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S2

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Problem With NTFS

My problem is like this,
I have a harddrive which I try to install win 2000 on, if I install FAT32 everything is OK, but when I try to install it with NTFS after the installation the computer re-boots and it's like there is no operating system on the hard drive,
why is this so? how do I install win 2000 using NTFS? am I doing something wrong?
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AvonWyss
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Have you tried installing with FAT32 and converting the drive to NTFS only later on?
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How big is this hard drive? You must have at a minimum  a 512Mb hard drive.
Ntfs on the boot partition requires maximum size of 2 gb on the boot drive, during the install process delete and partitions on the drives, CAUTION "ANY AND ALL DATA WILL BE LOST IF YOU DO THIS" Once you do this during install you can then create a primary partition to install the Os and later create one for your data.  Let me know if you need more.
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S2

ASKER

The harddrive is 40gb the partition I am tring to install to is 6.5gb, I have tried installing FAT32 then converting but I get the same results after restarting.
wayneb: Maximum size of 2Gb on the boot drive? Rubbish. I've installed 2K on hard drives formatted with a clean 40Gb FAT32 partition and converted to NTFS during setup without a problem.
That was a limitation of Nt 4, windows 2000 does not have this limitation, i am wrong.  I would make sure and have a totally clean drive to install to, also have you ruled out some kind of boot sector virus?
By the way Wayneb, the maximum size of a FAT partition on NT is 4Gbyte and not 2Gbyte, NTFS is also 4Gbyte and not 2Gbyte.

S2, do you get any blue screen error messages on boot up?
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ASKER

mikecr:I get no blue screen messages I just get a black screen with a curser blinking, like just before windows starts up, as if the partition did not have an operating system, or the computer cant find the boot sector.
wayneb: There is no boot sector virus I checked
You don't happen to have multiple OS on that disk?
mikecr: NTFS is NOT a 4Gb limit in any way, shape or form--even on NT 3.1 NTFS had a possible partition size of around 2 terabytes, if memory serves.
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ASKER

No multiple OS, But I do have three other Hidden FAT32 partitions on that disk, but I don't think that is the problem.
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mikecr
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For reference MS Q119497 explains boot partition size and a lenghty work around.
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ASKER

Well guys, I solved the problem, Like mikecr said I had a problem with the partitions

Thanks,

S2
mikecr: So why are you talking about Windows NT boot limitations when the questioner is specifically talking about Win2K? In addition, you didn't say anything in your comment about the 4Gb limit applying only to the boot partition. Both these factors seem likely to cause confusion, which is why I made the comments I did.
Pjknibbs, the comments were headed that way. You made the comment about the maximum size of an NTFS partition even in NT 3.1, however, that would definately confuse someone if you were installing the operating system and couldn't get it installed because of that fact. The boot partition limitations have been lifted in Windows 2K, but people need to be aware that there are limitations in NT. At this point it may not matter anyway because Microsoft is discontinuing support for NT the middle of next year.