reformat error?

T

tdeath101

New Member
im planning on reformating my computer. 2 partitions and only want to reformat one,but the problem is that the windows xp pro is detecting an I: drive and 5 uknown partions.??? whats wrong:confused:
 
unknown partitions in xp are any partitions that it can't read. Like ext2, ext3, linux swap and so on.
 
If you have nothing currently on the drive previously placed there yourself you want to save off of the drive and never ran or even created a Linux partition needing cfdisk to remove it you could easily have the Pro installer delete the current partitions and create the single primary you are after. Once XP is up and running you simply go into the Administrative Tools\Computer Management sections in the Control Panel to then proceed to the Disk Management icon to open that screen up.

You will readily see all drives listed in an area on the left side of the screen where you simply right click on the unpartitioned area to choose the create new partition option. That goes fast. But if you planning to use the unformatted space for another OS like a Linux distro you would use XP for that. For MS many go with Partition Magic as well as some other partitioning programs. For Linux there are a few utilities for creating partitions suitable there. If you are planning to run a version of Vista on a second partition that installer won't care if the 2nd part is formatted or not. It will take over and reformat it for the new version.
 
but both partions are NTFS even windows recognizes them when i goto diskmgmt in the system32 file. weird could it that Alchol120% (an image loader with 15 virtual drives) might be affecting it?
 
no its not affecting it i just removed the program but still does that very same thing....i have very valueable info in that partition...anyone know how i can save 14.8 gigabytes of information on to something so i can retrieve it back?
 
There's always manual copying through the recovery console that would take forever that way. Slaving the drive to working one for file temp transfers is the more common method. The last option is for those with some familiarity with Linux. One of the best recommended Live distros is the Knoppix Live for dvd or Live for cd iso image burn to disk. This will reaily access NTFS, FAT16+32, and other Linux partitions quite well. And it runs strictly off of the removable disk when booting the system with it. Know someone with a Knoppix or Ubuntu Live version? Have an extra case up and running to slave the drive to another?
 
thats what im planning to do, im gonna use an old 30 gig i have laying around the house and im just gonna pass off the info from the harddrive...i just did it and the files are almost done so i think im good to go.
 
So have you decided on just running a single primary or plan to add a second for storage. On a small drive that gets a little cumbersome however. To backup a 250gb drive here when 185gb boggs things down the bulk will be moved to a second 250gb added to the case. More permanent storage at present is currently on data dvds. Eventually some new type of removable will prove that obselete. But that won't be anytime soon. Now that you retreived the files you wanted have you verified any of them before going ahead with wiping the current partitions? Once those are deleted anything that still needs copying will be lost there. That's why I love data dvds to save 4.2gb of data before any problems come up.
 
With a dual sided dvd type burner you will find the price there up. You also have to use the newer type of disk not the type common in stores at this time. Some models may accept the typical single sided type so there's no confusion there. Eventually for data dvds that would be a consideration here for the large sized as well as large number of files saved to disk. Available for Linux distros as an option to write several cds is the dvd iso images becoming more common to burn a single installation disk rather then going through several cds. Large video files are sometimes a concern here with some getting upto the 13gb mark. For an indepth look into dvd technology here's a few links with their knowledge bases to ask as well as find general facts.
http://www.dvddemystified.com/
http://www.videoflicks.com/Help/10041013.htm?ESID=XUUEUAAVXXCXEVUUUU
http://dvr.about.com/od/dvdrecordableformats/f/faq5.htm
 
There's some good articles out there. But often you have to run an extended to find them. But these can be a big help at times if you get stuck on something.
 
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