Partitioning Drives

If you want to repartition a hard disk into one drive, you must first use Fdisk to delete all existing partitions and logical drives, and then create a new primary partition and make it active. You can also repartition a hard disk so that it has more than one logical drive. Notice that, although Windows 95 replaces MS-DOS, the partitions that Fdisk creates are still called DOS partitions.

Although Fdisk is an MS-DOS – based application in Windows 95, however, it can run in a window (a VM).

The Windows 95 emergency startup disk contains a copy of Fdisk, which you can use if a hard disk becomes unreadable.

To configure a hard disk by using Fdisk, complete the following tasks:

• Delete DOS partitions, logical drives, the extended DOS partition, and the primary DOS partition
• Create a new primary DOS partition
• Create an extended partition and logical drives, if you want any

Caution

If you use Fdisk to repartition a hard disk, all the files on the original partitions will be deleted. Be sure to back up all data files on a partition before using Fdisk.

To start Fdisk

• At the command prompt, type fdisk

  – Or –

  If you are starting Fdisk from a startup disk, make sure the disk is in drive A, and then restart the computer by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL. At the command prompt on the A drive, type fdisk

When you run Fdisk, the Fdisk Options screen appears, in which you can choose to do the following:

• Create a partition or logical drive
• Set the active partition
• Delete a partition or logical drive
• Display partition information

If the computer has two or more hard disks, Fdisk displays a fifth option on the Fdisk Options screen named Change Current Fixed Disk Drive. You can switch to another disk drive by choosing this option. Changing the current hard disk drive while using Fdisk doesn't change the current drive when you return to the command prompt.

Each Fdisk screen displays a Current Fixed Disk Drive line, followed by a number. If the computer has only one hard disk drive, this number is always 1. If the computer has more than one hard disk drive, the number shows the disk Fdisk is currently working on. The first hard disk drive on the computer is 1, the second is 2, and so on. The Current Fixed Disk Drive line refers only to physical disk drives.

Note

If you installed a disk-compression program from Microsoft or another vendor, Fdisk displays the uncompressed, not the compressed, size of the drives. Also, Fdisk might not display information about all the drives used by a disk-compression program from another vendor.

Deleting Partitions and Logical Drives

You can use Fdisk to delete partitions before creating a new primary partition. You must delete partitions in the following order:

• Any non-DOS partitions
• Any logical drives in the extended DOS partition
• Any extended DOS partition
• The existing primary DOS partition

Important

Back up your files before deleting partitions. If the computer has a non-DOS partition on a hard disk, copy the data files from the partition to floppy disks or a network drive to back them up. For more information, see the documentation that came with the non–MS-DOS operating system or the disk-partitioning program from another vendor.

To delete a partition or logical drive

1. In the Fdisk Options screen, press 3, and then press ENTER. The Delete DOS Partition Or Logical DOS Drive screen appears.
2. Press the number as shown on the screen for the kind of partition you want to delete, and then press ENTER.
3. Follow the directions on the screen, and repeat the steps for deleting any additional logical drives or partitions.

If Fdisk cannot delete a non-DOS partition, quit Fdisk, delete the non-DOS partition by using the software used to create it, and then restart Fdisk.

Creating a Primary MS-DOS Partition

After you have deleted a primary DOS partition, you can create a new primary DOS partition.

To create a primary DOS partition

1. In the Fdisk Options screen, press 1, and then press ENTER. The Create DOS Partition Or Logical DOS Drive screen appears.
2. Press 1, and then press ENTER. The Create Primary DOS Partition screen appears.
3. If you want the partition to be the maximum size, press ENTER. Then insert a startup disk in drive A, and press any key.

   If you do not want the partition to be the maximum size, press n, and then press ENTER. Another Create Primary DOS Partition screen appears.

4. To specify the partition size you want, follow the instructions on-screen, and then press ENTER.

   You can specify the partition size as a percentage of disk space or in megabytes of disk space. If you specify a percentage of disk space, include a percent sign (%) after the number.

5. Press ESC to return to the Fdisk Options screen, and follow the instructions on-screen to make the primary DOS partition active. Then return to the Fdisk Options screen.

   If you have not allocated all the space on a hard disk to the primary DOS partition, you can create an extended DOS partition and logical drives by choosing the Create Extended DOS Partition option in Fdisk. You specify the partition size you want as a percentage or number of megabytes of disk space.

   If you don't want to create an extended partition, press ESC to quit Fdisk. Then insert a startup disk in drive A, and press any key to continue.