Well, ive been running into some driver related troubles since i got my new PSU running, which i have to say is doing the job very well. I cant get to my second hard drive, and i cant burn cd/dvd, but i am going to format and re-install windows, so i figured my best bet for backup would be to create a small (10-20gb) partition on my 200gb drive that ill be installing to. ive got norton partition magic 8, and i figured that i could split the drive up, then when i booted from the windows install cd, i could select the ~180gb partition, format that, install windows, and leave my small backup paritition intact from which to retrieve important stuff post-install. then, i could just use partition magic again to get rid of it, or ive also got a copy of windows 64-bit that i might throw on there just for the sake of curiosity. does this sound like a legitimate strategy?

So you want to install windows on the big partition?

That's a bit backward. First of all, you don't need partition magic to do anything...when you install windows you can create the windows install partition (actually, you have to) and make it any size you want, above some small minimum and up to the size of the drive.

I would reccomend making a 10-20 gig partition for windows, and then, once windows is installed, to use the windows disk manager to create and format the remaining space into a large D:\ partition where all your stuff will go.

well i want to do a clean install, with a full format of the big partition before i install windows on it... the little drive is just for saving documents/maya work/photoshop stuff.

so i would want it created before i booted from the windows cd...

or are you saying that i shouldn't format anything the first time around, just make the new partition, put windows on it, load up that windows, back up what i have to, then format the big partition? so would i need to stick with the partition after im all set formatting and such?

i think you are better off saving the data on to a completely different drive/DVD for now and then completely format the drive as per your requirements

read my first post... i cannot access my second HDD or my cd/dvd writer, hence all the fuss in the first place.

stick the drive in your friends computer and do it

well, i lack a legit Windows XP cd, and i lack my motherboard critical drivers cd, both of which i just sent away for. i went thru some bad times earlier today trying to get this thing to work... at one point i had to install USB root drivers using only the keyboard but ive managed to settle her down a bit, and im actually able to use all my programs now that SP2 is installed... magically brought office 2003 back to life from the errored dead. so now im huddling in safe mode, praying that all stays intact as it is now until i get the proper equipment for a good, wholesome format/re-install. luckily ive got my internet connection, so between gmail, the weather forecast, and dieselstation, i should be able to rough it out.

Why can't you just download all the drivers necessary? If you know what components you have, then it's not too hard. And they Intel have a chipset ID utility if you don't know it, and I think they have it for the nForce ones as well if you need.

Like some others said about creating a windows partition, I've always hated doing that just because it gets to be a pain when installing stuff, because you're always switching it over to drive D or whatever. And when I reinstall I like to wipe everything clean. One thing I do partition though is my music, as and I've set aside about 60GB for that so I don't lose it.

you can get external hard drive enclosures which allow you to turn your internal HDD into an external. I got the one in the link for 30 bucks and put an old 160gb HDD in there, works flawlessly.

You might also do like Duke said and have a friend help you out. See if he/she will let you insert your other HDD and use a LAN to transfer your files.

Personally I think partitioning out a drive is more trouble than it's worth



Another link to even more enclosures

Ive got a friend in the dorm who is getting a 160gb external drive in the mail in the next week or so, so hes gonna let me borrow it to back up on when i format and re-install.

well computers just wouldnt be fun if there wasn't always a creative (and sometimes ridiculous) solution the problems we encounter. when scrolling through my gmail, i noticed that i had signed up to be part of the customer preview program for windows XP 64-bit. well it just so happens that i have an AMD Athlon 64, and a need for a licensed operating system... so i downloaded the 450mb file (at 800kbps ), used partition magic to divide my 200gb SATA drive into 2 partitions, and i am reporting to you live from the latest build of windows XP 64-bit edition. still collecting 64 bit drivers for all my devices, but so far things are working out quite nicely. there is a windows XP pro disk shipping from the microsoft retail training website for $12 (w00t), but it most likely wont arrive until after i return home from school (mid april), so... this is my substitute for now. i am back up and running so i can finally get some quality forum time again.

windows XP 64-bit edition does it look any different, or is it exactly the same aside from 32 vs. 64?