Help ASAP what partition to delete?

[Guest]

Am reformating windows xp on laptop as I write this. Using the info from
michaelstevens website found here. Can't figure out which partition to
delete. Have fat32, should say had as i deleted that one accidently (dog
made me do it-don't ask) and now thats free but have partitioned NTFS file
that's huge. Is that the copy of windows xp that I want to delete? Is it ok
if I delete everything there? Laptop still on waiting for an answer because
I'm petrified I deleted the wrong file and can't get it back. Please help.

 

[jimbo]

Am reformating windows xp on laptop as I write this. Using the info from
michaelstevens website found here. Can't figure out which partition to
delete. Have fat32, should say had as i deleted that one accidently (dog
made me do it-don't ask) and now thats free but have partitioned NTFS file
that's huge. Is that the copy of windows xp that I want to delete? Is it ok
if I delete everything there? Laptop still on waiting for an answer because
I'm petrified I deleted the wrong file and can't get it back. Please help.

What is your intent? Do you plan to do a clean installation of WinXP?
If yes, you need to decide what file system you want to use. FAT32 or
NTFS. Sounds like you had two partitions, one FAT32 and one NTFS. And
if the NTFS partition is "huge", that is your current WinXP
installation. Do you have WinXP CDs or recovery CDs that came with
your laptop? Give us a little more information so we can give you
specific help.

Good luck, jimbo

 

[jg]

need more info

sorry did not read the website but..
otherwise, assuming you have the install CD, you can try go into install
mode, you will be able to see the partition containing the windows
- just don't format or delete, and it will tell you if you got the one with
windows installation.

if you want to play safe, you can use recover mode, assuming the windows
partition is good enough to be recognized by the install CD

 

[Guest]

Yes, doing clean install. I have the cd's that came with the computer, it's
a Dell (which I would NEVER buy again) Is it better if I put windows xp in
NTFS partition? Never did this before, tried doing reinstall and now have 2
copies of windows xp, niether of which work correctly. But I deleted my
fat32 file accidently. Now it just says unpartitioned space. Is that ok?
So if I delete the NTFS I would get the same response, unpartitioned space?
BTW, I had to manually change the BIOS to boot from the cd beofre I could
begin, do I need to change that back when installation is complete or does
windoes xp take care of all that?

 

[Guest]

Have the cd's. What is install and recover modes? Will that get my fat
partition back or doesn't it matter if I have one or not. Sorry, prior to 72
hours ago my computer know how didn't expand past the power button, but I'm
learning. Thanks.

 

[jjab05]

Pls give us a little more information so we can give you
specific help.

JACK

 

[jimbo]

Yes, doing clean install. I have the cd's that came with the computer, it's
a Dell (which I would NEVER buy again) Is it better if I put windows xp in
NTFS partition? Never did this before, tried doing reinstall and now have 2
copies of windows xp, niether of which work correctly. But I deleted my
fat32 file accidently. Now it just says unpartitioned space. Is that ok?
So if I delete the NTFS I would get the same response, unpartitioned space?
BTW, I had to manually change the BIOS to boot from the cd beofre I could
begin, do I need to change that back when installation is complete or does
windoes xp take care of all that?

:

You need to determine if the CDs are restore CDs or WinXP CDs. Most
likely restore but you must find out which before you proceed. If they
are restore CDs just follow the instructions from Dell. It should
restore your laptop to the state it was in when you bought it.

Now about partitions. I don't know why you had a FAT32 partition,
maybe Dell was using it as place to keep information for going back to
a known good configuration. If you deleted the partition, you may need
to create it again. Or the restore CDs may do that for you. A deleted
partition is just dead space on your hard drive.

Most people recommend NTFS for WinXP. The only time you might want
FAT32 is if you had a Win98 or such that you wanted to have access to
the WinXP files.

The most important thing for you to do now is to find out if your CDs
are Dell restore CDs or actual WinXP CDs.

Good luck, jimbo

 

[Guest]

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp
Investigate the above link for more insight..
Hope this can help..
j;-j

 

[jg]

Let see if I can answer at least some of the questions. bear with me:
1.
Install - you could say Load the Windows
Recover, - a process you can go through to repair or recover the Windows

2
most PC can boot from CD without changing BIOS - the moment you power up,
hold down the F8 key you will be then be given a choice


However, for some PC under some situation., change the bios for boot and
then again back to normal is the safer route.

So you should manually change to BIOS setting for boot once you are done
with installing the PC

3 I understand you had only two partition ( looks like you have only two),
one deleted and one NTFS. The deleted will be shown as unpartitioned
space - that definitely has no Windows XP installation. use this to create
and format a new NTFS partition and install windows on it. Since you
mentioned there are data you want to keep in NTFS, this is the safest choice
even if this NTFS partition has the windows installation

Once you have a chance to backup the data ( be sure to note the drive
letter ) after install you can format this drive and reload you data

If need to, keep you data off the PC and do an absolute clean install. how?
this time you wipe out all partitions during install

I assumed the NTFS is Primary partition and the old Fat32 was a Primary
partition not an logical drive. A hard drive (HD) can have up to four
partitions. Primary partition has only one drive assigned to it, Secondary
partition can be subdivided and have one or more logical drives (drive
letters). you can use Google to look up more details (search on
http://www.google.com with "site:Microsoft.com XP partition")

4
NTFS is better for Windows XP - give you more security, better utilization
of large hard drive....etc. again you can search on Google with
"site:Microsoft.com XP NTFS vs fat32" for more details

=============== (finally)
Install vs. recover?

