How to undo a shift+F10 mess up

[Miguel Gutierrez]

Hi
I'm a bit noob at PC stuff so I tried to follow a guide for a clean windows 7 install.
It was going ok till' I started the shift+F10 step, to open a command prompt windows.
I did:
1. dispart [enter]
2. list disk [enter]
3. select disk 0 [enter]
4. clean
- Now I know I should have stopped at number 4. command because that's what I only needed, to clean the disk but i continued as shown in the site due my ignorance on the topic.
5. create partition primary align=1024 [enter]
6. format quick fs=ntfs [enter]
7. assign [enter]
8. active [enter]
9. exit [enter]
10. exit [enter]

Now I only have one local disk (C: ) with 931 GB (1T I think) instead of two local disks, (C: ) and (D: ) which I don't remember how many GB had each one, and I also believe there was a hidden 100 MB partition.
My question is: How can i undo this mess i did? Should i create the (D: ) partition and also the hidden 100MB one? If so, how do I distribute the GB in each (C: ) and (D: ) local disks, knowing that my PC is more dedicated for gaming (if that matters)?

Thank you in advance,
Miguel

 

[Paperdoc]

It all depends on why you want more than one Partition. Some people keep everything in one large Partition, the C: drive. Others prefer to put the OS and app software in the C: drive and have all data files on another drive (Partition). Others prefer to keep just the OS on a smaller C: drive and put everything else on the second Partition. This last is especially useful if you ever run into a corrupted C: drive with a machine that cannot boot the OS. In that case you can wipe ONLY the C: drive (Partition) clean and re-Install Windows on it, leaving all your other stuff on the D: drive (Partition) untouched. You might still have to re-Install the app software, but all your data will be intact.

First, I suspect strongly that you do not need that little 100 MB Partition, It was probably a set of recovery files for a corrupted HDD scenario. Now that you've already wiped that out and plan a new Install, you have no use for them.

Now, if you want a two-Partition plan to keep things separate, you will need to re-do your preparations. You can do it the way you did already via the command prompt, with a few changes. (An easier way follows.) When you get to step 5, do NOT make the new Partition the full size of the HDD. Tell it to make a smaller size - you can judge how large, depending on your planned use. Complete the work and do NOT make a second Partition now. Install Windows there. When you've got that done and working, use Windows' Disk Management tool to Create the second Partition and Format it (probably called jointly Creating a New Simple Volume) in the Unallocated Space still remaining on your HDD. NOW you have your two drives working and can use them.

It may be a bit simpler to let the Windows Install process do that initial work for you. Instead of using Shift-F10 to use the Command Prompt, look for a menu choice to Delete all existing Partitions and then start from the empty HDD. Then tell Install to make the first Partition (on which it will Install Windows) the size you want, not the whole HDD. Later, (as above) when Windows is working, use Disk Management to create the second Partition (drive).

 

[Miguel Gutierrez]

It all depends on why you want more than one Partition. Some people keep everything in one large Partition, the C: drive. Others prefer to put the OS and app software in the C: drive and have all data files on another drive (Partition). Others prefer to keep just the OS on a smaller C: drive and put everything else on the second Partition. This last is especially useful if you ever run into a corrupted C: drive with a machine that cannot boot the OS. In that case you can wipe ONLY the C: drive (Partition) clean and re-Install Windows on it, leaving all your other stuff on the D: drive (Partition) untouched. You might still have to re-Install the app software, but all your data will be intact.

First, I suspect strongly that you do not need that little 100 MB Partition, It was probably a set of recovery files for a corrupted HDD scenario. Now that you've already wiped that out and plan a new Install, you have no use for them.

Now, if you want a two-Partition plan to keep things separate, you will need to re-do your preparations. You can do it the way you did already via the command prompt, with a few changes. (An easier way follows.) When you get to step 5, do NOT make the new Partition the full size of the HDD. Tell it to make a smaller size - you can judge how large, depending on your planned use. Complete the work and do NOT make a second Partition now. Install Windows there. When you've got that done and working, use Windows' Disk Management tool to Create the second Partition and Format it (probably called jointly Creating a New Simple Volume) in the Unallocated Space still remaining on your HDD. NOW you have your two drives working and can use them.

It may be a bit simpler to let the Windows Install process do that initial work for you. Instead of using Shift-F10 to use the Command Prompt, look for a menu choice to Delete all existing Partitions and then start from the empty HDD. Then tell Install to make the first Partition (on which it will Install Windows) the size you want, not the whole HDD. Later, (as above) when Windows is working, use Disk Management to create the second Partition (drive).

Thank you Paperdoc for your help. I'll try to use the information you gave me to re-install again and I'll let you know if I managed to fix it.