Is it possible to partition a HD thus...?

[GSTe]

Yesterday my computer went mad as it periodically does, and I had to repair my XP install a bit, boot into windows, copy the info I didn't want to lose, then reformat my HDD and re-install XP.

And the pain this caused me got me to wondering if it's possible to create a partition to install windows onto, then create another larger partition on the same disk that I can then install programmes and games on, so that in the event of XP death (registry corruption, etc) I could just format the Windows partition and re-install to that....

Is this possible? If so, how would I go about it? Thanks for any info

 

[ragekage18]

This is how i have my system set up, when you boot to the XP disk it should give you the option to create a partition. I just created two partitions, and that was it. I dont know how it would work if you needed to reinstall windows on a partition though , sounds logical and is worth a shot. Especially if you have to reinstall windows anyway.

 

[choirbass]

as far as registry issues, theres a decent program called Registry Mechanic that fixes about a dozen different catagories of registry related problems... at the very least, you should use it to run a scan to see just how many errors it actually finds (it can only correct up to 50 though without registering, or possibly just reinstalling, i believe)

http://www.pctools.com/registry-mechanic/download/

 

[Alyarbank]

Yes that will work, but keep in mind that you'll have to re-install your applications if you re-install Windows. You might want to look into Symantec Ghost. If you Ghost your Windows install you can avoid re-installing the apps. The multiple partitions is still a good idea. I prefer to store the user profiles (Data Files) on a separate disk but another partition is almost as good. This will eliminate the need to copy your data before Blasting Windows. It will also make data recovery much easier.
If you go the Ghost route install the programs to the same partition and they will be copied too. Store your user Profile and data to the other partition to keep them safer. If you right click on "My Documents" you can change the path to your data partition and copy your data there.

 

[ragekage18]

sorry double post