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Need to reformat hard drive

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by iisbetty, 2004/03/31.

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  1. 2004/03/31
    iisbetty

    iisbetty Inactive Thread Starter

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    I have a hard drive that I partitioned into 4 virtual drives when I first got the computer now I would like to reformat the entire drive as one. How do I do this. The computer has WindowsXP Professional installed and limited space left on the Drive.
     
    iisbetty,
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  2. 2004/04/01
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Hi iisbetty - Welcome to the Board :)

    HOW TO: Partition and Format a Hard Disk in Windows XP

    An alternative is to use a Third Party App like Partition Magic.

    However, a few points to bear in mind .....

    Converting the drive - you do not say how large it is - will not gain you any space if you then restore all your programs, data, etc as it was.

    You may regain a fair bit of space by cleaning up the drive - see Mike Flynn's post 'Clean up good' here ....

    http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18359

    If it is the Windows partition which needs to be increased in size then I think you will ned to use Partition Magic or similar to achieve this. Consider moving some data from the root partition to another partition.

    IMO partitioning has many advantages - if the OS is on the root partition and your data, etc on separate partitions then that partition can be reformatted and the OS can be re-installed without loss of data. No excuse for not backing up your data, though!

    Partitioning does not cover you for hard disk failure of course.

    And as a postscript there are several threads on Partitioning on the Board - search for them.
     
    PeteC,
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  4. 2004/04/01
    iisbetty

    iisbetty Inactive Thread Starter

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    The drive is a 12Gb drive and unfortunately windowsXP was installed on a partition that was too small, all data will not be restored once reformat is complete. This is an old computer that is being given to a relative, therefore losing data is a plus.
     
    iisbetty,
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  5. 2004/04/01
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    PeteC,
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  6. 2004/04/01
    iisbetty

    iisbetty Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thank you very much!
    Mission completed!
     
    iisbetty,
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  7. 2004/04/01
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    You're welcome! Thanks for posting back.
     
    PeteC,
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