Hi, rfdjr1.
Dell MUST partition the HDD (hard disk drive)! The HDD cannot be used for
anything until at least one partition has been created on it. Even if that
one "partition" covers the entire surface of the disk. And even if that
partition has no "drive" letter, and even if it is Hidden, like the System
Partition into which the essential startup files must have been written.
Without those files, the computer cannot boot at all.
So the question is: What OTHER partition(s) have been created or will need
to be created before you begin using your new system?
Every copy of Windows since Windows 2000, ten years ago, has included Disk
Management, which is THE utility to use to manage HDDs and partitions on
them, including to create, format, delete, shrink, and otherwise deal with
partitions. There are several ways to start DM; my favorite is to simply
press Start, type "diskmgmt.msc", and press Enter. You'll need to furnish
Administrator credentials, because it is a very powerful tool and can do
harm as well as good if used carelessly.
Once Disk Management is started, Maximize the window and widen the Status
column, so that you won't feel like you are working through a keyhole. Then
study the screen for a minute or two. The Volume Listing is at the top and
the Graphical View at the bottom (by default - you can change these, but
this arrangement works will for most of us). Note that the hidden partition
has the "System" status, while Drive C: is "Boot". (This is backward from
the way most of us think, but it is rooted in computer history and not
likely to change, so we all need to use the correct terminology.)
The graph at the bottom should show you every partition on your disk,
including those that may be hidden or have no letter assigned. It will also
show you how much space is left unallocated, available for you to use to
create new partitions.
I can't predict how Dell will partition the 1 TB of space, but my guess is
that it will have a small (150 MB?) hidden partition with no letter; this is
the System Partition. This MAY be followed by a Recovery Partition, also
with no drive letter; this will hold a copy of the Dell files that you will
need to restore your system in an emergency. These partitions will be
followed by a single partition, assigned the drive letter C:, covering the
rest of the 1 TB. Right-click in this partition and choose "Shrink volume".
Reduce this volume to a size large enough to hold Win7 and its many related
files, with some expansion room. (My "boot volume" is 60 GB and I still
have 17 GB free there after nearly a year of use.) So if you shrink your 1
TB Drive C: by 900,000 MB (note that this is entered in MB, not GB), you
should see it with 100 GB left - and about 900 GB of "Unallocated" space
following Drive C:.
This 900 GB Unallocated space can be divided into just about as many
"drives" as you choose - until you run out of letters in the English
alphabet. The first 4 partitions on any HDD can be "primary" partitions,
because there is room in each disk's Partition Table to store location data
for just 4 partitions. If you choose to create a 5th partition, Win 7 will
convert the 4th existing partition to an "extended partition", then it will
create a "logical drive" within that extended partition. You can create
additional logical drives within this partition until you run out of free
space or drive letters. (Be sure to assign each "drive" a Name (a label);
drive letters may be changed later, but the names will be written to the
disk so you will always know each volume, even if it gets assigned a
different letter.)
Enjoy your new system! ;<)
RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
[email protected]
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64)
