Question:

How to format and reset a dual-boot system with two Windows drives?

I have two drives in my computer, C and D, both with Windows installed. C is my main drive and it is almost full. D is an older drive that I reconnected for extra space. I can boot from either drive, but I want to format D and reset C to start fresh. However, when I try to format D, it says it is in use and I cannot disable it. How can I overcome this issue and erase both drives? I have a Windows installation drive on a thumb drive as a backup.

Answer:

If you have two drives in your computer, both with Windows installed, and you want to format and reset them to start fresh, you may encounter some challenges. One of them is that the drive you want to format may appear to be in use by the system, even if you are not booting from it. This can prevent you from formatting it and resetting your main drive. In this article, we will show you how to overcome this issue and erase both drives using a Windows installation drive on a thumb drive.

Step 1: Create a Windows installation drive on a thumb drive

Before you proceed with formatting and resetting your drives, you need to have a Windows installation drive on a thumb drive. This will allow you to boot from it and access the Windows setup and recovery tools. To create a Windows installation drive on a thumb drive, you need:

• A thumb drive with at least 8 GB of space
• A Windows 10 ISO file, which you can download from [Microsoft’s website](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10)
• A tool to create a bootable thumb drive, such as [Rufus](https://rufus.ie/)

To create a Windows installation drive on a thumb drive, follow these steps:

• Plug the thumb drive into your computer and launch Rufus
• Select the thumb drive as the device and the Windows 10 ISO file as the boot selection
• Click on Start and wait for the process to complete
• Safely eject the thumb drive and keep it handy

Step 2: Boot from the Windows installation drive on a thumb drive

Now that you have a Windows installation drive on a thumb drive, you can boot from it and access the Windows setup and recovery tools. To boot from the Windows installation drive on a thumb drive, follow these steps:

• Turn off your computer and plug the thumb drive into a USB port
• Turn on your computer and press the key to enter the boot menu (usually F12, F10, or Esc, depending on your computer model)
• Select the thumb drive as the boot device and press Enter
• Wait for the Windows logo to appear and then select your language, time, and keyboard preferences
• Click on Next and then on Repair your computer

Step 3: Format and reset your drives

Once you have booted from the Windows installation drive on a thumb drive, you can format and reset your drives using the Windows setup and recovery tools. To format and reset your drives, follow these steps:

• From the Choose an option screen, click on Troubleshoot
• Click on Advanced options and then on Command Prompt
• Type `diskpart` and press Enter to launch the disk partitioning tool
• Type `list disk` and press Enter to see the list of disks connected to your computer
• Identify the disk numbers of your C and D drives (for example, Disk 0 and Disk 1)
• Type `select disk X` and press Enter, where X is the disk number of your D drive
• Type `clean` and press Enter to erase all the partitions and data on your D drive
• Type `exit` and press Enter to exit the disk partitioning tool
• Close the Command Prompt window and click on Continue
• Click on Install now and then on Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)
• Select your C drive as the destination for the Windows installation and click on Next
• Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the Windows installation and setup
• Enjoy your fresh and clean Windows system on your C drive

Conclusion

In

this article, we have shown you how to format and reset a dual-boot system with two Windows drives using a Windows installation drive on a thumb drive. This method can help you overcome the issue of the drive being in use and erase both drives without any complications. We hope you found this article helpful and informative. If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment below.