How to format the primary partition on a machine running XP?

Hi,
I have a 40G hard drive, divided into a 10G primary partition (the C: drive)
and a 30G extended partition (the D: drive). I was running WinXP Pro on
the C: . My D: is just for storing data and backups.

I want to completely wipe and format the C: and do a completely fresh
install of XP Pro onto it.

The Disk Management Tools in XP won't let me format the C: which makes sense
to me as it is the active partition is running, and can't delete itself
while running, so to speak. So I thought the XP disk would let me do this,
but my attempts so far have failed.

My first attempt simply reinstalled the operating system on the C: but did
not wipe the previous contents of the drive.

My second attempt appeared successfull, until i realized it had actually
installed XP onto the D: (which i did not want to do). So now i have 2
functioning copies of win xp - one on each partition! I tried to format
the C: whilst running the XP from the D:, but it still won't let me delete
the C: as it is still the primary partition.

I considered using a Win98 system disk to format the C: in DOS, but it
seemed to have trouble distinguishing between the 2 partitions, and i was
concerned that it would delete both partitions if i tried.

Anyone have any ideas?

I have presumably left out pertinent info, so if there's anything extra info
needed to diagnose this problem, just let me know and i'll post it.

Thanks in advance,
Bowman.

Bowman

"Bowman" <> wrote in message
news:40f345fb$0$18191$ u
>| Hi,
>| I have a 40G hard drive, divided into a 10G primary partition (the
>| C: drive) and a 30G extended partition (the D: drive). I was
>| running WinXP Pro on the C: . My D: is just for storing data and
>| backups.
>|
>| I want to completely wipe and format the C: and do a completely fresh
>| install of XP Pro onto it.
>|
>| The Disk Management Tools in XP won't let me format the C: which
>| makes sense to me as it is the active partition is running, and
>| can't delete itself while running, so to speak. So I thought the XP
>| disk would let me do this, but my attempts so far have failed.
>|
>| My first attempt simply reinstalled the operating system on the C:
>| but did not wipe the previous contents of the drive.
>|
>| My second attempt appeared successfull, until i realized it had
>| actually installed XP onto the D: (which i did not want to do).
>| So now i have 2 functioning copies of win xp - one on each
>| partition! I tried to format the C: whilst running the XP from
>| the D:, but it still won't let me delete the C: as it is still the
>| primary partition.
>|
>| I considered using a Win98 system disk to format the C: in DOS, but
>| it seemed to have trouble distinguishing between the 2 partitions,
>| and i was concerned that it would delete both partitions if i tried.
>|
>| Anyone have any ideas?
>|
>| I have presumably left out pertinent info, so if there's anything
>| extra info needed to diagnose this problem, just let me know and
>| i'll post it.
>|
>| Thanks in advance,
>| Bowman.

It's primarily a problem in following the prompts during the XP install. It
*is* possible to do what you intended by deleting the C: partition, then
creating it again during the install. You will need to be very careful then
to select the correct partition to continue the install, otherwise it might
again install XP to the D: partition.

Personally I wouldn't do the Win98 method of partitioning/formatting. It
uses FAT32, and given the choice, I'd always use NTFS.

When you get the C: partition booting correctly, you will have to deal with
the "extra" installation that's on the D: partition. First of all, the
Boot.ini file on the C: drive will probably offer you the option to boot
from either partition. You can edit that file to remove the reference to the
D: drive. Then you should be able to delete the Windows directory, the
Program Files directory, and probably the Documents and Settings directory
from the D: partition. Be sure to look them over carefully first to see if
there is any data there you might want to keep before deleting them!

--
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where
THEY went." ~Will Rogers~

You will need to boot the computer from the XP pro CD and follow the
instructions. When it lists the 2 partitions on the drive, you have the
option to delete the partitions. Delete the 30gb partition then delete the
10 gb partition. This will leave the 40gb unpartitioned. XP will format
and install automatically. If you still wish to split the drive, you can
also select how much for the C partition and when XP is installed, format
the D partition.

Mike (NZ)

"Bowman" <> wrote in message
news:40f345fb$0$18191$ u...
> Hi,
> I have a 40G hard drive, divided into a 10G primary partition (the C:
drive)
> and a 30G extended partition (the D: drive). I was running WinXP Pro on
> the C: . My D: is just for storing data and backups.
>
> I want to completely wipe and format the C: and do a completely fresh
> install of XP Pro onto it.
>
> The Disk Management Tools in XP won't let me format the C: which makes
sense
> to me as it is the active partition is running, and can't delete itself
> while running, so to speak. So I thought the XP disk would let me do
this,
> but my attempts so far have failed.
>
> My first attempt simply reinstalled the operating system on the C: but did
> not wipe the previous contents of the drive.
>
> My second attempt appeared successfull, until i realized it had actually
> installed XP onto the D: (which i did not want to do). So now i have 2
> functioning copies of win xp - one on each partition! I tried to format
> the C: whilst running the XP from the D:, but it still won't let me delete
> the C: as it is still the primary partition.
>
> I considered using a Win98 system disk to format the C: in DOS, but it
> seemed to have trouble distinguishing between the 2 partitions, and i was
> concerned that it would delete both partitions if i tried.
>
> Anyone have any ideas?
>
> I have presumably left out pertinent info, so if there's anything extra
info
> needed to diagnose this problem, just let me know and i'll post it.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Bowman.
>
>
>
>


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"Toolman Tim" <> wrote in message
news:...
> "Bowman" <> wrote in message
> news:40f345fb$0$18191$ u
> >| Hi,
> >| I have a 40G hard drive, divided into a 10G primary partition (the
> >| C: drive) and a 30G extended partition (the D: drive). I was
> >| running WinXP Pro on the C: . My D: is just for storing
> >| data and backups.
> >|
> >| I want to completely wipe and format the C: and do a completely fresh
> >| install of XP Pro onto it.

[snip]

Thank you for responses, Tim and Mike.

As I want to preserve the data and backups in my D: , I'll try your method
Tim.

> It's primarily a problem in following the prompts during the XP install.
It
> *is* possible to do what you intended by deleting the C: partition, then
> creating it again during the install.

I didn't do this originally because I was under the impression that you
could not delete a primary partition without first deleting the extended
partitions (and this latter bit i was trying to avoid.) But this is not
the case?

Cheers,
Bowman

"Bowman" <> wrote in message
news:40f500f7$0$16106$ u
>| "Toolman Tim" <> wrote in message
>| news:...
>| > "Bowman" <> wrote in message
>| > news:40f345fb$0$18191$ u
>| > >| Hi,
>| > >| I have a 40G hard drive, divided into a 10G primary partition
>| > >| (the C: drive) and a 30G extended partition (the D: drive). I
>| > >| was running WinXP Pro on the C: . My D: is just for storing
>| > >| data and backups.
>| > >|
>| > >| I want to completely wipe and format the C: and do a completely
>| > >| fresh install of XP Pro onto it.
>|
>| [snip]
>|
>| Thank you for responses, Tim and Mike.
>|
>| As I want to preserve the data and backups in my D: , I'll try your
>| method Tim.
>|
>| > It's primarily a problem in following the prompts during the XP
>| > install.
>| It
>| > *is* possible to do what you intended by deleting the C:
>| > partition, then creating it again during the install.
>|
>| I didn't do this originally because I was under the impression that
>| you could not delete a primary partition without first deleting the
>| extended partitions (and this latter bit i was trying to avoid.)
>| But this is not the case?
>|
>| Cheers,
>| Bowman

That was true of the DOS and W9x FDISK.EXE program. Partition Magic and
other similar programs were able to work around this issue. And I believe XP
does as well. But I can't promise that - so make good backups (address book,
personal data, IE favorites, email message store, etc.)! Maybe two...and
test them!

--
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where
THEY went." ~Will Rogers~

"Toolman Tim" <> wrote in message
news:...
> "Bowman" <> wrote in message
> news:40f500f7$0$16106$ u
> >| "Toolman Tim" <> wrote in message
> >| news:...
> >| > "Bowman" <> wrote in message
> >| > news:40f345fb$0$18191$ u
> >| > >| Hi,
> >| > >| I have a 40G hard drive, divided into a 10G primary partition
> >| > >| (the C: drive) and a 30G extended partition (the D: drive). I
> >| > >| was running WinXP Pro on the C: . My D: is just for storing
> >| > >| data and backups.
> >| > >|
> >| > >| I want to completely wipe and format the C: and do a completely
> >| > >| fresh install of XP Pro onto it.
> >|
> >| [snip]
> >|
> >| Thank you for responses, Tim and Mike.
> >|
> >| As I want to preserve the data and backups in my D: , I'll try your
> >| method Tim.
> >|
> >| > It's primarily a problem in following the prompts during the XP
> >| > install. It *is* possible to do what you intended by deleting
> >| > the C: partition, then creating it again during the install.
> >|
> >| I didn't do this originally because I was under the impression that
> >| you could not delete a primary partition without first deleting the
> >| extended partitions (and this latter bit i was trying to avoid.)
> >| But this is not the case?
> >|
> >| Cheers,
> >| Bowman
>
> That was true of the DOS and W9x FDISK.EXE program. Partition Magic and
> other similar programs were able to work around this issue. And I believe
XP
> does as well. But I can't promise that - so make good backups (address
book,
> personal data, IE favorites, email message store, etc.)! Maybe two...and
> test them!

Hi Tim,
You were right. I double-checked on some Microsoft KB articles before
proceeding, but yes, XP is able to delete the primary partition without
affecting the other partitions. Everying has been fixed and is working
fine.

I think my brain sometimes gets stuck in a W9x mindset when i try to fix
stuff! Thanks for info.

Cheers,
Bowman

"Bowman" <> wrote in message
news:40fa2810$0$18668$ u
>| "Toolman Tim" <> wrote in message
>| news:...
>| > "Bowman" <> wrote in message
>| > news:40f500f7$0$16106$ u
>| > >| "Toolman Tim" <> wrote in
>| > >| message news:...
>| > >| > "Bowman" <> wrote in message
>| > >| > news:40f345fb$0$18191$ u
>| > >| > >| Hi,
>| > >| > >| I have a 40G hard drive, divided into a 10G primary
>| > >| > >| partition (the C: drive) and a 30G extended partition (the
>| > >| > >| D: drive). I was running WinXP Pro on the C: . My D:
>| > >| > >| is just for storing data and backups.
>| > >| > >|
>| > >| > >| I want to completely wipe and format the C: and do a
>| > >| > >| completely fresh install of XP Pro onto it.
>| > >|
>| > >| [snip]
>| > >|
>| > >| Thank you for responses, Tim and Mike.
>| > >|
>| > >| As I want to preserve the data and backups in my D: , I'll try
>| > >| your method Tim.
>| > >|
>| > >| > It's primarily a problem in following the prompts during the
>| > >| > XP install. It *is* possible to do what you intended by
>| > >| > deleting the C: partition, then creating it again during the
>| > >| > install.
>| > >|
>| > >| I didn't do this originally because I was under the impression
>| > >| that you could not delete a primary partition without first
>| > >| deleting the extended partitions (and this latter bit i was
>| > >| trying to avoid.) But this is not the case?
>| > >|
>| > >| Cheers,
>| > >| Bowman
>| >
>| > That was true of the DOS and W9x FDISK.EXE program. Partition
>| > Magic and other similar programs were able to work around this
>| > issue. And I believe
>| XP
>| > does as well. But I can't promise that - so make good backups
>| > (address
>| book,
>| > personal data, IE favorites, email message store, etc.)! Maybe
>| > two...and test them!
>|
>| Hi Tim,
>| You were right. I double-checked on some Microsoft KB articles
>| before proceeding, but yes, XP is able to delete the primary
>| partition without affecting the other partitions. Everying has been
>| fixed and is working fine.
>|
>| I think my brain sometimes gets stuck in a W9x mindset when i try to
>| fix stuff! Thanks for info.
>|
>| Cheers,
>| Bowman

I understand the 9x mindset too. I did jump to XP much faster than I jumped
from 3.x to 95 though. And I *still* have DOS machines on the office network
<g> (what a die-hard!)

--
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where
THEY went." ~Will Rogers~

[yusofyaghi90]

I have an IBM Laptop R32. It has No CD drive and NO Floppy drive. I format it by copying the Win XP CD from another computer over the Network. It ALWAYS WORKED. But Since i got a virus it started to take 5 gb. Even after removing the virus and formating my PC.
Can anybody plz help
:'(
Thanks In advance