Monday, February 11, 2002		Article

Partitioning hard disk
Vipul Verma

MOST of the users are not aware on how to format the hard disk and make partitions. Normally an average computer user depends on the hardware vendor to format the hard disk and make partitions that is normally considered a difficult task. Formatting and partitioning the hard disk is a simple task involving just a few steps, which can be performed by an average computer user. For understanding the whole gamut of formatting and partitioning all you need to know is about a few basic concepts like bootable disk, primary DOS partition, extended DOS partition. The bootable disk is the one, which you use in case of emergency for booting the operating system and can be created by within the operating system under control panel in the Add/Remove menu. The primary DOS partition is the main partition and is normally represented by C whereas the extended DOS partitions are represented by other partitions like D, E, F etc. The process of formatting and making partitions begins with formatting the hard disk. Even if it is an old hard disk, you will need to format it first and then repartition it by removing the previous partitions. So the first and the basic step is to format the hard disk. If it is a new hard disk, then there would be only one partition and you'll be required to boot your system with a bootable disk. On booting with a bootable disk, all necessary files required to format and partition the hard disk would be copied automatically on the hard disk. Now at the DOS prompt, you will get C: as well as A:. In the next step the actual process of formatting begins where you have to give the format command at A:\ > Format C: and then press enter. This would begin the process of formatting and depending upon the size of the hard disk it will take some time to finish the formatting of the hard disk.

Once the formatting is over, the task of partitioning begins. However before you start with partitioning, you should be sure how many partitions and of what size you intend to create in the process of partitioning. Because partitioning is a process and dependent upon steps previously taken by you thus once you have decided about the size and the number of partitions, you are all set to begin with creating partitions on the hard disk.

To create partitions, first of all on the DOS prompt, give Fdisk command. This will open Fdisk options with four options on your computer screen. Now out of the options available, press 1 (create DOS partition or logical DOS drive) for creating a primary DOS partition first. Here you would be prompted to define the size of the partition, which could be in actual size that is MB or as percentage of the total drive space available. Though it is a matter of convenience yet as far as possible one should use the actual size in MB to create the primary DOS partition for simple reason that it will be of a standard size like 10 GB or 15 GB etc. whereas in case of percentage the size could be something like 8.5 GB, 11.2 GB etc. This step will create the primary DOS partition on your hard disk. Since, you have allotted only a part of the total hard disk capacity to the primary DOS partition thus you'll have to create more partitions on the remaining hard disk space. These partitions would be called extended DOS partitions. However creation of extended DOS partition is slightly different from the primary DOS partition.

Before you proceed further, you must hit 'Esc' key to come out of the menu. Now on the main menu or the Fdisk options screen, choose the option 2 the set active partition. You will need to do this for installing Windows on your computer. Now hit Esc again and then return back to the FDISK option screen. Now choose option 4 for displaying the partition information, as here you will get the exact information about the partitions available and the total space left on your hard disk. This step will help you in deciding the size of other partitions. In the next step hit Esc again and go back to the Fdisk options screen. Now for creating additional partitions, you can either create maximum of three additional primary partitions or you can create an extended partition and multiple logical DOS partitions. The second option is more commonly used for creating additional partitions. So, for creating additional partitions, on the Fdisk option screen choose option 2 to create an extended DOS partition. Once the extended DOS partition is created, you can create logical DOS drives by choosing the option 3. You can create as many partitions you want under this method provided you have space left on your hard disk. The procedure for creating additional partitions would remain same as mentioned above, however for creating the last partition you should use the maximum space remaining on your hard disk to utilize the full capacity of your hard disk. Now you'll be required to reboot the system. Once you have rebooted, you should format each and every partition individually before you proceed with installation of operating system.

This makes the process of formatting and partitioning complete. However if at some later stage you want to tamper the partitioning system defined under the above-mentioned process, then you should not use this procedure as using the basic FDisk option you can lose your data stored in these partitions. In such cases, you can use the software like partition magic for managing the partitions on hard disk.