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Question

Erase a partition?

Jan 29, 2014 4:33AM PST

Win XP Home Edition: my hard drive is partitioned (C:\ for operating stuff; D:\ for files).

Apparently something has gone amiss with the WinXP; attempting to use the Repair function from the CD always comes to a dead-end when it asks for the administrator password; I am the sole user of the PC and have set up the account reflecting that I am the administrator -- but the Repair function will not accept my password.

Attempting to reload Win XP on the C:\ partition comes up with a disk error message -- typically useless, since it gives no clue whatever how/what/where to find a solution to that message.

When going through the reload Win XP route, it asks if I want to delete/erase that partition. To me that means there would be no remaining C:\ partition available when I attempted to load Win XP again but that my D:\ partition would remain intact. [True / false?]

Q: Is there a way to DELETE THE CONTENTS of the C:\ partition without removing the partition; meaning, I would then have a clean partition into which to load Win XP.

Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Re: erase a partition
Jan 29, 2014 4:40AM PST

Not necessary.

First, the default password in XP for the hidden administrator account (that's NOT the account you created yourself!) is none. So just press enter when asked for it, and see what happens.

That disk error message is serious. Probably it indicates a hardware error, but that isn't really consistent with your next question about deleting and erasing.

For the partition question, answer no when asked if you want to delete it and answer yes when it asks to format it. That's all.

Kees

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Answer
As long as you backup your stuff.
Jan 29, 2014 4:43AM PST

What's to lose? The question about reinstalling any OS and having files remain safe has been asked far too many times and those that do so without backup have declared in bold English font that they are willing to take the risk.

As to deleting what's in C: you can use the step 5 or so to delete the partition and then later tell XP to use the empty space but this is again YOUR CHOICE on backup. Some folk learn this the hard way.

See step 5 at http://www.blackviper.com/os-install-guides/windows-xp-home-install-guide/
"At this point, the options include pressing ENTER to Install on the selected partition, D to Delete the selected partition, or F3 to Quit and reboot the system."

Bob