Can the NT system partition be NTFS?
Sherry
>
> I recently installed NT 3.51. I was told to first create a small 100 MB
> DOS partition and then install the NT system on it. Next I created a
> NTFS partition for my apps and data. Now I have discovered I could have
> installed NT without DOS. My question is can I now convert the DOS
> partition to NTFS so I may protect the system partition? Thanks.---
Yes you can, but it's not recommended. Once you convert it you can't
convert it back. And once you convert it you can't fix it with DOS
utilities. Thus, if your NT won't boot you won't be able to boot off a
DOS disk and fix it. You risk losing everything. If you do a complete
system backup every day it's not as big a problem.
How to convert: Go to a dos prompt inside NT
type convert <drive you want to convert>: /fs/ntfs. A message will
appear telling you that the conversion will occur when the system
restarts.
IMHO its worth setting aside 100 mb of disk space for the boot and
system files so that you can easily fix them from DOS. If you need more
Dennis Huang
>I recently installed NT 3.51. I was told to first create a small 100 MB
>DOS partition and then install the NT system on it. Next I created a
>NTFS partition for my apps and data. Now I have discovered I could have
>installed NT without DOS. My question is can I now convert the DOS
>partition to NTFS so I may protect the system partition? Thanks.
Try use convert command. convert/? will help you.
Hope this helpful.
Gary A. Cerkas
>
> I recently installed NT 3.51. I was told to first create a small 100 MB
> DOS partition and then install the NT system on it. Next I created a
> NTFS partition for my apps and data. Now I have discovered I could have
> installed NT without DOS. My question is can I now convert the DOS
> partition to NTFS so I may protect the system partition? Thanks.
Sure. But then, you will never again have the ability to raw-boot straight into
native DOS. Although, there exists a whole bunch of reasons why this is good.
In addition, you will gain NTFS security capabilities for the converted
partition.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Gary A. Cerkas http://www.indirect.com/www/ceridgac/
email: ceri...@indirect.com
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Mike and the Mrs.
>I recently installed NT 3.51. I was told to first create a small 100 MB
>DOS partition and then install the NT system on it. Next I created a
>NTFS partition for my apps and data. Now I have discovered I could have
>installed NT without DOS. My question is can I now convert the DOS
>partition to NTFS so I may protect the system partition? Thanks.
Sure! The command is 'convert /ntfs {drive letter}'
One prob though, you won't be able to access ANY hard drives from DOS
(that is if you boot the machine from a DOS floppy).
Mike
Bill Wilson
Lee Walton
> Yes you can, but it's not recommended.
What planet are you from?
Later.
Lee
--
Lee Walton <http://www.csss.com/users/lwalton/lwalton.html>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> KEEP .SIGS BRIEF <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
James C. Owens
>> partition to NTFS so I may protect the system partition? Thanks.---
>Yes you can, but it's not recommended. Once you convert it you can't
>convert it back. And once you convert it you can't fix it with DOS
>utilities. Thus, if your NT won't boot you won't be able to boot off a
>DOS disk and fix it. You risk losing everything. If you do a complete
>system backup every day it's not as big a problem.
>
>How to convert: Go to a dos prompt inside NT
>
>type convert <drive you want to convert>: /fs/ntfs. A message will
>appear telling you that the conversion will occur when the system
>restarts.
>
>IMHO its worth setting aside 100 mb of disk space for the boot and
>system files so that you can easily fix them from DOS. If you need more
I disagree with the assertion that "it is not recommended" to have the NT system
partition NTFS. A rundown point-by-point:
(1) The system partition (i.e. the partition that NT system files are in) do NOT
have to reside in the boot partition. My computer is a case in point. I have
small (250 MB) FAT partitions on both hard disk 0 and 1 to facilitate dual boot
to DOS to run an occasional DOS game or DOS based benchmark. The NT system
partition is partition 3 on hard disk 1 (a healthy 1.56 GB) which is NTFS.
(2) Having the NT system on an FAT drive endangers the system in the following
ways:
- FAT is susceptible to lost clusters and damaged FAT entries (i.e.
corruption) upon power failure during file operations. NTFS is much more
fault-tolerant, with its roll back features, and automatic hot-fixing.
- FAT offers no security for system files, so they are vulnerable to
virus attacks, EVEN WHEN RUNNING NT under certain situations (see the Symantec
Norton AntiVirus for NT document at symantec's site).
