Hii i have my 40 gb hdd filled. i have 2 os(98 and xp pro) i am a beginner and now i have decided to empty my hdd and install only xp. what are the steps i should do to do it. pls someone tell me. my dealer already partitioned my hdd with c,d,e,f each with 10gb. i want to empty my hdd and want the same partition to be there. what are reqd and what are the cmnds to be performed?
Boot from the OS cd, and then follow the on screen instructions to delete and then install xp on each partition. Easy
Well, not exactly that easy if kk463 (a beginner) doesn't tell it to fdisk the drive first. It sounds like multiple OS systems. When you install the disk it will ask you which partition to install it on. Read the screen carefully. Fdisk the partitions you don't need, then allocate the formatted partition to drive C. Since you have three separate 10 gig partitions (Why someone set it up like that I couldn't tell you!) you will need to fdisk all three of them. After you have only one partition left I would re-format the drive before proceeding with the OS install. I hope you are a little familiar with this! It's not hard, but you may be a little confused in some areas. Hopefully you have another machine to use to let us know your progress or if you have any questions. Before you begin make sure to back up any information you may need. Good luck!
Sounds a bit confusing...but maybe I got what you want to do. If the dealer already partitioned the drive with four partitions, you don't need FDISK. FDISK, even though in DOS format..can drive even the experienced users insane at times...particularly if it's not the latest version...and most don't realize that the NTFS partition in FDISK is called "NON DOS", so they skip right over it, and may also run into problems getting rid of extended or logical drives. XP's setup feature already contains FDISK and you do not need to run it from a floppy anymore. All partitions show up and can be deleted, or added quickly. To install XP on the first partition, simply insert the CD in the drive..boot from it and follow the first few setup screens to install on the first partition. Usually that's by default. Now, if you don't want four partitions, and you're asking to install XP to just one (to get your four 10's back to one 40)...the same screen that asks you which partition you wish to install too, will have the option to delete the other partitions. Just use your arrow keys to select, and follow thru the prompts.
@ Morph416 Thanks for that helpful information. I didn't realize they changed fdisk in XP to "NON DOS". You know what they say, "You can never stay ahead of the game, just try to stay close on their tail!!" Just to verify that I am correct. I can run "NON DOS" at the command prompt to remove partitions in XP?
@kk463 Don't get the information posted confused. The final DOS version of FDISK was released with Windows ME...and supported the deletion of NTFS partitions. However, they were labeled as NON DOS after pressing 4 as your selection. The Windows 2000/XP version of FDISK is now apart of the Windows Setup and recognizes partitions easily so you can manage them better. However, you cannot use either FDISK nor Windows Setup to create anything other than a FAT or NTFS partition. For those enthusiasts that will remain in play with DOS based OSes (95/98/ME) the FDISK version that comes with ME (or even available by download from boot disk sites)...remains the best to use. From NTFS on up, Windows Setup.
