A Question about drive reformatting an re-installation of Windows xp ...?

Question

i have 4 partitions on my hard drive ..if i want to re-install windows xp an reformat only 1 partition (c) (that has the previous windows xp on it) ..an preserve the other 3 partitions ..

then what should i do ..? should i delete partition (c) an create a new one ..or just click Enter to install the new windows xp on it directly without deleting it ...

Answer 1

Each partition of a single physical hard drive acts as individual virtual hard drive. Therefore, you may format drive c: without affecting other partitions and it is better than reinstalling Windows without formatting the drive. With reformatting you will get ride of a lot of garbage accumulated while the PC was running with previous installation.

However, you are advise to backup all important files from all partitions before formatting the partition.

Answer 2

If it is CD/DVD that you are trying to install Windows OS from, in BIOS, change the first booting device to CD/DVD drive. Format 'C' Drive and proceed with installation. If you are trying to install without formatting, Windows will rename the original windows folder as 'windows.old' and create a new 'windows' folder.

In anycase, do remember to take a back-up of your data. Once you re-install, you might have to re-apply the  network settings and windows would download the necessary updates automatically. First thing you would want to do after OS installation and Network/Driver configuration is install your anti-virus.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I would delete the old partition, create a new one, then go on from there. When you create a new partition, it will ask you how big you want the new partition to be. You can make it as big as the one you deleted, or even make it smaller. It all depends how much space you need or have.

Answer 4

Install Windows to the partition you want (it'll ask, if there's more than 1 Windows-readable partition) and allow it to format that partition (it'll ask).

If the other partitions are formatted as Linux partitions, or some other system that Windows doesn't recognize, it won't ask about them.  It'll only ask about Windows partitions - FAT, FAT32, NTFS.)