Installing a fresh copy of XP on a partitioned hard disk

[Tommy55]

Hi,

I'm looking for some advice on how to do the following:

I've got two hard disks in my machine at the moment. The primary (80gb) with Windows on it (this has two partitions: C which is huge and D which is basically a scratch disk) and the secondary (120gb) with data and backups (4 partitions: 39gb, 39gb, 34gb and 2gb).

What I want to do is remove the primary hard disk completely, connect the secondary hard disk as the primary (sole) and install a fresh copy of Windows XP on the first partition on it.

However, I want to make sure that the data on the other three partitions will be safe. I need to make sure that the OS is installed on the first partition of the 4 partitioned disk.

As the new HD will have no OS on it, will I need the Windows XP boot disks? I'm really clueless as to the process I will have to go through to achieve this.

I'd be most grateful to anyone who can give me any pointers. Thanks in advance...

Tommy

 

[mattjurado]

Setup the hard disk as the primary drive, then insert the XP cdrom. Bootup the computer, and it should boot off of the cd, it will load drivers and other modules, and begin the setup process. You will reach a screen where you select which partition you would like to install on.

If the computer doesn't boot off the cd, then you need to set it as your 1st boot device in your cmos setup. When the computer first turns on, you'll have to hit the delete key (or possibly F1, or F2).

To be extra safe, I would backup all data to the drive you are disconnecting, so you have a backup.

Matt J.

 

[linney]

HOW TO: Partition and Format a Hard Disk in Windows XP (Q313348)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q313/3/48.asp

Read the paragraph,
"How to Partition and Format Your Hard Disk by Using Windows XP Setup."

 

[Tommy55]

Thanks to both replies. For some reason, it wouldn't recognise that the new primary hard drive was partitioned. Luckily, I'd backed up most of my data. So far, the only thing I've lost is MP3s.

I'm now in the process of rebuilding the machine. Looks like I'll be needing those KB articles so that I can repartition the drive...

Again, thanks for your help.