Computer Repair, Security and Network Services

The Telecommunications Training

Institute
• A contiguous part of a hard disk
that’s set aside to hold a single
file system.
 What is a files system?

• . The file system determines

characteristics like the maximum
partition size.
 Example of file system:
• FAT16/FAT32 (file allocation table)
— is used in DOS and Windows
and supported by almost every
operating system
• NTFS (Windows NT file system) )
— has been introduced in
Windows NT and is used by
Windows NT/2000/XP/vista and
windows7
 What is the difference between
FAT 32 and NTFS?
• Security:

I. FAT32 provides very little security. A user with access

to a drive using FAT32 has access to the files on that
drive.

II. NTFS allows the use of NTFS Permissions. It's much

more difficult to implement, but folder and file access can
be controlled individually, down to an an extreme degree
if necessary. The down side of using NTFS Permissions
is the chance for error and screwing up the system is
greatly magnified.
• Compatibility:

NTFS volumes are not recognized by

Windows 95/98/Me. This is only a concern
when the system is set up for dual or
multi-booting. FAT32 must be be used for
any drives that must be accessed when
the computer is booted from Windows
95/98 or Windows Me.
• An additional note to the previous statement.
Users on the network have access to shared
folders no matter what disk format is being used
or what version of Windows is installed.

• FAT and FAT32 volumes can be converted to

NTFS volumes. NTFS cannot be converted to
FAT32 without reformatting.
• Space Efficiency:

I. NTFS supports disk quotas, allowing you

to control the amount of disk usage on a
per user basis.

II. NTFS supports file compression. FAT32

does not.
• Reliability:

A. FAT32 drives are much more susceptible to

disk errors.
NTFS volumes have the ability to recover from
errors more readily than similar FAT32
volumes.

B. Log files are created under NTFS which can

be used for automatic file system repairs.

C. NTFS supports dynamic cluster remapping for

bad sectors and prevent them from being used
in the future.
I. FAT: you can specify only down to which folder
to share, and you can add a password to it, but
anyone on the LAN who has the password can
get into it.

II. NTFS: You can share files down to a specific

file and not a whole directory and you can type
in which computers can access it. So if you
want no one else but a certain computer to
read the file over the LAN, you can set it to do
so, but not in FAT
 Partitioning Disks

Partitioning a disk is dividing the disk into areas,

specifying which areas are to be used for windows
or some other operating system. After partitioning
the disk, the partition is made active then formatted
using the operating systems format utility. This may
also include adding special boot files to the partition
which allows the partition to boot the operating
system from that partition on the hard disk.
 How do you create partitions?

• There are a few ways to partition your

hard drive, but these are the two most
common
1) Use FDISK (which can still be used with
Windows XP off a boot floppy).
2) Use a partitioning program, such as
Partition Magic.
 Differences between a Quick format and a
fdisk format
o When you choose to run a regular format on a volume,
files are removed from the volume that you are
formatting and the hard disk is scanned for bad sectors.
The scan for bad sectors is responsible for the majority
of the time that it takes to format a volume.

o If you choose the Quick format option, format removes

files from the partition, but does not scan the disk for bad
sectors. Only use this option if your hard disk has been
previously formatted and you are sure that your hard
disk is not damaged.

o If you installed Windows XP on a partition that was

formatted by using the Quick format option, you can also
check your disk by using the chkdsk /r command after
the installation of Windows XP is completed.
THREE different partition
types.

HI ………. TO ALL
 Primary Partition

The primary partition is one that holds IO.SYS,

MSDOS.SYS and COMMAND.COM. It is used to
start MSDOS from the hard disk, and will appear as
drive C:. The primary partition is always known as
C:

Ronald Belmonte
 Extended Partition

The extended MSDOS partition is an area where non MSDOS system

files are stored. It is optional. The extended partition supports up to 23
logical drives. When an extended partition is created, you divide it into
one or more logical drives (E to Z). Z,T,E,F,G

Logical drives are areas of the disk (in the extended

partition) that MSDOS treats as separate disk drives.
An extended partition must be assigned at least one
logical drive. An MSDOS primary partition must exist
before an extended partition can be created.

onaska24
For example, you may want to spilt
your 80GB disk as follows:
• 40GB primary partition for your OS and software
applications

• 10GB for MP3 files

• 15GB for Document files

• 5GB for games

• 10GB for picture

• So firstly, you create a 40GB primary
partition. This will occupy the first of the 4
partitions. Then you can create a 40GB
extended partition. And within the
extended partition, you create 4 logical
partition - 10GB, 15GB, 5GB & 10GB. So
the result of this will be a C drive (40GB),
D drive (10GB), E drive (15GB), F drive
(5GB) and a H drive (10GB ).
• Another reason for storing your document
files in a separate drive is the ease of
manageability. Say in a scenario which
your computer needs to be reformatted
due to severe corruption, you can easily
reformat drive C and be assured that all
your documents in drive D remains intact.
This will save you quite a bit of time trying
to backup your documents, then restoring
them back in your local drive after your
computer is reformatted and working. In
this way, should you decide to refresh your
operating system or application, the stored
data is not affected.
 Formatting and Installing from the
Windows XP CD
• Step1; This section explains how to
reformat a drive from the Windows XP
installation CD. This can be used when
installing a fresh copy of Windows onto a
computer. Here it is especially important to
backup all of your important information
because upon formatting you will lose
EVERYTHING that used to be on the
drive. This includes all applications and
device drivers, so you must back up
everything you can.
• Step2; Insert your Windows XP installation
disc into your CD drive (Home or Pro--it
does not matter).
• Step3; Now as you computer boots a little
more it will say “Press any key to boot
from CD..” press a key to do so.
• Step4; The CD will load up a blue screen
and then spend a while loading files it
needs. When it is finished it will list a few
options, mainly “Press ENTER to set up
Windows XP.” Press Enter or Return.
• Step5; Now you will be at a screen to select
where to install Windows to. This is where
you can delete old partitions and format
drives. The box in the bottom half of the
screen shows all your drives and the
partitions that exist on them. Use the Up
and Down arrow keys to highlight your “C:”
partition and press the 'D' key (if all that
shows up is “Unpartitioned space” and you
have no C: or D: partitions, skip this step).
On the next screen press the 'L' key to
finalize deleting the partition.
• Step6; Now you are back on the screen to
choose where to install Windows. The box on
the lower half of the screen should no longer
show a partition but simply have an entry
“Unpartitioned space xxxxxMB.” Select this with
the arrow keys and press the 'C' key to create a
partition on the drive. The next screen tells you
the minimum and maximum sizes the partition
can be and lets you pick the size. The default
size is the maximum, but double check that the
number entered is the maximum and hit enter.
• Step7; Now you will again be back at the choose
where to install Windows screen. But this time
you will have a partition that looks something like
this “C: Partition1 [New (Raw)]xxxxxxMB.”
Highlight this entry and press enter.

• Step8; The next screen lets you choose which

file system to format the drive with. Choose
NTFS as it is faster and more secure. If the drive
is brand new and has never been used before
then use one of the options that ends in
“(Quick).” Or, choose one of the lower down
options. Use the arrow keys to select the proper
one and press Enter or Return.
• Step9; From here you are all set and the
installation of Windows will proceed
starting with a format of your drive. This
will take a while (over half an hour) so you
can take a little break.
Does the hard disk already contain
data?
• Have you backed up all of your important
data? If not, back up your data before you
proceed. When you run the fdisk
command to create, delete, or change a
partition, all of the data on that partition is
permanently deleted. Note that you can
view current partition information without
deleting your data.
 HOW TO DELETE DUAL
PARTITIONED
1.) Insert the Startup/Boot disk in the floppy disk
drive, restart your computer. When the Microsoft
Windows 98/95 Startup menu is displayed,
select the Start computer without CD-ROM
support menu option, and then press Enter. Or
press F5
• At a command prompt, type fdisk, and then
press Enter.
 HOW TO DELETE DUAL
PARTITIONED
2.) The first screen you will see will ask you -
Do you wish to enable large disk support?
• Press Y and then press Enter. This will
enable the FAT32 file system
3.) After you press Enter, the following fdisk
Options menu is displayed:

