Setup Hangs When Installing to 4-GB FAT16 Partition (290705)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
This article was previously published under Q290705

SYMPTOMS

When you set up Microsoft Windows 2000 Server by running Winnt.exe while booted from a MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows boot floppy disk, Setup stops responding ("hangs") with the CPU operating at 100 % during the file copy process. If you manually restart the computer after this occurs, Setup completes as usual.

CAUSE

This problem may occur if you are installing to a FAT16 partition larger than 2 gigabytes (GB) in size. Although you can create FAT16 partitions larger than 2 GB by using third-party utilities, MS-DOS and Windows do not support FAT16 partitions larger than 2 GB.

RESOLUTION

Method 1

  1. Create a FAT16 partition no larger than 2 GB.
  2. Add the following lines to the [Unattended] section of the Unattend.txt setup answer file:

    FileSystem = ConvertNTFSExtendOemPartition = number_in_megabytes

    where number_in_megabytes is the number of megabytes that you want to extend the partition.


Method 2

  1. Create a FAT32 partition no larger than 32 GB.
  2. Start up from a Windows 95 OSR2 or later boot disk and run Winnt.exe.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/7/2004
Keywords:kbprb KB290705
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