SOLVED XP -> 7 - Will my D: (data) drive be OK?

[Wayrest]

I'll be replacing (not upgrading) XP Home (32-bit) with Windows 7 Professional 64-bit soon.

I know I'll lose everything on my C: drive, but what about my D: drive? Will that have to be re-formatted/wiped too? The file system on both drives is NTFS and I appear to have a swap file (virtual memory) on both drives.

I don't have an external drive, so I'm hoping to store vital data from C: on D: while I install Win 7.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Super Sarge]

No it should not be just make sure you install W& on the drive you have XP on. I believe in your case you will have to do a clean install which version of W7 are you getting full upgrade or OEM. Have you checked for compatibility issues with any of your hardware? How old is your computer. Have you checked for compatibility issues with any of your software?
I would recommend running the following
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=1b544e90-7659-4bd9-9e51-2497c146af15

 

[Wayrest]

No it should not be just make sure you install W& on the drive you have XP on. I believe in your case you will have to do a clean install which version of W7 are you getting full upgrade or OEM. Have you checked for compatibility issues with any of your hardware? How old is your computer. Have you checked for compatibility issues with any of your software?
I would recommend running the following
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=1b544e90-7659-4bd9-9e51-2497c146af15

Hi Super Sarge and thanks for the response.

"No it should not be" necessary to wipe the D: drive?

I've ordered the full retail version of 7 Pro (not OEM, not upgrade) so I know that I'll have to wipe (possibly re-format) my C: drive.

All my hardware passes for both Win 7 Pro x64 and XP mode. The only software that is flagged as not compatible is my old version of GIMP, which I hardly use anyway.

I added my system specs after making this post, hopefully they should appear on the left now. The system is about 12-18 months old but should be fine with Win 7. Basically it's Athlon II X4 630, HD 5770, 4 Gb DDR2 800. The oldest h/ware is the SB Audigy LS soundcard that I salvaged from an old PC, but that's shown as Win 7 compatible.

Basically, it just occured to me that the data on my D: drive might not be compatible with Win 7 as some of it (e.g. game saves) was installed under XP.

 

[Elmer BeFuddled]

If your D: drive is hopefully a seperate drive, not partition, to your C: drive, disconnect it until you've installed 7. Two things, your stuff stays safe, you don't accidentally overwrite it.

 

[Wayrest]

If your D: drive is hopefully a seperate drive, not partition, to your C: drive, disconnect it until you've installed 7. Two things, your stuff stays safe, you don't accidentally overwrite it.

Perfect, thanks. Yes, it's a separate physical drive. I'll do as you suggest and disconnect it (physically) while I replace XP with 7.

It's only 'data' that I'll be storing on it, not actual programs apart from games, but I can just re-install those and hopefully still use the old save files.

I must be a geek, I'm actually starting to look forward to the upgrade process and playing around with Win 7.

 

[Super Sarge]

It really is not necessary to disconnect any internal drive but if you feel safer doing that go for it. I would also make sure if you are on a home network that your other machines are up and running when installing W7.
I would also recommend you not have any external USB/Fire-wire devices plugged in during the install.
After install you may or will have to go in to computer managment/disc managent to chage the drive letter on on your CD/DVD as since you will have your second drive disconnected the OS will assign the DVD as your D drive. I have 2 optical drives and I have drive letters Y and Z assigned to them. I have 4 internal drives and the Drives are C D E F my external fire-wire Drives are G and H

 

[davehc]

Why not, if you have the space, create another partition, (minimum 25Gbs, which can later be expanded). You can then leave both D and xp intact. , install Windows 7 which will automatically create a dual boot, and enjoy both until you are satisfied and competent with windows 7.

 

[catilley1092]

That's what I done on my (former) Dell notebook, left Win 2K & XP Pro on there, and created another 35GB partition for Win 7.

Whatever you do, don't destroy your XP Partition until you're 100% satisfied that you no longer want (or need) it. Some hardware (older printers & camera software) doesn't work with Win 7, sometimes there's a workaround, sometimes not.

