need to format, need some help

[lloydi]

Hi guys i need to format my PC to sort out some issues with my broadband, Anyways i have quite a few gig of Mp3 i would like to keep but dont really have the time to burn them all to DVD's, is there a way i can create a new partition and store them there?
then when i format the original partition they will still be on the hdd on the other side of the new windows install?
im running win XP, this is quite urgent so if anyone can help i would really appreciate it, thanks :thumbs

[dodgy_guy]

The only real option you have m8 is to find something like Partition Magic 8.

With this you can resize your original partition, which might take a while depending on how much stuff and free space you have at the moment. After you resize, you will have space at the end of the drive to create a new partition that you can format and then copy your Mp3s etc over to.

Anymore help or if ye have probs finding the software, let me know m8

[lloydi]

thanks for your speedy response mate, downloading that software now :thumbs

will let you know how i get on, see you on the other side

[GedR]

lloydi -

Another alternative for you but only if your drive is formatted to FAT32 (Not NTFS).
Make a folder in the root drive and put the files that you want to keep in this.
Now shut down the system and reboot from an Windows boot floppy, any version will do as long as it has Smartdrv.exe and Deltree.exe on it.
From the command prompt type:

smartrdrv
c:
a:\deltree *.*

Answer (Y)es to all options BUT the folder you want to keep.
This will clear the drive of everything else.
Now reboot from your Windows XP CD and install in the normal way and your files in the saved directory will still be there.

Hope this helps ..... GedR

[b!lly]

would he not be quicker to just burn them to dvd,it cant take that long:whistle

[/dev/null]

Personally whenever I set up a machine for anyone, I always create at LEAST TWO partitions. I keep the c:\ drive for WINDOWS ONLY and then have a d:\ drive with programs/docs etc. I then usually have a large E:\ drive in which they can store mp3's etc.

This is how I have my 120gb windows drive set up:

c: 5gb NTFS WINDOWS ONLY
d: 10gb NTFS PROGRAMS AND DOCUMENTS
e: 100gb NTFS MP3's DOWNLOADED STUFF
f: 5gb FAT32 SHARE FOR LINUX TO WRITE TO

This way if you do ever need to re-install windows (which unfortunately seem quite a lot to me! ) then all you have to do is format the c:\ drive and re-install as normal. Obviously the programs from d:\ may have to be re-instaleld depending on how much of the c:\ drive they use, but it makes things far tidier and less easy to screw up!!

Hope this helps a little.
John

[andyinlondon]

And if you keep a small partition the same size as the c drive at the end of your drive you can keep a ghost copy of your c drve on there and that will give you a really fast recovery if you need to format c.
15mins from format to recovered