I have a Dell Dimension 4600 with a 120GB hard drive (Maxtor 6Y120M0), and a new second 120GB hard drive in the box that is almost exactly the same drive same manufacturer (a bit newer and faster). I'm also having problems with Windows that a repair reinstallation did not resolve. According to Dell technical support it is time for a clean installation. Although experts exchange says that this is a standard response from technical support: "They have to turn over a certain number of people per day I think if they're working warranty service, so they probably have a rule of thumb of 20 min and then it's "reinstall, reinstall, reinstall." My experience with Dell has been a D- on this, tech support was either incomprehensible, one hung up on me, and they gave me flat out incorrect information regarding the repair install. If any one is totally bored this is the exchange over there about this question: http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Q_21071642.html

I am in fact having what (to me) are serious enough problems to warrant a clean install (to make a long story short: I can't read blank CDs in either my CD-RW or DVD-ROM drive, and everything including a repair reinstall has not worked). By and large Windows is still very well-behaved and functional at this point, and I just did a complete backup of my 70GB of files to 100 CDs this weekend (I can still write to disks with my backup program). So my system is not too hosed, and I have the opportunity to move a little carefully. But I have several questions about this.

This was my plan: install the 2nd hard drive with 3 partitions

• Windows (Small 10GB?) Windows only
• Programs (20-30GB) Programs
• Data (60-70GB Remainder)

The reason for going this route is that I love to try new software, but installing and uninstalling programs make my Windows installations wilt much sooner than most people's. I thought that by having Windows on the boot partition, if I had to reinstall Windows, as now, all I would have to do is reinstall the 1st partition and leave partitions 2 and 3 alone. Then only backup partition #3. But, according to fellows over at experts exchange the setup I had planned will not work well because programs insist on installing part of themselves on the C: drive and so even if I put Windows on one partition, if it fails I will have to reinstall my programs on the 2nd partition anyway. And that there is "almost no reason whatsoever to make a partition unless you are dual booting off of the same hard disk." Do you agree?

Please help me make sure I have the following procedure correct, to add a second drive that will eventually be the master drive. If I follow their advice, and only install 1 partition and scrap the 3 partition idea, the sequence would be as follows:

1. Move the new drive physically into the bay
2. Format the 2nd drive using Windows XP from the first drive
3. Install a **bootable Windows XP Home** on 2nd hard drive  <----***** How do I do this? *****
4. Install programs to 2nd hard drive as time permits over the next week, backing up whatever new data I create
5. Move all data to the new HD
6. Swap master/slave cabling, check to make certain the 2nd drive works well as the primary drive and then
7. Reformat the 1st HD and use it as intended, for backups

Thanks! I appreciate you giving me a reality check about

• the 3 partitions idea
• how to install bootable Windows XP Home on a slave drive?
• whether or not this sequence of steps is the correct one. is there anything missing, or that I should know?