Can an individual partition be reformatted?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alan
  • Start date Start date
A

Alan

I'm about to get a new laptop. My plan is to have a C:\
and D:\ partition. The operating system and programs will
be on C:\. The data will be on D:\

Here is my question: if anything goes wrong on C:\, for
example if I need to re-install Windows, do I only need to
reformat C:\? There will be huge amounts of data on D:\

Regards,
Alan
 
Alan said:
I'm about to get a new laptop. My plan is to have a C:\
and D:\ partition. The operating system and programs will
be on C:\. The data will be on D:\

Here is my question: if anything goes wrong on C:\, for
example if I need to re-install Windows, do I only need to
reformat C:\? There will be huge amounts of data on D:\

Regards,
Alan
Click to expand...


partitions can be formatted on an individual basis, so c:\ can be formatted
independent of d:\.
 
Your idea is very sound, I would go one step further.

Partition 1: C Drive - Windows XP and other Updates only + Swap File - 6Gb
Partition 2: D Drive - Programme Files or Applications [Office, Adobe Acrobat, Anti Virus, MS Project etc] - 6 Gb
Partition 3: E Drive - Data Files - All 'My Documents' + email data + other data created by you - 20-30Gb
Partition 4: F Drive - Backup Information

In Backup Information, get Norton Ghost or Drive Image and create 'image files' of the other drive for backup purposes. These can then be copied off to CD or DVD in manageable volumes.

If ever you have a Windows failure, you can then use Ghost / Drive Image to restore the C Drive and all other 'drives' remain untouched, the system will be restored to full function in less than 1/2 hour - brilliant.

Using Ghost / Drive Image, you do not have to format as a separate phase, the re-image or restore process does that all for you.
 
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