XP HD Formatting

[Jim]

Had two virtual drives partitioned on one physical drive
with Win98 installed. Installed a second HD then
installed WinXP on second drive formatted to NTFS and
have been using a dual boot option since. Now I want to
rid my original drives of Win98 and reformat the first HD
as NTFS but my knowledge level leaves me nervous about
simply reformatting the HD through XP while 98 is still
installed and the dual boot option active. All data is
off the Win98 drives with exception of Win98 OS. Any
help would be GREATLY appreciated.

TIA
Jim

[Squire]

Jim, there is no simple way to do what you want, unless you start from
scratch, wiping both drives and partitioning and formatting, using the
WindowsXP CD.
You can obtain a 3rd party partition manager, such as Partition Magic or
BootIt NG to do what you want without losing any programs already installed.

--
Jerry

Politicians are like Diapers
They both need to be changed often,
And for the very same reason.

"Jim" > wrote in message
...
> Had two virtual drives partitioned on one physical drive
> with Win98 installed. Installed a second HD then
> installed WinXP on second drive formatted to NTFS and
> have been using a dual boot option since. Now I want to
> rid my original drives of Win98 and reformat the first HD
> as NTFS but my knowledge level leaves me nervous about
> simply reformatting the HD through XP while 98 is still
> installed and the dual boot option active. All data is
> off the Win98 drives with exception of Win98 OS. Any
> help would be GREATLY appreciated.
>
> TIA
> Jim

[Peter]

Hi,

Rick Rogers wrote:

Boot the WinXP system, delete the Win98 system folders
from Windows Explorer.

Then edit boot.ini to eliminate the reference line to it.
To edit boot.ini,
either locate it on the root of the boot partition (you
must be able to view hidden and system files for this) or
edit the startup settings on the advanced tab of system
properties (hit the winkey+pause/break).

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x -
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone -

Hope it helps.

Peter

>-----Original Message-----
>Jim, there is no simple way to do what you want, unless
you start from
>scratch, wiping both drives and partitioning and
formatting, using the
>WindowsXP CD.
>You can obtain a 3rd party partition manager, such as
Partition Magic or
>BootIt NG to do what you want without losing any
programs already installed.
>
>--
>Jerry
>
>Politicians are like Diapers
>They both need to be changed often,
>And for the very same reason.
>
>"Jim" > wrote in message
...
>> Had two virtual drives partitioned on one physical
drive
>> with Win98 installed. Installed a second HD then
>> installed WinXP on second drive formatted to NTFS and
>> have been using a dual boot option since. Now I want
to
>> rid my original drives of Win98 and reformat the first
HD
>> as NTFS but my knowledge level leaves me nervous about
>> simply reformatting the HD through XP while 98 is still
>> installed and the dual boot option active. All data is
>> off the Win98 drives with exception of Win98 OS. Any
>> help would be GREATLY appreciated.
>>
>> TIA
>> Jim
>
>.
>

[Jim]

I agree w/Squire about using a good quality partition management package. I
use BootIt NG (http://www.terabyteunlimited.com) myself, which is the best
multi-boot, partition management, backup software package I've ever seen
(and cheap $35). Partition Magic is great too, but last time I used it
(some 3 years ago, no need anymore since going w/ BootIt NG), it didn't
provide multi-boot features (or else supplied it as a second add-on product,
Boot Magic as I recall), and needed a third package for backup/imaging
(Drive Image). Using almost ANY of these tools will help prevent accidents.
You could, with experience, get things organized using existing tools, but
you're right to be leery if you're not savvy. A lot of the "raw" tools like
fdisk assume you know what you want, how to do it, and what the consequences
are.

Btw, does your XP load as C: now? Or (as I suspect), the Win98 C: partition
shows up while running XP, and XP is seen as D:? I have my reasons for
asking, I might be able to suggest something. In fact, the more specifics
you provide about WHAT partitions you have, their type, plus what the drive
assignments are when each OS loads, and which partitions you see besides the
OS partition, etc,. all of it would help to draw a better picture and thus
better advice.

Jim



"Jim" > wrote in message
...
> Had two virtual drives partitioned on one physical drive
> with Win98 installed. Installed a second HD then
> installed WinXP on second drive formatted to NTFS and
> have been using a dual boot option since. Now I want to
> rid my original drives of Win98 and reformat the first HD
> as NTFS but my knowledge level leaves me nervous about
> simply reformatting the HD through XP while 98 is still
> installed and the dual boot option active. All data is
> off the Win98 drives with exception of Win98 OS. Any
> help would be GREATLY appreciated.
>
> TIA
> Jim

[R. C. White]

Hi, Jim.

By "two virtual drives partitioned on one physical drive", do you mean two
volumes? With two drive letters, perhaps C: and D:? A volume is either a
primary partition or a logical drive in the extended partition, and is often
called a "drive" because it is assigned a "drive" letter and separately
formatted.

It sounds like you have just two problems, neither very hard to solve.

First, to get rid of Win98, just delete its boot folder, probably
C:\Windows - but check to be sure.

