Reformatting hard drives; will reformatting one affect the other?

[Karmajosn]

I have two 500GB Hard drives connected to my CPU; Local Disks C and E, with the OS installed in Disk C. I plan on reformatting C to update my OS, and so have backed up personal files and game data to drive E.

My question is, does reformatting Drive C affect the data in Drive E? I've read an article saying that some programs may not work after the reformatting process. Is this true? Should I take precautionary measures and back up the most important files on a flash drive or external drive?

 

[USAFRet]

I have two 500GB Hard drives connected to my CPU; Local Disks C and E, with the OS installed in Disk C. I plan on reformatting C to update my OS, and so have backed up personal files and game data to drive E.

My question is, does reformatting Drive C affect the data in Drive E? I've read an article saying that some programs may not work after the reformatting process. Is this true? Should I take precautionary measures and back up the most important files on a flash drive or external drive?

If you're reinstalling the OS as part of this reformatting, have the other drive disconnected during the process.
It will not be affected.

However, if you're doing a full OS reinstall, all of your applications will need to be reinstalled. The new OS will know nothing about them.

 

[mjslakeridge]

If you are reinstalling Windows on the C drive, you don't even need to format it in advance. It will get formatted as part of the installation process. But as said above, disconnect the other drive when installing Windows.

 

[ArtPog]

1. Frankly, it really would be wise for you to provide specific details as to why you plan to format (or as you say, "reformat") your present boot drive in order to "update my OS".

2. Is the reason because you desire a fresh-install of the OS - either the same OS one presently on the HDD, or a different OS?

3. Are there issues/problems affecting the current boot drive that lead you conclude that formatting the drive is the appropriate process at this time?

I raise these questions because it sometimes can help a responder possibly provide one or more options for your consideration in meeting your objective(s).

 

[Karmajosn]

1. Frankly, it really would be wise for you to provide specific details as to why you plan to format (or as you say, "reformat") your present boot drive in order to "update my OS".

2. Is the reason because you desire a fresh-install of the OS - either the same OS one presently on the HDD, or a different OS?

3. Are there issues/problems affecting the current boot drive that lead you conclude that formatting the drive is the appropriate process at this time?

I raise these questions because it sometimes can help a responder possibly provide one or more options for your consideration in meeting your objective(s).

My apologies for not being more specific. To answer each:

1.) I have reason to believe that there may have been a corruption of system files in my current setup. I am running Windows 7 and have recently run into a problem involving dlls that I've tried to solve by downloading the most recent C run times.

2.) I do plan on reinstalling Windows 7 again, in the hopes that it may clear any mishaps in the old system.

3.) I guess the answer here ties back to #1.

Thank you for raising that point, hopefully this does help with the responses.

 

[ArtPog]

Yes it does. Given the circumstances of a corrupt system files situation it makes perfectly good sense to reinstall an OS. I would assume you have taken reasonable steps to ferret out the corruption and possibly preserve the integrity of the system files, including running the sfc /scannow command. But in the final analysis if you're more comfortable in simply reinstalling the OS, that's the way to go.