Formatting a workstation with 3 HDDs

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plainman007

Well-known member
Since i work on a system which has 3 HDDs.
D:> os, vegas, other programs only.
D:> only raw footage folders.
E:> render and output drive.

There are files on all of these drives at the moment.

But if i wanted to reinstall the OS. Start afresh. Reload OS. Then reinstall all progs. But i dont want my data to get touched. I just want the primary drive to be wiped clean. Then once i reinstall all the progs. I can again start working with my footage etc as it was. Is this possible ?? to only format and start afresh on C: alone while leaving the other physical drives untouched. Amd after reinstalling the os will xp pro recognize the other 2 drives and the data in them as they were ??
 
You listed the same drive twice, I'm assuming that is a mistake. In XP install, you can wipe the partition w/ your previous XP installation on it and format it. Once XP is installed you should be able to see all of your NTFS partitions. I've had issues w/ right before, but once the new XP is installed, you can remove all previous(and unrecognized) ownership from these drives/folders and reassign.
 
Shucks sorry. Thats a mistake your right. I dont understand wat you mean by remove ownership and reassign. Also will all my footage data etc remain untouched ?
 
plainman007 said:
Since i work on a system which has 3 HDDs.
D:> os, vegas, other programs only.
D:> only raw footage folders.
E:> render and output drive.

There are files on all of these drives at the moment.

But if i wanted to reinstall the OS. Start afresh. Reload OS. Then reinstall all progs. But i dont want my data to get touched. I just want the primary drive to be wiped clean. Then once i reinstall all the progs. I can again start working with my footage etc as it was. Is this possible ?? to only format and start afresh on C: alone while leaving the other physical drives untouched. Amd after reinstalling the os will xp pro recognize the other 2 drives and the data in them as they were ??
Click to expand...

Shouldn't be any problem -- reinstalling Windows will affect only the drive you choose (C:). The rest will be untouched.

To make extra sure, though, just unplug those other drives while you do it.
 
After a fresh installation of the os. Just plugging back the drives will work ? will the new windows install recognize them ??
 
Oh...thanks. Thats a lifesaver. Imagine having to offload all our footage and media onto a temp storage. Thats from 2x250 gb drives :) . Thanks for helping.
 
Just out of educational curiousity. Does the same technique work even with a single partitioned system ?

can the os be reinstalled only on the C: Partition ?
 
When you install Windows, it should detect the partitions and ask you want you want to do. But I've never done it.
 
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