1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive

2. Set active partition
3. Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive
4. Display partition information
5. Change current fixed disk drive

**Note** that the 5th option is available only if

you have two physical hard disks in the
computer.
4.) Press 3 to select the Delete partition or Logical
DOS Drive menu option, and then press Enter.

5.) After you press Enter, the following fdisk

Options menu is displayed:

1. Delete Primary DOS Partition

2. Delete Extended DOS Partition
3. Delete Logical DOS Drive(s) in the Extended DOS
Partition
4. Delete Non-DOS Partition

6.) Press 3 to select Delete Logical DOS Drive(s)

in the Extended DOS Partition menu option,
and then press Enter.
7.) After you press Enter, you will get the following
sentence: What drive do you want to delete.
Press Z and then press Enter. **Note** Z
represents the drive letter that corresponds with
your logical drive

8.) The next sentence states Enter Volume Label.

If your partition does not have a volume label
then leave this blank and press Enter, if it does
then type it in and then press Enter.

9.) The next sentence states Are you sure

(Y/N). Press Y and then press Enter.
10.) Press ESC twice to get back to the main fdisk
menu.

11.) Press 3 to select the Delete partition or

Logical DOS Drive menu option, and then press
Enter

12.) Press 2 to select Delete Extended DOS

Partition menu option, and then press Enter.

13.) After you press Enter, you will get the

following sentence: Do you wish to continue
(Y/N). Press Y and then press Enter.
14.) Press ESC to get back to the main fdisk
menu.

15.) Press 3 to select the Delete partition or

Logical DOS Drive menu option, and then press
Enter.

16.) Press 1 to select Delete Primary DOS

Partition Press Y and then press Enter.

17.) After you press Enter, you will get the

following sentence: What primary partition do
you want to delete..?). Press 1 and then press
Enter.
18.) The next sentence states Enter Volume Label.
If your partition does not have a volume label
then leave this blank and press Enter, if it does
then type it in and then press Enter.

19.) The next sentence states Are you sure (Y/N).

Press Y and then press Enter.

20.) Press ESC to get to the main fdisk menu

21.) You are now ready to create your partition or

partitions.
 Delete the Existing Windows XP
Partition
• In this step, you will delete the main partition on your
computer - the space on the hard drive that your current
Windows XP installation has been using
• Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, highlight the line
for the C: drive. It probably says Partition1 or System
though yours may be different. Press D to delete this
partition.
• Warning Note: This will remove all of the information
 Confirm Knowledge of the
System Partition
• In this step, Windows XP Setup warns that the partition
you are trying to delete is a system partition that may
contain Windows XP. Of course we know this because
that is exactly what we're trying to do.
• Confirm your knowledge that this is a system partition by
pressing Enter to continue.
Confirm Partition Deletion Request
• WARNING: This is your last chance to back out of the
reinstallation process by pressing the Esc key. If you back out
now and restart your PC, your previous Windows XP
installation will boot normally with no loss of data, assuming it
was working before you started this process

• If you're sure you're ready to proceed, confirm that you wish

to delete this partition by pressing the L key.
 Create a Partition

• Now that the previous partition is removed, all

of the space on the hard drive is unpartitioned.
In this step, you will create a new partition for
Windows XP to us
• Using the arrow keys on your keyboard,
highlight the line that says Unpartitioned space.
Press C to create a partition on this
unpartitioned space.

• Warning Note: You may have other partitions

on this drive and on other drives that may be
installed in your PC. If so, you may have a
number of entries here. Be careful not to remove
partitions that you may be using as this will
THANK YOU
NARCING