How do i reformat my pc? is it safe to do it and will i lose any files if i back it up before i do it?

i have two partitions, C and D, and i wanna bring back my virtual drive which was lost when i messed up my pc before. will reformatting it solve the problem? plus i wanna get rid of the errors that i get lately from my pc.

How do i reformat my pc? is it safe to do it and will i lose any files if i back it up before i do it?
Oh i see what the problem is, yeah i got a C: drive and a D: Drive too!!! and of course, i wanna keep my D: Drive, so you would wanna format your C: Drive. ok, if you are using windows xp, or any version, usually we use professional, pop in your cd, and it will show a screen to creat a partition, you already have two partition, right? so delete your other partioned Drive, in this case its your C: Drive!! so delete that, and creat a new one!!


as u create a new C: Drive, u will still have your D: Drive, because you didnt modify it!! i am gonna do that one day too. dont worry i know, i take a computer repair class, i take two computer trades, and 1 custodial trade over at my occupational school.
Reply:In formatting, I would back up online, or to CDs, or a separate HD.


Format command is in the pull down menu.
Reply:Reformatting erases everything.
Reply:if you are having problems, backup everything to cd/dvd and format the lot (erase every bit of data)


it will mean re-installing your os (opperating system) so the whole process is about an hour (or much longer for vista)


use linux
Reply:If you copy all the data to D: and then re-install you do not lose the D:


The programs will need re-loading as they need to be set up correctly, which copying them will not do.


For the re-install boot from the cd, at the first prompt say install, at the second choose the replace option which will format automatically.
Reply:u can backup ur files to D from C and then format C.. n also the otherway round.. but then for C formating u need to reinstall the operating system once again.. u'll loose ur installed pgms if u do that.. by backing up i meant ur documenst, movies, songs , fotos etc.. not ur installed pgms..