..::HD Format::..

[andlcs]

Simple question (newbie question ), do I need to format/partiton my brand new HD (never formated b4) using the DOS (fdisk + format c? or can I start to install the win XP w/o formatting?

Win XP automaticaly formats and let me create partitons right?

Thank U!!!!!

 

[Teq]

Boot from the CD itself, you will be given the opportuntity to partition and format during installation. The primary partition you create will be formatted during install, if you make others you can format them with the disk manager built into XP.

It's best to use NTFS.


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[lhgpoobaa]

You will need to format the drive yes, but Win2k and WinXP have built in formatting programs within the instillation setup procedure.

Its simply a matter of setting the BIOS up so that your computer boots from the CD rom, then choosing the drive then partition size then type of format, NTFS or FAT32.

If you do want a smaller system partition then make one, you can format the rest of the drive once windows is setup sucessfully.

PS. for more info about NTFS or FAT32, rad the HDD FAQ.

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[andlcs]

Thanks for the replies...
Do u recommend to use both FAT32 and NTFS?
What's the cluster size of each one?

 

[lhgpoobaa]

I use all NTFS now, with the defualt cluster size of 4K. works for me.

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[Teq]

Small note of caution... on NTFS with clusters bigger than 4k, you won't be able to defragment the drive. So when formatting use the default 4k clusters.



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[Guest]

Excuse me but this is not true.
Defrag report done just now:

Volume Primary (C
Volume size = 24.83 GB
Cluster size = 16 KB
Used space = 21.21 GB
Free space = 3.62 GB
Percent free space = 14 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 2 %
File fragmentation = 0 %
Free space fragmentation = 4 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 76,797
Average file size = 311 KB
Total fragmented files = 1
Total excess fragments = 2
Average fragments per file = 1.00

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 0 bytes
Total fragments = 0

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 2,993
Fragmented folders = 1
Excess folder fragments = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 81 MB
MFT record count = 79,838
Percent MFT in use = 96 %
Total MFT fragments = 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Files that cannot be defragmented
None

PS. I run defrag all the time on this partition and all others, they all got 16k cluster except one FAT boot partition, 6 in total.

 

[Teq]

Excuse me but it is...

It is only in XP with SP1 that this restriction has been lifted. NT, 2k and XP (w/o SP1) will not reliably defragment a drive with clusters bigger than 4k.

O&O defrag bails on it.
Perfect Disk bails on it.
The standard win2k defrag bails on it.

The 4k limit was very real, until XP SP1 was released:
<A HREF="http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;171892" target="_new">http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;171892</A>



---><font color=green>It ain't better if it don't work</font color=green><---

 

[Guest]

No problemo, that report is from XP Pro SP1 defrag internal progie.

I never did like small cluster sizes.

 

[Guest]

Its the parallel universe, it still has the full paperback called, "MSDOS 5.0" on the shelf.