[bluecanadian19]

i have 2 hard drives both 500GB.

1st hd - c: and d:
2nd hd - e:

i want to format c: to reinstall XP. i'm certain d: will be formated along with c:, just wounding if it will format e: or cause problems later on.

i dont think e: will be touched just wanted to make sure.

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Hi bluecanadian19. Welcome to Geeks to Go!

If the E:\ drive is a physically separate drive, then no, it won't be affected by the format on C:\.

If the OS was on C:\ (and you're now formatting that drive) and had installed any programs on E:\, you'll have to reinstall those programs.

If you have any other questions, please post back.

[piper]

Hi bluecanadian19. Welcome to Geeks to Go!

If the E:\ drive is a physically separate drive, then no, it won't be affected by the format on C:\.

If the OS was on C:\ (and you're now formatting that drive) and had installed any programs on E:\, you'll have to reinstall those programs.

If you have any other questions, please post back.

[Supercalifragilistic]

Btw, you can format C without reformatting D

[Troy]

If C: and D: are separate partitions on the same hard drive, then yes you can. You just need to know how big the partitions are so that you can select the right one.

When you first boot your computer, the BIOS will recognise the physical devices connected. In bluecanadian19's case, two hard drives will be reported. Once Windows starts, if you open My Computer, it will look like your partitions are separate hard drives, and Windows treats them as such. It does know they are part of the same hard drive, as reported under Disk Management. So bluecanadian19 should have 3 "hard drives" under My Computer.

bluecanadian19, when you go to install Windows XP again, follow these instructions, except don't select R to repair when you come to this step, press ESC to install a fresh copy. Windows will format the drive for you, and I suggest that you don't choose the [Quick format] option.

Hope this helps