Reformatting a drive

[Gumption]

Hi Guys,

Had a back-up mishap which filled my D-drive to capacity. Was hoping to redo that by reformatting. I sorta already know how. Question is, will it affect my C drive at all?

Would appreciate the help. Thanks

 

[caperjack]

hi a format will remove any and all files on the hdd including Windows ,everything it will be empty and you will need to star over with a new install of windows

 

[Gumption]

A little dense about computers. Just want to make sure I understand. So I would need to re-install Windows even if what I want to reformat is just my D drive?

 

[caperjack]

A little dense about computers. Just want to make sure I understand. So I would need to re-install Windows even if what I want to reformat is just my D drive?

nope ,sorry i missed that ,so D: is a seperate drive from your C:\ drive , correct ,and you have windows install on C :\ then formatting D:\ will not affect windows .

 

[Gumption]

That's a relief! Means I won't have to actually re-install Windows. Thanks so much!

 

[DocBrown]

Could you post a screen snip of Disk Management so we can be sure of your C: & D: drives

:ar: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...nt-post-screen-capture-image.html#post2261644

 

[AddRAM]

Marty !!!!

Been to Pheonix , dam it must be nice now, snow on the ground here, Sucks

 

[Gumption]

Sure thing. Here you go.

 

[DocBrown]

That pic almost looks like a manufacturers recovery partition on your hard drive.

When you did your backup, did you set it to backup to the rather small D: drive ?


Edit:

rb: Start :ar: Computer Management :ar: Disk Management
Maximize to full screen
Take a Snip of it with the Snipping Tool, Save snip, then upload the snip here in your post.

 

[ESL]

Sure thing. Here you go.

That's not disk management. That's My Computer.

 

[caperjack]

Sure thing. Here you go.

That's not disk management. That's My Computer.

it sure is but it shows enough ,and it looks like DocBrown is correct ,it looks like the recovery partition , open D;\ and post a picture of it open ,looks like it would be better to delete the files from the bad back up than format the d:\, if you format it you will not be able to run factory recovery when something goes wrong with windows

and i will be more careful when telling someone its ok to format a drive with out checking first ,i should have known better i have been doing this for years now ,sorry

 

[Gumption]

Dense, I tell you. Hahaha. Take 2.

 

[Gumption]

@DocBrown Did exactly that. Stored my back up in D

 

[gregrocker]

Looks like you've ruined your Recovery Partition. If you haven't already made your Recovery disks then try now making them from whatever Recovery link you have in Start>All Programs. If you'll tell us the brand PC we can help you with that. You might also be able to restore it by moving all of your personal files out of it so it has enough empty space to run from boot or when triggered from All Programs, or to make your Recov disk.

If not then if you have made your disks or you don't want Recovery anyway you might as well delete both the D and OEM partition - unless it's Dell or HP and the bootable Diagnostics will still run via the ESC (HP) or F12 (Dell) key at boot. Try them now.

You can delete D in Disk Mgmt http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2668-partition-volume-delete.html,

but will need to delete OEM using Delete and Remove to Unlock EISA Hidden Recovery or Diagnostic Partition in Vista « My Digital Life.

Then you can create a storage partition in the joint space using http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2674-partition-volume-create-new.html. But remember that its safest to back up your files and a Win7 backup image externally in case of HD failure, or to the cloud like this: http://www.sevenforums.com/backup-r...re-your-files-cloud-skydrive.html#post2269172

Also be aware that the factory preinstall of Win7 is corrupted by the bloatware and duplicate utilties so I would strongly suggest you do what other tech enthusiasts do to http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164. At the minimum I'd http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219576-clean-up-factory-bloatware.html

 

[DocBrown]

Open & Explore D:

See if you can give us a screen snip of the Folders & Files that show up. Use the details listing that shows date & time of each folder & file

 

[Gumption]

I think I'll try deleting only 'cause it's the simplest. The rest is a bit confusing...Doing it now

 

[gregrocker]

So you don't know your PC brand?

Have you made your Recovery Disks? If not your options if you delete will be to order them from Tech Support if you want to ever run Factory Recovery, or do the superior http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164.

If your PC isnt' Dell or HP which still have bootable diagnostics, then the OEM partition is wasted space you could be using.

Got gumption to work with us to sort this out?

 

[DocBrown]

I was thinking you might only have to delete the latest & largest Backup files

 

[Gumption]

@Gregrocker Well if you put it that way. Sure, I'll wade through the tech jargon. So I need to create a back-up, right? Btw, I have a Lenovo

@DocBrown I think the deletion worked. But not sure.

 

[AddRAM]

I would delete any and all backups you put on D the Lenovo partition and leave it alone. You should not be storing windows backups on this partition if it is a recovery partition. It`s hard to tell what it is exactly as you have a 14.75 GB oem partition right next to it. Did you create D or was it there when you bought the pc ?