Nick Scholes
Explaining an OS and its Tools
AIU Online
04/05/2014
In this document I will be explaining how to get a hard disk ready for an operating system and the utility tools that the Windows OS uses. Some the language might be a little technical but I’ll do my best to explain as much as I can as easy as I can. All this information is new to me so forgive me if I miss a step or skip over something. I’ll be trying to explain the tools and utilities in the Windows 7 and Windows XP.
Accessing Disk Management in the Windows 7 OS from the computer management utility is very easy. There won’t be a shortcut to Disk Management in the start menu. The Disk management isn’t a program in the same ways that most software is. Let’s start with using the Start button and finding the Control Panel. Find the System and Security Link. If you have large icons or small icons the link won’t show up in the Control Panel. So what you'll do now is click on the Administrative Tools icon. Now once you’re in the Administrative Tools window, double click on the Computer Management icon. While in the Computer Management window, click on the Disk Management window that should appear on the right side of the window. It will now give you options to partition a hard drive, which means in the windows 7 OS that you divide the hard drive into parts and make those parts more accessible to the OS. Also in this window you can format a hard drive, which means that you delete any information on the drive to setup a file system so Windows 7 can read it and write data to it. The last option in the Disk Management window is to change the drives letter; after a new hard drive is installed or maybe just to keep your PC organized you can change the letter of the drive. In the windows 7 OS you cannot change the drive letter of the partition that Windows 7 is installed on. Usually the C drive.
