<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article may be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia's layout guidelines . Please help by editing the article to make improvements to the overall structure . (March 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article may be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia's layout guidelines . Please help by editing the article to make improvements to the overall structure . (March 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Disk partitioning or disk slicing is the creation of one or more regions on a hard disk or other secondary storage, so that an operating system can manage information in each region separately . These regions are called partitions . It is typically the first step of preparing a newly manufactured disk, before any files or directories have been created . The disk stores the information about the partitions' locations and sizes in an area known as the partition table that the operating system reads before any other part of the disk . Each partition then appears in the operating system as a distinct "logical" disk that uses part of the actual disk . System administrators use a program called a partition editor to create, resize, delete, and manipulate the partitions . </P> <P> This section describes the master boot record (MBR) partitioning scheme, as used historically in DOS, Microsoft Windows and Linux (among others) on PC - compatible computer systems . As of the mid-2010s, most new computers use the GUID Partition Table (GPT) partitioning scheme instead . For examples of other partitioning schemes, see the general article on partition tables . </P>

What two types of partitions can be found on basic disks