Is it possible to run Windows XP Professional using FAT32 and NTFS formatted disks?

H

hkgant

New Member
I.e. 1 FAT32 formatted and 1 NTFS formatted or should I have them both in one format? I'm trying to install a new hard disk in a PC which is about 10 years old and uses IDE connectors. Thanks.
 
The slave drive is 160GB. Not sure about the master. Would it be easier to just reinstall Windows XP SP3 and make both disks NTFS formatted? Also, would I need to install any drivers or software to make this new slave 160GB HDD work or should it just show up in My Computer? At the moment, it doesn't show up and sometimes the PC freezes at the Windows XP loading screen so...I haven't fiddled with the BIOS yet, I s'pose I should. Also, I read somewhere that you should operate a computer with too little hard disk space remaining because it could cause corruption. Does this ring true with anyone? The master has 3.1GB remaining. Thanks.
 
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You need to "initialize" the drive before it will show up. Go Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Disk Management.

You should see your new drive there. Right click it to initialize and format it.
 
You need to "initialize" the drive before it will show up. Go Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Disk Management.
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If the drive was already formatted it should be ready to go, it probably just needs to be mapped to a drive letter which is done in the same spot (disk managment)
 
So no need to fiddle with the BIOS? And what about fdisk? Just out of interest, would the process be much simpler if I were using a Mac and would there ever be a case where you'd have to install a driver for your hard disk to show up? What about for RAM? Recently I watched a video from the Windows 95 and System 7 days called Macintosh or Windows and was surprised by what I saw and how far Microsoft's operating system and the Wintel makers appeared to be behind. The video is at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4342037127843631101&ei=578SSr_oBoyEqQPt8ZzqCg&q=macintosh+or+windows. But I've come to the conclusion that Apple is and never will be a budget PC maker. Most of their computers include the latest tech whereas most machines built to run Windows use less new tech. Anyways, just a side comment, the main focus of my question is stated on the title of your browser window. Thanks for the help.
 
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So no need to fiddle with the BIOS? And what about fdisk? Just out of interest, would the process be much simpler if I were using a Mac and would there ever be a case where you'd have to install a driver for your hard disk to show up? What about for RAM?
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If the drive does not appear in disk management then it might be a jumper issue or something not plugged in correctly. That can happen on a Mac as well.

You don't need fdisk.

You also don't need drivers unless you are using a non-native filesystem on the drive (ie something that is not FAT32 or NTFS).

To instal RAM you just need to plug it in and it's good to go.
 
hkgant said:
So no need to fiddle with the BIOS? And what about fdisk? Just out of interest, would the process be much simpler if I were using a Mac and would there ever be a case where you'd have to install a driver for your hard disk to show up? What about for RAM? Recently I watched a video from the Windows 95 and System 7 days called Macintosh or Windows and was surprised by what I saw and how far Microsoft's operating system and the Wintel makers appeared to be behind. The video is at http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...578SSr_oBoyEqQPt8ZzqCg&q=macintosh+or+windows. But I've come to the conclusion that Apple is and never will be a budget PC maker. Most of their computers include the latest tech whereas most machines built to run Windows use less new tech. Anyways, just a side comment, the main focus of my question is stated on the title of your browser window. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

That was a 13 year old video that was distributed by Apple. You don't think it might be a bit biased?
 
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