Formatting

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There has got to be an easy way to delete everything from my C drive without
losing the XP operating system. How?
 
Carcare said:
There has got to be an easy way to delete everything from my C drive
without
losing the XP operating system. How?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why you think that there would be an easy way to do this, as it
is potentially highly dangerous.

You are, of course, asking how to delete all user data, which is something
people normally want to *protect against*.

If you want to lose all your personal data files, create a new user account,
switch to it, then delete your old account, telling it to delete all its
files. This will cause the destruction of all data related to your
account.

If you want to also uninstall applications, go to Control Panel, Add/Remove
Programs, and delete them.

Finally, empty the recycle bin and then defragment.

You might find that in reference to time and reliablility, you're better off
booting from the XP CD, running Setup, deleting, re-creating and formattng
the partition, and then installing clean. Be sure to have all the driver
CDs on hand to install as soon as the XP install is complete.

In terms of a "system recovery" concept, this is usually done with imaging
software. A basic system is set up, and then an image is created of that
drive. Some sort of boot and install routine is added to allow the user
some control over the system recovery.

HTH
-pk
 
Carcare said:
There has got to be an easy way to delete everything from my C drive
without
losing the XP operating system. How?
Click to expand...

If your OS is on the C drive and if you delete everything on the C
drive, there's no way *not* to lose the OS!

What is it you want to do specifically?
 
There has got to be an easy way to delete everything from my C drive without
losing the XP operating system. How?
Click to expand...



First, "everything" includes the operating system, so you certainly
can't literally do as you say.

Second, if you mean everything except Windows, you can't even do that
easily, because Windows has important files and references all over
the place. Even if you succeeded, the result would be a lot of
problems

Third, your subject line says "Formatting." When you format, you
remove *everything* on the drive, and that includes Windows.

Fourth, the normal way to get rid of everything except the operating
system would be to reformat the drive and then reinstall Windows.

Exactly what are you trying to accomplish and why?
 
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