| As briefly explained earlier in this chapter, there are three ways you can install an operating system: -
Clean install -
Upgrade -
Dual-boot This chapter focuses on clean and dual-boot installations. For more information about upgrades, see Chapter 17, "Operating System Upgrades." Table 16.3 compares these installation methods : Table 16.3. Install Methods Comparison | Install Option | Start from Windows | Start with Windows CD (Boot) | Retain Existing Programs, Data, and Settings | Avoid Problems with Existing Programs and Settings | Location of Installation | | Upgrade | Yes | No | Yes | No | Existing Windows folder | | Clean install | No | Yes | No | Yes | Bare drive | | Dual-boot | Yes | Yes [1] | [2] | Yes | Unpartitioned free space on hard disk | [1] Make sure you install Windows to a different folder on the same hard disk or preferably a different disk partition or hard disk if you don't start the installation from within the current version . [2] Does not affect current programs, data, and settings, but software will need to be reinstalled for use with the new operating system . Which installation option is best? -
Upgrade ” If you have a healthy system now and you don't want to keep your old version of Windows, an upgrade will probably go well and will enable you to get back to work within an hour or so. -
Clean install ” This is the only option available with an empty hard disk. You can also choose this option if your current configuration has problems and you don't mind reinstalling your software and your data (after backing it up, of course). Depending on how much software you need to reinstall, your system could be down for much of the day. -
Dual-boot ” When you want to use both your existing and new operating systems on the same computer and you have an empty drive or free disk space large enough for the new OS and programs, do a dual-boot installation. Depending on how much software you need to reinstall to the new operating system, your system could be down for much of the day. Selecting a File System As you learned in Chapter 15, there are three different file systems supported by 32-bit versions of Windows:  | Keep in mind that much of the data security of Windows NT4.0/XP/2000 comes from the use of NTFS. If NTFS is not used to prepare a drive, encryption and compression are not available, nor is user -level or group -level access control. |
Which file system should you use for the operating system installation? -
With Windows 9x/Me, you should use FAT32 unless you are installing an early version of Windows 95 that doesn't support FAT32, or if you want to use an MS-DOS boot disk to access the drive. In such cases, use FAT16, but you must create a primary partition less than 2GB in size and install the operating system there. The rest of the hard disk can be used for an extended partition with 2GB or smaller drive letters . -
With Windows 2000/XP, you should use NTFS unless you want to use a Windows 9x/Me boot disk to access the drive. In such cases, use FAT32. With Windows NT 4.0, the choice is between FAT16 and NTFS (FAT32 is not supported). Windows 2000/XP can format a partition up to 32GB as a FAT32 drive; larger drives must be formatted as NTFS. tip  | If you want to use FAT32 with Windows 2000 or XP on a drive greater than 32GB, use the Windows 98 ESD to partition the drive and format it. Windows 2000 and XP can use both formatted and unformatted space for installations. |
For more information about these file systems, see Chapter 15. |
