I'm told I need to do a Clean Install of Home Premium over existng XP Pro and
don't have a realistic solution to backup my second 160 GB HD. Will a clean
install wipe and format my second disk? Can I opt to leave that disk
untouched?

I've read on this forum about disconnecting second drive prior to intall. Is
that a safe way to protect the data

"Ryan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:B017EB3C-3805-4B3D-91B2-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm told I need to do a Clean Install of Home Premium over existng XP Pro
> and
> don't have a realistic solution to backup my second 160 GB HD. Will a
> clean
> install wipe and format my second disk? Can I opt to leave that disk
> untouched?
>
> I've read on this forum about disconnecting second drive prior to intall.
> Is
> that a safe way to protect the data

No it will not touch the second drive.
Disconnect it if you wish.

--

Mike Brannigan

Hi Ryan,

A clean install to a volume on the first drive should leave the second one
untouched, but disconnecting it during the process will pretty much assure
that it's impossible.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"Ryan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:B017EB3C-3805-4B3D-91B2-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm told I need to do a Clean Install of Home Premium over existng XP Pro
> and
> don't have a realistic solution to backup my second 160 GB HD. Will a
> clean
> install wipe and format my second disk? Can I opt to leave that disk
> untouched?
>
> I've read on this forum about disconnecting second drive prior to intall.
> Is
> that a safe way to protect the data

some people inadvertently choose the wrong drive to do a clean install thus
wiping out the backup drive.
If your pretty savvy about this stuff disconnection is not necessary, if not
then disconnect the second hard drive to be safe,
"Ryan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:B017EB3C-3805-4B3D-91B2-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm told I need to do a Clean Install of Home Premium over existng XP Pro
> and
> don't have a realistic solution to backup my second 160 GB HD. Will a
> clean
> install wipe and format my second disk? Can I opt to leave that disk
> untouched?
>
> I've read on this forum about disconnecting second drive prior to intall.
> Is
> that a safe way to protect the data