Formatting the Primary Partition
Now that you have created drive C, the primary partition, you must
format it. You can use the SELECT command to do this. SELECT
automatically does the following:
l
Formats the primary partition
l
Allows you to assign a name (a volume label) to the partition
l
Copies the MS-DOS Startup/Operating 1 files to the partition
l
Creates an AUTOEXEC.BAT file in the primary partition to
ensure that your computer boots MS-DOS correctly from
drive C.
If you have an extended partition, use the FORMAT command
to format drive D (and any additional drives in the extended
partition). See “Formatting the Extended Partition,” the next
section in this chapter.
After you have formatted drive C, you can boot the operating
system automatically from the hard disk every time you turn on or
reset your computer. You won’t have to insert an MS-DOS system
diskette in drive A to load the operating system.
To format drive C, follow these steps:
1. Insert your working copy of the Startup/Operating 1 diskette
into the diskette drive.
2. If you don’t see the
A>
prompt, type
A:
and press
Enter.
3. At the
A>
prompt, type the following and press
Enter:
SELECT A: C:\DOS 001 US
Note
001 and US are the country code and keyboard code for the
United States. If you want to substitute other codes, see your
MS-DOS manual.
Preparing the Hard Disk
for
Use
3-7
