On Wednesday, November 17, 1999, 8:28 AM, mjd <[log in to unmask]>wrote:


I have read the facts on partitioning a hard drive, how to, etc.  Could
someone tell me why and when you would want to do this?

Thanks.


Mary -- At some point or another in most of our lives, we will face a
situation which calls for a hard disk (the thing inside your computer that
stores all of your data) to be partitioned. Fdisk is a utility that comes
with Windows 95 (as well as older Microsoft operating systems such as older
versions of DOS) but unless
you know what you're doing, it's always a pain. Hopefully, this little fdisk
walk-through will make the process easier for some of you.

Why Should You Partition A Hard Drive?  If you have a new hard disk or
perhaps a new computer system, you need to tell your computer how to divide
up your hard drive. For example, if you have a 2 gigabyte hard drive that
you are putting in an older computer such as an old 486, the computer's BIOS
might not be able to recognize the entire hard drive as a single partition.
Therefore you'll have to partition the hard drive into two or more drives.
Another reason is that some people like to clean out their hard drive and
start over every few months. Yes, there is logic in that--it keeps files
from clogging up your hard drive and
slowing down basic system performance, as well as other reasons. Other
people do it just because they're crazy. :)
Basically, partitioning your hard drive is dividing it up into one or more
major sections. Make sure you understand this, otherwise what you're doing
could be unnecessary.

Warning: BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP
If you delete a partition, all data on that partition will be lost. Don't
bother asking if you can retrieve any of it, because you can't.
Boot Disk --You will want a boot disk. Stick a 3.5 floppy in the floppy
drive and type "format a: /s". Copy a few files--FORMAT.COM, sys.com, and
FDISK.EXE are the most important ones.
Important definitions you want to know...

  Partition: a section of a hard disk.
  Primary partition: a partition that is viewed as a single drive. A hard
disk  can have up to four of these. However, MS-DOS and Windows can only use
one  Primary partition.
  Extended partition: a partition that is not viewed as a separate drive.
These   can be broken down into logical drives. You can only have one of
these on a   hard disk.
  Logical drive: these are "subpartitions". They are held inside of an
extended   partition. These are viewed by the operating system as a separate
drive.

Here's how they work together...
Example: 4 gigabyte hard disk
       c:\   primary partition   1 gig
             extended partition  2 gig
       d:\        logical drive       1 gig
       e:\        logical drive       1 gig
             unused              1 gig

It is important that you understand the functions of these different types
of
partitions.  If you don't mind,  you can surf to this url,
http://members.local.net/~jgo/computers_fdisk.html and get addtional info on
partitioning a hard drive and step-by-step instructions.  HTH. :-)

Walter R. Worth
[log in to unmask]

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