How Do I Format 1 Partition Of A Dual Boot ?

WeekendWarrior · Post by **WeekendWarrior** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 12:00 pm

Hi guys just wondering how do I format c: drive without messing up the d: partition and still have the dual boot working?
Do I copy the boot ini file from c drive on a floppy or something?
also I used the 3rd party utility last time to format it was a Maxtor Diagnostics utility.
Not sure if I can use that to only format one partition or not?
thanks for any info
WW

DocSilly · Post by **DocSilly** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 12:57 pm

What is the current OS setup ?

WeekendWarrior · Post by **WeekendWarrior** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 1:25 pm

Win ME on C: drive and WIN XP on D: drive

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 4:35 pm

If you don't really need to format it, just delete the WINDOWS and PROGRAM FILES folders on the C drive (assuming you're not sharing any app with XP) and delete any other folders on the C drive you don't need.

That's the safest way to go. You can then edit your BOOT.INI file in the root of Drive C and delete the line for Windows ME or just go into the boot settings in XP and specify not to bring up the boot menu.

If you insist on a format. I can tell you how to do it on a dual boot with Win2K. Should work for XP as well since they're so similar.

First make a Ghost image of your C partition in case things go wrong, so you can get back to where you were if this goes badly.

Then make a repair disk in XP. It SHOULD be the same as in 2K (I've never made one in XP). You do it from the backup utility.

Make sure you have your motherboard's hard drive controller drivers ON A FLOPPY (you can't access them off the CD or hard drive).

You can then Fdisk and format the C partition.

Then boot from the XP CD and if you have special drivers for your hard drive controller (you almost certainly will if it's an ATA66/100 controller) you'll need to press a key (F6 I think - it'll tell you this) to load the driver.

You then want to perform a REPAIR instead of an install. In the repair menu checkmark ONLY the first item called something like "Repair Boot sector". Uncheck all other repair options. This will rebuild the WinXP boot sector and files on the C drive.

Hope this helps...

EvilHorace · Post by **EvilHorace** » Tue Jan 22, 2002 12:20 am

You can also do a DOS format of either partition which wipes the whole partition clean. Like "format D :\s" for the D drive partition (my exact lettering may be incorrect as I'm doing it from memory and (try) not doing it often).

DocSilly · Post by **DocSilly** » Tue Jan 22, 2002 8:14 am

Evil, that might work but he would've shot his XP OS doing just this ... cause if ya format C: you also kill the necessary start files that XP (and NT/2000) need to boot the OS.

That's why I asked for his OS setup, already thinking about his setup the way it is, and FP gave the indepth howto that's required.

btw, you only need the "/s" option when you need a bootable empty DOS partition, like when your CDROM isn't bootable via BIOS and you have to use the DOS CD drivers with mscdex.exe ... it's about the only situation I can imagine you need "/s"