Want to reformat 3 partitions ( wich 2 of them are 2 dif OS)But cannot access main OS

[Shuh]

Hello,

I am new here and after searching the Search engine, I didnt find a topic that was close enough to my situation. If I am wrong. Link me the topic and Ill be more than happy to read it.

Note: I have 2 HDDs. HDD1 is split in 2 partitions: C:\ and E:\. HDD2 is: D:\
The 2 OS in question: C:\ winvista ultimate 64bit, E:\ winxp pro (32bit)
D:\ only contains a file containing dif files that contain music/videos/documents/etc.

I purchased a new computer (built in). Installed Windows Vista Ultimate (64bit) on the C:\ and basically my GVA (wich is ATI) had issues with putting the latest drivers (id get error messages, it wouldnt fully install after fixing the error messages, couldnt install new drivers because CCC would not load, etc..) So i finally decided to only install the GVA's CD drivers and let it like that. But than I wanted to cool my card because it was rather hot for nothing.. not insanely hot but not cold enough for me (i wanted to OC) So I start to do the 4850 fan fix thing but I needed to install the latest CCC/Drivers to do it well. So after alot of pain, someone I know told me to run with XP like he did because our cards, hd4870s (from ati) have issues with Vista.. basically ATI cant make drivers that run good on vista... atm.
So since it would fix my first problem also...

...i got myself a Windows XP Pro (wich is 32bit but o well) and I Installed it on E:\
I installed latest drivers, etc just fine. Loved it.
I started to do the 4850 fan fix (its a 4870 but its the same fan fix) and noticed I couldn't do it because I couldn't get the profile file and edit it. Reason? The only way to access it was to go in "drive name":\Users\"user name"\AppData\Local\ATI\ACE\Profiles...
My E:\ , being XP, didn't have Users and etc, so I couldn't edit the right file...


So.. I talked to the same person who works with computers and we came to the conclusion that, since the comp was new and I had done a backup of my stuff from the D:\ drive (music/videos/documents/etc) I should reformat all my drives.

Also, when I installed Vista at first I named the user Felix and computer ShuGamma. When I installed XP I named the user FelixKEK and the computer ShuKEK. Problem is that on XP it only shows FelixKEK if I go in ControlPanel>System. Besides that it will always identify to Felix (without the KEK. So the user from Vista.) Even in Users Account management, the only user is Felix<administrator account ofcourse> (and Guest but its is set as Off). And also the address to go to MyDocuments in XP (E:\) is this: E:\Documents and Settings\Felix\My Documents
So basically it doesn't use the user name that I used when I installed XP, but the one from Vista...(wich I cannot even boot to)...

So I talked to another person who knows alot about computer and we tried to boot to Vista but it didnt work and the program to merge that we wanted to use needed to be run on vista. Why not do that on vista? we thought about it at first but the program able to run on XP and other OSs wasn't supporting vista...

For unknown reasons since I installed XP, I cannot boot from/to vista. I can access C:\ and the 2 others just fine but even when I boot from one of the 2 HDDs (tried the 2 Hdds) from bios ( bios is giving me 3 boot options: 1st physical hdd, dvd, 2nd physical hdd) , it boots to XP.

So, my question is, how can I reformat C:\ (WinVista) E:\ (WinXP) and D:\ (Files) at the same time from E:\ (WinXP). So I can install XP and be on a fresh start.
Or manage my partitions so I can merge Vista and XP and reformat this big partition with the WinXP CD. I think I could do that if I could access Vista (since vista tends to control other OSs on the same system).

Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED,

TY for your time and have a great morning/day/evening/night!

-Shuh

 

[shinybeast]

You can boot off of XP CD, and delete partitions and make new ones from setup. Install XP first, then Vista. If your OK with wiping those partitions and starting over, that would be the way to do it.

 

[gurutech]

C:\Users\Username on Vista is the same as C:\Documents and Settings\Username on XP.

Try editing the file in E:\Documents and Settings\Username\(path/filename) instead....

 

[Shuh]

You can boot off of XP CD, and delete partitions and make new ones from setup. Install XP first, then Vista. If your OK with wiping those partitions and starting over, that would be the way to do it.

I do not wish to install Vista, not until they fix their drivers.
So i just pop the XP CD and than delete partitions, reform them and install XP? You sure it'll erase Vista and start fresh?

C:\Users\Username on Vista is the same as C:\Documents and Settings\Username on XP.

Try editing the file in E:\Documents and Settings\Username\(path/filename) instead....

Already tried it. It doesn't follow the same patch and even when I can access the files, ACE is empty instead of having several documents and the Profile file.
There is no AppData (just Application Data) and when I click that there is no Local or anything near. Only ATI, If i click ATI, theres ACE, but ACE is empty. and yes i have hidden files and computer files showing.
That is why I wanted to reinstall; something went wrong in the install probably.

 

[shinybeast]

Sure, if you delete the Vista partition from XP setup, repartition to your liking and format, then Vista is gone.

 

[Shuh]

Sure, if you delete the Vista partition from XP setup, repartition to your liking and format, then Vista is gone.

To do so, all i need to do is right click the C:\ and click Format to delete the vista partition?
Or must I do something else?

Oh nvm. i get it. in Bios when I install XP. kk