new hard disc drive

[cullster]

i am putting a new hdd in my pc and i was wonering do i have to format it or do i just plug it in and load my new copy of winows in as i am going to xp pro i dont want any of my old files from my old hdd could someone help me please as i am only new to this

[Whyzman]

Welcome tohttp://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif Forums!

You need to initially partition and format your harddrive. You need to partition and set it "active" for the BIOS to know where it hands over its work to in the boot process...

You can have multiple partitions which is usually a good idea today because the harddrives are getting pretty large, but also to separate ones important files from the partition the operating system is loaded onto has definite advantages.

If you decide to reload your OS for whatever reason, you can do so without erasing your important files if you've saved them to another partition.

Windows XP has all the necessary ingredients on the installation disk to both multiple partition and format the partitions. You just need to set your BIOS to attempt to boot first from your CD/DVD drive...

[Whyzman]

Here's some great information on partitioning:

http://partition.radified.com/