Booting and Partitioning
Booting and Partitioning
Booting and Partitioning
Turn on your Dell computer or reboot it. To reset the boot order to the default settings, follow the steps below.
1. Turn on or restart the computer.
Step 2
2. While the display is blank, press the f10 key to enter the BIOS
Press "F2" when the first screen appears. Timing is difficult, so you settings menu.
may wish to continually press "F2" until you see the message "Entering 3. In the BIOS Setup utility, select the File tab.
Setup." Pressing the key several times has no detrimental effects. In 4. Select Apply Defaults and Exit.
older Dell models, you might need to press either "Delete," "Ctrl" +
The BIOS setup utility closes and the computer boots into Windows.
"Alt" + "Enter," "Fn" + "F1," or "Fn" + "Esc." When in doubt, you can
press several different combinations without any ill effects. NOTE:
BIOS configurations vary depending on the computer. For further
Step 3 information on a specific computer, view the documentation provided
with the computer. The BIOS settings are generally found in the
Use your arrow keys to navigate BIOS. Your mouse will be inoperative Maintenance and Service Guide.
in BIOS. Instructions for navigation and saving should appear at the
bottom of your BIOS screen. LENOVO
HP Press F12 or (Fn+F12) rapidly and repeatedly at the Lenovo logo during
boot up to open Windows Boot Manager. Select boot device in the list.
Follow the steps below to configure the boot order on most computers. This is a one-time-option. If the boot device is disabled in the BIOS, then
1. Turn on or restart the computer. the boot device cannot be selected using this method.
2. While the display is blank, press the F10 key to enter the BIOS
settings menu.
The BIOS settings menu is accessible by pressing the F2 or
the F6 key on some computers. TOSHIBA
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When the TOSHIBA splash screen is displayed when you first turn on SONY
your computer, a boot menu prompt may be displayed for a few seconds
near the bottom of the screen, indicating that a key (F2 or F12, for Immediately hold down the Fn key and press the F2 key. NOTE: The
example) can be pressed to display a menu of boot options. keys must be pressed before the VAIO logo is displayed. In the Phoenix
Trusted Core(tm) Setup Utility window, press the RIGHT
SAMSUNG ARROW key until the advanced menu is selected. On the
Advanced menu, press the DOWN ARROW until External Drive Boot:
1. Attach your bootable media. is selected.
Bootable CDs, DVDs, SD Cards, and USB devices are all
supported if they have been properly configured with an operating
PARTITIONING HP PCs
system (or similar software) and the files necessary to boot the
computer. This document applies to HP and Compaq PCs with Windows 7.
2. Load the boot menu by pressing F10 as the computer is
booting.
Understanding drives, partitions, and volumes in Windows 7
Press the Power button to turn on the computer, and then
immediately and repeatedly press F10 until the menu appears.
A partition is an area of a hard disk that can be formatted and assigned
If this fails and the computer boots normally to windows a drive letter. On a hard disk, a volume is a formatted primary partition
instead of to your bootable media, then repeat the previous or logical drive. The terms partition and volume are often used
steps. As an alternative to repeatedly pressing F10, you interchangeably.
can also try immediately pressing and holding F10 instead
until the menu appears. HP and Compaq computers with Windows 7 have hard disk drives that
If this continues to fail, then the media is not properly contain at least two partitions: the main partition for Windows and
configured to be bootable. Contact the publisher of the your work, and a recovery partition to restore the computer back the
media.
3. Select the boot device. way it came from the factory. Here is a list of some of the partitions
you may find on your hard drive:
Navigate with the up and down arrows, and make your selection
with Enter. To boot Windows normally, choose Windows Boot The main partition, usually labeled with the letter C, contains
Manager. Other boot device names will vary, but will most often the system files, program files, and usable file storage space.
be listed with the name of the hardware device or the OS.
