How to partion?

[tacohead]

I want to partion my 250gb hard drive since I need to install vista 32bit because certain programs don't work on 64bit. How would I do this?

 

[camaross427]

right click on my computer select manage.
Go to disk managment under storage.
From there you can manage your hard drives.
Beware though to partition a hard drive you first will have to format it so back up your information. Than after that you should be able create hard drive partitions.
I am using xp so it may be a bit different on vista but should be very similar or exactly the same on how you would do it on xp.

 

[Paperdoc]

right click on my computer select manage.
Go to disk managment under storage.
From there you can manage your hard drives.
Beware though to partition a hard drive you first will have to format it so back up your information. Than after that you should be able create hard drive partitions.
I am using xp so it may be a bit different on vista but should be very similar or exactly the same on how you would do it on xp.

Sequence is backwards, but the final impact is the same. In Disk Management you must Partition FIRST, then Format the Partition(s). But canaross427 is correct, you will lose ALL existing data by doing this. So a complete backup from which to restore is necessary.

If I understand, you have a 250 GB HDD partitioned as one volume with Vista 64 installed. You want to shrink that volume smaller, then create a new partition in the space created, install Vista 32 on it, and make it a dual-boot machine. The limit you'll encounter is that Windows will not allow you to change the size of the boot volume in your system, so you can't shrink the existing partition to start. If you want to do this using Windows' tools, you will basically have to do a complete backup, re-partition the HDD into two smaller volumes, format them both, then re-install Vista 64 and restore everything from backup on the first partition. Then you can proceed to installing Vista 32 on the second partition.

Another route is to buy and use third-party software like Partition Magic. It will allow you to shrink an existing boot volume, unlike Windows. And, of course, it will require first that the data on the HDD be defragmented and moved safely to the start of the HHD, leaving only blank unused space nearer to the end. Then it is safe to shrink the existing partition, freeing up space to define a new partition and format it. If it works as it should, you would not need to re-install and restore Vista 64 from your backup, but MAKE THE BACKUP anyway, just to be safe!