Should I buy Partition Magic or should use Disk Management in Windows XP to create a new partition?

I need to repartition my hard drive and see that my WinXP has a repartition utility. Can I use it safely or should I buy Repartition Magic?

This question was answered on May 7, 2005. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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Use Disk Management in Windows XP, you already own it.

How to create a new partition or a new logical drive:

To create a new partition or logical drive on a basic disk:

1. In the Disk Management window, complete one of the following procedures, and then continue to step 2:

• To create a new partition, right-click unallocated space on the basic disk where you want to create the partition, and then click New Partition.

• To create a new logical drive in an extended partition, right-click free space on an extended partition where you want to create the logical drive, and then click New Logical Drive.

2. In the New Partition Wizard, click Next.

3. Click the type of partition that you want to create (either Primary partition, Extended partition, or Logical drive), and then click Next.

4. Specify the size of the partition in the Partition size in MB box, and then click Next.

5. Decide whether to manually assign a drive letter, let the system automatically enumerate the drive, or do not assign a drive letter to the new partition or logical drive, and then click Next.

6. Specify the formatting options you want to use by using one of the following procedures:

• If you do not want to format the partition, click Do not format this partition, and then click Next

• If you want to format the partition, click Format this partition with the following settings, and then complete the following procedure in the Format dialog box:

a Type a name for the volume in the Volume label box This is an optional step.

b Click the file system that you want to use in the File system box

You can change the disk allocation unit size, and then specify whether to perform a quick format, or enable file and folder compression on NTFS volumes.

Click Next

7. Confirm that the options that selected are correct, and then click Finish.

About the author

Posted by Jamie of Chandler-Gilbert Community College on May 7, 2005

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