HARD DISK PARTITION

This article describes how to partition (prepare) and format a hard disk before you install
Windows XP using the Windows XP Setup program. This article also contains things to consider
before you partition or format your hard disk, and links to resources that can help you
troubleshoot if problems occur. This article is intended for an advanced user.

You can use other methods to partition and format the hard disk before you install Windows XP,
such as the F disk and Format tools. For additional information about how to use F disk and
Format to partition and format your hard disk, click the following article number to view the
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
255867 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255867/) How to use the F disk tool and the Format
tool to partition or to repartition a hard disk
If your computer is already running Windows XP, and you want to create partitions other than
the System or the Startup partitions, you can use the Windows XP Disk Management tools. For
additional information about how to use the Windows XP Disk Management tools to partition
and format your hard disk, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000/ ) How to use Disk Management to configure basic
disks in Windows XP

Before you partition and format the hard disk before you
partition and format your hard disk...
make sure that you do the following:

Prepare the hard disk according to the manufacturer's instructions

If you are using a SATA hard disk, skip this step and go to the "Determine the type of file system
that you want to use" section. If you are using an IDE hard disk, set the jumpers and the cabling
according to the role of the hard disk (for example, master or subordinate) and make any
required BIOS (or CMOS) changes. To set the jumpers and cabling, and make any required
BIOS or CMOS changes, see the documentation that was included with your hard disk and
motherboard, or contact the manufacturers.

Determine the type of file system that you want to use

You can use either the NTFS or FAT file systems. NTFS is the preferred file system to format
the hard disk unless you want to run an earlier version of Windows that cannot read NTFS
partitions. For additional information about the differences between the FAT and NTFS file
systems, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/100108/) Overview of FAT, HPFS, and NTFS file systems
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310525/) Description of the FAT32 files system in Windows
XP

If the hard disk already contains data, back it up

Make sure that you back up all your important data before you continue. When you partition and
format a hard disk, all the data on that partition is permanently deleted. You can view current
partition information without deleting your data. For additional information about how to use the
backup utility or the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, click the following article numbers to
view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320820/) How to use the Backup utility to back up files and
folders in Windows XP Home Edition
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309340/) How to use Backup to restore files and folders on
your computer in Windows XP
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293118/) How to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306186/) How to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard
from CD-ROM
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306187/) How to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard
Disk in Windows XP

If the hard disk has a drive overlay or a disk management program, make sure that it is
compatible

If your computer uses drive overlay software for large hard disk support, do not use the
Windows XP Setup program to partition or to format the drive until you have verified that
Windows XP is compatible with the software. If you have drive overlay software installed,
contact the software manufacturer to find out whether it is compatible with Windows XP. If you
are not sure whether you have drive overlay software installed, contact the manufacturer of your
hard disk drive or motherboard.

If you have software that you want to reinstall, verify that you have the disks

Make sure that you have the original CDs or floppy disks so that you can reinstall the software
programs after you partition and format your drive. If you purchased an upgrade for a program,
make sure that you have the full version of the original program. Many upgrades for programs
require a compliance check before you can install the upgraded product. If you cannot find the
original CDs or floppy disks, contact the software manufacturer before you continue.

If you have updated device drivers for peripheral devices, back them up

If you have installed an updated device driver for your peripheral devices (for example, modems
and printers), make sure that you back up the new driver for the device to a location other than
the drive that you want to format and partition so that you can reinstall it after you install your
operating system.

Configure your computer to start from the CD or DVD drive

To start your computer from the Windows XP CD, your computer must be configured to start
from the CD or DVD drive. In some cases, you may have to modify your computer's BIOS
settings to set this configuration. For information about how to configure your computer to start
from the CD or DVD drive, see the documentation that is included with your computer, or
contact the computer manufacturer.

If you have a computer that cannot start from the CD or DVD drive and you need to start your
computer from the startup disk, make sure that you have the floppy setup disks so that you can
run the Setup program from the floppy disk drive.

Note You can obtain Windows XP Setup boot disks from Microsoft, but only by download. We
provide the Setup boot disks so that you can run the Setup program on computers that cannot use
a bootable CD-ROM. If you can start your computer from a CD-ROM or from a network-based
installation, we strongly recommend that you use those installation methods instead. Future
products will no longer support installation by using the Setup boot disks.

How to partition and format the hard disk using the Windows XP Setup
program

You can use the Windows XP Setup program to partition and format the hard disk. To do this,
use the following steps:

Step 1: Partition the hard disk

a. Insert the Windows XP CD into your CD or DVD drive, or insert the first Windows XP
Setup disk into the floppy disk drive, and then restart the computer to start the Windows
XP Setup program.

