question about formatting hard drive

[B_MAN]

i'm currently using a single 500gb hard drive on my computer
however, it has been partitioned using two different labels ( C: and Z: )
C: contains the windows XP install
Z: has yet to be formatted/used
my question is, if i format Z: IN WINDOWS, will it wipe ALL the data on the hard drive clean or just the Z: partition?
because i obviously don't want to reinstall windows or delete any of the existing data on C:
cheers!

 

[giant384]

it will only wipe the partition. your xp install will be fine.

 

[Operational]

The reverse is also true, you can safely reformat and reinstall windows on drive C without losing any data on drive Z. I prefer to have windows on its own partition for this reason.
BTW you might want to move "My Documents" to Z drive if that is were you are planning to keep the majority of your files.

 

[B_MAN]

great thanks for your help guys

i just wanted to be sure