Partition settings

Size

To resize the partition, do one of the following

  • Point to the partition border. When the pointer becomes a double-headed arrow, drag the pointer to enlarge or reduce the partition size.
  • Type the desired partition size in the Partition Size field.

To relocate the partition, perform one of the following

  • Drag the partition to a new position.
  • Type the desired size in either the Free space before or Free space after field.

When you create partitions, the program may reserve some unallocated space for system needs in front of the created partitions.

File System

You can either leave the partition unformatted, or choose between the following file system types:

  • NTFS is a native file system for Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and later operating systems. Choose it if you use these operating systems. Note, that Windows 95/98/Me and DOS cannot access NTFS partitions.
  • FAT 32 is an improved 32-bit version of the FAT file system that supports volumes up to 2 TB.
  • FAT 16 is a DOS native file system. Most operating systems recognize it. However, if your disk drive is more than 4 GB, it is not possible to format it in FAT16.
  • Ext2 is a Linux native file system. It is fast enough, but it is not a journaling file system.
  • Ext3 – officially introduced with Red hat Linux version 7.2, Ext3 is a Linux journaling file system. It is forwards and backwards compatible with Linux Ext2. It has multiple journaling modes, as well as broad, cross platform compatibility in both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.
  • Ext4 is a new Linux file system. It has improvements in comparison to ext3. It is fully backward compatible with ext2 and ext 3. However, ext3 has only partial forward compatibility with ext4.
  • ReiserFS is a journaling file system for Linux. Generally it is more reliable and faster than Ext2. Choose it for your Linux data partition.
  • Linux Swap is a swap partition for Linux. Choose it if you want to add more swap space using Linux.

Partition letter

Select a letter to be assigned to the partition. If you select Auto, the program assigns the first unused drive letter in alphabetical order.

Partition label

Partition label is a name, assigned to a partition so that you can easily recognize it. For example, a partition with an operating system could be called System, a data partition — Data, etc. Partition label is an optional attribute.

Partition type (these settings are available only for MBR disks)

You can define the new partition as primary or logical.

  • Primary - choose this parameter if you are planning to boot from this partition. Otherwise, it is better to create a new partition as a logical drive. You can have only four primary partitions per drive, or three primary partitions and one extended partition.

    If you have several primary partitions, only one will be active at a time, the other primary partitions will be hidden and won’t be seen by the OS.

    • Mark the partition as active - select this check box if you are planning to install an operating system on this partition.
  • Logical - choose this parameter if you don’t intend to install and start an operating system from the partition. A logical drive is part of a physical disk drive that has been partitioned and allocated as an independent unit, but functions as a separate drive.