Dealing with partitions when performing clean install of Windows 7

Currently my hard drive is divided into 2 sections, C drive and D recovery drive that were created by Dell, when they built my computer. I am planning to do a clean install of Windows 7.

This is probably silly question, but when I install windows, where do I need to download it to, drive C or D? I do not want to save any data; I want to erase everything as I think I have a virus.

If I install Windows in one of the sections, what will happen with the other one? Can I format it alone the way?

Thanks for your help!

 

I'm pretty sure Windows has to be installed on your C drive. Doing so won't do anything to your other partitions or drives. But when reinstalling Windows you'll have the choice of formatting each partition. You may want to create an additional partition to store media files and such so you won't lose them if you ever need to reinstall Windows again.

 

Thanks Demon!
So the recovery drive I have right now is supposed to recover Vista that I currently have installed, correct? So if I install Windows7, there won't be a need for this receovery drive, is that right?

 

In your case, when you install Windows, you can just wipe out all of your partitions, have Windows create a new partition spanning all of your hard drive, and install. Note that, if you go that route, Windows will actually create two partitons, one about 100MB, the other one taking the rest of the hard drive.

 

So are there any important/dangerous things I need to be aware about clean install in general and partitions?
I’m not super savvy, but I’ve done some reading, so I hope I’m ready!

 

^^^ No, not really. And during the installation Windows will ask you which partition(s) you want to install to. You will also have the option to delete (or create) all the partitions and install the OS on one partition, being the entire HDD.

 

If you are purchasing a copy of Win 7 and anticipate selling this computer latter, you might want to consider leaving the D: Recovery Partition as it is. That way when you sell the machine you can restore it to its out of box state using that recovery partition and keep the copy of Windows 7 you bought and use it on some other machine you own.

Gary

 

So I have another question. What is the best way to organize your hard drive?
How much room for the section for OS only (if necessary). How much for recovery drive? Any other sections? Can Windows create all of them as many as I want?

How do I create a new recovery drive for the Win7?