Hi, if i buy a laptop from a company (like dell) with windoes installed on it, how do they format the drives? u know, like partitions! for example i want my 120gb harddisk to be like 30-30-30-30 but i don't know how they will partition it, do they give me the choice to do it myself or what???
2006-12-15 11:35:15 · 4 answers · asked by Dirty 5 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Laptops & Notebooks
Most companies (Dell does, certainly) provide a general restore disk and also a Windows OS (oem) disk.
However, even if they do not provide a straight Windows OS disk, you can (legally) use any other Windows XP OEM disk. (Your laptop will have a sticker on it for a Windows XP OEM License)
The steps that you would take, is inserting this Windows XP OEM disk (or the one that came with your system, if they provide a Windows XP disk) and booting off of it.
When you reach the partition screen, delete the existing partition (likely 1 large C drive) and then recreate them as you desire - such as 30/30/30/30.
Then just select one as the Windows install, and complete setup.
As to the other answers above:
-- the BIOS has nothing to do with partitions at all
-- You can't change the partition (through Windows) after you get it, as that would delete everything currently installed (including the OS)
-- and partition magic (while a good program) may have trouble resizing a system partition that is currently active and loaded.;) but can take off the free space safely enough into a new one, but it's unneccessary purchase if you plan on just doing a 30/30/30/30 then not needing it anymore.
2006-12-15 12:49:10 · answer #1 · answered by argile556733 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You will probably have to do it yourself. Since the computer is going to be new, it should be easy to resize the partitions on the disk. Partition Magic is a good commercial program, or you can try using Ranish, a free partition resizer program. Once you've freed up some space, you can partition to your heart's content.
I assume you will get some disks to restore your hard drive with your computer. It's usually pretty easy and quick to restore your computer to the factory fresh condition.
2006-12-15 19:45:33 · answer #2 · answered by DavidNH 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They partition enough out for te operating system, but otherwise, you partition yourself after you get it.
2006-12-15 19:38:00 · answer #3 · answered by rainthatwalks 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you need to go to BIOS mode. its either f2 or f3 right when it starts to boot up
2006-12-15 19:38:04 · answer #4 · answered by rocker 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