Does an external USB hard disc need at least one primary partition ?

I bought a new external hard disc which I plan to connect through USB in order to backup
some of my files/directories.

Before using I must create some partitions. Now I am wondering wether I need at least a dummy
primary partition on this hard disc.

Is this required or can I just put ONLY extended/logical partitions on this hard disc?

J.

On 2008-02-17, Jason Stacy hit the keyboard and wrote:

> I bought a new external hard disc which I plan to
> connect through USB in order to backup some of my
> files/directories.
>
> Before using I must create some partitions. Now I am
> wondering wether I need at least a dummy primary partition
> on this hard disc.
>
> Is this required or can I just put ONLY extended/logical
>partitions on this hard disc?

Why not try it? What can go wrong? I'd stick it into a slot
and then in "Workspace" you'll find the icon for it. You
didn't tell which OS your using though. I assume some
variant of Windows? In any case it will tell you that the
drive isn't formatted, and when you just create one extended
partition it will tell you if this can be done or not. I
think it will demand that you use a *primary* first, and
then you can create up to 4 of them anyway.

>
> J.
>


Dragomir Kollaric
--
Problem: "Autopilot in altitude hold mode
produces a 200 fpm descent."
Solution: "Cannot reproduce problem on ground."

"Jason Stacy" <jjstacy@yahoo.net> wrote in message
news:47b7e585$0$4286$9b4e6d93@newsspool3.arcor-online.net...
>I bought a new external hard disc which I plan to connect through USB in
>order to backup
> some of my files/directories.
>
> Before using I must create some partitions. Now I am wondering wether I
> need at least a dummy
> primary partition on this hard disc.
>
> Is this required or can I just put ONLY extended/logical partitions on
> this hard disc?
>
> J.
>
You just plug an external hard disk into the USB port and use it.
If it's formatted in FAT32 I would recommend reformatting with NTFS.
Mike.

There is no need for extended partitions today, stay with primaries.

"Jason Stacy" <jjstacy@yahoo.net> wrote in message
news:47b7e585$0$4286$9b4e6d93@newsspool3.arcor-online.net...
>I bought a new external hard disc which I plan to connect through USB in order to backup
> some of my files/directories.
>
> Before using I must create some partitions. Now I am wondering wether I need at least a dummy
> primary partition on this hard disc.
>
> Is this required or can I just put ONLY extended/logical partitions on this hard disc?
>
> J.
>

What happens when A through Z are used up and one wishes to add more drives
after that?

jeff

Jeff <Jeff@somewhere.com> wrote:

> What happens when A through Z are used up and one wishes to add more drives after that?

You're ****ed until you work out how to combine some and save letters.

On Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:08:21 -0500, Jeff wrote:

> What happens when A through Z are used up and one wishes to add more drives
> after that?
>
> jeff

Assuming you are running Windows 2000 or later and have at least one NTFS
formatted volume, you can create NTFS mounted disk drives. A mounted drive
is a drive that is mapped to an empty folder on a volume that uses the NTFS
file system - and doesn't need a drive letter. That way you can add as many
drives as you like.

See here for details: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307889