A+ Preparing the Hard Disk for Installation, XP/2K

In Windows XP/2000:

• To use all of the space in the disk, make sure that Unpartitioned Space is highlighted and press Enter  

• To use only part of the space, press C to Create Partition, and specify the partition size on the next screen. Press Enter after specifying the desired size.

• To use an existing partition, arrow to that partition so that it becomes highlighted and press Enter. Be careful, whatever partition you select for the installation will be formatted.

• To delete a pre-existing partition, press D, then press Enter at the next screen, and finally press L to confirm.

After partitioning is complete in Windows XP/2000, you need to format the partitions. Normally, you would select NTFS. Select FAT if the partition is under 32GB in size. If you specify FAT, the partition will be FAT16 if it is under 2GB in size and FAT32 if it is 2GB or larger. Windows XP offers the option to perform a quick format (saves time) or a regular format (takes longer but verifies the entire disk surface). Windows formats the partition with the file system you specify and continues the installation process.