Page 1 of 1

HDD formatting

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 3:49 pm
by 123cool
ok, ill get straight to the point i have a 120GB harddrive which currently has three partitions,

C = win98
D = winXP Pro
E = uniwork(no OS)

i would like to know if its possible to format C then join it back up with D so i only have two partitions instead of the three, and if i can will i lose the data on D?

P.S
the C partition i was using for my old games which where not XP compatible as it turns out i dont play them at all any more so theres no point in it being there, plus ive just ran outta space on my D and E drives :( .

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 4:38 pm
by FlyingPenguin
It's POSSIBLE but VERY complicated and fraught with peril.

Better to keep using the D partition as your WinXP partition and just start using the C partition to install apps and games in. If you have less than 1Gb free on the D drive right now, uninstall some apps and re-install them on the C drive.

YOU DO NOT want to format the C partition!!! Your boot sectors are on the C partition and if you format it, WinXP won't boot.

If you don't want to use the 98 OS anymore then just delete all the folders on that partition BUT DO NOT delete any of the files in the root of the C drive.

You can remove the Win98 OS from the Boot menu by editing the Boot.ini file (do a Google search) or just modify the settings in WinXP to bypass the boot menu and always load the XP OS.

Hope this helps...

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 5:57 pm
by smb
get ahold of Partition Magic. it might make your move to XP a bit easier.