Second, to convert C: to NTFS, use WinXP's convert.exe command from the Run
line or a "DOS" prompt. Before you do that, though, open WinXP's Help and
Support file, Search for "convert.exe" and read the instructions. When you
are converting the "system partition" (almost always Drive C:), you will
need to accept the invitation to make the conversion on the next reboot.
See this KB article for more details:
HOW TO: Convert a FAT16 or FAT32 Volume to NTFS in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307881

If you do want to actually repartition and reformat your first HD, leaving
WinXP installed and working on the second HD, then you will have to
re-establish WinXP's "system files" on C: afterward, but that's not too
hard, either. First, boot from your WinXP CD-ROM and have it delete all
partitions on your first HD, then recreate a new partition using the whole
HD and format it NTFS. (It would be safest to temporarily disconnect or
disable your second HD with WinXP and your data, just so that you and WinXP
Setup don't get confused about which HD is which. Voice of Experience!
Then re-enable the second HD.) Boot from the CD-ROM again. This time, tell
it to Repair the copy of WinXP that it will find on the second HD when it
inspects your system. This will let it write the boot sector onto Drive C:
and rewrite its system files into C:\, including C:\boot.ini, which will
again point to WinXP on the second drive. No matter how many drives you
have, or where WinXP is installed, the boot process starts with the first
primary partition on the first physical drive, which is almost always Drive
C:.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP

"Jim" > wrote in message
...
> Had two virtual drives partitioned on one physical drive
> with Win98 installed. Installed a second HD then
> installed WinXP on second drive formatted to NTFS and
> have been using a dual boot option since. Now I want to
> rid my original drives of Win98 and reformat the first HD
> as NTFS but my knowledge level leaves me nervous about
> simply reformatting the HD through XP while 98 is still
> installed and the dual boot option active. All data is
> off the Win98 drives with exception of Win98 OS. Any
> help would be GREATLY appreciated.
>
> TIA
> Jim

[Jim]

RC & Everyone who helped,

I'm afraid I misled everyone with the "virtual drives"
comment. I know _just_ enough to be dangerous. You're
correct in that I have two volumes on the older HD and XP
labeled them C: & E: when I installed it on the new HD.
They were orignally C: & D: and were partitioned when I
bouth the computer originally.

RC, I'll print out your instructions and get on with it.
I appreaciate everyone's help.........knowing me, I may
be back. <g>

Jim

>-----Original Message-----
>Hi, Jim.
>
>By "two virtual drives partitioned on one physical
drive", do you mean two
>volumes? With two drive letters, perhaps C: and D:? A
volume is either a
>primary partition or a logical drive in the extended
partition, and is often
>called a "drive" because it is assigned a "drive" letter
and separately
>formatted.
>
>It sounds like you have just two problems, neither very
hard to solve.
>
>First, to get rid of Win98, just delete its boot folder,
probably
>C:\Windows - but check to be sure.
>
>Second, to convert C: to NTFS, use WinXP's convert.exe
command from the Run
>line or a "DOS" prompt. Before you do that, though,
open WinXP's Help and
>Support file, Search for "convert.exe" and read the
instructions. When you
>are converting the "system partition" (almost always
Drive C:), you will
>need to accept the invitation to make the conversion on
the next reboot.
>See this KB article for more details:
>HOW TO: Convert a FAT16 or FAT32 Volume to NTFS in
Windows XP
>http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307881
>
>If you do want to actually repartition and reformat your
first HD, leaving
>WinXP installed and working on the second HD, then you
will have to
>re-establish WinXP's "system files" on C: afterward, but
that's not too
>hard, either. First, boot from your WinXP CD-ROM and
have it delete all
>partitions on your first HD, then recreate a new
partition using the whole
>HD and format it NTFS. (It would be safest to
temporarily disconnect or
>disable your second HD with WinXP and your data, just so
that you and WinXP
>Setup don't get confused about which HD is which. Voice
of Experience!
>Then re-enable the second HD.) Boot from the CD-ROM
again. This time, tell
>it to Repair the copy of WinXP that it will find on the
second HD when it
>inspects your system. This will let it write the boot
sector onto Drive C:
>and rewrite its system files into C:\, including
C:\boot.ini, which will
>again point to WinXP on the second drive. No matter how
many drives you
>have, or where WinXP is installed, the boot process
starts with the first
>primary partition on the first physical drive, which is
almost always Drive
>C:.
>
>RC
>--
>R. C. White, CPA
>San Marcos, TX

>Microsoft Windows MVP
>
>"Jim" > wrote in message
...
>> Had two virtual drives partitioned on one physical
drive
>> with Win98 installed. Installed a second HD then
>> installed WinXP on second drive formatted to NTFS and
>> have been using a dual boot option since. Now I want
to
>> rid my original drives of Win98 and reformat the first
HD
>> as NTFS but my knowledge level leaves me nervous about
>> simply reformatting the HD through XP while 98 is still
>> installed and the dual boot option active. All data is
>> off the Win98 drives with exception of Win98 OS. Any
>> help would be GREATLY appreciated.
>>
>> TIA
>> Jim
>
>
>.
>