Chapter 32: Formatting and Partitioning Disks

Chapter Introduction

Before Windows XP can use a hard disk or a removable disk (including floppy disks), the disk must be prepared for use. Hard disks have to be partitioned, divided into one or more logical sections, using the Disk Management or compatible program. Both hard disks and removable disks must be formatted with a file system, the information that keeps track of which files are stored where on the disk. Windows XP supports three file systems: FAT (the file system used in DOS and Windows 95), FAT32 (file system introduced with Windows 95 OSR2 and used in Windows 98, 98SE, and Me), and NTFS 5.0 (the latest version of the file system designed for Windows NT/2000).

On computers with Windows preinstalled, the hard disk has already been partitioned (usually into a single large partition) and formatted. However, if you install an additional hard disk or replace the original hard disk, you have to partition and format the new disk. Some disks (both hard disks and removable disks) come preformatted and some don't. Whether or not a disk is preformatted, you can reformat it to remove any existing files and make it a "clean" empty disk.

Each disk drive, including floppy disk and CD drives, has a drive letter assigned to it by Windows, but you can change these letters, or assign drive letters to folders, if you must. You can also check how much free space is on any disk and look at the properties of a disk.

This chapter describes how to partition and format hard disks; how to decide whether to use FAT, FAT32, or NTFS (and how to convert partitions to NTFS); how to assign drive letters to disk drives; how to check for free space; and how to control the way in which Windows uses CD-ROMs. It also covers how to format and copy floppy disks.

For information on dividing your hard disk into separate partitions for Windows XP and other operating systems, see the section "Creating Multiboot Installations" in the Appendix.