If you're going to partition your
hard drive, you should to use an industrial strength partitioning tool comes
in. The best software in this category is Partition Commander. There's nothing
wrong with any of the other applications on the market -- they are all fine
tools. But Partition Commander is quite easy to install and its interface is a
lot easier to use than its rivals. Regardless, you should be able to adapt
these instructions to any Windows partitioning program.
Regardless of what you choose, the
first thing that you need to do is install the software. Just follow the
instructions that come with it. The software is installed, start it up. Most
partitioning programs use wizards. A wizard is a program that guides you
through a process, breaking the process down into discrete steps and giving you
as much information as you need. Follow the wizard, but also read the documentation for the partitioning tool before and (if necessary) while you are partitioning your drive.
Making a Little Extra Space
You have your partitions. You're
happily loading files on them. But now you want a little more space. What do
you do? If it's a Windows partition, you can use your Windows partitioning
software to resize the partition. This is a pretty safe to do, but accidents
can happen. Why not let Windows do the work for you?
Windows has built-in software that
lets you free up some space on a disk. Under Windows 98, the software is called
DriveSpace. To access DriveSpace, select Programs from the Start Menu. From the
Accessories menu, choose System Tools then select DriveSpace. To compress a
drive, select Compress from the Drive menu. When prompted, click Compress Now.
You'll have to restart your computer.
Under Windows 2000 and XP, the
process is easier. In Windows 2000, open Explorer, right-click the label for
the drive, and select Properties. Then, click Compress drive to save disk
space. In XP, do the same thing but
click Disk Cleanup instead.