- Operation of the computer with DOS allows DOS and Win 3.1x access to
NT system files (since they are in a recognized NT partition). A malfunction of
some putrid DOS disk driver, or Win 3.1x 32-bit disk/file access (which has been
known to happen) could wipe out your NT system files.
(3) FAT requires that the partition size be kept small to keep cluster size
under control, otherwise internal fragmentation ("slack") gets out of control.
This small size limits the expansion of the system file tree, which inevitably
will happen as more software is installed. Once space is gone in the system
partition, your in big trouble.
(4) NTFS, with its fault-tolerance, prevents many of the file system problems
from happening that so many people are used to using DOS/Win and FAT. If using
NTFS, you won't see "lost clusters", "cross-linked files", etc. You won't need
anything like NDD, because NTFS roll-back to the last self-consistent state
takes care of these problems.
(5) Proper use of the Emergency Repair Disk during NT installation, and regular
updates as the system is changed will allow system repair by using the repair
option from the setup disks. DOS/FAT is NOT required for this.
(6) How are you going to "fix" corrupted/cross-linked files from DOS? In my
experience, even good disk repair utilities, such as NDD or scandisk only have a
25% success rate in correctly repairing cross-links, truncation and the like.
(7) You _should_ maintain a DOS boot disk with a good up to date DOS antivirus
program, so that MBR viruses (which will prevent NT from booting) can be safely
removed.
(8) Disk administrator should be used to save the disk configuration information
on a floppy, because if a DOS MBR virus infects your HD and it is removed by the
DOS antivirus program, drive letter and raid assignments will be lost. (In this
case NT will still boot - just restore the disk configuration from that saved on
the floppy.)
One of the reasons NT is around is to get away from the DOS FAT file system
foolishness. Don't shackle NT's fault-tolerance and security by using FAT for
the system partition.
Regards,
James C. Owens
j...@infi.net
running Windows NT 3.51 Server Build 1057: Service Pack 3
on a self built Pentium 120, 64 MB RAM, 2x2 GB 8 ms fast-wide
SCSI-2 hard drives.
Lee Walton
<ceri...@indirect.com> wrote:
> Sure. But then, you will never again have the ability to raw-boot straight into
> native DOS.
So? The only reason that might be a problem is if you're not really
serious about running NT in the first place. In which case, stick to
running something like Windows '95.
Gary A. Cerkas
I agree. But, reading on to my next snipped sentence essentially duplicated what
you've just stated.
Lee Walton
> (7) You _should_ maintain a DOS boot disk with a good up to date DOS antivirus
> program, so that MBR viruses (which will prevent NT from booting) can be safely
> removed.
Q: Doesn't the free Norton NT AV scanner check for these and fix them
if needed?
Steinar Andersen
>I recently installed NT 3.51. I was told to first create a small 100 MB
>DOS partition and then install the NT system on it. Next I created a
>NTFS partition for my apps and data. Now I have discovered I could have
>installed NT without DOS. My question is can I now convert the DOS
>partition to NTFS so I may protect the system partition? Thanks.
Depends, as I have understoond it, you are running an Intel machine,
and in that case it's no problem.
If you are running a ARC- compliant RISC system though, you must have
at least the bootfiles on a FAT partition.
/steinar andersen
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The opinions expressed here is completeley my own, and does
not even remotely have *any* connection with my employer
-------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Certified Professional Windows 95 Product Specialist
Microsoft Certified Professional Windows 3.1 Product Specialist
Microsoft Certified Professional Windows 3.11 Product Specialist
Microsoft Certified Professional Networking Basics Product Specialist
Microsoft Certified Professional Networking With WfWg Product Specialist
-------------------------------------------------------------
Berend de Boer
BW> I recently installed NT 3.51. I was told to first create a small 100
BW> MB DOS partition and then install the NT system on it. Next I
BW> created a NTFS partition for my apps and data. Now I have
BW> discovered I could have installed NT without DOS. My question is
BW> can I now convert the DOS partition to NTFS so I may protect the
BW> system partition? Thanks.
Use the Convert utility.
Groetjes,
Berend (-:
fido: 2:281/527.23
email: ber...@beard.nest.nl
SEEN-BY: 1/1 60/0
Gary A. Cerkas
*** Ditto -- very well explained ***