Canon printers in particular were a common issue when 7 was released, there were numerous threads regarding these printers not working. Thank God, for the most part those threads, in addition to the non stop (which is best?) 32 vs 64, 64 vs 32 ones, were probably making a few around here needing to step away from the computer & take a stiff drink.

Installing Windows Virtual PC w/XP Mode, most software/hardware problems are solved (except games, they run like crap on XP Mode). This was the purpose of XP Mode, to be able to run our apps w/o having to depend on a physical XP install (dual boot setup or separate PC/notebook). You have 7 Pro, so it's free to you.

Good Luck, I believe you'll like Windows 7, and the learning curve isn't bad at all. Usually the ones who has problems are those who are running much older computers (from pre-Vista era) w/no Aero graphics, some also tries to compare Windows 7 to XP, and expects them to be the same (stuck in the last decade). They're not, and if you already haven't, you'll soon see it for yourself. It's really not bad at all.

Windows 7 is the very best OS that MS has produced, you'll see in no time, along with 64 bit computing. You'll now be able to take full advantage of that quad core, 4GB RAM computer.

Best of Luck,
Cat

 

[Wayrest]

2 more helpful responses, thanks.

I have > 600 Gb free on both drives, so making a partition to dual boot is a good idea. I also want to play around with Linux (which I couldn't get to install from an XP-burnd disc, however many burns I tried.) I'm rusty on partitioning etc. but a quick Internet search will fix that.

I only wanted XP mode for when I feel like re-visiting old games, but I'd read that it wasn't always great. A dual boot system will avoid this problem and presumably I can use Macrium Reflect to copy the whole C: drive to the new partition on D: avoiding the hassle of re-installing and setting up XP programs.

I browsed the forums for other useful info last night and saw one of your posts, Cat. I'm very sorry to read about your back problems. I wondered of you'd considered replacing your notebook with a full-sized ATX (not micro-ATX) desktop PC instead of another notebook or laptop. This would make basic maintenance (such as thorough cleaning) and updgrades much easier for you. For example, you mentioned CPU overheating in one post and fitting a decent CPU cooler to an AMD processor would be a doddle in a desktop case, involving no small parts, as the cooler unit clips onto brackets on the CPU socket. I believe that Intel sockets require screws, though. Of course, if you need to carry your computer around with you this isn't such a good idea

Oh and a tip: be very careful when using a household vacuum cleaner on your hardware! I once sucked the MOSFETs off a graphics card (although I had no idea what a MOSFET was at the time) and it was as painful as it sounds ... dead graphics card.

 

[davehc]

" I once sucked the MOSFETs off a graphics card (although I had no idea what a MOSFET "
LOL (Maybe not at the time!)
Another alternative way of finding out about computers!!!!!

 

[catilley1092]

Wayrest, there's an excellent free tool, called MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition (it can be found in the Free Software Database on our forum) that's easy to use. After I installed it & used it just once, my much used GParted disc hit the trash can.

For portability, just use the option to burn a disc of it, and partition away. If you have a spare HDD, this makes for good practice. It's so easy, a child could do it.

I play with Linux too, while it's not my main OS, Mint is good. The single issue that holds back many Linux users is the hardware OEM's (especially much needed items like printers) lack of support. And many of today's users don't care for working with the command line any longer (some doesn't even know what it is), which goes a long way towards using any version of Linux successfully.

Thanks for the concern about my health, I'm getting better, it's an up & down thing that I've dealt with for 6 years now, I still have setbacks, but I do try to maintain a positive outlook on life, keep myself occupied (working with computers are excellent for this, it's as good as meditation for me), and try to get out some. That's the hardest for me, is getting out. Going outdoors is no problem, getting in & out of a car is the killer for me, so I prefer to stay at home.

I hope that you enjoy Win 7, and that you'll hang around some, this is the best Windows forum on the net. There's a lot of good hearted members here, with a lot of combined experience.

Cat