Deleted flash contents

[ksarin123_2]

Hello folks -

I've a 3550 Catalyst switch that I was experimenting with. I erased the contents of the flash and then copied a new IOS image to the flash. When I reloaded the switch, the switch reloaded in factory default settings.

Why would that be? Since the contents of the NVRAM were untouched, why would it affect the configuration of the switch?

Just a little confused about this. Your help would be appreciated!!

[garytayl]

The configuration of the switch is store under flash as a file name: config.text therefore if you deleted everything under flash including this config file then that is the reason why there is nothing in your configuration.

[ksarin123_2]

Thanks for your prompt response.

I though the config file is stored in the NVRAM and the flash just holds the IOS image along with the VLAN database.

Can you clarify the difference between config.txt stored in the flash versus what's stored in the NVRAM?