Partitioning the Drive for Windows
If you are installing Windows to a new or blank hard disk, you must create at least one disk parti-tion to use as the installation target. This partition is a primary partition, and you can have up to four primary partitions on a disk drive.
Normally, the entire physical disk is used for installation, but you can specify the use of only part of the disk to reserve some of the capacity for use by Linux or other operating systems such as a newer version of Windows for multibooting, or for the creation of a nonbootable extended parti-tion that can be used for one or more logical disk drives. You can create these partitions after installation by using Windows Disk Management. A disk prepared with primary and/or extended partitions is known as a basic disk.
With Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows XP Professional, you can also set up a drive as dynamic storage rather than basic storage. Dynamic storage uses volumes rather than disk parti-tions and can combine multiple physical drives into spanned, striped (software RAID 0), mirrored (software RAID 1), or RAID 5 (software) volumes. You cannot access dynamic storage with Windows XP Home Edition, and you cannot use multibooting on a dynamic disk.
File Systems
Windows XP can be installed on drives running FAT32 or NTFS file systems; only use FAT32 if you’re also planning to boot Windows 9x or Me on the computer; otherwise, always use NTFS. Windows Vista and Windows 7 can only be installed on drives formatted with NTFS.
The following file systems are not suitable for Windows installation: the FAT file system supports drive partitions up to 4GB, and is thus not suitable for use with modern drives.; the CD file system (CDFS) is for CD media only.
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Regardless of the file system you select, you have the option to perform a quick format or full for-mat. For new drives or drives that have been previously tested as good, use quick format to clear file information quickly without overwriting the disk. If you are unsure of the drive’s condition, using full format will overwrite the enter disk but will take much longer to complete.
Third-Party Disk Drivers
The Windows installer might not recognize drives connected to third-party SCSI, PATA, or SATA host adapter chips on the motherboard or an add-on card or drives configured for hardware RAID. To enable these drives to be recognized, provide the drivers on a floppy disk (Windows XP, Vista, 7) or on other types or removable media (Vista, 7) when prompted.
Network Settings
During the installation process, Windows detects any installed network adapters (in Windows XP only, an IEEE-1394 port is also identified as a network device) and asks you to choose your network type. On Windows XP, you are prompted to join a workgroup or a domain, so you need to know the name of your workgroup or domain and have the appropriate login information to provide. On Windows Vista and 7, you are prompted to select your network type (Home, Work/ Office, or Public).
Time/Date/Region/Language Settings
The Windows installer prompts you to verify or change the default settings for time, date, region, and language during the installation process. You typically need to change at least the time zone setting, and might need to change other settings as well. If you change the time zone setting, be sure to verify the time is correct before continuing the installation process.