The effects of a clean install

When doing an install of Win 7, Does the entire drive get wiped, or just
the C partition? I'm thinking of course of maintaining the recovery
partition.

Dave T.

"Dave T." <> wrote:

>When doing an install of Win 7, Does the entire drive get wiped, or just
>the C partition? I'm thinking of course of maintaining the recovery
>partition.
>
>Dave T.

Problem is: you'll probably wipe the computer's ability to make use of
the recovery partition using its boot manager that you see referenced
when you start the system (Press F? to...).

It's best that you make a complete backup of your drive before doing
anything.

Acronis True Image gets the most votes of confidence, but it will cost
you close to $40 (check newegg.com for the lowest price). That is
money well spent if you use it frequently to maintain an up-to-date
backup of your system.

A newcomer freebie that is getting good press is EASEUS Todo.

Google it.

Did not your PC supplier have a means of creating the recovery disks? most
do.
Since if your drive fails so will your option to use the recovery partition

"Dave T." <> wrote in message
news:h6se1b$8fj$...
> When doing an install of Win 7, Does the entire drive get wiped, or just
> the C partition? I'm thinking of course of maintaining the recovery
> partition.
>
> Dave T.

DL wrote:
> Did not your PC supplier have a means of creating the recovery disks? most
> do.
> Since if your drive fails so will your option to use the recovery partition
>
> "Dave T." <> wrote in message
> news:h6se1b$8fj$...
>> When doing an install of Win 7, Does the entire drive get wiped, or just
>> the C partition? I'm thinking of course of maintaining the recovery
>> partition.
>>
>> Dave T.
>
>
I say again;

When doing an install of Win 7, Does the entire drive get wiped, or just
> the C partition? I'm thinking of course of maintaining the recovery
> partition.

It should not matter whether I have recovery discs (which I do), I'm
curious for an answer to the question. Why? I tested the disc when I
made it, but the next time I put it in the tray, maybe it won't be good.
I want to maintain the recovery partition.

Dave T.

In message <h6skqr$i42$> "Dave T."
<> was claimed to have wrote:

>DL wrote:
>> Did not your PC supplier have a means of creating the recovery disks? most
>> do.
>> Since if your drive fails so will your option to use the recovery partition
>>
>> "Dave T." <> wrote in message
>> news:h6se1b$8fj$...
>>> When doing an install of Win 7, Does the entire drive get wiped, or just
>>> the C partition? I'm thinking of course of maintaining the recovery
>>> partition.
>>>
>>> Dave T.
>>
>>
>I say again;
>
>When doing an install of Win 7, Does the entire drive get wiped, or just
> > the C partition? I'm thinking of course of maintaining the recovery
> > partition.
>
>It should not matter whether I have recovery discs (which I do), I'm
>curious for an answer to the question. Why? I tested the disc when I
>made it, but the next time I put it in the tray, maybe it won't be good.
>I want to maintain the recovery partition.

You can choose to upgrade, or to do a Custom install. If you do a
Custom install then the entire *partition* gets wiped.

However, the other's comments are very relevant in that even if the
recovery partition is left intact, if it requires a special bootloader
then it may not be usable.

Note that only some recovery partitions use odd bootloaders, others are
accessible from the BIOS directly, so this may not be an issue.

Dave Warren wrote:
> In message <h6skqr$i42$> "Dave T."
> <> was claimed to have wrote:
>
>> DL wrote:
>>> Did not your PC supplier have a means of creating the recovery disks? most
>>> do.
>>> Since if your drive fails so will your option to use the recovery partition
>>>
>>> "Dave T." <> wrote in message
>>> news:h6se1b$8fj$...
>>>> When doing an install of Win 7, Does the entire drive get wiped, or just
>>>> the C partition? I'm thinking of course of maintaining the recovery
>>>> partition.
>>>>
>>>> Dave T.
>>>
>> I say again;
>>
>> When doing an install of Win 7, Does the entire drive get wiped, or just
>>> the C partition? I'm thinking of course of maintaining the recovery
>>> partition.
>> It should not matter whether I have recovery discs (which I do), I'm
>> curious for an answer to the question. Why? I tested the disc when I
>> made it, but the next time I put it in the tray, maybe it won't be good.
>> I want to maintain the recovery partition.
>
> You can choose to upgrade, or to do a Custom install. If you do a
> Custom install then the entire *partition* gets wiped.
>
> However, the other's comments are very relevant in that even if the
> recovery partition is left intact, if it requires a special bootloader
> then it may not be usable.
>
> Note that only some recovery partitions use odd bootloaders, others are
> accessible from the BIOS directly, so this may not be an issue.

