A "generic" answer would be: Yes.
FDisk and Format from the exact version of the Operating
System you plan to use "should" be all you need.
You will need one Primary partition (set active),
and one extended partition with three logical drives in it.
I have found it is better to "guess" how big the first partition
should be and then double it...
But it all depends on your use, and programs you plan to
install. If "other programs" will install on a drive other than
"C", that is a plus for making "C" smaller...
Don't count on it though.
It also makes a difference what the "other partitions" are
going to be used for. Do you need "blocks" of space in
multiples of 700M, for example, or are you just storing data
files on them.
This also gets into areas concerning efficiency and
"slack/waste" and average file sizes.
Note that there are various limitations in this area for each
of the different "components" including the OS and the BIOS.
Western Digital and Maxtor have various "White Papers" on their
WEB sites that go into this in much greater detail that I could
(or would) here.
DiskManager, EZDrive, and DiscWizard(?), (any Dynamic Drive
Overlay), are ONLY fine IF you need them and must use them.
They are also the easiest, cheapest, and fastest.
When a drive "CONTROLLED BY" one of the above starts having
trouble, it is MUCH more difficult to get it "out of trouble", (if it is
possible at all).
Note that some "utility type" programs will not work properly
(if at all) on a drive set-up with these types of third party partitioning
software products. (Ghost, Take Two, etc...)
The "quality" of any answer you get "might" be severely
impacted by not saying what OS you plan on using, your
intended use, and/or the size of the drive in question.
"Quality" being a matter of how the answer would relate
to what you are doing as opposed to what we assume or
guess you are doing...
(Please do not list all your programs in a follow-up post,
you need to figure out some of this for yourself.)
Hope this helps. Rick Glazier
----- Original Message -----
From: "Demetri Kolokotronis" <[log in to unmask]>
> I have just assembled a new computer and want to install an OS. I have
> formatted and installed new OS before, so that is not a problem, but this
> time I want to install multiple partitions.
>
> I checked several partition managers, but they seemed more complex than I
> need, multi OS, up to 200 partitions, etc. I will use one OS, and will
> not need more than four partitions.
>
> Will FDISK, Format commands take care of my needs, or do I need to know
> or use something else? Is there a limit on size of partitions using
> FDISK? I have some hard drive manufacturers software, such as DiskManager
> and DiscWizard. Better to use one of those?
>
> How do I know how large a partition to leave for OS?
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