Formating C: and D: (System and Boot Volumes)

[Tyler]

I have one 80GB hard drive that has been partitioned into
two 40GB hard drives. I have installed windows xp on the
C: drive, which is now the system volume, but i recently
encountered problems with my computers ethernet, so i
installed windows on the D: drive so i could reformat the
C:, now my D: drive is the boot volume, and i am unable to
reformat either of these drives. Is there a solution to
this problem?

C: (System Volume)
D: (Boot Volume)
Windows XP Professional doesn't let me reformat either.
If i am unable to reformat these drives, how could i start
over with a blank hard drive and install windows fresh,
preferebly without getting rid of the partitions, if i
have to though that is alright too.

Thanks.

 

[OneEye]

I have one 80GB hard drive that has been partitioned into
two 40GB hard drives. I have installed windows xp on the
C: drive, which is now the system volume, but i recently
encountered problems with my computers ethernet, so i
installed windows on the D: drive so i could reformat the
C:, now my D: drive is the boot volume, and i am unable to
reformat either of these drives. Is there a solution to
this problem?

C: (System Volume)
D: (Boot Volume)
Windows XP Professional doesn't let me reformat either.
If i am unable to reformat these drives, how could i start
over with a blank hard drive and install windows fresh,
preferebly without getting rid of the partitions, if i
have to though that is alright too.

Thanks.

How are you trying to reformat these drives ?
Are you running setup and choosing to format the drive this way or are you
trying to format from within windows ?

 

[Guest]

Changing the System/Boot Drive Letter
Make a full system backup of the computer and system
state.
Log on as an Administrator.
Start Regedt32.exe.
Go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

Click MountedDevices.
On the Security menu, click Permissions.
Check to make sure Administrators have full control.
Change this back when you are finished with these steps.
Quit Regedt32.exe, and then start Regedit.exe.
Go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

Find the drive letter you want to change to (new). Look
for "\DosDevices\C:".
Right-click \DosDevices\C:, and then click Rename.

NOTE: You must use Regedit instead of Regedt32 to rename
this registry key.
Rename it to an unused drive letter "\DosDevices\Z:".
(This will free up drive letter C: to be used later.)
Find the drive letter you want changed. Look
for "\DosDevices\D:".
Right-click \DosDevices\D:, and then click Rename.
Rename it to the appropriate (new) drive
letter "\DosDevices\C:".
Click the value for \DosDevices\Z:, click Rename, and
then name it back to "\DosDevices\D:".
Quit Regedit, and then start Regedt32.
Change the permissions back to the previous setting for
Administrators (this should probably be Read Only).
Restart the computer.

 

[OneEye]

Changing the System/Boot Drive Letter
Make a full system backup of the computer and system
state.
Log on as an Administrator.
Start Regedt32.exe.
Go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

Click MountedDevices.
On the Security menu, click Permissions.
Check to make sure Administrators have full control.
Change this back when you are finished with these steps.
Quit Regedt32.exe, and then start Regedit.exe.
Go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

Find the drive letter you want to change to (new). Look
for "\DosDevices\C:".
Right-click \DosDevices\C:, and then click Rename.

NOTE: You must use Regedit instead of Regedt32 to rename
this registry key.
Rename it to an unused drive letter "\DosDevices\Z:".
(This will free up drive letter C: to be used later.)
Find the drive letter you want changed. Look
for "\DosDevices\D:".
Right-click \DosDevices\D:, and then click Rename.
Rename it to the appropriate (new) drive
letter "\DosDevices\C:".
Click the value for \DosDevices\Z:, click Rename, and
then name it back to "\DosDevices\D:".
Quit Regedit, and then start Regedt32.
Change the permissions back to the previous setting for
Administrators (this should probably be Read Only).
Restart the computer.

Y do u answer your own questions ?

 

[Ron Sommer]

Is your solution going to solve these problems?
C: is marked as the active partition
C: has the boot files for both installations of XP

 

[Michael Stevens]

I have one 80GB hard drive that has been partitioned into
two 40GB hard drives. I have installed windows xp on the
C: drive, which is now the system volume, but i recently
encountered problems with my computers ethernet, so i
installed windows on the D: drive so i could reformat the
C:, now my D: drive is the boot volume, and i am unable to
reformat either of these drives. Is there a solution to
this problem?

C: (System Volume)
D: (Boot Volume)
Windows XP Professional doesn't let me reformat either.
If i am unable to reformat these drives, how could i start
over with a blank hard drive and install windows fresh,
preferebly without getting rid of the partitions, if i
have to though that is alright too.

Thanks.

If you format the C partition, you will lose the ability to boot into XP.
The boot files are located on the C drive, even though your XP is located on
D. Unless you want to clean install your system, the best thing is to delete
the original XP folders from the C drive and edit the boot menu.
See the link below for removing a dual boot.
Click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into the address box
if using the web based newsgroup.
Remove a dual boot.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#Remove
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
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