partition is essentially a format of the hard disk. When we create a partition, we specify the hard disk master boot record (Master Boot Record, generally referred to as MBR) and the storage location of the boot record backup. The information required for the file system and other operating systems to manage the hard disk is achieved by the advanced formatting, the Format command. Using an image metaphor, partitioning is like drawing a big box on a piece of white paper, and formatting is to put a grid in the box, and installing various software is to write in the grid. For hard disk partitioning, the most common traditional software we use is the partition software FDISK that comes with DOS/Windows. The use of this software is very simple. But it also has a fatal flaw, that is, all data on the entire hard disk will be completely deleted whether you are creating partitions or deleting partitions. In this way, after dividing the zone, we get only an empty hard drive! This is undoubtedly inconvenient for users who have a large amount of useful data to keep. And using FDISK to partition the hard disk format is very slow, especially for large-capacity hard drives, the time is often calculated in hours. Obviously, FDISK can no longer meet the diverse needs of users, so some better-used hard disk partitioning software came into being.
The birth of new type of partition software
In order to make their products better, each hard disk manufacturer has introduced partition software suitable for their own hard disk. Using these software to solve the hard disk partition problem of the corresponding brand is undoubtedly the right medicine. . Such as Maxtor's MaxBlast Plus, Seagate's DiscWizard, Western Digital's Data Lifeguard and IBM's Disk Manager, etc., these software are from different manufacturers, but the working principle and usage are basically the same, the following Maxtor's MaxBlast Plus, for example, explain how to use this type of software.
MaxBlast Plus II Detailed Explanation
MaxBlast Plus II (hereinafter referred to as MBP) is a free software provided by Maxtor. The latest version is Plus II 1.00. The advantages of this software are: a beautiful and easy to use graphical interface, while providing support for the mouse and printer; can break through the storage capacity limits of 528MB, 2.1GB, 4.2GB, 8.4GB, 32GB and 64GB, solved The old motherboard can't correctly identify the problem of large-capacity hard drives; it can support up to four IDE devices in one system at the same time; the built-in EZ-Copy function can mirror the hard disk (similar to Ghost).
The official download URL for this software is http://www.maxtor.com/softwaredownload/main/
mbplus2.exe, which is 1.38MB in size. This downloaded file cannot be used directly. Double-click it under Windows, a prompt window will appear, press Enter to continue, then insert a floppy disk in the floppy drive, press Enter again, the software will make a MaxBlast Disk, this process takes about 10 minutes. please wait patiently. After the prompt is created, you can restart the system or press any key to exit.
Figure 1 to turn off the virus alarm function, set the floppy disk drive as the first boot device. Please enter the BIOS of the motherboard first to make the necessary settings: set Virus Warning to Disabled and set the floppy disk drive as the preferred boot device ( Figure 1).
Next, insert the floppy disk prepared in advance into the floppy drive, restart the computer, and the floppy disk will automatically boot the system. After the red Maxtor LOGO flashes, there will be a dialog box to choose the language you want to use. There are English, French, German, and Spanish options. Generally, you can choose the first English. Then it is a Maxtor. The statement, after the jump, the true face of the MBP appears in front of your eyes (Figure 2). By default, when you enter MBP, it will launch its Wizard function at the same time. You will find a small "x" on the left side. Click on the wizard page and you will see it. Masked menu bar. All the functions of MBP are available on the menu:
File menu: Wizard (open wizard), Exit (exit MBP).
Standard Options Menu: Guided Installation, Partition and Format.
Advanced Options Menu: EZ-BIOS Setup (EZ-BIOS setup project, EZ-BIOS is a software for solving the problem that the old motherboard does not recognize large-capacity hard disks), Backup/Restore Track Zero (Backup/Restore Track 0) , Remove 63 Sector Offset, Drive to Drive Copy, similar to Ghost's Drive to Drive copy feature.
Figure 2 MaxBlast Plus II main interface View menu: System Information (system information, can provide simple information on the hardware such as CPU), Drive Information (drive information, can provide simple information for each drive).
Help menu: Help Content, About (about MBP version, manufacturer, etc.).
Partitioning and formatting of the hard disk
Even if it is a beginner who has never touched the hard disk, as long as you can understand a little English, you can quickly master the use of the software. Because this is a software that teaches "use", its interface is like a Windows standard window, which is more intuitive and convenient to use.
Figure 3 shows all IDE devices. If your hard drive is newly installed, MBP will automatically detect it and prompt you to install an unformatted hard drive. Then ask if you want to format it. Click "Yes" Go to the next page, MBP will display all the IDE devices in the system (Figure 3), and mark the newly installed hard disk in red, just click "NEXT" to continue, according to the MBP prompt, you need to select the operation to be installed. The system and the corresponding boot floppy disk, insert the corresponding system boot floppy disk in the floppy drive, if not click the Make Bootable below, MBP will list several operating systems, click the corresponding project to create the corresponding boot disk . The fourth page is called Partition Definition (Figure 4). This is a watershed that determines the detailed layout of the hard disk: Select the default Standard Partitions, MBP will be built according to the operating system you need to install. The partition (usually one), here you have to choose For Advanced Users (for advanced users), then press the Next button to enter the Advanced Partitions interface. Here, you can completely choose the number and capacity of partitions according to your needs. Interestingly, you can determine the size of the partition by dragging the blue progress bar and directly inputting numbers (see Figure 5). .
Figure 4 select partition mode