Partitioning of Disk Space

Disk partitioning is the act of taking the physical hard drive and creating logical partitions. A

logical drive is how space is allocated to the drive’s primary and logical partitions. For example,

if you have a 5GB hard drive, you might partition it into two logical drives: a C: drive, which

might be 2GB, and a D: drive, which might be 3GB.

The following are some of the major considerations for disk partitioning:

_ The amount of space required

_ The location of the system and boot partition

_ Any special disk configurations you will use

_ The utility you will use to set up the partitions

These considerations are covered in detail in the following sections.

Partition Size

One important consideration in your disk-partitioning scheme is determining the partition size.

You need to consider the amount of space taken up by your operating system, the applications

that will be installed, and the amount of stored data. It is also important to consider the amount

of space required in the future.

Just for Windows XP, Microsoft recommends that you allocate at least 2GB of disk space.

This allows room for the operating system files and for future growth in terms of upgrades and

installation files that are placed with the operating system files.

The System and Boot Partitions

When you install Windows XP, files will be stored in two locations: the system partition and the

boot partition.

The system partition contains the files needed to boot the Windows XP Professional operating

system. The System Partition contains the Master Boot Record (MBR) and boot sector of the

active drive partition. It is often the first physical hard drive in the computer and normally

contains the necessary files to boot the computer. The files stored on the system partition do not

take any significant disk space. By default, the system partition uses the computer’s active

partition, which is usually the C: drive.

The boot partition contains the files that are the Windows XP operating system files. By

default, the Windows operating system files are located in a folder named Windows. You can,

however, specify the location of this folder during the installation process. Microsoft recommends

that the boot partition be at least 2GB.

Special Disk Configurations

Windows XP Professional supports several disk configurations. Options include simple,

spanned, and striped volumes. These configuration options are covered in detail in Chapter 8,

“Managing Disks.”