A recovery partition, usually drive letter D and labeled
ACER
RECOVERY, contains system recovery information in case the files
As soon as the first logo screen appears, immediately press the F2 key, or on the C partition are damaged or unusable.
the DEL key if you have a desktop, to enter the BIOS. 2. Press the right
arrow key to select Main. Use the arrow keys to navigate to F12 Boot
Menu, and press ENTER
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A hidden partition may exist called SYSTEM. A SYSTEM create another partition on the existing hard disk. This might be
partition is used by Windows to store protected files for useful if you need to share files on a drive but want to prevent
troubleshooting and should not be altered. access to your personal files by keeping them on another drive.
Your computer may also have a partition called "HP_TOOLS". This method does not add more space, but re-allocates some of the
If so, this partition contains HP tools for UEFI that you can use to empty space on the existing hard disk into another partition. This
help troubleshoot boot problems or test for hardware failures. space is then treated as another drive and labeled with its own drive
CAUTION: letter.
When using the steps in this document, do not delete the SYSTEM,
Recovery or FACTORY_IMAGE partition or use it for file storage. Creating a new partition in Windows 7
Doing so may prevent boot troubleshooting or recovery in the event
your computer encounters a major problem. In order to re-allocate empty space on your hard disk by creating more
partitions or volumes, the hard disk must contain unallocated space
that is not part of an existing partition. Shrink the volume on an
Adding a new drive letter in Windows 7
existing drive to create unallocated space, and then create and format a
To create more storage space or to view another drive, add a new drive hard disk partition.
letter to the computer using one of the following methods: 1. To open the Disk Management tool, click Start. In the Search
Install an additional hard drive - If you need more space for field, type Partition. Then click Create and format hard disk
photos, videos, music, or other files, add a new hard disk drive or partitions.
USB storage device. An additional hard disk can be inside the The Disk Management tool opens and displays information about
computer (internal) or external, attached to a USB connector on the the data storage devices on the computer.
computer. When you add a new storage device, Windows 2. To create unallocated space on the drive, right-click the drive
automatically assigns a new letter. you want to partition. For most applications, select the C: drive.
NOTE: Then click Shrink Volume...
To add an internal hard drive, the computer must have an empty CAUTION:
drive bay. Most mid tower or larger desktop PCs have space for one Do not use the Recovery or FACTORY_IMAGE partition to create
or more additional hard drives. Almost all notebooks, Slim line, and a new partition. Doing so might prevent the HP Recovery Manager
AiO computers do not have space for an internal drive. from recovering the computer when the information on the C:
Partition the existing drive - If you do not need more file partition is damaged.
storage space but would like to view another drive in Windows,
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3. Do not make any adjustments to the settings In the Shrink Changing a drive letter in Windows 7
window. Click Shrink.
When the Shrink is complete, the new partition displays in the Disk The letters C through Z can be assigned to each drive on your
Management utility as unallocated space. computer. The system partition is usually labeled with the letter C,
4. Right-click the new partition. In the menu that displays, while the letters A and B are reserved for floppy disk drives or
click New Simple Volume... removable drives. If the computer does not have floppy disk drives,
you can assign A and B to volumes.
5. The New Simple Volume Wizard displays. To continue,
click Next. NOTE:
6. The Specify Volume Size window displays. Type in the volume
Some MS-DOS and Windows programs make references to specific
size, or click next to accept the default setting.
drive letters. If you change a drive letter, some programs that you have
7. The Assign Drive Letter or Path window displays. Select a installed on your hard disk might not work correctly. You cannot
drive letter and click next. change a drive letter if the drive is either a system partition or a boot
8. The Format Partition window displays. To name the drive, type partition. If you get an error, the partition or drive you are trying to
a name in the Volume label box. Then click Next. change might be in use. Close any program or window that is using the
NOTE: partition or drive and try again.
Do not select Perform a quick format or Enable file and folder Complete the following steps to change a drive letter.
compression.
1. To open the Disk Management tool, click Start. In the Search
9. The settings window displays. Click Finish. field, type partition. Then click Create and format hard disk
10. The Disk Management utility displays, showing the formatting partitions.
progress. The Disk Management tool opens and displays information about
When the format is complete, the new drive shows in the Disk the data storage devices on the computer.
