Since security seems to be tighter under NTFS (the NT's own file system) than it is under FAT (the file system used by MS- DOS), and since I've been told that performance is better with NTFS than it is with FAT -- and since the WebSite README file says that it requires NTFS -- I converted my file system from FAT to NTFS this morning.
I was a little uneasy about doing it. For one thing, I wasn't entirely sure of all of the implications. I understood that I'd no longer be able to boot DOS, but that didn't strike me as a major problem. But would I still be able to access DOS files? Get to a DOS prompt? Run DOS commands and programs? I wasn't sure, but I decided to go ahead anyway.
Another thing that I wasn't sure about was how to actually perform the conversion to NTFS. I couldn't find it in the help files, and NT comes with no documentation! (You have to order it separately -- for something like $70 [!] -- which I've done.) Finally, I found the CONVERT command in the NT Resource Kit (that I bought separately for $150 [!]). So I tried it, and, as far as I can tell, it worked.
I assumed that, once I did the conversion to NTFS, I would no longer see the option to boot DOS, but it still appears when I turn on the PC. I selected it just to see what would happen; the disk cranked and cranked, but nothing happened at all. Finally. I hit the reset button. Isn't the CONVERT command smart enough to know to remove the DOS boot option from the menu when you convert to NTFS? I guess not.
Anyway, my worries seem to have been for naught. The old DOS files are still there; I can still open a DOS box and enter DOS commands. If there is a downside to converting to NTFS, I haven't found it yet.
Well, I picked up my router today -- it's an Ascend Pipeline 50. My Internet service provider programmed it for me. What with errands to run and cables to buy (and another trip to CompUSA to get the right cables), I didn't get to hook everything up until pretty late -- and it didn't work, of course. But I didn't really expect it too, not the first time (hoped, but not expected). I'll try to get an early start tomorrow, and tell you all about it.
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