FDISK main screen

FDISK

This is the main screen used during the time running FDISK. This would also be the first screen if your computer operating system does not support FAT32. From this window you will have the capability of setting up or removing partitions from your hard drive(s).

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Using the options within this screen you will be able to create the various different partitions. These options will only allow you to create FAT16, and FAT32 partitions if supported and you pressed Y for Yes to enable large disk partitions. If you are attempting to create NTFS partitions, use Windows NT Disk Manager.

1. Create Primary DOS Partition - Choosing this option you will be prompted to use maximum space. If you specify yes, this will use up to 2 GB if creating FAT16 partitions, or up to 32 GB if using FAT32. If you choose no you will be able to specify how large you would like the partition to be. NOTE: you will need to create primary partitions before being able to create Extended or Logical DOS partitions.2. Create Extended DOS Partition - If you are using FAT16 and have a 2 GB or higher hard drive or have only specified a small portion of the hard drive as the Primary partition, use this option to create the Extended DOS partition(s) (other drive assignments). The Extended DOS partition will be used to hold the Logical DOS drives; therefore, use the maximum space left on the hard drive.3. Create Logical DOS Drive(s) in the Extended DOS Partition - This option is used after you have created an Extended DOS partitions. Once the Extended DOS partition has been created you then can specify the sizes of other partitions you wish to create.Example of what has been explained above:Bob has a six GB hard disk drive and wishes to divide the hard drive into three partitions, each using FAT 16.Step 1. If prompted to use Large Disk support, press N for no because Bob does not want FAT32, he would like FAT16.Step 2. Choose option one to create a Primary partition. Once prompted to use maximum space, press N for no and specify 2 GB as the size of the primary partitions Step 3. Once the primary DOS partition has been created, choose option two to create an extended DOS partition. Use the maximum space, which would be four GB because two GB has already been used for the Primary Partition.Step 4. Create two logical DOS drives, each being 2 GB.Step 5. Reboot the computer and format each of the drives to allow them to be accessible.Assuming Bob only had one hard drive, doing the above Bob would have:Drive C: Partition 1 (Primary) FAT 16Drive D: Partition 2 (Extended/Logical) FAT16Drive E: Partition 3 (Extended/Logical) FAT16Note: Once a primary partition has been created please ensure that you set the partition as an active partition.

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Within this screen you will have the capability of deleting pre-existing DOS partitions. If you currently have no disk space available on your hard drive and wish to create additional partitions, you must first use this screen to delete the partitions and then you will be able to create partitions. NOTE: if you delete partitions, any information on those partitions will be erased and CANNOT be recovered.

1. Delete Primary DOS partition - Use this option to delete your main primary partition. However, if you currently have any Extended / Logical DOS partitions, you must delete these partitions before you will be able to delete the Primary DOS partition.2. Delete Extended DOS partition - If you have your computer partitions into more than one drive, use this option to delete the extended dos partition(s). You must delete the Logical DOS Drive(s) before you can delete the Extended DOS partition.3. Delete Logical DOS Drive(s) in the Extended DOS Partition - This option would be used first if you have extended DOS partitions and wish to delete the extended partitions.4. Delete Non-DOS Partition - This option is usually used for partitions that either have been created by third-party applications, such as a DDO or other operating systems such as IBM Warp, Unix, as well as various other operating systems.Example of what has been explained above:Bob has created three partitions on one hard disk drive; however, he would like to delete them all.Step 1. Delete the two logical DOS drive(s) in the Extended DOS partition with Option number three.Step 2. Once the Logical DOS partitions have been deleted, choose option number two to delete the extended DOS partition.Step 3. Choose option one to delete the Primary partition.Step 4. Reboot the computer to allow above changes to take effect.

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Within this screen you will be able to see what is currently being used and how your computer hard drive is setup. NOTE: If you see invalid information such as !, *, &, % as the Volume Label, the Partition, or the Status, it is a good possibility that you may have a VIRUS on the computer.

The above picture displays information about Extended DOS partitions; if, however, you only have a Primary DOS partition, your screen would only display the partition information and you will only have the option to Esc out of the screen.

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This option is only available if more than one Hard Drive is installed within the computer. In the below picture you can notice that we have 3 hard drives listed within this computer. Disk 1 has two partitions, which are C: and D: The hard drive's total space is 3 GB. Then Disk 2 has three partitions E:, F:, and G: and the hard drive total space is 6668, or 7 GB. As you notice in the below picture, there is also a Disk 3, this is actually an Iomega Zip Drive hooked up to the IDE controller on the Motherboard. Other media that is connected to the IDE controller within your computer will usually be displayed within FDISK; however, this is not a hard drive and does not need to be FDISKed, this is why 95MB is free. An exception to this rule would be a CD-ROM.

