Setup Does Not Check Free Disk Space Before Starting File Copy

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

SYMPTOMS

When you are performing a fresh installation of Windows 2000 by running Winnt.exe, you may receive the following error message after you choose the installation partition:

The partition or unpartitioned space you selected is too small for Windows 2000. Select a partition or unpartitioned space of at least x megabytes.

CAUSE

When you run Winnt.exe, Setup does not know on which partition the %SystemRoot% folder will be placed before the file-copy phase in text-mode Setup. If you then choose a partition that does not contain enough free space, you receive the error message listed above.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, increase the amount of disk space used for the installation partition, or install Windows 2000 on a different partition.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

During a "clean" installation of Windows 2000, the location of the %SystemRoot% folder is unknown until you are prompted for and supply the location. When you upgrade to Windows 2000, Setup (Winnt32.exe) does know the location of the %SystemRoot% folder and checks for adequate free space before the file-copy phase begins.

You can actually add additional drives during the reboot from Winnt32.exe into text-mode Setup. This is why there is a double set of algorithms to check free disk space in Winnt32.exe and text-mode Setup.

A "clean" installation of Windows means either installing Windows on a blank hard disk, or installing Windows in a folder other than the folder in which an existing version of Windows is installed.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbenv kbsetup
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb