Clearing out Hard Drive Partitions...

[Fozzer]

Clearing out Hard Drive partitions...
-------------------------------------
Hi Lads...!

A little bit more of your generous assistance required...
Windows XP Pro:

These are the drives currently sitting in my 'puter:

Main hard drive divided into 3 partitions:
C:/  Containing the operating system and Program Files, etc
D:/  Containing FS 2004 and various games.
E:/  Utilities, odds and sods, useful "stuff?", etc...

F:/  DVD drive
G:/ CD/RW drive

H:/  Second hard drive containing Windows '98SE, and my beautiful "old" Games...drool...!

Now...

My C drive partition is getting bogged down with lots of crap rubbish....probably affecting the operating system.

So...

Can I Format my C partition to get rid of all the rubbish, and leave the partitions, D and E intact, and re-install the operating system again on the C partition.

Is there a danger that if I Format my C partition it will remove the Boot Directory from the hard drive and prevent  access to the remaining D and E partitions...?

or...

Just "Delete" everything on the C partition, and re-install Windows (with it's new Registry)...?

There's a thought for you on this bright sunny day....!

Cheers all...!
Many thanks...

Paul...divided into small chunks...!

[RollerBall]

wotcher Paul,

quick answer is 'no'

Your 'C' partition contains Windows which includes your system registry.

If you format 'C:' you will have to install a new, fresh copy of Windows. This copy's registry won't contain any entries for any progs (such as FS2004) that are installed in your other partitions, although the programs and data in the other partitions will remain intact, viewable and accessible. That's because the partition data is held on the disk drive independently of the partitions themselves.

You will therefore have to reinstall all the progs in the other partitions as well to make sure they work/work properly.

I gave up multi-partitioning years ago because it seems to slow things down a bit but more importantly, when space gets tight what's left always seems to be in the wrong place. Then you have to get to work with Partition Magic to move the partitions - life's too short  ;)

[Fozzer]

Ta. Rog... ...!

...it's always an arse' when it come to "clearing out" hard drives...

A Format always trashes everything you have, and requires a re-install of "everything" again....
...and, of course, you can NEVER remember where you got "everything" from in the first bleedin' place... ...!
Buggar....
I think I'll go upstairs for a lie-down instead... ...!

Cheers Roger...!

Paul...still in bite size, tasty chunks at the mo', if anyone is interested... time's running out...... ...!

[the_autopilot]

Like said above, all data will be left intact except for C which you will partition. No damage to the other partitions will be caused and there is no problem with removing the boot directory because only C drive has one and your reinstalling windows on that drive anyway.

You will have manually uninstall and then reinstall all the programs again on all the partitions again though.

[luke]

Paul,
If you could get hold of a spare HD to take all your "D" & "E" contents, perhaps XP's Transfer wizard would transfer their registry references too.

If that is true, then after you format "C" and install XP, if the "D" & "E" contents were transfered back, their registry references would enter the new XP installation.

Do the experts think that as a possibility for Paul to retain his precious possessions?                 luke

[RollerBall]

Nope

The export wizard has to transfer everything in its entirety - os with its registry and settings and all the programs involved. Can't export/import bits of the system because the links and settings would be lost, especially if part of the process involves installing a new os which automatically creates a new blank registry

[IndioBlack]

Well, I hate to disagree, but I had a C partition with windows XPand a D partition with CFS2 and other Flight Sims.
Because C had problems, I formatted it and re-installed XP. CFS2 was still on drive D, but no longer in the registry. However, if I clicked it's exe file, it still started up and worked perfectly. Same with Strike Fighters.
Not being listed in the registry seemed to have no ill-effects whatsoever.
In view of what you allseem to be saying, how did I get away with it?

[the_autopilot]

Thats seriously unrecommened.

Sure it worked fine for now, but most probgrams won't run or will become extremely unstable if run. Plus, patches won't work either.

[luke]

OK then,
I used a lot the "Magic Mover" of PQMagic for moving progs including their registry entries, but now will not work with XP.

If Paul has, or gets hold of the newer version, perhaps he could maintain his HD contents intact.           luke

[Fozzer]

Thanks Lads, for all the replies....!
So...
For a partitioned hard drive, with the operating system installed on the first partition, It would appear that the only option is to Format the whole drive, re-partition it, (or not, as Roller recommends), re-install the operating system, then re-install everything else as required... ... ... ...!
...buggar...!

There seems little point in partioned the drive if a Format interferes with the remaining programs on the various partitions....
....unless there are advantages in keeping the operating system on it's own partition...?
...what do you reckon...?

Cheers, my merry band of hardware merchants... ...!

Paul...only available in one tasty chunk.... ...!

[IndioBlack]

Thats seriously unrecommened.

Sure it worked fine for now, but most probgrams won't run or will become extremely unstable if run. Plus, patches won't work either.

I did this two years ago. CFS2 is still running fine, and what patches?
If I'd encountered a problem, I could have easily re-installed CFS2, but there's never been a problem. So it continues to function perfectly, even though the reigistry doesn't know it exists. Spooky huh?

But I agree, other programs may not function so easily.

[Scorpiоn]

Paul, I have nearly the same set up as you.

• C: Master Core (XP 'n' stuff)
• D: Games (games!  duh!)
• E: Media Archives (muzak, videos, documents etc.)
• K: DVD+/-RW
• S: DVD-ROM
• Z: CD-ROM

Later to add an "X" CD-RW in though.

I've had all sorts of problems in the past, and being who I am, I always reverted to the nuclear option (kaboom) before all others.  In most situations, just reinstalling XP on C worked for me.  Naturally, whilst in the process, when XP asks you if you want to format, oblige.  Only if you have some particularly nasty issues [cough]Battlefield 2![/cough] will you have to take more aggresive action.  IN that case, I had to wipe out my RAID array, delete it, recreate it, reformat, repartition and reinstall... everything! A long process, but somehow a fresh XP desktop always puts me in a "fresh start" mood. Although I have no desire to visit it again. Plus I haven't a clue how I'll back up 500GB of data. Some programs will recreate their registry entries, however I've had mixed results with this, so it's not something to be counted on.  I've always just backed up my savegames/game checkpoints in a nice spot, and reinstalled all my games.

PS: Happily chugging along on a happy PC... for the moment!

[Fozzer]

Paul, I have nearly the same set up as you....

PS: Happily chugging along on a happy PC... for the moment!

Hi Scorp...
Nice to hear from you... ;)...!
My C drive is getting so fragmented, and with an 80 GB drive, life is much to short to de-frag it again.
I'm getting all sorts of probs on boot-up now...it's a toss-up whether my system recognises my processor as an AMD 2600+, (which it should be), or an AMD 2000+, (which it shouldn't be!), on boot-up...!
I had this prob with Win '98, but now I'm getting it with Win XP... :'(...!
So, it looks like a total clean-out and a re-install of.....
...EVERYTHING... :o...!

...must remember to save your pic on a floppy disk before-hand tho'....>>>


(Lots of interesting things to type into that blank space, you will be pleased to know)... ... ... ... ...!

LOL...!

[Saitek]

Paul you should defrag regularly. So they say anyway. When you next need to go out for some time, turn your computer screen saver off and any power saving options off and then defrag each drive while you are out shopping. It's a bit like not mowing your grass - you can't see the shed and you get lost amongst the braches/stalks of green as you go out on the hunt for it. Defragmenting is a bit like getting the mower out and popping everything back to a tidy state and then the computer can find things quick.

[Scorpiоn]

...must remember to save your pic on a floppy disk before-hand tho'....>>>

Methinks now might be a good time to take advantage of that file overwrite feature of YaBB!

What horrors await me?