Noob Question: Format a partition without formatting the whole drive?

A

afropuff

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 1, 2002
Messages
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Hello All,

For some reason I don't know the answer to this question.

Can I somehow just format one of the partitions on a hard drive without having to reformat the entire drive?

For example, I have 1 drive with two partitions: C and D. C partition has Windows on it. Can I somehow just reformat partition C, without reformating partition D?

Thanks for the help!!
 
Yes, simply type in the following format:

format <drive letter>:

for example, Format d:

you can type format /? for a list of command syntax and help also.

you cannot format a drive that has windows protected files or system files on it while in windows. If you boot to a winpe disk or dos boot disk, then you can do whatever you want.
 
nst6563 said:
Yes, simply type in the following format:

format <drive letter>:

for example, Format d:

you can type format /? for a list of command syntax and help also.

you cannot format a drive that has windows protected files or system files on it while in windows. If you boot to a winpe disk or dos boot disk, then you can do whatever you want.
Click to expand...

hmmm interesting.

I will be using the windows XP bootable setup disk for my new install. I am going to be upgrading my mobo + video card.

When I get to the part where it shows all my partitions, do I just choose "install XP on this partition" or should I delete the partition first?

Does the install program reformat the entire partition if I choose "install XP on this partition" or do I need to delete the partition, then recreate it?

Thanks!
 
its pretty easy as i recall just try it.

Does the install program reformat the entire partition if I choose "install XP on this partition" or do I need to delete the partition, then recreate it?

yes,most likely
 
boredguyatcomp said:
its pretty easy as i recall just try it.

Does the install program reformat the entire partition if I choose "install XP on this partition" or do I need to delete the partition, then recreate it?

yes,most likely
Click to expand...

ok.

I'll be backing up everything on my C partition anyways, so hopefully it won't be a problem.

Thanks for the help!
 
if you use the XP cd to install, you'll get the option to have your way with whatever drive you want. If you want to install to C:, then it will give you the option to format the partition and what filesystem to use, or to just leave the filesystem and contents intact and just install xp. If you want to delete a partition, you can do that also and create new ones in it's place.

It's very straightforward to use.
 
nst6563 said:
if you use the XP cd to install, you'll get the option to have your way with whatever drive you want. If you want to install to C:, then it will give you the option to format the partition and what filesystem to use, or to just leave the filesystem and contents intact and just install xp. If you want to delete a partition, you can do that also and create new ones in it's place.

It's very straightforward to use.
Click to expand...

Again, thanks for the help. I appreciate it.

I'm getting all my parts today, so I'll update how the format went.
 
Yeah, make sure you format the partition before installing, it doesn't do it automatically and it's easy to miss. I made that mistake once :rolleyes:
 
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