"Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Ou%23yNEp9HHA.4612@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),
> would you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have
> backups of the data on it. By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP,
> doesn't that start it again back at square one with no fragmentation or
> can I just simple not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it?
> Suggestions here please? Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.
>

Sounds like one of those questions where the interrogative is purposely
leaving out important information for a correct answer.

If the mentioned hard drive has existed on the PC before with XP installed
and no problems exist, defrag should work fine.
Dave

"Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Ou%23yNEp9HHA.4612@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),
> would you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have
> backups of the data on it. By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP,
> doesn't that start it again back at square one with no fragmentation or
> can I just simple not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it?
> Suggestions here please? Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.
>

Sounds like one of those questions where the interrogative is purposely
leaving out important information for a correct answer.

If the mentioned hard drive has existed on the PC before with XP installed
and no problems exist, defrag should work fine.
Dave

You're really over-thinking this.

Just run XP's built in defrag and don't worry about it.


"Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Ou%23yNEp9HHA.4612@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),
> would you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have
> backups of the data on it. By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP,
> doesn't that start it again back at square one with no fragmentation or
> can I just simple not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it?
> Suggestions here please? Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.
>

You're really over-thinking this.

Just run XP's built in defrag and don't worry about it.


"Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Ou%23yNEp9HHA.4612@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),
> would you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have
> backups of the data on it. By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP,
> doesn't that start it again back at square one with no fragmentation or
> can I just simple not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it?
> Suggestions here please? Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.
>

You're really over-thinking this.

Just run XP's built in defrag and don't worry about it.


"Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Ou%23yNEp9HHA.4612@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),
> would you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have
> backups of the data on it. By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP,
> doesn't that start it again back at square one with no fragmentation or
> can I just simple not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it?
> Suggestions here please? Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.
>

You're really over-thinking this.

Just run XP's built in defrag and don't worry about it.


"Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Ou%23yNEp9HHA.4612@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),
> would you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have
> backups of the data on it. By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP,
> doesn't that start it again back at square one with no fragmentation or
> can I just simple not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it?
> Suggestions here please? Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.
>

"Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Ou%23yNEp9HHA.4612@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),
> would you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have
> backups of the data on it. By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP,
> doesn't that start it again back at square one with no fragmentation or
> can I just simple not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it?
> Suggestions here please? Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.

Re-installing an OS does not require degfragmenting.
Defragmenting does not require re-installing an OS.

Your question isn't clear.

"Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Ou%23yNEp9HHA.4612@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),
> would you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have
> backups of the data on it. By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP,
> doesn't that start it again back at square one with no fragmentation or
> can I just simple not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it?
> Suggestions here please? Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.

Re-installing an OS does not require degfragmenting.
Defragmenting does not require re-installing an OS.

Your question isn't clear.

"Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Ou%23yNEp9HHA.4612@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),
> would you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have
> backups of the data on it. By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP,
> doesn't that start it again back at square one with no fragmentation or
> can I just simple not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it?
> Suggestions here please? Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.

Re-installing an OS does not require degfragmenting.
Defragmenting does not require re-installing an OS.

Your question isn't clear.

"Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Ou%23yNEp9HHA.4612@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),
> would you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have
> backups of the data on it. By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP,
> doesn't that start it again back at square one with no fragmentation or
> can I just simple not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it?
> Suggestions here please? Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.

Re-installing an OS does not require degfragmenting.
Defragmenting does not require re-installing an OS.

Your question isn't clear.

On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:35:58 -0700, "Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net>
wrote:

> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),


Let me make sure I understand your situation. You have two physical
hard drives, one containing Windows (and possibly other things) and
the second one containing only data. You want to reinstall Windows on
the first hard drive?

Is that correct?



> would
> you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have backups
> of the data on it.


Why would you want to do that? Normally reinstallation of Windows
should have nothing to do with anything independent of Windows on any
other drives.

Since I don't understand why you are even suggesting doing such a
thing, I suspect that I may be misunderstanding your question
entirely. Can you clarify what you are asking, and why you think
wiping this drive *might* be a good idea.



> By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP, doesn't that
> start it again back at square one with no fragmentation


Yes. But what does that have to do with your planned installation of
Windows? You could do the same thing any time you wanted to, without
regard to reinstalling Windows? It's just a slow clumsy way to defrag
the drive.


> or can I just simple
> not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it? Suggestions here please?


Why not simply do a regular defrag, just as you normally might do?


> Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.


