Re: Network install of XP

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From: Patrick J. LoPresti [MVP] (patl_at_users.sourceforge.net)
Date: 06/12/04 

Date: 12 Jun 2004 11:49:39 -0400

No, you cannot install directly onto an NTFS partition from DOS.
FAT->NTFS conversion is required.

I have done hundeds of DOS-based installs of Windows NT and never
noticed any performance problems. It probably depends a lot on your
exact system and workload.

That said, Microsoft has two DOS-based tools which mitigate the
performance issues. They are called OFORMAT and CVTAREA. See
<http://unattended.sourceforge.net/faq.html#ntfs>.

 - Pat
   MVP, Windows Server - Setup/Deployment
   http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

Patrick Dunford <patrickdunford@nomail.invalid> writes:

> We have done one network install of XP from Windows 98, where it
> converted the FAT32 partition on the fly to NTFS.
>
> I've heard that converted partitions can be up to 10% slower than NTFS
> partitions formatted from scratch.
>
> So I was wondering:
>
> * Is it possible to boot the computer from a floppy disk, format the C
> drive as NTFS, then make a network connection and do a network install of
> XP?
>
> I'm assuming that XP can make its own boot disk, and that this disk might
> include a format command. Maybe it also includes network support.
>
> If network support is not available, Bart's Network Boot Disk
> (http://www.nu2.nu/bootdisk/network/) should allow me to boot and connect
> to the network to run the XP install from a network share.

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