Re-Loading XP ?

[Lounge Lizard 6]

Been experimenting with XP. It is running very well and quite stable. My situation is when I formatted the HD I chose NTFS. Figured I would find out what it won't and would do, compatiility and so forth. Seems several things don't work and I suspect it is because of NTFS. The main thing is it won't find my 98 machine on the network.

What is the best way to reformat the HD to non NTFS?

Thanks

[rogerdugans]

Not being able to see the Win9x pc on the network has nothing to do with NTFS- it is a networking problem (so this thread will end up in Networking!)

To get rid of NTFS and go to fat32(ugh) you will have to reinstall the os: you can't downgrade the file system, only replace it.

Check all your network settings: there is something wrong in there somewhere: workgroup must be the same, IPs must be the same(except for the last digit), subnet must be the same, and both pc will have to have something shared.

good luck.

[Lounge Lizard 6]

You are probably right about the network. I'm still checking for glitches. What I was wondering is how should I reformat the HD if I decide to do so? I went to a command prompt and it told me that I had to dismount the HD??? Nothing I did would work.

In so far as compatibility. Will I be able to play LAN games on my network if one machine is NTFS?

[rogerdugans]

The only time you hit compatibilty problems with a file system (such as NTFS) is if you dual-boot your system, ie. Win9x and Win2K. Win2K would see both partions (fat 32 and NTFS) and Win9x would only see the fat32 partition- it does not support NTFS so would not be able to access any files on that partition.

On my network here I have pcs with WinXP, Win2K, Win98se and RedHat Linux 7.2- all can transfer files over the network using TCP/IP. Since they all use the same Network Protocol (TCP/IP) they can transfer files (or play games) over the network.

The protocol works like a translator: a machine takes data in its native format and recodes it into TCP/IP thens sends it over the network to the receiving pc, which then translates it out of TCP/IP into its native format- it does not matter what "language" each machine uses as long as they BOTH the speak in TCP/IP.

Many of the websites that you look at when you are surfing are running Unix or Linux, and some use Windows NT or Win2K (and I'll guarantee they are using NTFS!) and you can download and access those files, right?

As far as the dismount command- I don't have a clue! I've just never come across it except on compressed volumes in my dos days!

NTFS is a much better file system than FAT: it handles large drives better, is more stable, less likely to lose data in the event of a crash and its more secure. I would recommend using it EXCEPT in two situations: a Dual-Boot system that does not support NTFS and a hard drive smaller than 500mb.

If you need help with the network settings post in the Internet and Networking topic and you'll have it straight in no time!

[Wicked Klown]

As far as I know to do a network both computers must have windows XP. At least thats what I've read.

[rogerdugans]

I have my WinXP laptop networked with Win2K, Win98 and Linux pcs right now....

Basically you can network any type of computers together as long as they all use the same protocol, TCP/IP being the most common.
Its used on the Internet, which is nothing but a great BIG network.

[jw50]

If you are talking about reformatting the drive that XP is installed on back to FAT32 the easiest way to do that is to boot to the XP CD, it will give you the option of formatting the hard drive in either FAT32 or NTFS prior to doing the installation.

XP, if running, will not allow you to format the drive that it is running on, that is why it told you that you had to dismount the drive before it could be formatted. This prevents you from inadvertantly formatting the drive that the running operating system is on. By booting to the CD, XP is loaded from the CD and not from the hard drive so it doesn't have a problem with formatting the drive.

[Lounge Lizard 6]

That's the other info I need jw.

Thanks