New Hard Drive with Windows 2000

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I just purchased a new hard drive and I am trying to set up Windows 2000. I
am now on a blue screen that's asking me where I want to install Windows. My
selection is:

Unpartioned Space 82351 MB
Unpartioned Space 24158 MB
C: Unknown 831050 MB
-- Unknown 256613 MB

I assumed to put windows on C: but when I press enter it tells me that
Windows cannot regonize the partition. It also says I can delete the
partition and setup windows on the unpartioned space that it will make.
Somebody help!! This isn't making sense.
 
blackkat said:
I just purchased a new hard drive and I am trying to set up Windows 2000.
I
am now on a blue screen that's asking me where I want to install Windows.
My
selection is:

Unpartioned Space 82351 MB
Unpartioned Space 24158 MB
C: Unknown 831050 MB
-- Unknown 256613 MB

I assumed to put windows on C: but when I press enter it tells me that
Windows cannot regonize the partition. It also says I can delete the
partition and setup windows on the unpartioned space that it will make.
Somebody help!! This isn't making sense.
Click to expand...

What is the size of the drive supposed to be?
That adds up to 1194 GB.
There should not be any partitions on a new hard drive.
Are you using a windows 2000 CD that has SP4 included on it?
My recollection is that WIN2K without any service packs couldn't
handle large hard disks. i.e. larger than 137 GB. A new hard drive
should show as one unpartitioned space that matches the size
of the drive as stated on the label once you account for the fact
that the label size uses 1000 bytes for 1 KB and the OS
measurement uses 1024 bytes for 1 KB.
 
It is supposed to be 320 GB, when I called the manufacturer technical support
they let me up to that point. My windows 2000 only has sp2. But they told
me that I could upgrade it later. Is there something else I should do?
Thank you.
 
You might have difficulty installing Windows on that large drive. Try this:

Delete ALL the partitions and create only ONE partition of less than
137GB, to be safe make it no more than 127GB. Personally I think that a
20 to 25 GB partition is plenty big enough for a Windows 2000 partition.
DON'T create more than one partition! Leave the rest of the disk
unpartitioned. Install Windows on the partition that you created and
after Windows is installed apply the big LBA fix:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305098 Once the fix is applied you will
be able to use the built-in disk management tool where you will be able
to partition and format the unallocated space.

Before you do any of the above MAKE SURE that the disk is properly
identified and shows the correct size in the BIOS.

John
 
Follow John's excellent advice on the initial partition size. Also here's my
standard boiler-plate.

To do a clean install, either boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom or setup
disks. The set of four install disks can be created from your Windows 2000
CD-Rom; change to the \bootdisk directory on the CD-Rom and execute
makeboot.exe (from dos) or makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and follow the
prompts.

(Note: If your drive controller is not natively supported then you'll want
to boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom. Then *F6* very early and very
important (at setup is inspecting your system) in the setup to prevent drive
controller detection, and select S to specify additional drivers. Then later
you'll be prompted to insert the manufacturer supplied Windows 2000 driver
for your drive controller in drive "A")

Setup inspects your computer's hardware configuration and then begins to
install the Setup and driver files. When the Windows 2000 Professional
screen appears, press ENTER to set up Windows 2000 Professional.

Read the license agreement, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms of
the license agreement and continue the installation.

When the Windows 2000 Professional Setup screen appears, all the existing
partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard
disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partitions Press D to delete an
existing partition, If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must
then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System
partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this
step for each of the existing partitions When all the partitions are deleted
press F3 to exit setup, (to avoid unexpected drive letter assignments with
your new install) then restart the pc then when you get to this point in
setup again select the unpartitioned space, and then press C to create a new
partition and specify the size (if required). Windows will by default use
all available space.

Be sure to apply SP4 and these two below to your new install before
connecting to any network. Internet included. (sasser, msblast)
http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx

Then

Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect
 
You should reconsider installing Windows 2000 on the 320 GB disk,
because if you ever want to reinstall Windows 2000 on the disk, you
will have the same problem. If there is any partition past the 260 -
270 GB point on a disk, Windows 2000 setup won't be able to identify
any of the partitions on the disk. My recommendation is 250 GB is the
largest disk you should install Windows 2000 on.

Workaround: Connect disk to PCI IDE interface during Windows 2000
installation, loading 48-bit LBA driver for the PCI card during
Windows setup. Configure Windows for 48-bit LBA (SP3 or SP4 and
EnableBigLba in registry). Then reconnect disk to motherboard IDE
interface.
 
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