Windows XP [Electronic resources] : Visual Quickstart Guide, Second Edition

Managing Disks

Disk Management is a system utility that lets you inspect and manage hard disks. You can use it to initialize a disk; create partitions; and format partitions with FAT, FAT32, or NTFS file systems on

new hardware. Otherwise, use Disk Management to assess a disk's health, assign drive letters, format, and perform related tasks.

To open Disk Management:

1. Choose Start > Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > Administrative Tools > Computer Management; then click Disk Management in the left pane (Figure 19.23 ).

or

In the Start menu, right-click My Computer; choose Manage; then click Disk Management in the left pane.

or

Choose Start > Run; type diskmgmt.msc and then press Enter.

2. Right-click any disk or partition for a list of commands, or use the View menu to specify how disks are displayed.

What's a Partition?

A partition, or

volume, is a portion of a physical disk that functions as though it were a separate disk. After you create a partition, you must format it and assign it a drive letter before you can store data on it.

Every hard disk has one partition, but you can create several on one disk, mainly to:

Performing a Clean Install or a Dual-Boot Install" in the appendix.

Unfortunately, Disk Management is lazy and

erases a hard disk before partitioning it, which makes it suitablein real termsfor blank or new disks only. If you want to create or resize partitions without erasing everything, buy PartitionMagic ($70 U.S.; www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic).