In this article, we'll look at partitioning with Windows Vista.

We’ll describe how to split a single hard disk into several sections (called partitions), each of which will appear to Vista as a separate drive.

Although partitioning a hard disk is not an inherently risky or difficult thing to do, human error can result in the loss of its entire contents.

We strongly advise against undertaking any of the procedures in this article unless you have an up-to-date backup of your PC. If necessary, experiment using a spare disk first.

And should it all go wrong, we will not accept any blame. You have been warned.

Why use partitions?
To recap on some of what we said last issue, splitting a hard disk into two or more partitions permits a single computer to run more than one operating system: perhaps two different versions of Windows or a mix of Windows and Linux, with a program called a boot loader asking which one should be loaded every time the PC is started.

Partitions also make backing up easier. Using a disk-imaging program, the entire contents of a partition can be copied in a compressed format onto another partition. Even if Windows fails catastrophically, it’s possible to boot from a recovery CD (provided with disk-imaging programs) and replace the damaged version of Windows with a perfect copy from the backup image.

Another good use for a partition is to store data. By keeping data separate from the partition containing Windows and all its installed software, file management and backing up are greatly simplified, while sharing a partition on a network makes it easy to draw the line between what you want to keep private and what you allow others to see.

Vista’s enhanced partitioning features
As with Windows XP, Vista’s partitioning tools are in the Disk Management section of the Computer Management Console, and they’re similarly buried deep w ithin the Control Panel. However, there’s also a quick way of getting to them: open the Start menu and right-click on Computer, then select Manage.

This opens the Computer Management Console, where Disk Management can be selected. Although the options look similar to those in Windows XP, there is a big difference in that users are allowed to shrink and extend partitions without losing any data, which means partitions can be modified to reflect a user’s changing computing needs.

There has also been a change in terminology. Every physical hard disk can contain up to four primary partitions, which when formatted perform like four separate hard disks. It’s also possible to create three primary partitions, plus one extended partition.

An extended partition can be subdivided into so-called logical drives, each acting like a partition in its own right, and each being identified by its own drive letter in Windows, thus breaking the limitation of only four partitions – handy if you’re carving up a capacious disk.

In Windows XP, when creating a new partition with the New Partition Wizard, users are asked to specify whether partitions should be primary or extended. They are also obliged to explicitly create at least one logical drive within an extended partition before it can be used.

Vista has done away with all this fuss by referring to all primary and extended partitions, as well as logical drives, as ‘volumes’. When making new volumes using the Simple Volume Wizard, the first three are automatically created as primary partitions, and the fourth is created as an extended partition containing a single logical drive. Further logical drives can be added using the same Simple Volume Wizard.