Clean WIN2K Install While Preserving Data on Second Non-boot 160 GB Drive

[Ian S.]

I have set up a PC with a 40 GB WD main/boot drive and a 160 GB second WD
drive for video editing. I initially installed WIN2k with the SP4 update to
allow it to see the full capacity of the 160 gb drive. Now I have a
significant video project on the second drive but have run into problems
with the win2k installation and NAV 2004 on the main drive and want to
reformat the main drive and start over with a clean win2k installation.
However, I want to leave my second drive as is with the project intact.
Clearly, I will have to install the SP4 for win2k once I am up and running.
Also of course I will have to set the appropriate registry key so that the
new win2k install can see >137 gb. Is it safe to assume that the
installation, updates and registry tweak on the main drive will not affect
the status of the second drive until such point as the system is capable of
seeing its full 160 GB? Or should I physically disconnect the second drive
connector so the system is not even aware of its existence until such time
as the system is ready to recognize the larger drive. I obviously don't want
to risk corruption of my video data while I'm getting the fresh WIN2K
install up to speed. TIA

 

[DL]

Depending on Norton prob, it is usually reccommended, by Symantec, to
uninstall then follow instructions on their site to manually remove all
files/reg entries.
The MPV posts I've read have stated that if a drive is formatted/data
written prior to enabling 'bigLba' it should be reformatted once 'bigLba' is
enabled, to prevent 'any possibility' of a data problem.
In yr case there would'nt appear to be a problem. However if you disconected
drive you would be doubly sure that nothing got written to it.
David

 

[Ian S.]

Depending on Norton prob, it is usually reccommended, by Symantec, to
uninstall then follow instructions on their site to manually remove all
files/reg entries.
The MPV posts I've read have stated that if a drive is formatted/data
written prior to enabling 'bigLba' it should be reformatted once 'bigLba' is
enabled, to prevent 'any possibility' of a data problem.
In yr case there would'nt appear to be a problem. However if you disconected
drive you would be doubly sure that nothing got written to it.
David

That's kind of what I thought. I think I'll disconnect the HD cable just to
be sure. The NAV problem is interesting - I have got into a situation where
the auto-uninstaller will not allow me to uninstall because it detects a
previous version of NAV which it says has to be uninstalled first. But there
has never been another version on the machine and the uninstaller just
points me to the version I'm trying to remove. I also have a popup every
time I do something that asks for an MSRedist file which is on the NAV CD.
Most annoying and at this point, I'd rather just start fresh but preserving
my video data.