Hello! Sorry if this is in the wrong discussion area.. I wasn't sure where it fit in.
I recently bought a WD Green 1TB Hard Drive for moving some music, photo & video files off my laptop.
I was wondering if when I build my own PC will I be able to install an operating system onto the hard drive along side the files and be able to access them?
Of course... why do you expect problems?
Most people have their user documents on the same physical drive. Even in same partition.
Does windows autoformat the OS partition (don't think so ... but not 100% sure).
It doesn't format the partition with bootmenu... that's for sure.
But files in C:\mydocs for instance are untouched afaik
My fault.
Using the Custom installation option without formatting the hard disk
The Custom option installs a new copy of Windows 7 on the partition you choose. This erases your files, programs, and settings.
Back up any files and settings you want to keep so that you can restore them after the installation is complete. You'll need to reinstall your programs, so make sure you have the installation discs and product keys for the programs you want to use in Windows 7, or setup files for any programs you downloaded from the Internet.
I would use free Partition Wizard to resize the HD's data partition to the right, create a new OS partition on the left which is the fastest part of the HD. This can only be done by a 3rd party disk utility of which PW is the safest and best.
Partition Wizard to Resize Partition - Video Help.
No, unless you explicitly click "format" or just let all to be the default. Don't have an installation handy to take screenshots, but from memory, if you choose "personalize" when asked (instead of just using the defaults), you'll be asked to choose a partition, having the option to create one, format or extend. If you do NOT click format, Windows will just install its files in that partition, leaving everything else intact.
I've done that more than once, and know for a fact that Windows will not compulsively destroy your files, unless you instruct it to do so. Anyway, try that on a VM first to be sure.
Thank you for all the replies! It seems like creating a separate partition is the only safe way to go.
Will I be able to access the saved files from the separate partition from the OS on the other?
Or would all of this be much simpler to wait until the PC is ready and just transfer my files over when it is up and running?
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