if I reinstall Windows XP on my main drive, is there any chance it would wipe the secondary drive? and with Ghost?

[Kaido]

Okay. So. I have two drives in my computer, primary and secondary. I want to reinstall Windows. I have my files on the secondary hard drive. If I reinstall Windows XP Pro, is there a chance that it would format the second hard drive, without telling me? Would it be better just to unplug it?

Next question. I'll be making a Ghost image of that install, once I get the drivers and whatnot in. Now, when I go to put that Ghost image on the drive from DVDr in the future, will IT wipe the second drive? Or just the primary drive, which is where the OS is installed?

I really don't want to find out the hard way (ie actually doing it and then possibly losing the data). Anyone know exactly what WOULD happen if I did those two things?

 

[BigToque]

The setup will ask you if you want to format the drive that you want to install windows on. As long as you make sure to select the right drive, your data will be safe. If you are unsure about the process, it certainly doesn't hurt to unplug the 2nd drive.

With Ghost, it will ask you where to restore the image so as long as you don't mix up your drives, you will be fine.

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

WinXP setup will ask you to pick which partition, just make sure you pick the right one! (look at size of course).

Ghost asks you what drive is the destination, check your drive sizes and jumpering to be safe.

 

[yihsun]

don't worry, as long as u select the right drive to install ur winxp, ur second drive will remain intact. just in case if after u finish installing winxp and not able to find ur second drive, just go to my computer->manage->disk management and activate ur drive or assign drive letter then it'll work as magic. same for restoring the ghost image, as long as u select ur destination drive right (in ur case the primary drive), no harm will be done to ur secondary drive.

 

[Jiggz]

Not unless you really want to format the primary hdd you can just do a repair installation of XP. Otherwise, you can do what you mention just make sure you do not format or partition the hdd when you re-install.

 

[0roo0roo]

nothing wipes a drive without asking. if you want your ghost image to fit on one dvdr, make sure ur partition isn't that large. i tend to allocate about 8gb for c:. thats about all u need for windows+ main office apps. windows xp (with hibernation off since that makes a giant file on hd) with office apps generally compresses down to about 600mb in ghost for me. thats fresh install with drivers/basic aps. keep garbage like games/media off it so u can easily restore images to that c: partition and not worry about shuffling data files around much, just backup of email and docs etc. as for ghost, it can restore a image of a partition to any partition, as long as it fits.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
nothing wipes a drive without asking.

ahhh, that's what I wanted to hear. I can never be too sure with this Windows stuff