Formating my computer... help please.

[liquidicevi]

Didn't exactly know where to post this but...

Hey :)
I'm currently thinking about formatting my hard drives and I am really new to formatting computers. My computer a windows XP system. Anywho my main reasons I'm formatting are 1. To get rid of any lil problems or viruses that may be there and haven't been picked up by virus scanners. 2. Because there are ALOT of useless junk and files hidden around. Especially in my 2nd hard drive.

So yes i have two hard drives. My computer use too only have one hard drive till it was upgraded and another was placed in. My 2nd hard drive still has all the files that were previously there including all the system files that were needed to run it and now I don't know what to remove and not remove. I would guess everything on my C drive would be running the computer but i don't 100% know that. My 2nd drive holds all my files that I'd like to keep and can't reinstall later, like family pictures and ect.

So basically... how do you do this? Would I be able to just right click my C drive then go format? Then install all programs that i need, eg virus protection and ect. Then when i want to format my other drives do I move all my important files to the other drive and then format it? Or should I just burn what I can to a disk and try and do them all at once?

Any guides and help would be greatly appreciated.

[Gunco]

... Would I be able to just right click my C drive then go format? ...
No, that will not work. When you are in Windows it would be a disaster if you suddeny could wipe all the files on the System disk.

The term "formatting" can be confusing becuse it means different things to various people. What you want do do is reinstall Windows, and formatting is just a small step in the whole operation.
You would need a Microsoft XP CD. Here is the procedure explained: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

NB! You would be wise to disconnect the cable to the other disk before you start. Then reconnect it after you are done.


... Then when i want to format my other drives do I move all my important files to the other drive and then format it? ...

This will work. You can format any other disk in Windows.

[mjc]

Actually, Windows won't allow you to format the partition it is running from...as a safety measure.

[Paul Komski]

With the DOS-based windows up to WinME it was necessary to formerly format a partition prior to running setup.

With WinXP and the other NT-based windows formatting can be done beforehand using third party utillities but there is little point since when you run setup you will be given options of where to install and whether or not to reformat. If you choose not to reformat you can end up with a second parallel installation so for clean reinstalls it is best to reformat.

I agree about detaching the storage/backup drive while you do things if you are at all unsure about identifying partitions and drives from setup.