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Install OS over network

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by rick_richardson

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I have managed to boot a pc with no OS to Instant Network Bootdisk. I am trying to access a shared folder with the W2k install files over a TCP/IP network. I can ping the hosting computer but cannot figure out the commands to do anything. I have configured them to be in the same workgroup. This is a Novell network but that shouldn't matter. I am trying to reach an XP computer in the same workgroup. I cannot see the booted pc on the network either. It does get an address from the DHCP server. I have tried the \\workgroup\computer name commands but get nothing. How far off base am I and what do I need to do? Is there a better network boot procedure?
TIA
Rick

5 replies

by rick_richardson

Okay, I downloaded the Bart's network disk. It is too big for a floppy. Do I burn it to a cd? Is it bootable? I still do not seem to have all the pieces to figure this out. I will try the net share and net use commands to see if that helps. Thanks for the lead but I'm still looking for connectivity.
Rick

by quintar51

well, if you can boot into a shared drive where the win2k files are shared, then your network disk works fine. What you need to do next is create a small patition for the swap file. The partition can range form 1 GB to the maximum size of your hard drive. It's up to you.

anyways, to get started, you'll need to make sure you're in the i386 folder on the share drive.

once you're there, you can type WINNT /?
this will show you all the options that are available.

If you just want to install, then just type WINNT

If you want to perform an unattended install, you'll need to specify a location for the source files, and a location for the answer file.

by rick_richardson

Thanks for your reply. Once I got a Win2k server hosting the files the connectivity was easier. I still had to us a network boot disk but the WINNT32 command started the installation.

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