[mike0193]

I re-installed windows, because I was having too many problems. Everything is working, but i think all the files from my previous windows are still on my computer, even though I can't see them, because when i look @ my harddrive space, a lot of it is used still. Where would the previous windows and files be stored, and is there a way to get rid of them?

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By your description it seems that you double inastalled on the same partition. Maybe you wanted yo make a repair installation and got it wrong. Had I been in your place I would have backed up important material and clean reformat the disk.

[The Skeptic]

By your description it seems that you double inastalled on the same partition. Maybe you wanted yo make a repair installation and got it wrong. Had I been in your place I would have backed up important material and clean reformat the disk.

[cleverboy12]

What do you mean y.a ? i thought that it removes the previous files or does reformatting do that ?

[Thef0rce]

no. there's 2 forms of reinstalling xp these days. it seems that a repair install was used. a repair install keeps all the non-system files as they are and just reinstalls the system ones. you just need to format and do a full reinstall.

[cleverboy12]

Ok i understand but is there a reinstall that removes the non system files too ?

[The Skeptic]

If you clean reformat you remove everything from your HD, including non-system files. If you make repair installation which is very usefull in many circumstances you repair windows and leave other material intact. You may have to reupdate windows and reinstall some drivers though. You have a very good and detailed explanation of the process in a pinned thread at the top of this forum.

It seems to me that by mistake you reinstalled windows twice on the same partition, something that takes HD space and cause instability of the system. I repeat my advice that you would be better off backuping your data and clean reformat the HD.

[gerryf]

Please look in the root directory of your local disk (c:)

Do you see multiple folders starting with WIN.....
like:
winxp
winnt

Please look in the folder DOCUMENT AND SETTINGS...what folders do you see there?
windows

[gerryf]

p.s.

v.a --it is better to verify than speculate....you may be correct, but it is equally possible that he has leftover user accounts that are not visible to the second installation, or a harddrive in need of a chkdsk to repair indexes

[The Skeptic]

Hi gerryf,

"Where would the previous windows and files be stored, and is there a way to get rid of them?" (quote)

My understanding is that mike0193 wanted to restart his system afresh but didn't succeed. He clearly didn't format his HD. He either performed a repair installation which he didn't aim to or he double installed windows which is even worse. If his disk is more loaded now than before it is the second case. If not, it is the first one. Either way he didn't get what he wanted, a clean windows installation. This is why I have no problem recommending clean installation without delving too deep into other options.

[mike0193]

In my Document and Settings folder I see the following folders:

Administrator


All Users

All Users.WINDOWS

Mike


Mike.MIKE-6V4T5NGDFA

MIKE~1~MIK

those are the folders. I just inserted my disk and it botted and i hit full install, not the repair, but i know it didnt clear out the previous windows. What should i do?

[Starius]

if you reinstall everything often say once every 3 months doesnt it take its toll on your hard drive?

[yardguard]

your hard drive is pretty much constantly working anyway....reinstalling doesn't hurt any more than usual...as a matter of fact reinstalling the system is a good idea now-and-again.

[The Skeptic]

what you must do to clear previous xp installation and all other material in partition c is to delete partition c when having the option to do so during the reformatting process. After that you have to recreate the partition and then proceed to format it using NTFS file system (not quick formatting). from this point on windows will install itself with only minor input from your side. Just read very carefully the instruction as the process is unfolding .

[gerryf]

Please look in the root directory of your local disk (c:)

Do you see multiple folders starting with WIN.....
like:
winxp
winnt

Before moving on, what of the above?

Also, when you start your PC, do you get a text menu asking which OS would you like to start or does it go straight to Windows.


Please report the name of your comptuer as well--Right click MY COMPUTER, choose PROPERTIES, choose COMPUTER NAME tab


Also Check the last modified column in explorer within DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS (click VIEW, details from withing EXPLORER)

All Users (should be old ALL USERS folder)
All Users.WINDOWS (should be newer one)

Interesting....why three?
Mike (oldest)
Mike.MIKE-6V4T5NGDFA (???)
MIKE~1~MIK (current?)




---
Y.A., I understand your point, but my reason for hesitating is he now has a working windows OS with all his old data files that he may not have thought he could recover due to previous instability--now he can get them and still have the stable system he wishes.

We often get people who don't clearly realize the ramifications of what they state in an original post, plus, if he has a working sytem now, why start all over again if all he needs to do is take ownership of a few folders and then delete them to recover all the space?

[mike0193]

You told me to look in the root directory of C: so i went to Start>My Computer>and opened the C: there are folders in there but nothing of winxp
or winnt. Im not sure if im looking in the right location.

To answer your other questions, when i boot the computer up, it goes right to windows.

When i go to computer name, it says "mike-6v4t5ngdfa."