Pc's Latest Motherboards

BTX Formfactor Motherboard

PCI Express Technology Motherboard

PCI Express technology is the successor to today's PCI bus and AGP graphic architectures. The serial PCI Express architecture offers scalable bandwidth from 2.5 to 80 Gigabits per second and advanced features that meet the I/O needs of next-generation systems like 10 GHz-plus CPU speeds, faster memory, higher-speed graphics, and support for highspeed GigaBit Ethernet networking.
With the demands of emerging computing models exceeding the capabilities of the traditional PCI bus, there is a need for much greater internal system bandwidth for the next decade. PCI Express was designed to meet the requirements of the growing number of high-bandwidth applications, such as high-quality digital photography, multimedia, advanced computer-aided design and digital video editing. The image to the left shows two PCI Express connectors (the dark connectors) next to two PCI connectors (the light connectors) that are used on motherboards today.

BTX is a new motherboard formfactor that moves the processor to the front of the case, moves the chipset in order to obtain higher I/O speeds and features better cooling. The BTX formfactor may have been greated very well by PC enthusiasts but the chasis manufacturers are not too happy since they have to shell out the big ucks, near $50K, to retool their assembly line. AMD is not following INTEL's footsteps since it stated to the public that it will not embrace this new standard unless customers ask for it. BTX has a way better design than its preceder, ATX, and it willdefenetively become the new standard soon.

How to Format using Command Prompt?

Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME syntax
Formats a disk for use with MS-DOS:

FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/F:size] [/B /S] [/C]FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/T:tracks /N:sectors] [/B /S] [/C]FORMAT drive: [/V[:label]] [/Q] [/1] [/4] [/B /S] [/C]FORMAT drive: [/Q] [/1] [/4] [/8] [/B /S] [/C]
/V[:label]
Specifies the volume label.
/Q
Performs a quick format.
/F:size
Specifies the size of the floppy disk to format (such as 160, 180, 320, 360, 720, 1.2, 1.44, 2.88).
/B
Allocates space on the formatted disk for system files.
/S
Copies system files to the formatted disk.
/T:tracks
Specifies the number of tracks per disk side.
/N:sectors
Specifies the number of sectors per track.
/1
Formats a single side of a floppy disk.
/4
Formats a 5.25-inch 360K floppy disk in a high-density drive.
/8
Formats eight sectors per track.
/C
Tests clusters that are currently marked "bad."


Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP syntax
Formats a disk for use with Windows 2000:

FORMAT volume [/FS:file-system] [/V:label] [/Q] [/A:size] [/C] [/X]FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/F:size]FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/T:tracks /N:sectors]FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/1] [/4]FORMAT volume [/Q] [/1] [/4] [/8]
volume
Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon), mount point, or volume name.
/FS:filesystem
Specifies the type of the file system (FAT, FAT32, or NTFS).
/V:label
Specifies the volume label.
/Q
Performs a quick format.
/C
Files created on the new volume will be compressed by default.
/X
Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary. All opened handles to the volume would no longer be valid.
/A:size
Overrides the default allocation unit size. Default settings are strongly recommended for general use.NTFS supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K.FAT supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K, (128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).FAT32 supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K, (128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).
Note that the FAT and FAT32 files systems impose the below restrictions on the number of clusters on a volume:
FAT: Number of clusters <= 65526 FAT32: 65526 <>EXAMPLES
When using the format command, remember all information on the drive you wish to format will be completely erased.
format a: - Would erase all the contents off a disk. Commonly used on a diskette that has not been formatted or on a diskette you wish to erase.
format a: /q - Quickly erases all the contents of a floppy diskette. Commonly used to quickly erase all information on the diskette.
format c: - This would erase all the contents of your C: hard disk drive. In other words, unless you wish to erase all your computer's information, this command should not be done unless you're planning to start over...

How to Partition using Command Prompt?

Hard disks can be partitioned to run separate operating systems on the same disk, or to break down a disk into manageable chunks for storage. Partitioning is performed on a new or reformatted disk. These instructions describe using FDISK for PCs using DOS 3 or later.

Instructions :
STEP 1: Start the computer in DOS. The screen will show the C:/ prompt.
STEP 2: Type "FDISK." The partition window will appear with menu options.
STEP 3: Enter 5 if you're partitioning a second drive, and select the drive; otherwise, skip to the next step.
STEP 4: Enter 1 (Create DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive).
STEP 5: Enter 2 (Create Extended DOS) to create a partition.
STEP 6: Enter N when the program asks if you want to use the maximum available size.
STEP 7: Designate the amount of disk space to allocate to the second partition (the partition will be assigned the next drive letter).
STEP 8: Type a name for the new partition and press Enter. The partition menu will appear.
STEP 9: Repeat steps 5 through 8 to create additional partitions.
STEP 10: Press Esc to exit the partition command.
STEP 11: Format the newly created partitions (see "How to Format a Hard Drive").
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