Hard disk preparation

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Doing Things in The Right Order. There's a definite sequence to preparing a hard disk, oh yes..

Plan first and get it right first time

Partitioning, formatting..it can all get a bit confusing really. First thing is why are you doing this? A new hard disk must be partitioned and formatted before it can be used. A format is also a good way of deleting all information on an existing disk partition and starting afresh, perhaps with a full operating system re-install.

Remember: partitioning (or re-partitioning) a disk or formatting a disk partition will delete all your data. Copy the important stuff somewhere else first. This includes details of system and program settings (i.e. emails, file attachments, web bookmarks, FTP, dial-up settings, application settings, etc.)

The old Microsoft application, FDISK is very basic and not particularly user friendly, but it's free and was included with all operating systems. However these days you need to be looking for something a bit more sophisticated.

Third party programs like Powerquest's excellent Partition Magic really show FDISK's shortcomings. You can add remove and change partition sizes, even when the partition contains data, and do all sort of really useful stuff. If you're planning to do a lot of this kind of work, I would recommend purchasing this great utility. The competition is Quarterdeck's Partition-it - at least it was. Both are owned by Symantec now..

Those are the paid-for partitioners. There are plenty of free ones out there now. Most users don't use third party partitioning applications and just boot to the OS installation disc, which offers partitioning options as part of the install routine.

Adding a new hard disk

The order for adding a new hard disk to your system is as follows:

- Plan the new disk, including Operating Systems and required partitions

- Backup all important data from old disk

- Create boot diskette/CD/DVD/USB Drive with relevant preparation applications

- Check existing hardware and drivers and have latest versions at hand

- Install hard disk (set up in BIOS)

- Boot to floppy diskette/CD/DVD/USB Drive

- Partition hard disk - at least one Primary partition for the OS and another partition for data.

- Format new partition(s)

- Install new Operating System

- Copy old data to newly-formatted disk, remembering to keep data separate from other files.