installation of windows 7 not on drive C

[arielyn]

Hi, i have this problem that while downgrading from windows 7 ultimate to windows xp sp2 i encountered this problem. I used a usb bootable since my dvd drive is broken.

Here's what i did:
1. Reformatted drive C so as to delete windows 7 ultimate.
2. Re partitioned drive C into 2 where i have a previous drive which is drive D as my file drive.
3. Installed windows xp on 1st partitioned as a part of drive C.

as the installation goes my laptop has turned off so i have to repeat the same thing and so i tried it on the 2nd partitioned part of drive c. but i noticed that my drive D turned out to be the drive C now.

After this situation i found it wrong to downgrade my OS so i'm planning to install windows 7 professional. But what should i do now when i have two repartitioned drive with windowx xp (not fully installed since it got error because of downgrade) turns out to be that my laptop doesn't have a running OS.

My questions:
1. What will happen to my drive D that became drive C? will i able to recover my files?
What will happen if i deleted both xp on repartitioned drives? will it became drive C again?
2. Though my drive is not the C anymore, should i continue reformatting? will it not affect my files? (as drive D became the drive c)
3. Will my bootable usb with windows 7 prof. proceed on installing on the other drive? ( i want to prevent it from installing on my drive D that became drive C because i have to recover my files)
4. Is there any other way that i could return the drive d as drive d again as it become the drive c?
5. Is there any configuration for bootable usb that will help me solve the problem?

please help me thanks.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Your explanation is confusing.

If this PC is bootable in its current state, please post a screen shot of Windows Disk Management so we can visualize your partitions rather than rely on your description.

Generally speaking---you can direct a Windows installation to any drive that has sufficient space.

You are best advised to back up whatever data you may have to some other drive before beginning any reinstallation.

 

[gregrocker]

Best to back up your files and start over. You can boot in with your DVD to copy out your files to external USB, or at least make sure they are intact: Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console

If you still want a Dual Boot then follow Method One in this tutorial: Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP, booting XP CD to install first to the first partition, then booting the Windows 7 DVD to install next to the second partition.

If you cannot copy out your data but see it using installer or Paragon rescue disk then boot the XP CD to install to the other partition so you can access your data and copy it into the new XP installation. Then when the second partition is emptied, boot the Windows 7 DVD to install to the second partition.

As long as you boot each installer to install to a partition you select and format, and install XP first, then each will see itself as C when booted and see the other partition as D. This is how Windows 7 is designed when correctly booted to install. But XP is too old to do this on its own so it must be installed first so that it will always claim C.