Hope this would be helpful. Kindly follow the instructions.
Prepare the hard disk according to the manufacturer's instructionsIf
you are using a SATA hard disk, skip this step and go to the "Determine
the type of file system that you want to use" section. If you are using
an IDE hard disk, set the jumpers and the cabling according to the role
of the hard disk (for example, master or subordinate) and make any
required BIOS (or CMOS) changes. To set the jumpers and cabling, and
make any required BIOS or CMOS changes, see the documentation that was
included with your hard disk and motherboard, or contact the
manufacturers.Determine the type of file system that you want to useYou
can use either the NTFS or FAT file systems. NTFS is the preferred file
system to format the hard disk unless you want to run an earlier
version of Windows that cannot read NTFS partitions. For additional
information about the differences between the FAT and NTFS file
systems, click
the following article numbers to view the articles in the
Microsoft Knowledge
Base:
100108
Overview of FAT, HPFS, and NTFS file systems
310525
Description of the FAT32 file system in Windows XP
If the hard disk already contains data, back it upMake
sure that you back up all your important data before you continue. When
you partition and format a hard disk, all the data on that partition is
permanently deleted. You can view current partition information without
deleting your data. For additional information about how to use the
backup utility or the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, click
the following
article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:
320820
How to use the Backup utility to back up files and folders in Windows XP Home Edition
309340
How to use Backup to restore files and folders on your computer in Windows XP
293118
How to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard
306186
How to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard from CD-ROM
306187
How to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard Disk in Windows XP
If the hard disk has a drive overlay or a disk management program, make sure that it is compatibleIf
your computer uses drive overlay software for large hard disk support,
do not use the Windows XP Setup program to partition or to format the
drive until you have verified that Windows XP is compatible with the
software. If you have drive overlay software installed, contact the
software manufacturer to find out whether it is compatible with Windows
XP. If you are not sure whether you have drive overlay software
installed, contact the manufacturer of your hard disk drive or
motherboard.If you have software that you want to reinstall, verify that you have the disksMake
sure that you have the original CDs or floppy disks so that you can
reinstall the software programs after you partition and format your
drive. If you purchased an upgrade for a program, make sure that you
have the full version of the original program. Many upgrades for
programs require a compliance check before you can install the upgraded
product. If you cannot find the original CDs or floppy disks, contact
the software manufacturer before you continue.If you have updated device drivers for peripheral devices, back them upIf
you have installed an updated device driver for your peripheral devices
(for example, modems and printers), make sure that you back up the new
driver for the device to a location other than the drive that you want
to format and partition so that you can reinstall it after you install
your operating system.Configure your computer to start from the CD or DVD drive To
start your computer from the Windows XP CD, your computer must be
configured to start from the CD or DVD drive. In some cases, you may
have to modify your computer's BIOS settings to set this configuration.
For information about how to configure your computer to start from the
CD or DVD drive, see the documentation that is included with your
computer, or contact the computer manufacturer.
If you have a
computer that cannot start from the CD or DVD drive and you need to
start your computer from the startup disk, make sure that you have the
floppy setup disks so that you can run the Setup program from the floppy
disk drive.
Note You can obtain Windows XP Setup boot
disks from Microsoft, but only by download. We provide the Setup boot
disks so that you can run the Setup program on computers that cannot use
a bootable CD-ROM. If you can start your computer from a CD-ROM or from
a network-based installation, we strongly recommend that you use those
installation methods instead. Future products will no longer support
installation by using the Setup boot disks.
Back to the topHow to partition and format the hard disk using the Windows XP Setup programYou can use the Windows XP Setup program to partition and format the hard disk. To do this, use the following steps:Step 1: Partition the hard disk
-
Insert the Windows XP CD into your CD or DVD drive, or insert the first
Windows XP Setup disk into the floppy disk drive, and then restart the
computer to start the Windows XP Setup program.
Note If
you are using the Windows XP Setup disks, insert each additional disk
when you are prompted, and then press ENTER to continue after you insert
each disk. - If you are prompted, select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD or DVD drive.
-
If your hard disk controller requires a third-party original equipment
manufacturer (OEM) driver, press F6 to specify the driver.
For more information about how to use F6 to supply a third-party OEM
device driver while the Windows Setup program is running, click the
following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:
314859
Limited OEM driver support is available with F6 during Windows XP
Setup
- At the Welcome to Setup page, press ENTER.
Note If you are using the Setup disks (six bootable disks), the setup prompts you to insert the Windows XP CD.
- Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement.
- If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it.
To bypass the repair, press ESC.
- All existing partitions and non-partitioned spaces
are listed for each physical hard disk.
Use the ARROW keys to select an existing partition, or create a new
partition by selecting the non-partitioned space where you want to
create a new partition. You can also press C to create a new partition
using non-partitioned space.
Note If you want to create a partition where one or more
partitions already exist, you must first delete the existing partition
or partitions, and then create the new partition.
You can press D to delete an existing partition, and then press L (or
press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System partition) to confirm
that you want to delete the partition.
Repeat this step for each existing partition that you want to include in
the new partition. When all the partitions are deleted, select the
remaining non-partitioned space, and then press C to create the new
partition.
- To create the partition with the maximum size, press ENTER.
To specify the partition size, type the size in megabytes (MB) for the new partition, and then press ENTER.
- If you want to create additional partitions, repeat steps g. and h.
- To format the partition and install Windows XP, go to step 2.
If you do not want to install Windows XP, press F3 two times to
exit the Windows Setup program, and then do not follow the remaining
steps in this article.
To format the partition without installing Windows XP, use a different utility.
Step 2: Format the hard disk and install Windows XP
- Use the ARROW keys to select the partition where you want to install Windows XP, and then press ENTER.
- Select the format option that you want to use to format the partition. You can select from the following options:
- Format the partition by using the NTFS file system (Quick)
- Format the partition by using the FAT file system (Quick)
- Format the partition by using the NTFS file system
- Format the partition by using the FAT file system
- Leave the current file system intact (no changes)
Notes- If the selected partition is a new partition, the option to leave the current file system intact is not available.
- If the selected partition is larger than 32 gigabytes (GB), the FAT file system option is not available.
-
If the selected partition is larger than 2 GB, the Windows Setup
program uses the FAT32 file system (you must press ENTER to confirm).
- If the partition is smaller than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT16 file system.
-
If you deleted and created a new System partition, but you are
installing Windows XP on a different partition, you are prompted to
select a file system for both the System and Startup partitions.
- Press ENTER.
-
After the Windows Setup program formats the partition, follow the
instructions that appear on the screen to install Windows XP. After the
Windows Setup program is finished and you have restarted the computer,
you can use the Disk Management tools in Windows XP to create or format
more partitions.
For additional information
about how to use the Windows XP Disk Management tools to partition
and format
your hard disk, click the following article number to view the
article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base: 309000
How to use Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP
Back to the topAdditional notesBefore
you can install an operating system such as Windows XP, you must first
create a primary partition on the first physical hard disk (Disk 0) on
your computer. Then, you can format a file system on that partition to
create what is called the System partition.
Or, you can create a
separate partition for the operating system on any physical hard disk.
This is known as the Startup partition. The System partition on Disk 0
can also be used as a Startup partition.
×