-place CD in drive
-reboot the Laptop ( power on and off if need to or just hold down the Ctrl
key, ALT key and press the Delete key
-follow the prompt
-if you need special storage drivers ( like some PC with SATA or RAID or
with special drive controller), press and hold F6 right away until you see
the message on the bottom of the screen for pressing F6...

- if you want to try recovery mode, watch out for the message of "Press R to
recover"
you will be prompted for password of the administrator ID, one you
login, do
-otherwise eventually you will get to choose where to install windows
- if you choose the existing partition (NTFS), choose not to format. If the
NTFS has the windows installation

Good luck

 

[q_q_anonymous]

are you trying to keep any data you currently have? put it on cd or
disk.

Just delete absolutely everything. it's good.

then install windows fresh.

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

RDP

I haven't come across a Dell in a while, but it seems to me that you may
have deleted your recovery partition.. contact Dell for info on this.. they
are experts in Dell recovery if nothing else..

 

[Michael Stevens]

In

Am reformating windows xp on laptop as I write this. Using the info
from michaelstevens website found here. Can't figure out which
partition to delete. Have fat32, should say had as i deleted that
one accidently (dog made me do it-don't ask) and now thats free but
have partitioned NTFS file that's huge. Is that the copy of windows
xp that I want to delete? Is it ok if I delete everything there?
Laptop still on waiting for an answer because I'm petrified I deleted
the wrong file and can't get it back. Please help.

Most likely it was some form of a system recovery partition. If your intent
is to do a clean install and have your information backed up, you might as
well delete the other partition as well and format the combined space. If
the drive is very large, you might consider creating a partition for XP
around 15 to 20 gig and leave the remainder unallocated to partition after
XP is setup. You can then follow the steps in my Clean install page, or if
you want to freshen the current installation, you could try a repair install
if it is still available.

How to clean install XP.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[q_q_anonymous]

In

Most likely it was some form of a system recovery partition. If your intent
is to do a clean install and have your information backed up, you might as
well delete the other partition as well and format the combined space. If
the drive is very large, you might consider creating a partition for XP
around 15 to 20 gig and leave the remainder unallocated to partition after
XP is setup. You can then follow the steps in my Clean install page, or if
you want to freshen the current installation, you could try a repair install
if it is still available.

How to clean install XP.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

for him, if his data is backed up. I think the simplest instruction is
just keep hitting Enter. He dosen't really know what a partition is.

Those 2 famous links on your site are fantastic and legendary.

I'm glad I read the XPrepairinstall.htm before I tried it. (in Jan
2005)

"Press Enter to start the Windows Setup. To Repair Install, press ENTER
do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery
Console, press R"

I'd never have known that otherwise

luckily your article came up in google as soon as I googled for win xp
repair install

That must've been the first 'annoyance' I ran into with Win XP, i'm
glad i was warned beforehand and the annoyance didn't materialise.

 

[Michael Stevens]

In

for him, if his data is backed up. I think the simplest instruction is
just keep hitting Enter. He dosen't really know what a partition is.

Those 2 famous links on your site are fantastic and legendary.

I'm glad I read the XPrepairinstall.htm before I tried it. (in Jan
2005)

"Press Enter to start the Windows Setup. To Repair Install, press
ENTER do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the
Recovery Console, press R"

I'd never have known that otherwise

luckily your article came up in google as soon as I googled for win xp
repair install

That must've been the first 'annoyance' I ran into with Win XP, i'm
glad i was warned beforehand and the annoyance didn't materialise.

Thanks,
I just wanted o make sure they had their data backed up before performing
any procedure that made changes to their hard drive.
I didn't know the links were legendary! Thanks for the nice complements.
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[coal_brona]

Greetings,


You should mind that even if the file is erased it is still possible to
restore it using data recovery tools. Of them I can pose out Active@
Undelete and Uneraser (DOS). They posses truly mighty algorithm that
never failed me before. I bet they will be able to bring back your
vital files if you happen to erase them.

http://www.active-undelete.com/

http://www.uneraser.com/

 

[Guest]

I have tried all above to try and recover my windowx xp installation and none
are working. I keep getting disk boot error message and keep getting told to
boot from cd and then have to keep repeating the recovery or install process.

Is my hard drive finished? Do I have to reformat and lose everything?
What else can I try? I tried Charlie White's suggestions and those in
Michael stevens links. Is there any other hope?

Thank you...for immediate help!