Partitioning determines how many drives you will end up with, and how big they are. In the DOS/Windows world, this is done with a program called FDISK.EXE.
Formatting encodes the disk with the information necessary for data to be stored on it: the Master Boot Record and the File Allocation Tables. This is done with a program called FORMAT.COM.
You might think of the process as something like this: you have a very large piece of paper, which you decide to cut into 8.5" x 11" sheets (partitioning); then you add lines and margin rules to each sheet (formatting).
Physical vs Logical drives
Any hard disk may be partitioned as a single large drive, or split into two or more smaller drives. For example, a 10 gigabyte hard disk may be split into three: one 4G drive, and two 3G drives. They will appear as drives C:, D:, and E: (if you have a CD-ROM it will become drive F:). In this case, you have one physical hard disk (drive), but three logical drives. Sound simple enough? Too bad. It isn't always that way. If you have two hard disks, things get complicated (see below).
Primary and Extended Partitions
You must have a primary partition, which is normally the one the operating system (Windows) will boot from. The primary partition may use the entire disk, or only part of it. If the primary partition does not use the entire disk, then you can either leave the rest of the hard disk blank, or you can create an extended partition. The extended partition, in turn, can use up the rest of the hard disk or not, as you wish. So, after creating the primary and extended partitions, you then define logical drives within the extended partition. Finally, in order to be bootable, the primary partition must be made active. In summary, it's a four-step process:
1. Create the Primary partition,using
as much of the hard disk as you wish
2. Make the Primary partition active
(this doesn't have to be step 2)
3. Create an Extended partition, using
as much of the remaining space as you wish (optional)
4. Create a Logical drive (or several),
within the Extended partition
Why would I want to leave part of the hard disk blank?
In case you want to install another
operating system, like Linux, or Windows NT, or something else, and make
a dual boot machine. With NT and Linux, you need to install Windows 95/98
first.
Starting with a new, blank hard disk
You will need a boot disk for your system (see how to create a boot disk)
With your computer off, insert the boot floppy into the floppy disk drive, and turn the machine on. When the machine boots, you will see a command prompt, like this:
A:\>
Type "fdisk" (upper or lower case - it doesn't matter), and press Enter. You will see a screen with a lengthy and nerdy message (see Fig. 1), with a question, to which you answer Y or N; just make sure to choose Y. You will not see this message if you have a hard disk smaller than 512Mb.
Fig. 1
The next screen gives you a list of
options:
Fig. 2
You want to select option 1. Create
DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive.; then you will see the following
screen:
Fig. 3
Again, you want to select option 1. Create Primary DOS Partition.
Next, you will be asked how big you
want the Primary DOS Partition to be. You can specify it in either megabytes,
or a percentage of the total disk space. Personally, I find it easier to
use a percentage figure.
(simulated screen capture)
|
Current fixed disk drive: 1 Total disk space is X* Mbytes (1 Mbyte
= 1048576 bytes)
Enter partition size in Mbytes or percent
of disk space (%) to
Press Esc to return to FDISK options |
You will then see a message at the bottom of the screen about "verifying drive integrity", and a number counting up from 0% to 100%
Then you will see a screen like this:
Create Primary DOS Partition
| Partition | Status | Type | Volume Label | Mbytes | System | Usage |
| C:1 | PriDOS | 3565* | UNKNOWN | 34% |
Primary DOS Partition Created
Press ESC to continue
Partition C:1
That is, drive C:, partition 1.
Status
Whether the partition is active or not; if it were active, there would be an "A" under "Status".
Type
PriDOS means Primary DOS partition. Even in Windows 95/98, FDISK calls it a DOS partition.
Volume Label
This is just a name for the drive. You can give a drive a name, or not, as you wish (see FORMAT).
Mbytes
The size of the drive, in megabytes.
System
What type of File Allocation Table is on the drive. Since this drive is still unformatted, FDISK can't tell yet.
Usage
What percentage of total hard disk space this drive is occupying.
Press Esc until you get back to the main menu (Fig. 2). Choose option 2, Set active partition. There will only be one partition available (C:1). Make it active, and press Esc again to return to the main menu.
At the A:\> prompt, type:
format c:
You will be warned that this operation will erase all data on the drive, and are you SURE you want to proceed. As long as you are sure, type "Y".
When the format is complete, you will
be asked if you want the drive to have a volume label, which is no more
than a "name" for the drive. Type one if you wish, or leave it blank. You
can always add or change the volume label later.
As I said at the beginning of this document, things get a little more complicated if you have two hard disks. That situation is covered in Part 10.
If you had wanted to create more
than one partition, you could have chosen a size for your DOS partition
and then created 2 partitions. Much of this depends on your hard
drive size. After you create the Primary DOS partition with, for
example, 50MB of space--you create an extended DOS partition that you may
leave whole or further subdivide into logical drives.
Creating the Extended DOS Partition
At the main FDISK menu (Fig. 2):
1. Choose option 1, Create DOS partiton
or Logical DOS drive.
2. Choose option 2, Create Extended
DOS partition.
You now have a screen similar to when
you created the Primary DOS partition; you are asked how many megabytes,
or what percentage of the remaining hard disk space, is to be assigned
to the extended DOS partition. If you accept the default (which is in megabytes),
or specify 100%, ALL the remaining space on the disk will be assigned to
the extended DOS partition.
| NOTE: the percentages in this section represent the percentage of space in the Extended DOS Partition; this is NOT the percentage of total hard disk space. |
Since we want to assign all the remaining space to an extended DOS partition in this exercise, just press Enter. You will again see the "verifying drive integrity" message, then you will be asked to define logical drives in the extended partition (next).
For the first drive, specify 50%; you will see a line appear at the top your screen, similar to what you saw when you created the primary DOS partition, showing drive D:, its type, size, etc.
Next, you can simply press Enter for the size of drive E:. Whatever the size is (it will be in Mbytes), that will be the other 50% of the extended DOS Partition.
DONE!