Windows Forum

Ask something
Discussion Locked

Installing XP Home or 98 SE

0 helpful
12 replies

by wayneinreno

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.
Anna I don't care what OS I install but when I ran FDISK I see that the C drive is NTFS and takes up the whole disk. Can I go ahead an delete the disk and then install an OS??

12 replies

by ann777

Can you set your BIOS so that it boots to the cd-rom drive first?

If yes, you can boot to the WinXP Home cd and setup will automatically run. It will recognize your current windows directory and recommend that you format the drive then and there.

I don't think fdisk will recognize NTFS. Go ahead and try it. I suspect it will come back and say device not recognized or somthing similar.

Your best option is to boot from the WinXP cd // run setup and format the drive from there.

by ann777

There's nothing wrong with deleting the non-dos partition and recreating it as FAT. There's nothing wrong with booting from a WinXP cd and formatting the drive from it (as long as the computer BIOS allows you to change the boot order such that the CD-ROM drive is first in the boot order -- some older computers do not allow cd-rom to be first)...

but I do not know what Wayneinreno's computer will allow. Wayne, you can do either and it should work fine.

Whether you want WinXP or Win98SE, that's up to you. I still use both... but for different purposes. WinXP does not support parallel port scanners or legacy devices... I also use Win98SE for gaming. But if you do not have legacy devices, WinXP is fine for gaming and most people recommend upgrading to it exclusively.

by ann777

Booting from WinXP cd is a whole lot faster than fdisk'ing the drive, booting from Win98 floppy and formatting the drive, installing Win98 and then upgrading to WinXP (if that last step is wanted) -- but yes, that's a fully viable option as well. And in fact, it's the only option if the computer will not allow you to boot from the CD-ROM.

by hereinoz

Anna, FDisk will allow you to delete a "Non-Dos" partition, ie NTFS, but it won't let you create one, and won't let you do anything with it if you already have one apart from deleting it.

by hereinoz

Why can't you use FDisk to delet the non-Dos partition, FDisk the drive as FAT32, install a minimal installation of 98 on it, then run the XP Home installation from the CD ROM, getting it to format the disk as NTFS and do a fresh install?

I did that with a machine that wouldn't boot from CD ROM and it worked fine.

Sorry for the fragmented thinking & resultant 2 messages - it happens late at night

by jellimonsta

You may run FDISK with an NTFS partition, you will want to choose 4 from the delete partition menu which is 'delete other partition'. You can then create a FAT32 partition.

If you wish you can install XP on a FAT32 partition and if you require the security of the NTFS partition run the convert function from a command shell once XP is installed and running.

You can convert it by clicking on start> run> type in 'cmd' at the c prompt type 'convert [Volume] /fs:ntfs'
(Where volume is the drive on which your OS is installed (usually C)).

by wayneinreno

How can I set the BIOS? Also, your other answer was pertaining to the "age" of the other system. It is an HP XL 916. Built in 2000. I hope this helps us decipher the problem.

This discussion is closed to new replies.