Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (
More info?)
¤jº~¥Á±Ú wrote:
> "Martin G.1.0" <ghz1866@nospamplease.org.invalid> ¼¶¼g©ó¶l¥ó·s»D
> :419fc79c$0$5887$9a6e19ea@unlimited.newshosting.com...
>
>>"¤jº~¥Á±Ú" <jsheng@worldnet.att.net> wrote :
>>
>>
>>>Even he did not use fdisk/formatted the new HD, Windows should still
>
> show
>
>>>the letter, only when he tries to access this HD, it'll then displays
>>>error
>>>message.
>>>
>>
>>You sure about this?
>>I don't think so...
>>
>
> I believe Windows 2000 will assign letter to the disk, even it is new and
> unformatted,
No. Drive letters are assigned to partitions, not raw hard drives.
> I remember the sequence like this:
>
> mount new unformatted HD to PC, assure jumper and cable are all correct.
> Set BIOS boot sequence to boot from CD-ROM.
> Boot PC with a bootable Windows 2000 CD.
He wasn't installing Windows. He was adding a hard drive to an existing
Windows installation and wondered why it didn't show in Explorer.
> In the boot process, Windows 2000 will ask you to create Partitions & format
> the partitions.
Notice that the first thing it does is create a partition.
> At this point, you have option to create partitions on each HD
And it can now assign drive letters because you created partitions.
> At this point, you have option to format as Fat32 or NTFS on each partition.
> Then you start install Windows 2000
> (You don't need fdisk at all.)
*You* don't because setup makes the partitions you told it to. The
partitioning is still being done.
Now, if you're not installing Windows, but simply adding a new hard drive
to an existing installation, it better get a partition *some* how or there
aren't going to be any drive letters assigned because there's nothing to
assign them to.
The typical procedure is you go into disk management and partition/format
the drive with whatever configuration you wish.
> I guess the fdisk is old concept used in Windows 98, you have to use a
> floppy disk boot to DOS
Not if you have a bootable, fresh install (not upgrade), Windows98 CD. On
the first boot it asks if you want the drive set up and, if you say yes, it
partitions and formats it then reboots, to detect partitions and assign
drive letters, into setup.
> Then use fdisk to create partitions & format every partition.
> Then go back to install Windows 98.
Actually, Windows 2000/XP also 'goes back' to install Windows. After it
partitions and formats it'll reboot, to detect and assign the partitions
drive letters, and then proceed to set up.
> But Windows 2000 & XP will let you work on a raw, new and unformated HD.
The issue isn't whether you can *set up* Windows 2000/XP on a raw, new,
hard drive, and have it ask you what partition to make, but whether it will
automagically 'create' them when you add one to an existing system. And,
no, it won't because it has no idea what you intend to do with the thing.
Here is an example for someone adding a drive to a notebook 'media bay'
(replacing CD with a hard drive so it's an 'internal' drive). It being a
notebook is irrelevant as it's the same thing adding one to an 'internal
bay' in a desktop.
http://www.bay-wolf.com/setupmedbay.htm