|  | Planning an Installation of Microsoft Windows XP Professional Determining Disk Partitioning Options
Disk partitioning is a way of dividing the physical disk so that each section functions as a separate unit. When you create partitions on a disk, you divide the disk into one or more areas that can be formatted for use by a file system, such as FAT (file allocation table), FAT32, or the NTFS file system. In accordance with the minimum system requirements, the partition on which you install Windows XP Professional must have no less than 1.5 GB free space. It is strongly recommended that the partition be at least 2 GB. When you perform an installation from a CD, the Setup program examines the hard disk to determine its existing configuration. After the configuration is determined, Setup will offer the following options if available:
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Create a new partition on an unpartitioned hard disk. Create a new partition on a partitioned hard disk. Install on an existing partition. Delete an existing partition.
If the hard disk is unpartitioned, you can create and size the partition on which you will install Windows XP Professional.
| Important: If you make the entire disk one partition, you will not be able to repartition the disk later without either reinstalling the operating system, or using a third-party tool.
If the hard disk is already partitioned, but has enough unpartitioned disk space, you can create an additional partition in the unpartitioned space.
If the hard disk already has a partition that is large enough, you can install Windows XP Professional on that partition. If the partition has an existing operating system, you will overwrite that operating system if you accept the default installation path. However, files other than the operating system files, such as program files and data files, will not be overwritten.
If the hard disk has an existing partition, you can delete it to create more unpartitioned space for the new partition. Deleting an existing partition erases all data on that partition.
If you select a new partition during Setup, create and size only the partition on which you will install Windows XP Professional. After installation, use Disk Management to partition the remaining space on the hard disk.
| Note: Disk Management is a system utility for managing hard disks and the volumes or partitions that they contain.