Is it safe to format my HDD now that I've installed Windows to the second HDD?

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borko3fkovix

borko3fkovix

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Jul 24, 2014
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I have bought 2nd HDD's and I've just installed windows to it, but im still using them both in my PC. So would it be safe to format C:\ of my old HDD where my OS was(well still is but im not using it)? If there are some services or something running from there.
Also when i power on my PC it gives me option to chose weather to run Windows 7 or Windows 7(didnt misspell), so if i format it would it delete that option and just run Windows normaly?
 
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Solandri
Be very careful doing this. Most systems still boot off the first hard drive. Windows 7, 8 (and I believe Vista) added the capability for the OS to reside on drives other than the C: drive. But it still needs a small partition on the first hard drive to act as its boostrap.

The best test would be to physically remove the first HDD from the system, and see if you can boot using only the second HDD. If it can't, that means you can format the C: partition on the old drive, but not the C: drive as the old drive still contains files vital to booting your system. If this is the case, try running a repair with the old HDD missing from the system. If you can get the computer into a state where it's bootable with just the new...
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millwright

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Yep, it is probably seeing both installations.

If you just want to Format, just do it in My Computer.

But, As I just notices, you can't see the windows reserve partition in My Computer.

If you go to Administrative tools in control panel, then Computer management/Disk Management, you can delete both partitions, and make 1 new one, then format.

It is only 99MB, But what are you going to do with a 99 MB partition,

I'm stuck with it, because I forgot about it, and would have to wipe all the data to fix it now.
 
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Solandri

Solandri

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Jan 4, 2012
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Be very careful doing this. Most systems still boot off the first hard drive. Windows 7, 8 (and I believe Vista) added the capability for the OS to reside on drives other than the C: drive. But it still needs a small partition on the first hard drive to act as its boostrap.

The best test would be to physically remove the first HDD from the system, and see if you can boot using only the second HDD. If it can't, that means you can format the C: partition on the old drive, but not the C: drive as the old drive still contains files vital to booting your system. If this is the case, try running a repair with the old HDD missing from the system. If you can get the computer into a state where it's bootable with just the new HDD (you may need to change the BIOS to make that drive the first drive), then and only then is it safe to completely wipe the first HDD (not just format C: ).
 
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borko3fkovix

borko3fkovix

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Jul 24, 2014
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For my new C:\ it says in status: Healthy (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition)
And for my old C:\ : Healthy (System, Active, Primary Partiton)
Its kinda bugging me that it doesn't have System in it, so is that good?
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Mar 16, 2013
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For a real determination, disconnect the drive you are thinking of formatting.
Power on, see what happens.
Run it for a day or two.

If all seems OK, then you are fine to format the other one.
If not, then your System Reserved (boot info) still lives on that old drive.
 
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