UncleBuck Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 Hi guy's help me out please....I'm going bald pulling my hair out.....My hard drive is Partitioned into 2....C: and D: I want to automaically format c: the proceed the Unattended Install....ie, When the dvd loads it asks "press any key to boot from the cd" then automatically formats c:...then proceeds installing windows xp..I know its easy for you guy's but I'm pulling my hair out....cheer's guy's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blinkdt Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 I know its easy for you guy's but I'm pulling my hair out....Yeah, I'm bald on top and I blame this very issue for the dramatic hair loss. My understanding is that AutoPartition= can be set to "0" or "1" in the [Data] section and Repartition= can be set to Yes or No in the [unattended] section of WINNT.SIF and that's it: you either repartition and format the entire drive automatically or you set up (and format) the partitions manually.There must be some sort of utility that could be added to the install to perform this type of action, but I've never run across such a beast. Anybody? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve007 Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 As above what blinkdt said. I got mine to auto format fine just by reading the reference section on the msfn unattended guide winnt.sif file editing.However, the format takes all of 30 seconds rather than 30 minutes. I assume this is a "quick" ntfs format. Is there anyway to force a full long format or is this uneccesary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blinkdt Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 @steve007:The difference between the regular format versus the quick format is whether or not the volume is scanned for bad sectors using the chkdsk command. Both methods remove the files from the volume.From The Elder Geek on Windows XP, a dynamite site I'm sure most have stumbled across. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleBuck Posted March 29, 2005 Author Share Posted March 29, 2005 Cheer's for the replies guy's.....So could I just tell it to format C: in the win.sif file or would that format the D: partition too. I seem to remember a batch file that could do this in 32 bit, but never seen it in NTFS....is there not a way of doing it in NTFS Dos, before starting the unattended set up process.....sort of load NTFS Dos first then continue the install process, I can see why its not freely available, as if you accidentaly pressed at the wrong time youv'e lost your data, but there must be a way around it........Com on you super programmers who programed the installers for the software please help out if you can....cheer's guy's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleBuck Posted March 29, 2005 Author Share Posted March 29, 2005 Oh ...could you us WinPE to start the process, automatically format c: partition then somehow the unattended set up take over ?Sorry guy's I'm grasping at straws here.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blinkdt Posted March 30, 2005 Share Posted March 30, 2005 @UncleBuck This information comes from Step 4 of the Beginner's Guide:If you want to automate this process with exact specifics on drive letters, partition sizes and file systems, you may want to consider using Bart's PE and diskpart.vs. "manually choose a partition during text-mode setup with full control on choice of file system...."And that's how I lost my hair: I like to partition drives as a percentage with a bottom line 10GB for the C: drive, so during the manual partition I calculate and proceed. Diskpart.exe allows for creating a primary partition sized in MB only, but in my case one size does not fit all. Check the "AutoRun" plugin available for Bart's PE builder, however, that may be what you are looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleBuck Posted March 31, 2005 Author Share Posted March 31, 2005 Many thanks for the replies guy's but I think were drifting away from the main question....My current system is a 85 gig HD, its already partitioned C:\ 40 gig and D:\ 40 gig. What I want to create is a unattended set up of XP and software on C:\" easy enough " but what I want to do first is ....Insert DVD, boot system and be asked if I want to format C: drive "C: partition" when I press for yes, it will format C: drive "c: partition" then carry on with the unattended set up. Simple really LOLI thought I could create a NTFS boot file on the unattended setup dvd then somehow after formating C: partition re-boot itself the carry on with the set up of xp and software.....oh what a headache.I guess its not that simple, cheer's all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dahi Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 If you set AutoPartition=0 in winnt.sif you can do what you describe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleBuck Posted March 31, 2005 Author Share Posted March 31, 2005 There's more to it than that M8, if I done that it would just format ALL of C:..deleting both partitions c: & d:, I think I'm going to have to MsDosInitiated in the win.sif to load NTFS dos then format then automatically re-boot the start unattended set up, I'm playing about but without much luck at the mo..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pear Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 I have a 100 gb drive which is partitioned into two 50 gb drivesC: 50 gb D: 50 gbI want to format and install Windows on drive C: without touching my drive D: how do i do this?I am coming close using the autopartition=1 , but it installs Windows on drive d:I did use the repartition cmd and it deleted C: & D: and then formatted C: for me, which i did not want Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unattended Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 If you set AutoPartition=0 in winnt.sif you can do what you describe.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>i'm a total noob when at this. and i also want fromat the disk automaticly so where in the this command in the winnt.sif?tnx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dahi Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 There's more to it than that M8, if I done that it would just format ALL of C:..deleting both partitions c: & d:, I think I'm going to have to MsDosInitiated in the win.sif to load NTFS dos then format then automatically re-boot the start unattended set up, I'm playing about but without much luck at the mo.....<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Check the Unattended guide. Theres a bit about formating and partitioning options.With AutoPartition=0 you will be able to manually select which partition you want to install on, and whether you want it formatted or not.The partitioning and formatting options in WinXP Setup are limited, but it can do what you describe. If you find it too limiting, then sure, boot with BartPE or WinPE then use Diskpart to partition your NTFS disks.By the way, I use MsDosInitiated=0 for both CD installs and BartPE installs with WINNT32. I havent found it necessary to change this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unattended Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 i don't want too start a new topic for this so please help me. i'd like my Unattended cd too format de drive and instal windows 2003 server without me doing anything. (Unattended instal works already) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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