Hard Disk Partition
Hard disk drive partitioning is the creation of logic divisions upon a hard disk that allows one to apply operating system-specific logical formatting. Partitioning a hard disk drive defines specific areas (the partitions) within the disk. A partition may constitute an entire logical drive or it may form part of a large virtual drive which could span over several partitions and hard disks. Partitions must be formatted as file system which are understood by an operating system, enabling the writing, reading and copying of files.
Partitioning allows the creation of several file systems on one hard disk. This has many benefits, including:
Allowing for dual boot setups, which lets users have more than one operating system on a computer.
Protecting or isolating files, so that, if an operating system stops working, it can be simply reinstalled with far less chances of deleting user files and settings.
Raising overall computer performance.
Types of Partitions
Basically, there are two types of partitions, primary and extended. Technically, a hard disk should contain either as many as Four primary partitions, ore one to three primaries along with a single extended partition. Each of these partitions are described by a 16-byte entry in the Partition Table which is located in the Master Boot Record.
Primary (or Logical)
A primary (or logical) partition contains one file system. In MS-DOS and earlier versions of Microsoft Windows system, the first partition (C:) must be a "Primary partition".
Extended
An extended partition is secondary to the primary partition(s). A hard disk may contain only one extended partition; which can then be sub-divided into logical drives, each of which is (under DOS and Windows) assigned additional drive letters.
For example, under entire DOS or Windows, a hard disk with one primary partition and one extended partition, the latter containing two logical drives, would typically be assigned the three drive letters: C:, D: and E: (in that order).
Extended partitions are useful if you want more than four partitions on a single physical drive. Technically, the number of logical drives is no longer limited in later operating system, but under Windows there is an effective limit if they are to be assigned drive letters (only 24 letters, C: through Z:, are generally available.
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