On my old 486 W/1 harddrive, I ("A:\>FORMAT C: /U /C") removed everything from the harddrive.

1. Did that include partitions?

In DOS I typed "fdisk" at the C: Command Prompt. Then I chose item 4; "Display partition information." This is what it displayed.

Partition C: 1, Status A, Type PRI DOS, Volume Label MS-DOS_6, Mbytes 515, System FAT16, Usage 100%.

[No other partition #s]

2. Do I have to make partitions using fdisk before I install the next program? Or Does each program (DOS, WIN) make it's own partition when it installs?

1. Format will not remove partitions. It only modifies the partition of your choosing through the drive letter.

2. You do have to use fdisk to create whatever partitions you are going to be using - assuming it's not 98 or NT or something a bit newer. I'd suggest you create them even with those just to make sure you get them how you want them. Now as for DOS, WIN - that depends on what version of WIN you'll be using. If it's Windows 3.x, then it'll install to the same partition as DOS. If it's 9x, you can do the same partition as well since they both can only handle a FAT16 (2GB partition.) Judging by the size of your drive, a 9x install would be quite tight though. (You state it as 515MB above.) So I hope you mean DOS and Windows 3.x which is an easier install anyway. Hope that helps. :)

...Oops, the version of Windows that might require more than one partition is NT/2000. That's only if you want NTFS for security reasons, however, as both support FAT16 and can be installed on the same partition as DOS with a handy little dual-boot.

I have DOS 6.2 installed. I plan on the "stack," Win 3.1, and WIN95 Upgrade. They were in there before I cleaned the drive. Along with Wordperfect Office & SPP Stats.

When I installed WIN95 the first time I bought more memory, Base memory size 640KB, Ext. memory size 15,360KB.

In any event I shouldn't have to worry about partitions, unless I have a problem with loading Loading WIN95???? Or do I have to partition out for A: floppy drive & D: CD drive??? Not sure of your answer.

I guess the partition is like saying [A:]partition [B:]partition [C:]partition [D:] partition ?????? So what ever alloted space that exists between B&D is reserved for C: ?? Which is 516MB. Guess that is right.

Have you seen anywhere on the Net where you can download WIN95 onto Floppy?? Pirate or otherwise?? Thanks!!!

Okee, the BIOS establishes floppy drives (A: and B:). Then fdisk's creating partitions establishes hard drives (C:). Finally, the CD-ROM is established by a CD-ROM driver loaded in autoexec.bat and config.sys. This would be your D: in your above example. So the only thing you would need to worry about is the C: and the D:. It sounds like C: is already established and formatted. You also have DOS 6.2 installed. Now you would need the CD-ROM to be loaded (if you have a driver disk, that would be excellent. If not, tell me the make and model of the drive and I'll find you a driver and tell you how to install it.) After that you should install Windows 3.1. As for 95, JR said in a previous post that you can't 'upgrade' from 3.1 to 95. I thought you couldn't and he confirmed that you couldn't. So you'd need a full version. I know of no such place to get that on the web. I would prefer you to buy it, however you can also borrow a copy from a friend as a last resort. Anyway, the initial step is the CD-ROM. So update me from your end on that and we'll continue. (Once again, a 95 install on a drive that small is gonna be tight. Don't expect to fit too many apps on there along with Windows.)

Why do so many people want to fdisk/format there drives?

Theres no point, unless your installing another operating system. And fdisk'in just bcos youve formatted is stupid.