Site navigation:

counter
Valid HTML 4.01!

Installing Microsoft Network Client 3.0

Microsoft Logo

Partitioning and Formatting

Partitioning

Insert the boot disk into the floppy drive, and start the computer. If you used Windows 98 to create the boot disk, you will see this screen:

Booting complete
You will see a screen similar to this upon bootup

Enabling large disk support The main FDISK screen Choosing yes or no
Enabling large disk support, the main FDISK screen, and choosing yes or no

Next, type fdisk to start MS-DOS's drive partitioning utility. If you are using a post-Windows 95 version of FDISK, you will be asked if you want to enable large disk support (if you have a hard drive larger than 512 MB, which you most likely do). Leave the default setting of yes, and press enter. You will then be greeted with the main FDISK screen. Press enter twice to create a new partition. FDISK will then verify your drive integrity. When it is finished, you will be asked if you want to use the maximum available size for a partition. Depending on your needs, your answer may vary. For example, if you are installing Windows 2000 Server, then a 2GB boot partition will suit your needs nicely. On the other hand, if you are setting up a workstation, you may just want to answer yes and have one big partition. For the sake of this guide, we will answer NO, because we are assuming that we will install Windows 2000 Server later on. FDISK will once again verify your drive integrity, then ask you to specify a partition size. I have chosen 2000 megabytes, as mentioned above. So, type in 2000, and press enter. FDISK will then notify you that the partition has been created, and then warn you that no partitions are set active. Once back at the main menu, choose 2, then partition 1, to set our 2000 MB partition active. Press ESC three times to exit FDISK, and then reboot.

Setting a partition size FDISK warning Setting Partition 1 active
Setting a partition size, FDISK's no active partitions warning, and setting Partition 1 active

Formatting

The next thing we want to do is to format our 2000 MB partition. After rebooting, type format c:/s at the DOS prompt, and then type Y, followed by enter, to confirm format. When finished, hit enter for no volume label. Then, remove your boot disk from the floppy drive and restart the computer.

Next: Installation, Part One --->

Disclaimer: All articles written on this site are based on my own experiences only. They are not meant to be comprehensive or as a "final word." Please do not consider them as such. If you are using them in a mission-critical environment, I take no responsibility if you hose your network or system. ALWAYS TEST before you implement new systems in a mission-critical environment. All articles copyright 2002 and 2004 by Jonathan Young. Not responsible for death or injury resulting from reading, following, or implementing any of the articles and/or essays on this site.