Note: Because of variations in install, multiple toolsets, (never knowing whether a previous install might have affected the next one); some/all(?) of the following information might be wrong; and there are probably better methods for doing the following. Keep this in mind and feel free to think a bit before blindly following the instructions. This webpage is not meant to be a substitute for thinking for yourself.
While the following may seem a rather specific case, the strategy is sound and should be generally applicable. Create a small DOS FAT partition near the start of the hard-disk for some NT boot files leaving your free to put everything else in a separate NTFS area.
It is not uncommon for this DOS FAT 16 partition to be 300 to 500 Meg so it can contain the entire NT Operating system. The data and programs and installed into a separate NTFS partition where the full NT permissions system can be applied. Putting the operating system on a DOS FAT 16 partition makes it easier to recover if the NT operating system becomes corrupted by being able to boot with a floppy disk and browse the operating system FAT 16 area.
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Boot up with a DOS or Win95/98 boot floppy and run Ranish partition manager (part.exe)
This gives the following type of image where there is a 1) 8 Meg boot manager partition, 2) 4 Gig Win95 partition, 3) 2Gig Linux Partition and 4) 2 Gig FreeBSD Partition. We will be using the first 8 Meg area as a DOS partition for some WinNT boot files, then the 2 Gig Linux partition as the main NT partition. Delete the boot manager partition and the Linux Partition (using the DEL key). Add a DOS partition and then format it using Ranish Partition Manager. Normally it is not the best this to format partitions with Ranish Partition Manager but this can help us out later with the NT installation. Save and exit Ranish Partition Manager. Screen Dumps showing Ranish Partition Manager in action:
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Insert the WinNT CD-ROM, insert the Win NT 4.0 1st install disk and reboot
the PC.
When prompted, insert the second boot disk. This will lead to a "welcome to setup" message. Enter to Continue. Enter again to detect the hard-disks and related drives. You will then be prompted to install the 3rd install disk. Setup recognises what is there. Press Enter to continue whereby WinNT install will load up drivers. In the case of this SCSI hard-disk, WinNT will detect that the hard-drive as more than 1024 cylinders. Press enter to continue. Agree to the licence (PAGE DOWN, then [F8] function key to accept. You should now be in the Workstation setup and being prompted to change any of the default country settings. As this is in the UK, change the Keyboard layout to the UK then press ENTER to continue. You should now be in the hard-disk partition setup. NT should know that the first 8 Meg partition is a FAT and the second partition is a Windows 95 FAT32 partition. Highlight the unpartitioned 2 Gig of space and press enter. NT will give you some install information. Press ENTER to continue. When prompted, format this partition as an NTFS Partition (you can format as FAT if you wish). NT will then format the partition (which will take a little while - 5 to 15 minutes). WinNT now problems for the location of the main WinNT directory, just select ENTER to continue with the default; and ENTER again to do a check of the hard-disk then copy the install files off the CD-ROM. NT will now tell you that this part of the installation is complete. To take out the floppy disk and reboot. Take out the WinNT floppy install disk and press ENTER to reboot. The WinNT bootable area should be primary partition 1, so when prompted with the Booting HD1/; typing 1 (for the first partition) then selecting ENTER should start booting WinNT. NT will then start doing some automatic file system conversion, then reboot. Thus again: when prompted with the Booting HD1/; typing 1 (for the first partition) then selecting ENTER should start booting WinNT; lead into the standard GUI interface to finish off the installation. Don't forget to have your Product ID number that normally is on the manual that comes with the CD-ROM. You should also have your network card drivers on floppy disk as well as any other NT drivers that may not be on the CD-ROM.
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On bootup, when prompted with Booting HD1/, remember that you
have to sellect partition number 1 to boot NT.
Using the Ranish Partition manager boot floppy disk, go back into looking at the hard-disk partition area and check out what WinNT may have done. WinNT may have been installed in such as way as to change some partition numbers and it can be important to know this if you have operating systems installed such as Win95, Linux and FreeBSD - or you wish to install other operating systems. This will show you the Partition numbers for each partition and you can change these if you wish. Be wary that if try and boot from the 4th (WinNT) partition (if you did not use Ranish to check things out - you would think this is still the FreeBSD Partition), there may be some of the residual Linux boot information so you may get a message that Linux/LILO is booting - which will then of course fail.
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