How to Partition a Hard Drive

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 Windows XP or later.

1
Start the computer in Command Prompt Mode.
2

Type "FDISK." The partition window will appear with menu options.
3

Enter 5 if you're partitioning a second drive, and select the drive; otherwise, skip to the next step.
4

Enter 1 (Create DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive).
5

Enter 2 (Create Extended DOS) to create a partition.
6

Enter N when the program asks if you want to use the maximum available size.
7

Designate the amount of disk space to allocate to the second partition (the partition will be assigned the next drive letter).
8

Type a name for the new partition and press Enter. The partition menu will appear.
9

Repeat steps 5 through 8 to create additional partitions.
10

Press Esc to exit the partition command.
11

Format the newly created partitions (see "How to Format a Hard Drive").