can i delete windows

T

thorpef1

New Member
hey guys, im getting a new computer, this computer will be preloaded with windows xp, but i want windows to be installed on another hard drive that i will put in.

this will be confusing to lets sort some things out.
i currently have a 250gb hard drive, no operating system on it, full of data (downloads)
the computer will come with a 500gb hard drive preloaded with windows xp on it.
i want windows on the 250gb hard drive.

can i boot the computer using the 500gb hard drive and have the 250 as a slave. cut and paste all the data from the 250 to the 500. install windows on the 250 gb hard drive, boot from the 250gb drive and once in windows just delete the windows folder(and document and settings) from the 500gb hard drive (since i will not be using that version of windows?

i have been thinking about how to do this for a couple of days now and im not sure if this will work.

so once again i want the operating system on the 250 and data on the 500 but the 500 will come preloaded with windows.

i wil be using XP pro the whole time.

thanks heaps, need to know within the next 2 days as thats when i get my new pc.
Luke
 
Once you add the 250 in you can easily copy files over to the 500gb model as long as it appears as a logical drive. If you presently have enough drive space you can also temporarily unplug the new system's preOSed drive and see a clean install of XP go onto the 250 while leaving the 500gb untouched to avoid warranty problems!

With XP on the 250gb you will still need to see all drivers go on for anything onboard if used as well as chipset/memory controller drivers. Once Windows is all set simply add the 500 back in to see how things go for the system itself. If any return is needed simply remove the 250 leaving the 500 in it's place.
 
yes, thats what i will do, but once i have installed the OS on the 250gb i dont need the OS on the 500. so can i 'delete' the windows folder of the 500?
I can install the OS on it now but i want to format it before i do that coz there is alot of crap on it
 
At first with any warranty you may not want to delete anything already preinstalled so you don't end up voiding anything there. With the 500 unplugged simply install Windows on the 250gb drive and use that as the primary.

Once you are past the warranty period you can back things if not too much is still seen and reformat it or elect to preserve the working copy there. The original Windows and other folders without a ton of things installed for XP doesn't actually use up a great deal of space roughly 1gb or so plus Program Files and DocumentsandSettings foldeers totallig about 1.1gb there plus what programs prepackaged add upto maybe 2gb tops if that.
 
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