How to FDISK & Format with WinXP?

[daywalker]

Does anyone know how is it possible to FDISK and Format a new hard drive under WinXP or with the WinXP CD? I usually do it with the good old Win98 boot disk but i would like to know if it is possible with WinXP as well. Thanks a lot.

 

[THX1139]

Yes, simply insert the XP CD and configure your motherboard's BIOS to boot from the CDROM drive first. The setup routine will ask for drive selection, and that is when you can delete, create, and format partitions accordingly.

 

[Yvo]

Like THX1139 said.

Simply put in the cd and you follow the onscreen instructions.

Time to put that floppy disk away and get with the times 😀

Plus Windows XP's utility is much faster at formatting (if selecting quick) and partioning then Windows 98 ancient tools.

 

[daywalker]

Thanks guys. Though i read in a website that when installing a brand new hard drive, it will only format it in NTFS and not FAT32. Is that true?

 

[Mem]

it will only format it in NTFS and not FAT32. Is that true?

You can format in either FAT32 or NTFS with XP,but XP has a limit of 32GB in FAT32 while formating unless you partition your HD ( ie 3 partitions with 32GB each) or format with a Win98 disk,you`re better going for NTFS since it`s XP native file system and in general more robust then FAT32.

Although Windows XP supports FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS file systems, NTFS is the file system recommended for use with Windows XP. NTFS has been optimized for use under Windows XP and is therefore the preferred file system for use with Windows XP.


Q: What are advantages of the NTFS file system over the FAT32 file system?
A: The NTFS file system offers several advantages:

Recoverability: In the event of system reset or crash, NTFS is able to return the disk to a consistent state quickly without running CHKDSK.
Scalability: NTFS is designed to scale very large disk sizes. There are no real constraints on the cluster or disk size.
Functionality: Security, file compression, file encryption, quota management ?
Performance with large volumes: For disk sizes larger than 32 GB, NTFS is the preferred file system.
Q: Is there a 32GB limit for FAT32 partitions under Windows XP?
A: Yes. By design, Windows XP cannot format a volume larger than 32 GB using the FAT32 file system. Note, however, that Windows XP can mount and convert volumes larger than 32 GB using the FAT 32 file system created under other operating systems. Microsoft recommends the NTFS file system for volumes larger than 32 GB. For more details, please refer to Microsoft?s knowledge base at:

 

[daywalker]

Thanks for all the valuable info!

BUT i found a way to partition and format the new hard drive through WinXP:

Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management & voila! You can partition, format and do anything you want over there. So easy!

Anyway thanks a lot guys

 

[rch4001]

yes thats the easy way when you are adding a second hd, you just hook it up, boot normally from the 1st hd, and it works very easily as you describe.

howerver, the previous answers assumed you were installing the 1st hd.

 

[Whitedog]

Plus Windows XP's utility is much faster at formatting (if selecting quick)

Even doing a normal format is 20x faster than Fat32.
I don't know why, but formatting NTFS is Loads laster than Fat32 (doing full format at least)

I've a question... not that I want to do this (or would even consider it)... just want to know.
If you select FAT for your partition in WinXP, are you still limited to 4GB and does it format it with 64k cluster size still (if you select 4GB)?