By the way, why are you planning on doing this? It's usually a poor
idea, and besides being time-consuming, often gets people into a
variety of problems. If you have having Windows problems, describe
them here. It's likely that one of us can help and a reinstall won't
be necessary.

Also, what does the word "upgrade" in "upgrade/reinstall" mean? You
didn't say anything about an upgrade earlier.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:35:58 -0700, "Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net>
wrote:

> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),


Let me make sure I understand your situation. You have two physical
hard drives, one containing Windows (and possibly other things) and
the second one containing only data. You want to reinstall Windows on
the first hard drive?

Is that correct?



> would
> you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have backups
> of the data on it.


Why would you want to do that? Normally reinstallation of Windows
should have nothing to do with anything independent of Windows on any
other drives.

Since I don't understand why you are even suggesting doing such a
thing, I suspect that I may be misunderstanding your question
entirely. Can you clarify what you are asking, and why you think
wiping this drive *might* be a good idea.



> By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP, doesn't that
> start it again back at square one with no fragmentation


Yes. But what does that have to do with your planned installation of
Windows? You could do the same thing any time you wanted to, without
regard to reinstalling Windows? It's just a slow clumsy way to defrag
the drive.


> or can I just simple
> not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it? Suggestions here please?


Why not simply do a regular defrag, just as you normally might do?


> Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.


By the way, why are you planning on doing this? It's usually a poor
idea, and besides being time-consuming, often gets people into a
variety of problems. If you have having Windows problems, describe
them here. It's likely that one of us can help and a reinstall won't
be necessary.

Also, what does the word "upgrade" in "upgrade/reinstall" mean? You
didn't say anything about an upgrade earlier.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:35:58 -0700, "Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net>
wrote:

> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),


Let me make sure I understand your situation. You have two physical
hard drives, one containing Windows (and possibly other things) and
the second one containing only data. You want to reinstall Windows on
the first hard drive?

Is that correct?



> would
> you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have backups
> of the data on it.


Why would you want to do that? Normally reinstallation of Windows
should have nothing to do with anything independent of Windows on any
other drives.

Since I don't understand why you are even suggesting doing such a
thing, I suspect that I may be misunderstanding your question
entirely. Can you clarify what you are asking, and why you think
wiping this drive *might* be a good idea.



> By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP, doesn't that
> start it again back at square one with no fragmentation


Yes. But what does that have to do with your planned installation of
Windows? You could do the same thing any time you wanted to, without
regard to reinstalling Windows? It's just a slow clumsy way to defrag
the drive.


> or can I just simple
> not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it? Suggestions here please?


Why not simply do a regular defrag, just as you normally might do?


> Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.


By the way, why are you planning on doing this? It's usually a poor
idea, and besides being time-consuming, often gets people into a
variety of problems. If you have having Windows problems, describe
them here. It's likely that one of us can help and a reinstall won't
be necessary.

Also, what does the word "upgrade" in "upgrade/reinstall" mean? You
didn't say anything about an upgrade earlier.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:35:58 -0700, "Mark G." <askmefirst@comcast.net>
wrote:

> If I have a hard drive that is purely for data and no registry or
> applications exist on it but yet I am reinstalling my OS (Win XP Pro),


Let me make sure I understand your situation. You have two physical
hard drives, one containing Windows (and possibly other things) and
the second one containing only data. You want to reinstall Windows on
the first hard drive?

Is that correct?



> would
> you think it is wise to completely wipe this drive provided I have backups
> of the data on it.


Why would you want to do that? Normally reinstallation of Windows
should have nothing to do with anything independent of Windows on any
other drives.

Since I don't understand why you are even suggesting doing such a
thing, I suspect that I may be misunderstanding your question
entirely. Can you clarify what you are asking, and why you think
wiping this drive *might* be a good idea.



> By wiping and formatting it again in Win XP, doesn't that
> start it again back at square one with no fragmentation


Yes. But what does that have to do with your planned installation of
Windows? You could do the same thing any time you wanted to, without
regard to reinstalling Windows? It's just a slow clumsy way to defrag
the drive.


> or can I just simple
> not wipe it and run a deep defrag program on it? Suggestions here please?


Why not simply do a regular defrag, just as you normally might do?


> Plan on starting my upgrade/reinstall tomorrow.


By the way, why are you planning on doing this? It's usually a poor
idea, and besides being time-consuming, often gets people into a
variety of problems. If you have having Windows problems, describe
them here. It's likely that one of us can help and a reinstall won't
be necessary.

Also, what does the word "upgrade" in "upgrade/reinstall" mean? You
didn't say anything about an upgrade earlier.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup