Installing Windows NT/2000 When Setup Floppies are Missing
Last updated: 5/29/03

Also, see Windows Tips and Tricks.

Q.  I don't have the Setup floppies that came with my copy of Windows NT/2000.  How do I install it?

A.  The Win NT 4.0 and 2000 CDs are bootable.  Try changing your CMOS Setup to boot from the CD.

Or... You can install it on a new new hard disk drive (or a hard disk drive taken down to "bare metal") from the DOS prompt with a Startup floppy (Win 98, Win Me) with the real-mode CD-ROM driver and mscdex.exe lines in the config.sys and autoexec.bat files respectively (see our CD-ROM Drive FAQs). Put a copy of smartdrv.exe on the Startup floppy. You should be able to find a copy on and existing Windows 9x/Me computer at C:\windows. It is on the CD’s in D:\win98.  Boot to the floppy and use fdisk to partition the drive (the process the same as that at http://duxcw.com/digest/Howto/software/windows/upgrade/fdisk.htm. Format the C: drive. Do not install the system files. If you have more than one partition, they can be formatted during the Windows  installation or with Windows after it is installed. Also, use fdisk to manually make C: active if there is more one partition.

Load smartdrv.exe…

A:\>smartdrv.exe

Then...

A:\>D:

(where D: is your CD-ROM drive)

D:\>

D:\>cd i386

D:\>winnt /b

Finally, NT 4.0 comes with three floppies: Setup Boot Disk, Setup Disk 2, and Setup Disk3, which can be used to do install it.  You can make a set of these floppies by inserting the NT CD into your CD-ROM drive, booting to the DOS prompt and:

D:\>

D:\>cd i386

D:\>winnt /OX

Where D: is your CD-ROM drive.

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Also, see Windows Tips and Tricks.