How to split a disk?
First, let's figure out what is requiredpartition the hard disk into partitions. For a user, it's more convenient to have multiple logical drives instead of one huge one. Disk C :, as a rule, is a system drive - Windows and programs are installed on it. The remaining drives can be used as a storage for movies, music or some large databases. If you use several OS, it's logical to take the C: drive under one system, drive D: - under the second one. By the way, when reinstalling the OS, you can format the system drive, leaving the information on other disks intact.
How to partition a disk when you install Windows XP
If your hard drive does not have logical partitions,then during the installation of the OS, immediately after you accept the license agreement, you will see on the screen instead of the list of sections the entry "Unregistered area" with the volume equal to the volume of the disk. There the following options will be offered:
- Install Windows on the selected partition
- Create a partition in an unallocated domain
- Delete the selected partition
Since we want to partition the disk into partitions,press the "C" key, then enter the size for the created partition. For Windows, a partition of at least 40 Gb is required, it's better to have more - here everything depends on the total size of your hard drive. After setting the size, press the Enter key and the C: section created by you appears on the screen, followed by the unplaced area. Press the "C" key again and assign the entire size of the unallocated area to the next section.
Now we see on the screen a list of twosections - C: and D :. There is a note about each section - New (unformatted). We put the cursor on the section C: and press Enter. An invitation to format the disk appears, you only need to select the file system - NTFS or FAT. Under the system partition, NTFS is required, so choose formatting in the NTFS system, press Enter and wait a couple of minutes for the formatting to finish. Disk D can be formatted after installing Windows in the Administration / Computer Management / Storage / Disk Management section. I recommend that you also put the NTFS file system on drive D, which is superior to FAT for reliability and speed.
How to partition a hard disk when installing Windows 7
There are some fundamental differences between the procedurepartitioning the disk into logical partitions when installing Windows 7 is not. If you remember how to partition a disk into partitions in Windows XP, then with the "Seven" you will cope without problems. However, taking into account the requirements of the operating system to the disk space, it is required to allocate at least 100 Gb for the system partition. Therefore, if you have a small hard drive, you should not only think about how to split a disk in Windows, but also whether it should be broken at all.
Partitioning the hard disk with additional utilities
There are also a number of third-party programsdevelopers who can split a disk into two logical ones, and perform formatting, check the integrity of the disk, and, if necessary, restore lost information. An example is Partition Magic and Acronis Partition Expert.
