Partitioning and Bad Clusters

[Navaros]

I don't know how to partition my HD properly, especially since I already have lots of stuff on it. I have about 30 Gigs full out of 60 Gigs in total. How do I do this safely and professionally without having Norton Ghost or that kind of software?

In fact, I know nothing about partitioning but it's a very good idea. Does anyone have a tutorial about how to do it without needing third party software? (unless there is reliable third party software that I can get for free)

Also, yesterday I ran a surface test of my HD and most of it went fine but I had a bad cluster, where "info could not be read from or written to". Could someone explain bad clusters to me? What I need to know is:

Is a bad cluster caused by physical damage to the HD to which there is no remedy?

....or are bad clusters just a software problem that can be fixed, and can bad clusters be permanently repaired?

[Timenn]

Hmm I've never done partitioning, so I can't help you with that.

But for what I know (it can be incorrect) a cluster is a little part of your HD, a piece of bits actually. And a bad cluster was a cluster what wasn't readable because some bits stood in a position you couldn't see if it was a 0 or a 1. Like if 1 = | and 0 = - And if a bit stands like this: / The computer can't see if it was 0 or 1. So you can let it be repaired. But then the data is lost on that cluster.

This is something I'm not sure of.

[Frodo]

try partition magic, it works like a charm, thanks jacob, once again you have shown me the light. ;D

[Nyarlathotep]

Hmm I've never done partitioning, so I can't help you with that.

But for what I know (it can be incorrect) a cluster is a little part of your HD, a piece of bits actually. And a bad cluster was a cluster what wasn't readable because some bits stood in a position you couldn't see if it was a 0 or a 1. Like if 1 = | and 0 = - And if a bit stands like this: / The computer can't see if it was 0 or 1. So you can let it be repaired. But then the data is lost on that cluster.

This is something I'm not sure of.

Well put :)