Xp & Formatting C Drive Without Losing Parition Drive D & Data There

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killapsdon

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Hi. I presently have WIN XP PRO installed and I have my 30 gigs HD partitioned into 2 Drives, "C" & "D" drive. I suddenly cannot get system restore to complete a restore process. So, I would like to start FRESH and either REINSTALL (IF POSSIBLE) XP OR REFORMAT DRIVE C ONLY but am concerned about LOSING THE DATA ON DRIVE "D" . Can I REINSTALL XP and NOT LOSE DRIVE D PARTITION & THE DATA THEREON? I originally Ugraded XP ON ME & Install was FLAWLESS. IF I was to UNINSTALL XP, and then UPGRADE AGAIN, would I LOSE DRIVE "D" Partition and the Data? I just want to start FRESH and have a fast CLEAN system, registry etc once again but NOT LOSE DRIVE D PARTITION & THE DATA ON IT. Can anyone PLEASE direct me as to the BEST & CORRECT means of starting fresh again without losing Drive D data? Any HELP would be MUCH APPRECIATED. Thank You in advance!
 
BEST WAY TO REINSTALL XP PRO OR REFORMAT & REINSTALL

One thing I neglected to mention was that I am currently using FAT 32 Filing system --NOT NTFS. I don't know what, if any, impact this has on the method of REINSTALLATION I USE? HELP PLEASE!
 
Yeah, if you have all your goodies on D: you can format and reinstall on C: again without losing your data... I do it that way all the time (actually, I have 3 partitions and always leave something on one of them).

I wouldn't recommend the upgrade route though, do it fresh. Format C:, Start the XP installation process and just 'show' it your ME disk at the appropriate time (to verify you have an 'upgradeable' version of Windows).
 
REFORMAT & FRESH FULL INSTALL XP PRO

Thank You, Lonman for your reply. So, I take it you have successfully REFORMATTED DRIVE C, then DONE A FULL FRESH INSTALL OF XP and been successful and RETAINED INTACT ALL YOUR EXISTING DATA ON THE PARTITIONED DRIVE such as "D"? If so, is my EXISTING PARTITION (File system FAT32) automatically PRESERVED during install or do I have to use FDISK to RETAIN the existing PARTITION? Also, I presume you mean show the ME Startup Disk from when I used ME? I guess I cannot JUST REINSTALL XP and just overwrite existing installation? Thanks again.
 
DO NOT touch FDISK !!

If your C drive is FAT32 , boot with a 98 floppy disk and then format c:


If c: is NTFS - Boot from XP CD - choose fresh install - when you get the stage where it asks what partition to install on - delete C partition - format it - then install XP
on c:


Thats the way i do it anyway




:rolleyes:
 
REFORMAT HD & REINSTALL XP PRO

Hi. Thanks, DrX. Clarification please: Since I do have FAT32, I presume that I CANNOT SAFELY Change my File system BEFORE FORMATTING from FAT32 to NTFS and then Follow your suggested course of action? Or Can I? IF I stay with FAT32 for now and boot from ME or 98 DISK and then FORMAT C:, will XP then prompt me for A FRESH INSTALL or will it ask anything about PARTITIONED DRIVE D? Or is it just a straight forward Matter of Format C: and then install XP PRO and I will find the D DRIVE & ALL DATA I LEFT intact? You see this will be my FIRST FULL XP INSTALL. I Upgraded ME the first time, and this went flawlessly . Thanks for ALL Help!
 
Re: REFORMAT & FRESH FULL INSTALL XP PRO

Originally posted by killapsdon
Thank You, Lonman for your reply. So, I take it you have successfully REFORMATTED DRIVE C, then DONE A FULL FRESH INSTALL OF XP and been successful and RETAINED INTACT ALL YOUR EXISTING DATA ON THE PARTITIONED DRIVE such as "D"? ... Yes.

If so, is my EXISTING PARTITION (File system FAT32) automatically PRESERVED during install (Yes, if you're referring to D:. It will do whatever you tell it to do with C: - having an extended partition is a lot like having a second hard drive installed.)

or do I have to use FDISK to RETAIN the existing PARTITION? (NO!)

Also, I presume you mean show the ME Startup Disk from when I used ME? (The ME installation cd... not the startup 'recovery' floppy.)

I guess I cannot JUST REINSTALL XP and just overwrite existing installation? I wouldn't... I'd do it fresh to avoid future problems.

Thanks again. ... Your welcome ;)

The XP installation CD should do everything you want... just NEVER tell it to do anything with D:. It will delete, remake, format your C: partition however you want (making it ntfs if you want - I recommend ntfs - very stable and trouble free file system for me).

A note of warning... if you use a floppy boot disk in the future, it will not 'see' the ntfs partition and designate your D: (fat32) partition as C: and not report your C: (ntfs) partition at all. And if you convert both partitions to ntfs, a standard boot disk will report you have no hard drive or that it can't recognize the file system - point being, it's easy to get in trouble by formatting a fat32 partition when you actually thought you were formatting the ntfs partition (because a boot disk won't recognize the ntfs).
 
Thank You DrX

Thanks again, DrX. Very helpful. I am planning to Reformat C: Drive tomorrow A.M. Early. Can anyone advise whether the Format command used makes any difference? For example, I plan (Tentatlively) on using command "format c:" (minus quotes of course). Several years ago, I used the command, "format c: /s" and this also worked perfectly though I have to admit I did NOT KNOW WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IN COMMANDS MEANT! Anyway, once I hear that back, I'm off to REFORMAT and THEN REINSTALL A FRESH FULL XP PRO INSTALL. This will be my FIRST FULL INSTALL as I previously UPGRADED over ME. Thanks again, Dr and I appreciate all others' Help & Wisdom!
 
the /s switch makes the drive bootable by putting the right system files in the right spot... not necessary for what you're doing as it will be redone by XP anyways. Just 'Format c:' will be fine - However, once you start the XP installation process (by booting to the XP cd) it will give you all your setup options there that were previously discussed (such as formatting and in what file system).
 
Thank You again, Lonman.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I still Thank You once again Very Much for taking the time and imparting your knowledge. It truly is greatly appreciated! Cheers.
 

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