NT Newbie...Help!..please?

Im searchin the NET for over 2 hours...looking for the following.

A simple Step-by-Step proceedure for intalling windows NT "FROM SCRATCH"!
All new hardware (including large HDD)

Im having dificulty deciding which selections I should make for partition, files system, formatting. Should I partition with Win95 "fdisk"? Its an "NT only" machine.
should i just insert NT disc 1 and boot?
OR..should i install the 95 system files only w/CDROM support...then install NT?
Should I use the HDD install disk to partition and format? Its a Quantum Fireball.

Geeez....this aint like a simple 95 install.

Thanks People!

https://forums.windrivers.com/

Welcome to the "Heavens" of NT...
First of all b4 u continue:
NT Doesn't Support USB
NT Almost have no PNP (EXCEPT For NIC)
NT is Less Tolerant to USERS who don't reckon it.

Well, After this we will continue...
A.If you Install NTFS You won't be able to Include Win9x,DOS on this PARTITION.
B. If you want (x on this machine and NT, First install 9X and after it Install NT.
Leave the File System FAT.
C. FDISK is quite good, But i Use Partition Magic...


Good Luck
Gabriel

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It Works Better if you Plug it in, It Works far better if you Turn it ON!

If its going to be an NT only system and you do not have a scsi hard drive it is much easier to just boot from the NT cd and install with no partition on your HD.
You can partition and format it from within setup but you can only set the partition 2 or 4 gig during setup.

Just default everything else and you should be fine.

You say it's an NT only install? If so, you can boot via the NT CD (enable Boot from CD-ROM first in the BIOS).
Read the on-sreen instructions until you get to the part where it asks you for partition info. The available partitions will be displayed. I suggest you delete the lot and partition your drive in two. One partition for the system files (C drive), and the other partition (D or or E drive) for apps, data etc. (the choice is yours). Once you have deleted and re-created the partitions, setup will format them for you. I also suggest you format using NTFS, for security reasons. Take note of the previous post: you won't be able to access the drive via Win* using the FAT file system, unless you network the lot (The NT machine will then act as a 'server').
Ask away if there is anything else.

(sorry for the repeat xsrvx - posted while you were posting)

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Pöwer is nöthing withöut cöntröl...

[This message has been edited by darkblu (edited September 10, 2001).]

Thanks for your replies!

1.yes..it will be an NT only HDD.
2.NO...No SCSI Drives
3.Are your refering to the NT CD? or the 3 install floppies?
4.I can deal with 4Gig drives...not 2Gigs though
5.OK "darkblu"...Im gonna try that! boot from CDROM without a partition at all.
Ill report back later..Thanks

Heres a summary of progress so far

fdisk:
Im thinking "fdisk" isnt the proper approach,
its FAT32 only...right?

My HDD install disk:
Install asks me.."will this be an NT OS". I say yes and continue..."would you like to create a single FAT 16 partition and convert to NTFS later?" .I say yes. "do you want your partition to be bootable?". I tried Yes and NO...

Yes= "insert your start up disk with system files". I tried the NT install disk #1...not working (probably cause its not a "boot" disc?)

No= "Scanning HDD....buzz...buzz....cylinder counts...etc..."No Sytem files found" (as though my new HDD would have system files on it already?)

Simply first time booting with NT install disc #1:

I havent tried all combinations of yes's and no's. but have had problems with the SIZE of my HDD.

OK...Im thinking Partion Majic now..hehe

Why isnt there an "fdisk" for NT?
Is there a disk utility that can simply work like this:

A. HDD detected...its a biggy!
B. WHat is your OS?....NT
C. Is it the only OS...yes
D. What file sytem would you like?...NTFS
E. How large would u like primary...XX,XXXMB
F. How many secondary partitions?...X
G. Enter the size of each...OK

Thats to easy right?


[This message has been edited by natb1 (edited September 10, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by natb1 (edited September 10, 2001).]

Forget fdisk. Somewhere along the line you are doing something wrong. Having the NT setup re-partition your disk is as easy as ABC. Are you sure you are booting via the NT CD?

My HDD install disk:
Install asks me.."will this be an NT OS". I say yes and continue..."would you like to create a single FAT 16 partition and convert to NTFS later?" .I say yes. "do you want your partition to be bootable?". I tried Yes and NO...
What's all this that you are writing here? If you boot from the NT CD, a blue screen appears saying something like Inspecting your system etc. etc. etc.. It will then take you through some licence info etc., and eventually ask you to specify your partitions. Delete all the partitions on the drive via this screen. You have to highlight the partition and press L or C or something. Once this is done, setup will ask you if it must format the partition using FAT or NTFS. Choose NTFS. There are no other funny prompts. Forget about formatting the secondary partitions. You can do this via Disk Management once NT is installed.
Let us know what you are doing...

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Pöwer is nöthing withöut cöntröl...

[This message has been edited by darkblu (edited September 11, 2001).]

Thanks Darkblu!

All them quotes and prompts I quoted come from my Brand New Maxtor Set Up Disk...Hehe.
I take it dont like all that "dribble"?...hehehe! I take it that ive made it more difficult than it should ever be?

Considering recent events in NY..Ive dont NOTHING on my PC. I am getting back to it every soon, and will be glad to report back!

Quote:

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<font face="Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Geneva" size="2">Originally posted by natb1:
Thanks Darkblu!
All them quotes and prompts I quoted come from my Brand New Maxtor Set Up Disk...Hehe.
I take it dont like all </font>

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Puzzele solved...
LOL! https://forums.windrivers.com/

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It Works Better if you Plug it in, It Works far better if you Turn it ON!

