Partitioning & Formatting Exam: 902 1.2 Given a scenario, install Windows PC operating systems using appropriate methods

Root Directories One challenge of using any OS is finding the data and files that you need An OS manages a hard drive, optical drive, or other drive using directories and files Directories are also known as folders The drive (no matter the type) is generally organized with a single root directory The root directory can hold files or other directories These “other directories” are called subdirectories, child directories, or simply folders Any directory can have files and other subdirectories in it

Storage devices such as a USB drive or hard drive are organized into directories and subdirectories that contain files

Partitions (Volumes) PM Video 22:24 In order to use a hard drive, or a portion of a hard drive, in Windows you need to first partition it and then format it Some hard drives can be divided into 1 or more partitions (called volumes) Why would you want multiple partitions? You can use multiple partitions to organize data; the OS is on the C drive and data is stored on a second partition A hard drive is physical, partitions are logical If you divide a physical disk into multiple partitions, each partition has its own root directory You can set up a dual or multi-boot system

A hard drive can be divided into 1 or more partitions that are identified by a letter such as drive C: or drive D:

MBR & GPT YT Video 6:24 Before a hard drive can be used it needs to have a partition scheme configured The partition scheme allows the hard drive to be divided into partitions The most common disk partitioning system is the Master Boot Record (MBR) partitioning scheme Maps of partitions are kept in the MBR, which is on the first sector of the hard drive MBR disks have 2 limitations: 1. Max size of a partition is 2 TB 2. Limited to 4 partitions 4 primary partitions Or, 3 primary partitions and a 4th extended partition can hold 1 or more logical drives The Globally Unique Identifier Partition Table (GPT) system overcomes the limitations of the MBR system Support disks larger than 2 TB and 128 partitions

A hard drive with 4 partitions; the 4th partition is an extended partition

System Partition vs Boot Partition The System Partition (usually drive C:) is the active partition of the hard drive that contains the OS program to start up (or boot) Windows (you will only have 1 of these) The Boot Partition is the partition where the Windows OS is stored (can have multiple boot partitions) Windows assigns 2 functions to partitions that hold the OS

NTFS FAT64 FAT32 FAT16 File Systems Before a drive can be used it must be assigned a drive letter and formatted using a file system A file system is the overall structure an OS uses to name, store, and organize files on a drive Windows supports 4 types of file systems for hard drives: Linux uses the Extended File System (ext2, ext3, ext4) 1 EB volumes 16 TB file sizes NTFS FAT64 FAT32 FAT16

File Systems FAT16 FAT32 FAT64 NTFS Older file system, only recommended on volumes less than 4 GB FAT32 Supports volumes up to 2TB, supports files sizes up to 4GB, no journaling (so more corruption), no file level security, but can be used with almost any device FAT64 Also called exFAT supports files sizes up to 16EB and theoretical partitions of 64ZB but still lacks NTFS’s extra features such as compression and encryption NTFS Efficient file system, supports file and folder security, disk compression, disk quotas, long file names, journaling, and volumes larger than 2TB are possible

Path, Filename, Extension PM Video 4:11 When you refer to a drive and folders pointing to a file, the drive letter and directories are called the path Path: C:\Data\Business\Letter.docx The 1st part of the name before the period is known as the filename C:\Data\Business\Letter.docx The part after the filename is called the file extension C:\Data\Business\Letter.docx The file extension indicates what program uses the file and the type of content in the file (.docx is a Word doc)

The complete path to a file includes the volume letter, directories, filename, and file extension; the colon, backslashes, and period are required to separate items in the path

Directory Structure A directory structure is the way an operating system’s file system is displayed to the user Specific folder locations to be aware of include those for user data and settings, program files, and Windows data The following slide assume Windows is installed on the “C” drive

Directory Windows XP Directory Windows Vista Direcotry Windows 7 Description C:\Documents and Settings C:\Users When a user logs onto Windows a user profile is created which is a collection of user data and settings C:\Program Files C:\Program Files - for 64 bit user applications C:\Program Files (x86) - for 32 bit user applications When a program is installed program files are stored in a default location C:\Windows The OS needs a place to keep hardware and software configuration, user preferences, and application settings (besides the registry)

How to Create a File Methods to create a file: Method 1: Open a particular application and create a new file Method 2: Use Windows Explorer or the Computer window Right-click in the unused white area in the right pane of the window and point to New Click the application you want to use in order to create a file You can then rename the file name

How to Create a Folder Method to create a folder: First select the folder you want as the parent folder Right-click in the white area of the right pane Point to New from the shortcut menu Select one of three choices for folder types The folder is created and highlighted so that it may be renamed You can create folders within folders within folders However the maximum length of a path and filename cannot exceed 260 characters

How to Copy, Move, and Rename How to copy a file or folder: Right-click the file or folder, select Copy from the menu Click in white area of the folder where the copied item goes and select Paste from the menu How to move or copy (alternative method): Drag and drop item to its new location (move) To copy, hold down the Ctrl key while you drag and drop How to rename a file or folder: Right-click the file or folder and select Rename from the menu

How to Delete Files or Folders How to delete a file or folder: Select the item and press the Delete key Can also, right-click on the item and select Delete from the menu To select multiple items to delete, copy, or move at the same time, hold down the Shift or Ctrl key as you click The Shift key selects adjacent items in a list The Ctrl key selects nonadjacent items in a list