How to create a storage location on my windows 7 laptop?

I think your talking about creating a partition for your files, install the fresh OS on the larger partition then copy across? But that’s one hell of a messy way of doing it. Do you not have an external hd you can use to dump everything onto?

this is how you creat a new partition in windows step by step http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000

A partition will work but as @Tobotron said it is a messy way of doing it. I recommend a second hard drive whether it is internal or external.

I have a second hard drive installed internally and automatically backup the entire primary drive on a regular basis. One undeniable fact is that every hard drive will fail, the only question is when.

I suggest an external USB drive They are reasonably inexpensive and can be a great repository for music after you make the transfer.

I do this to all my computers. The only thing ‘messy’ is that sharing that partition in a mixed home network. I have 3 windows 7 systems and two XP systems. In order to share the partition with those XP systems you have to set the folder permissions to share with everyone. If you don’t have a home network at all or don’t have a mixed home network, there is nothing messy about it. I have an external drive too but I use that to back up to. Depends on your comfort level I suppose.

@Daethian it is messy and you won’t find a single IT specialist that does that, partitions arn’t dynamic so there generally speaking fixed in size that’s stupid because what if you need a few more GB, a folder serves all the same purposes of sharing files on your network in EXACTLY the same way minus the fixed size issue.

The OS is making it so easy for you to share via folders so why complicate it and use partitions?

What are the benefits to this long winded approach…none.