Windows XP Pro Installation Question

[disksko]

Hi everyone,
newbie to the forum here, hope to be first of many interesting threads.

I am a medium level user, so I feel kinda lame asking this. But here we go:

After close to 5 years of "stable" operation, my PC has many bugs now (like random shutdowns), and it is time for a brand new OS install.

I have two 40GB hard drives, one is "C" with Win XP Pro currently installed; the other is partitioned into "G" & "H", containg all the music, videos, pics, etc.

So when running the XP CD, it originally wanted to format "G" and have me intall it there. NO WAY! I move ahead, and find "C". Here is where I got stuck:

- When I try to install it in "C", I am told that Win XP is already there, and it recommends that I don´t do a "multi-OS" setup (wich I don´t want).

- When I go back and try to delete "C", it says I have "necessary setup files" there, and it won´t let me.

Should I partition "C" also?

Any feeback is appreciated.


THANKS!
Ben.

 

[MrCoffee]

you could just format your C drive first, solve all your problems, if for some reason you dont want to do that then select to install in to the same folder as your previous installation and it will over write.

If you're only doing this to resolve stability issues you might want to try a repair installation instead.

 

[disksko]

Thx Coffee...

I thought by "deleting" C I could format it...but it wouldn´t let me. How can I format?

Or...if I install over the current OS on C, the warning about multiple OS´s is no big deal?

Thanks again...
Ben.

ps. I will also try the repair function...

 

[baronvongogo]

when you boot up with the XP cd it should show all your partitions right. Then have options such as press L to delete partition press C to install windows etc

Did you try and delete the c: partition? then it should change to raw data then you format it. Then install windows. Or is that where you got your error message?

I would advise against installing windows ontop of windows a clean format is really needed.

 

[disksko]

when you boot up with the XP cd it should show all your partitions right. Then have options such as press L to delete partition press C to install windows etc

I WILL RE-CHECK...DON´T THINK SO...

Did you try and delete the c: partition? then it should change to raw date then you format it. Then install windows. Or is that where you got your error message?

YES, THAT IS WHEN I GOT THE ERROR MESSAGE...DID NOT LET ME DELETE "C". ANY OTHER WAY TO FORMAT "C"?

 

[EricB]

you can install xp in the same partition. you just have to send the files to another folder like, say XP folder. but that is a pain to do.

 

[disksko]

ok...so to close this thread....

Unless I can find a way to format the C drive through the Win XP intallation CD, is there any other way to format so I can istall a new Win XP?

Thanks again...
Ben.

 

[baronvongogo]

use super Fdisk:

http://www.softforall.com/Utilities/FileDisk/Super_Fdisk09040160.htm

I dont think it allows for NTFS formatting though.

 

[disksko]

Thanks everyone...I will try to format C and install a clean OS.

On a side note...I did try the Repair funciton on the XP CD last night, and it opened a DOS type menu with a list of intimidating commands to choose from. I thought that was kinda strange...

 

[baronvongogo]

yeah that's the recovery console, if you carry on you can press r on the install screen I think and it will just do repair that way. Although if you go into the recovery console and type : DISKPART , it should show you your hard drive partitions could try deleted your c: and formatting it that way.