Well?...I tried to boot from CDROM. No luck.
Hmmm? The BIOS recongnized the drive and tried to boot from it...but I got this error message..."Failure...No Operating system found"...

Well....does that sound right?

It was the Windows NT CDROM..not the Service Pack CD.

Quote:

---

<font face="Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Geneva" size="2">Originally posted by natb1:
Well?...I tried to boot from CDROM. No luck.
Hmmm? The BIOS recongnized the drive and tried to boot from it...but I got this error message..."Failure...No Operating system found"...
Well....does that sound right?
</font>

---

No, it doesn't sound right. If you boot the PC without the CD in, does it give you the same message, No OS? If so, have you double-checked the Boot order or sequence in the BIOS? It should go CD/Floppy/HDD or Floppy/CD/HD. Either should work.

Finally, do you know if the WinNT CD you are using will boot? Try it on another system, again check boot order, and see if it works. To boot from it will not hurt any existing system, think of it as booting off of a floppy (just don't repartition the drive until you are ready to install). The reason why I ask about checking the CD, if it was a burned image, perhaps just files copied, not including the bootable sector; you need a new disk...


Stuff to start with...

Ok..thanks for your help.
I double checked the bios..its ok.
I am using an original NT 4.0 CD

I tried once more....and....It Worked!
Well....kinda
Simply trying again made it work...hmmm?
I think its cause CD wasnt ready at the moment it was needed.

Murphies law however dictates...."EVERY STEP IS A BATTLE"

NT setup gives very nice instructions.
I selected..."delete all partitions"
I selected..."create a partition"
I selected..."NTFS"
setup said..."minimum partion 8Meg...max19000Meg"
I made an 8 Gig NTFS primary partition.

THEN!..I asked setup to format my new partition..when low...it said..."cannot format...your drive is too big"!!!

Im gonna make a signature soon that goes like this..."Every PC is a prospect in troubleshooting"

UPDATE: I went ahead with a 4Gig Partition, and its down stairs formatting now.


[This message has been edited by natb1 (edited September 21, 2001).]

Seems like you are obtaining some valuable knowledge along the way!

<a href="http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q224/5/26.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=drive%20size%20limitation&rnk=11 &src=DHCS_MSPSS_gn_SRCH&SPR=NTS40" target="_blank">NT4 maximum System Partition size is 7.8 GB</a>

<a href="http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q197/6/67.ASP" target="_blank">Info on how to install NT4 on a large IDE drive</a>

After the install, apply the latest service pack.

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https://forums.windrivers.com/

Pöwer is nöthing withöut cöntröl...

Thanks for "holding my hand"
Yes..experience is the best teacher.
Im more experienced in electronic theory, not building PCs. HOWEVER, I cant resist the urge to build them.

I quess 4 Gig is big enough for system.
Ill divide the remaining 16 Gig by 3 I quess.
OR...mayby Ill do it again and divide by 3.

If your not sick of me yet...Whats the equivalent of system/properties (95) for NT?
Im trying to find resource allocations.

[This message has been edited by natb1 (edited September 22, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by natb1 (edited September 22, 2001).]

The Partition size limitation has "taken care off" since the jolly days of Service pack 4 for Windows NT.

Install Service pack 6a, SRP after finishing install.

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It Works Better if you Plug it in, It Works far better if you Turn it ON!

Well...its been a while but heres what happened to my Athlon/NT project.

Thanks for your help.

I discovered my main problems were the ATAPI update and the 4.0 Gig system partition limit.
I got NT installed and running..wooo hooo!...right?....NOPE!
I installed the Shuttle IDE drivers and BAM....Blue screen on reboot...Stop error...etc..
I experimented with alot of fix attempts (dif HD, cable swapping, BIOS, update drivers, port swapping). I concluded the error was related to the following Knowledge item from Shuttle.

"Q4 There seemed to be something wrong with my system after AMD Bus Master drivers has been installed, how do I fix it?

A4 AMD Bus Master drivers is sensitive to some specific devices/configuration. So, if you encounter unstable situation after AMD Bus Master drivers installed, you may remove it and use the Windows 98/SE/2000 default IDE Bus Master drivers as an alternative solution. There is no performance gap between AMD and Microsoft IDE drivers."

So i skipped the IDE driver install and went onto the AGP mini drivers. Well....they would not install. After much research, I found the following Knowlege item on AMDs website.


Release Date
AMD Driver Pack, Version 1.30 Download Now! May. 2001
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"AMD AGP Miniport Driver is not supported in Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0."

These are the Drivers for 751/756 & 761/766 Chipsets. I have the 751/756.

I never saw this coming because the MOBO has AGP slot, NT has AGP support (SP3), and video card has NT drivers. The combo of Northgate Chipset/NT/AGP was bad news for me.

This newbie should stick with Intel based equipment.

guess i could play mine sweeper....8(

You conclusion is way wrong.
just because you could'nt install the computer successfuly due to drivers config. doesn't mean that AMD computers are BAD.

Search about information about "Wintel" and c what I mean.

Athlon Proc. and systems are far better than Intels. Not just by Benchmarking But also by overall (Price/Performance/Stability Etc.)

Think about it

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Gabriel:
[QB]You conclusion is way wrong.
"just because you could'nt install the computer successfuly due to drivers config. doesn't mean that AMD computers are BAD."

Actually im not upset with the AMD company, chipsets, or CPUs. Its my old OS thats not providing the support that i need. Its not any ones fault, but my own. I refer to the driver pack once more..."No AGP support for NT"...thats all im saying. Its just time to upgrade to a newer OS. If you could point me to an AGP miniport driver for NT and AMD 751/756 chipset, that would be nice.

Do you think there may be something in SP5, 6, or 7?