

[DanGrease]

When restarting you shouldn't press any key when it asks you, because it will boot from the CD again, and you don't need that since you already formatted the hard drive. Just don't press any key when prompted, and after that it will continue with the installation of Windows XP.

dan

[Smidley]

If that is the first time you've booted from the CD, then you should choose "Format the Partition Using NTFS" (Quick or Normal - your choice).

You should only have to boot from the CD once. After that, I recommend setting your hard drive as the first boot device. Otherwise, just do what DanGrease said and don't press anything when it asks you to boot from the CD.

[wcheezer]

Is this a home machine? If so I would recommend to use the FAT32 file system.

It allows for data to be retrieved when the OS is hit with virusess and other baddies.

If it is a production machine that requires the extra security, and has some sort of backup use NTFS.

I like fat32 because I can use my handy dandy bootable cd to change the size of the hard drive and pull off needed documents and deposit them on the other partition. Reformat and Reinstall the operating system with no data loss.

[paul9]

if you already partitioned and formatted with the filesystem of your choice, then you can select the no changes option. if you have data on the disk you want to keep, then this is the one to use, too. for a fresh install, where you don't need to keep data already on the drive then a full format ntfs is best unless you need fat32 for a win9x dual boot.

[jmichna]

I know we've discussed NTFS vs FAT32 many times -- and this particular thread is probably not the proper forum -- but I can't keep myself from responding to wcheezer's comments.

Whether you are running FAT32 or NTFS, regualr backups always make sense. I have a third, 80gb HD whose sole purpose is to house my Ghost BU of my working RAID-0 array.

The simple fact is that NTFS is more robust, offers all kind of performance advantages if you have a large number of files, creates much less slack (wasted HD space), better security, and will crump much less frequently than a FAT32 system. Data can be retrieved from either FAT32 or NTFS when a system is hit with a virus... you just can't retrieve data from an NTFS-formatted drive with a simple DOS boot disk... but there are tools available.

I really don't intend to hijack this thread into an NTFS vs FAT32, and I suggest that if others (who -- like me -- also can't help themselves) want to carry on, then just do a search here at TechIMO to pull up the myriad threads on this topic.

[wcheezer]

I do a lot of after hours work with peoples machines. IE the home user who is a complete idoit. That is the only reason I make the file system fat32.

I always get the...All my word documents are on the drive and I dont know how I downloaded the....virus/spyware/malware/whatever.

I have run both NTFS and FAT 32 and I dont see a ROBUST difference. I also dont see with running a home computer that all they use it for is email, websurfing, and chat, where the BIG performance difference is.

I myself have 3 rebuilt HP netservers with Netware 4 on them for my data storage. With RAID 5 on them there is no way i will lose my data.

And like I said before a simple boot disk with partition magic on it and you can resize the drive, copy the files to the new partition, reformat and reinstall, and you are up and running. Also with the secondary partition, I like to make a complete image of the main partition. That way when they open the email that every knows that they shouldnt open, I can reimage it quick, charge 50 bucks and be out the door in about 30 minutes.

[Smidley]

In ANY NTFS vs. FAT32 thread I have ever read, NTFS has always come out the victor. I see no reason to bring it up anymore.