Windows XP Mess!
Hi - For reasons not worth going into, I have a computer in a mess!
Long & short of it is: It had XP Home on it. That stopped working. Someone has started to install a new copy of XP Pro over the top of it = Big Mess!!!
Most (if not all) of the data is in a seperate partition - but I'm not absolutely sure that nothing has crept into the C partition. I don't think it has but it would be nice to check!
Also, I think, but can't quite remember for sure, that some/all the programs etc are on the D partition, with data on the E partition. So if I reformat it - they'll all need reloading, updating etc etc etc!
The disk is quite big (200GB), but the Asus mobo only sees part of it (about 140GB, I think). If I update the bios it will see all of it - but I haven't done that yet!
There may be some spare space on the HDD within the limits of the current BIOS, but I'm not sure how to check.
So, some Q's:
1 If there is enough space, can I create a new partition and install the XP Pro (or re-install the original XP home) into it. Boot to that to check there's no data in C, then reformat C? If so, how??!! Or is there a better option? And how do I check for space?
2 If I do this, and the programs are on D, do I need to re-load them all, or can I somehow re-register them to the OS?
3 If 1 is not an option due to lack of space, can I update the BIOS and then revert to 1 above?
4 Is there a better way of doing this? What is the best partition arrangement? C: OS, D: Progs, E: Data? Would this make reinstalling the progs easier if I have to do major surgery on the OS again ever?
5 Once all the OS & prog issues are sorted, should I copy the whole lot into a new partition and would that make reinstalling a one step operation?
6 When I talk about reformating, I'm assuming this can be done without damaging the data partition - please confirm!
Sorry there's so much! Thanks for any answers, help, advice etc!
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