Note: If you are using the Windows XP Setup disks, insert each additional disk when you
are prompted, and then press ENTER to continue after you insert each disk.

b. If you are prompted, select any options that are required to start the computer from the
CD or DVD drive.

c. If your hard disk controller requires a third-party original equipment manufacturer

(OEM) driver, press F6 to specify the driver. For more information about how to use F6
to supply a third-party OEM device driver while the Windows Setup program is running,
click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314859/ ) Limited OEM driver support is available with
F6 during Windows XP Setup

At the Welcome to Setup page, press ENTER.

Note If you are using the Setup disks (six bootable disks), the setup prompts you to insert the
Windows XP CD.
Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement.

a. If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it. To

bypass the repair, press ESC.
b. All existing partitions and non-partitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard disk.
Use the ARROW keys to select an existing partition, or create a new partition by
selecting the non-partitioned space where you want to create a new partition. You can
also press C to create a new partition using non-partitioned space.

Note: If you want to create a partition where one or more partitions already exist, you
must first delete the existing partition or partitions, and then create the new partition. You
can press D to delete an existing partition, and then press L (or press ENTER, and then
press L if it is the System partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition.
Repeat this step for each existing partition that you want to include in the new partition.
When all the partitions are deleted, select the remaining non-partitioned space, and then
press C to create the new partition.

c. To create the partition with the maximum size, press ENTER. To specify the partition
size, type the size in megabytes (MB) for the new partition, and then press ENTER.

d. If you want to create additional partitions, repeat steps g. and h.

e. To format the partition and install Windows XP, go to step 2.

If you do not want to install Windows XP, press F3 two times to exit the Windows Setup
program, and then do not follow the remaining steps in this article.
To format the partition without installing Windows XP, use a different utility.

Step 2: Format the hard disk and install Windows XP

a. Use the ARROW keys to select the partition where you want to install Windows XP, and
then press ENTER.
b. Select the format option that you want to use to format the partition. You can select from
the following options:
• Format the partition by using the NTFS file system (Quick)
• Format the partition by using the FAT file system (Quick)
• Format the partition by using the NTFS file system
• Format the partition by using the FAT file system
• Leave the current file system intact (no changes)

Notes:

If the selected partition is a new partition, the option to leave the current file system intact
is not available.
If the selected partition is larger than 32 gigabytes (GB), the FAT file system option is
not available.
 If the selected partition is larger than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT32
file system (you must press ENTER to confirm).
If the partition is smaller than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT16 file
system.
If you deleted and created a new System partition, but you are installing Windows XP on
a different partition, you are prompted to select a file system for both the System and
Startup partitions.
Press ENTER.
After the Windows Setup program formats the partition, follow the instructions that
appear on the screen to install Windows XP. After the Windows Setup program is
finished and you have restarted the computer, you can use the Disk Management tools in
Windows XP to create or format more partitions. For additional information about how to
use the Windows XP Disk Management tools to partition and format your hard disk, click
the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000/ ) How to use Disk Management to configure
basic disks in Windows XP

Additional notes

Before you can install an operating system such as Windows XP, you must first create a primary
partition on the first physical hard disk (Disk 0) on your computer. Then, you can format a file
system on that partition to create what is called the System partition.

Or, you can create a separate partition for the operating system on any physical hard disk. This is
known as the Startup partition. The System partition on Disk 0 can also be used as a Startup
partition.

TROUBLESHOOTING
For additional information about how to troubleshoot
partition problems in Wind...
For additional information about how to troubleshoot partition problems in Windows XP, click
the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316505/) Windows XP does not recognize all available disk
space
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310359/) Cannot view NTFS logical drive after using Fdisk
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310561/ ) Maximum partition size using the FAT16 files
system in Windows XP
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314097/) How to use Convert.exe to convert a partition to the
NTFS file system
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/301340/) During Setup you are unable to format a partition
with a File Allocation Table format
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307844/) How to change drive letter assignments in Windows
XP
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315224/) How to remove the Linux LILO Boot Manager

REFERENCES
For additional information, click the following article
numbers to view the art...
For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314470/) Definition of System partition and Boot partition
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314878/) The default cluster size for the NTFS and FAT file
systems
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310525/) Description of the FAT32 files system in Windows
XP
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314081/) The purpose of the Boot.ini file in Windows XP
For additional information about how to create and manage partitions in Windows XP, click the
following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654/) How to install and use the Recovery Console in
Windows XP

APPLIES TO
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Regards,
J. Arun Kumar B.com, MBA