This article describes how to partition (prepare) and format a hard disk before you install Windows XP by the Windows XP Setup program. This article also contains things to consider before you partition or format your hard disk, and associations to resources that can help you troubleshoot if problems suggest itself. This article is intended for an well yet to be user.
You can use other methods to partition and format the hard disk before you install Windows XP, such as the Fdisk and Format tools. For bonus information in this area how to use Fdisk and Format to partition and format your hard disk, click the later article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

255867  How to use the Fdisk tool and the Format tool to partition or to repartition a hard disk

If your notebook is already running Windows XP, and you want to make partitions other than the System or the Startup partitions, you can use the Windows XP Disk Management tools. For bonus information in this area how to use the Windows XP Disk Management tools to partition and format your hard disk, click the later article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

309000  How to use Disk Management to configure valuable 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 later:

Prepare the hard disk according to the manufacturer’s instructions

If you are by 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 by an IDE hard disk, set the jumpers and the cabling according to the role of the hard disk (for develop, 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 citations that was included with your hard disk and motherboard, or friend 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 translation of Windows that cannot read NTFS partitions. For bonus information in this area the differences linking the FAT and NTFS file systems, click the later article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

100108  Overview of FAT, HPFS, and NTFS file systems

310525  Description of the FAT32 file system in Windows XP

If the hard disk already contains data, back it up

Make sure that you back up all your valuable data before you continue. When you partition and format a hard disk, all the data on that partition is everlastingly deleted. You can view current partition information without deleting your data. For bonus information in this area how to use the backup utility or the Files and Settings Conveying Wizard, click the later article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

320820  How to use the Backup utility to back up files and folders in Windows XP Home Edition

309340  How to use Backup to renovate files and folders on your notebook in Windows XP

293118  How to use the Files and Settings Conveying Wizard

306186  How to use the Files and Settings Conveying Wizard from CD-ROM

306187  How to use the Files and Settings Conveying Wizard Disk in Windows XP

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

If your notebook uses guide overlay software for large hard disk help, do not use the Windows XP Setup program to partition or to format the guide in anticipation of you have verified that Windows XP is compatible with the software. If you have guide overlay software installed, friend the software manufacturer to find out whether it is compatible with Windows XP. If you are not sure whether you have guide overlay software installed, friend the manufacturer of your hard disk guide 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 guide. If you bought an upgrade for a program, make sure that you have the full translation 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, friend the software manufacturer before you continue.

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

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

Configure your notebook to initiation from the CD or DVD guide

To initiation your notebook from the Windows XP CD, your notebook must be configured to initiation from the CD or DVD guide. In some cases, you may have to modify your notebook’s BIOS settings to set this configuration. For information in this area how to configure your notebook to initiation from the CD or DVD guide, see the citations that is included with your notebook, or friend the notebook manufacturer.
If you have a notebook that cannot initiation from the CD or DVD guide and you need to initiation your notebook 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 guide.
Note You can obtain Windows XP Setup boot disks from Microsoft, but only by download. We grant the Setup boot disks so that you can run the Setup program on computers that cannot use a bootable CD-ROM. If you can initiation your notebook from a CD-ROM or from a network-based installation, we fervently recommend that you use those installation methods instead. Possibility harvest will no longer help installation by by the Setup boot disks.

How to partition and format the hard disk by 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 later steps:

Step 1: Partition the hard disk

1. Insert the Windows XP CD into your CD or DVD guide, or insert the first Windows XP Setup disk into the floppy disk guide, and then restart the notebook to initiation the Windows XP Setup program.
   Note If you are by the Windows XP Setup disks, insert each bonus disk when you are prompted, and then press ENTER to continue after you insert each disk.
2. If you are prompted, select any options that are required to initiation the notebook from the CD or DVD guide.
3. If your hard disk controller requires a third-have fun original equipment manufacturer (OEM) driver, press F6 to state the driver. For more information in this area how to use F6 to give a third-have fun OEM device driver while the Windows Setup program is running, click the later article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   314859  Limited OEM driver help is available with F6 all through Windows XP Setup

4. At the Salutation to Setup page, press ENTER.
   Note If you are by the Setup disks (six bootable disks), the setup prompts you to insert the Windows XP CD.
5. Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Covenant.
6. If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to renovate it. To bypass the renovate, press ESC.
7. All existing partitions and non-partitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard disk. Use the ARROW keys to select an existing partition, or make a new partition by selecting the non-partitioned interval where you want to make a new partition. You can also press C to make a new partition by non-partitioned interval.
   Note If you want to make a partition where one or more partitions already continue living, you must first delete the existing partition or partitions, and then make 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 authenticate that you want to delete the partition. Do again 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 interval, and then press C to make the new partition.
8. To make the partition with the maximum size, press ENTER. To state the partition size, type the size in megabytes (MB) for the new partition, and then press ENTER.
9. If you want to make bonus partitions, do again steps g. and h.
10. 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

1. Use the ARROW keys to select the partition where you want to install Windows XP, and then press ENTER.
2. Select the format option that you want to use to format the partition. You can select from the later options:
   • Format the partition by by the NTFS file system (Quick)
   • Format the partition by by the FAT file system (Quick)
   • Format the partition by by the NTFS file system
   • Format the partition by by 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 authenticate).
   • If the partition is smaller than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT16 file system.
   • If you deleted and produced 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.
3. Press ENTER.
4. 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 refined and you have restarted the notebook, you can use the Disk Management tools in Windows XP to make or format more partitions. For bonus information in this area how to use the Windows XP Disk Management tools to partition and format your hard disk, click the later article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   309000  How to use Disk Management to configure valuable disks in Windows XP

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