Installing W2k with Promise Contoller

I am trying to upgrade from Win98SE to W2K. My hard drives are installed on the promise controller ports and my CD burner and second CD are on the main IDE channels. I have an ASUS A7V266-e Mobo.

When I try to install W2K from windows the compatibility report says that it does not have a compatible driver. I have a W2K driver on the driver disk that comes with the mobo, but it appears that I won't be able to access them because it won't be able to install on the hard drives without a controller. I tried to load the controller in as an update but it W2K wouldn't accept it.

Do I have to move a hard drive to the normal IDE channel to install w2k???

There should be an option in there somewhere when W2K installs...something about installing a 3rd party RAID or SCSI driver. Do that, then Windows can grab the correct driver to access the hard drives and you'll be off and away. Good luck.

The option AntiHeiss is refering to appears in the very begining of the installation across the bottom. the key you press is F6. After you press it, it doesn't actually ask you for the disk for another minute or so. It's very easy to miss this prompt (missed it myself about 3 times in a row because i got distracted).

Just a remark: for me, this option didn't work at all: it didn't accept my driver disk (for whatever reason). So I had to move my HDD to IDE1, install W2K, then install Promise and only then move HDD back to IDE3 (no problem).

It probably didn't have the txtsetup.oem file on the disk. The files can't be in any folders on the disk.

And it's ALWAYS better to install Windows on the controller. Chances are you'll see speed issues installing on a different controller than you're currently running.

If you choose to try it again....send me a PM.

It turns out that I had to copy the files from the ASUS driver CD to a floppy and press F6 on one of the very early installation screens to tell it to load the Promise driver. The message only flashes on the bottom of the screen for a few seconds!!!

I guess W2K is not for newbies!

JimmyG

Yep, that's what we were trying to explain
Well, it's supposed to me a server OS, so no easy-peasy-wizardish stuff please

cw823

Well, I'm working on that rig for already a year and haven't noticed any issues. BTW, is there a way to measure this?

A bit late now but if you do the compatibility test and it tells you that something won't work without an upgraded driver, it should give you the option to make an upgrade pack that the install asks for. Just about the same as pressing f6 during install.
I only had to use it once a long while ago but it lets you gather all kinds of drivers ahead of time, then when you install it asks you for the disk and uses it during the install. Saves going in later and upgrading all the stuff that doesn't work right.
Mike

RZA said:

JimmyG

Yep, that's what we were trying to explain
Well, it's supposed to me a server OS, so no easy-peasy-wizardish stuff please

cw823

Well, I'm working on that rig for already a year and haven't noticed any issues. BTW, is there a way to measure this?

Click to expand...

POst a couple of hard drive benchmarks....