Dave, thanks for the info. I have a better understanding of it now. How
can I determine whether or not the recovery partition is accessable from
the BIOS? It is my intention to test Win 7 to decide whether or not I
want to upgrade, and then revert back to Vista.

When you install Win 7, it will only install on the C: drive and will
asked to be wiped out before installation. The other partitions
including the recovery partition will not be touched unless you delete
them.


--
bruce2

If you find some one's post helpful, please click the scales to give
rep.

Hi,

In nearly all cases, the bootloader on the drive is modified by the
manufacturer so that the user can access the recovery volume on demand. This
has nothing to do with the system BIOS. If you install another OS, the boot
sector will be modified by it and you will no longer have access to the
recovery volume. Should you ever need to use it, you will need to contact
the manufacturer for assistance (and likely have to pay for it) as the
method of getting access back varies greatly.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
Vote for my shoe: http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"Dave T." <> wrote in message
news:h6sm1s$qde$...
> Dave Warren wrote:
>> In message <h6skqr$i42$> "Dave T."
>> <> was claimed to have wrote:
>>
>>> DL wrote:
>>>> Did not your PC supplier have a means of creating the recovery disks?
>>>> most do.
>>>> Since if your drive fails so will your option to use the recovery
>>>> partition
>>>>
>>>> "Dave T." <> wrote in message
>>>> news:h6se1b$8fj$...
>>>>> When doing an install of Win 7, Does the entire drive get wiped, or
>>>>> just the C partition? I'm thinking of course of maintaining the
>>>>> recovery partition.
>>>>>
>>>>> Dave T.
>>>>
>>> I say again;
>>>
>>> When doing an install of Win 7, Does the entire drive get wiped, or just
>>>> the C partition? I'm thinking of course of maintaining the recovery
>>>> partition.
>>> It should not matter whether I have recovery discs (which I do), I'm
>>> curious for an answer to the question. Why? I tested the disc when I
>>> made it, but the next time I put it in the tray, maybe it won't be good.
>>> I want to maintain the recovery partition.
>>
>> You can choose to upgrade, or to do a Custom install. If you do a
>> Custom install then the entire *partition* gets wiped.
>>
>> However, the other's comments are very relevant in that even if the
>> recovery partition is left intact, if it requires a special bootloader
>> then it may not be usable.
>>
>> Note that only some recovery partitions use odd bootloaders, others are
>> accessible from the BIOS directly, so this may not be an issue.
>
> Dave, thanks for the info. I have a better understanding of it now. How
> can I determine whether or not the recovery partition is accessable from
> the BIOS? It is my intention to test Win 7 to decide whether or not I want
> to upgrade, and then revert back to Vista.

Rick Rogers wrote:
> Hi,
>
> In nearly all cases, the bootloader on the drive is modified by the
> manufacturer so that the user can access the recovery volume on demand.
> This has nothing to do with the system BIOS. If you install another OS,
> the boot sector will be modified by it and you will no longer have
> access to the recovery volume. Should you ever need to use it, you will
> need to contact the manufacturer for assistance (and likely have to pay
> for it) as the method of getting access back varies greatly.
>
Rick,

Understood, and thank you. Does this mean that the recovery disc would
be unusable also?

Dave T.

bruce2 wrote:
> When you install Win 7, it will only install on the C: drive and will
> asked to be wiped out before installation. The other partitions
> including the recovery partition will not be touched unless you delete
> them.
>
>
Thanks for the info Bruce.

Dave T.