Management utility. 2. Right-click the partition or drive you want to rename and then
If the AutoPlay window displays, click the X in the upper-right click Change Drive Letter and Paths...
corner to close it. 3. In the Change Drive Letter window, click Change.
4. In the menu, select the new drive letter. Then click OK.
5. The Disk Management caution message is displayed.
Click Yes to continue.
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Management portion of the Computer Management window when you
Removing a drive letter in Windows 7
select Delete Volume, click Delete Partition, and then add the
Storage space can be cleared and accessed on your computer by unallocated space to another disk.
removing drive letters. A drive letter can be deleted by using the Disk CAUTION:
Management tool.
Deleting a volume erases all the data on it. Back up any data you want
CAUTION: to keep before deleting.
Deleting a volume erases all the data on it. Back up any data you want 1. To open the Disk Management tool, click Start. In the Search
to keep before deleting. field, type Computer Management. Then click the Computer
1. Back up any data you want to keep from the drive you want to Management option from the search results.
delete. The Computer Management window opens.
2. To open the Disk Management tool, click Start. In the Search 2. In the menu bar on the left of the Computer Management
field, type Partition. Then click Create and format hard disk window, select Disk Management.
partitions. The partitions of your computer are displayed.
The Disk Management tool opens and displays information about 3. Right-click the volume or partition you want to delete, and then
the data storage devices on the computer. click Delete Volume...
3. Right-click the drive letter you want to remove. Then 4. If you have backed up the data you want to keep, click Yes.
click Change Drive Letter and Paths...
The drive letter disappears and the partition is labeled as free space.
4. In the Change Drive Letter window, click Remove.
5. Right-click the free space. In the menu that displays,
5. The Disk Management caution message displays. Click Yes to click Delete Partition...
continue.
Now the space is shown as Unallocated.
The drive letter disappears. To use this hard drive space again,
6. Right-click the drive to which you want to add the unallocated
continue to the next section to remove the partition.
space. In the menu that displays, click Extend Volume...
7. The Extend Volume Wizard displays. Click Next.
Removing a partition in Windows 7
8. The Select Disks window displays. Do not change any settings.
Storage space can be cleared and accessed on your computer by Click Next.
removing partitions. A partition can be deleted from the Disk 9. Click Finish.
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6. After the Shrink is done, you will then see the region of
unallocated space (shaded black). Remember, this space is not yet
PARTITIONING DELL PCs usable
7. Right-click the region of unallocated space and select New
Dell recommends partitioning your hard drive after installation as Simple Volume
you have to partition a hard drive, then format it to use it to store data. 8. This will launch the New Simple Volume Wizard. This will guide
Partitioning the drive in Windows means to section off a part of it and you through the installation process
make that part available to the operating system. 9. Assign the disk a drive letter. You can choose any drive letter that
is not currently in use
10. Select a file system for the disk. The file system is basically the
WINDOWS 10 type of format or foundation “the storage device has. If you plan
To create a partition from unpartitioned space follow these steps: on installing a Windows OS to the partition select the NTFS file
system
1. Right click This PC and select Manage 11. Name the partition in the Volume Label text box. You can
2. Open Disk Management choose any name for your partition
3. Select the disk from which you want to make a partition 12. Now click Finish to create the new partition.
4. Right click the Un-partitioned space in the bottom pane and
select New Simple Volume WINDOWS 7
5. Enter the size and click next and you are done To create a partition from unpartitioned space follow these steps:
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WINDOWS VISTA
To create a partition from unpartitioned space follow these steps:
6. Now you can see the C drive is reduced to ~175GB, and disk
showing unallocated space of ~300GB.
5. put the amount of space you want to shrink in the "Enter the
amount of space to shrink in MB" box. We put 300000 in the box
(300 GB ≈300000MB). Then click Shrink
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next windows, you can assign drive letter and volume label,
change it if you want or you can simply click Next button
9.
In
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