Reformatting and saving data--Preparing for XP

[Razorbacks]

I have Win 2000 on C, tons of mp3's and movies (20 gb) on D. I got in on the Staples deal and got the 80 GB Maxtor and have copied the data I want to save over to the new Maxtor drive (G).
If I were to fdisk c and d, will I still have access to G after installing XP Pro?

 

[Trashman]

"If I were to fdisk c and d, will I still have access to G after installing XP Pro?" ........yes....and to be safe, your best off pulling power connector to the "G" drive before you run fdisk....when done reconnect and do XP install....that way your there is no, "oh my god I fdisk'd the wrong drive".

 

[Buz2b]

your best off pulling power connector to the "G" drive before you run fdisk....when done reconnect and do XP install....that way your there is no, "oh my god I fdisk'd the wrong drive

No more true words have been spoken in a LONG time. Takes a second; saves hours! 😉

 

[stash]

Removing the molex connection is a great idea, but an easier way is to label your partitions before you reinstall, and dont use fdisk.

Right click on each drive in windows explorer and hit rename. Rename your c to WINXP for example...D to MP3s, the new drive to DONTFORMAT or something.

Then boot off your xp cd and you will get to the partitioning screen. You will then see all of those partitions nicely labeled, so you know which ones to delete and which one to leave alone 🙂

 

[Buz2b]

label your partitions before you reinstall

And the hits just keep on rolling! Another good idea!

 

[Razorbacks]

Thank you for the suggestions. I thought I knew the answer when I asked this question....and the ideas from Trashman and STaSh are excellent ones.
I think I'll do both as to avoid the infamous Homer Simpson "DOH!" type of screw up.