Formatting a Large HDD

[Kardon]

I'm re-formating my 250GB hard drive. I know that is too large to be recognized by XP without SP2. What size should I use during the initial format? I'll add the rest after I re-update to SP2

 

[deathwalker]

well...this is certainly just a matter of preferance...but ...for a starting point if you just want to create a partion of OS and software installation and use the rest for data storage...I'd probably go with anyplace from about 40-80 gig...but...this is very subjective.

 

[Kardon]

Well, the reason I'm asking... is because I set it to the maximum the first time I formatted it. But it's either 127.99 or 186.3 depending on which utility I'm looking at..... I think it's the difference between one interpreting 1000MB as 1GB and other ones using 1024.... I was jsut wondering, does setup interpret 1000 or 1024MB as 1GB? And If that would affect anything....
(hope that makes sense)

 

[birdpup]

(250 x 10^9) / (1024^3) = 232.8GB

Read through FlyingPenguin's article on drive partitioning. It may be a bit extreme but he is tailoring it towards power users and you will follow the idea.

For more information on drive partitioning, read through this thread:
Why partition a hard drive???.