# Command: fdisk

      FDISK creates one or several partitions on a hard disk. After this,
      the partitions can be formatted and are ready to work with FreeDOS.

## Syntax:

      fdisk [options]

      FDisk can be used in two ways:
        * Without options. FDisk provides an interactive menu.
        * With options.
        Note that an exception is that the /MONO option is used
        with the interactive menu mode.

#### [Main menu] [top] (Syntax) [Options] [Comments] [Examples] [See also] [File]

## Options:

      General Notes on the Options:
        * partitions, partition types and drives are all specified by numbers.
        * sizes are specified in Mega Bytes, or as a percentage if followed by
          ,100. For example 50 would be 50MB and 50,100 would be 50%.

        (no options)    Runs in interactive mode.
        /REBOOT         Reboots the Computer
        /? [/NOPAUSE]   Displays this help information.

      Interactive user interface switches:
        /ACTOK          Skips integrity checking.
        /FPRMT          Prompts for FAT32/FAT16 in interactive mode.
        /MONO           Forces the user interface to run in monochrome mode.
        /Q              Keeps the system from rebooting after you exit FDisk.
                        (Note:  FDisk will not reboot after you exit unless
                        rebooting is enabled in the "fdisk.ini" file.)
        /X              Do not use LBA partitions.
        /XO             Enables extended options.

      Creating primary partitions and logical drives:
      Sizes are in MB or [,100] in percent.
        /PRI:'size'[,100] [/SPEC:'type#'] [drive#]
                        Creates a primary partition.
        /PRIO:'size'[,100] [/SPEC:'type#'] [drive#]
                        Creates a primary FAT16 partition.
        /EXT:'size'[,100] [drive#]
                        Creates an extended DOS partition.
        /EXTO:'size'[,100] [drive#]
                        Creates an extended DOS FAT16 partition.
        /LOG:'size'[,100] [/SPEC:'type#'] [drive#]
                        Creates a logical partition in the extended partition.
        /LOGO:'size'[,100] [/SPEC:'type#'] [drive#]
                        Creates a logical FAT16 partition in the extended
                        partition.
        /AUTO [drive#]
                        Automatically partitions the disk.
        [/SPEC:'type#']
                        Specifies the partition type number.

      Activating/Deactivating partition tables:
        /ACTIVATE:'partition#' [drive#]
                        Sets 'partition#' active.
        /DEACTIVATE            [drive#]
                        Deactivates all partitions on 'drive#'.

      Deleting partitions - USE WITH CAUTION!
        /CLEAR [drive#]
                        Deletes all Partitions.
        /CLEARALL [drive#]
                        Deletes all Partitions and the Master Boot Record.
        /DELETE {/PRI[:#] | /EXT | /LOG:'partition#'|/NUM:'partition#'} [drive#]
                        Deletes a partition (primary, extended, logical).
                        Note: Logical drives start at /NUM=5.

      MBR (Master Boot Record) modification:
        /AMBR [drive#]  Writes the MBR stored in the "boot.mbr" file to 'drive#'.
        /BMBR [drive#]  Writes the BOOTEASY MBR to 'drive#'.
        /CMBR [drive#]  Creates the MBR.
        /MBR  [drive#]  Writes the standard MBR to 'drive#'.
        /SMBR [drive#]  Saves the current MBR on 'drive#', into a file called
                        "boot.mbr".
        /RMBR [drive#]  Removes the MBR from 'drive#'.

      Partition table modification
        /MODIFY:'partition#','type#' [drive#]
                        Changes partition type to 'type#'. Logical drives
                        start at "5".
        /MOVE:'source_partition#','dest_partition#' [drive#]
                        Moves the entry in the primary partition table,
                        from source_partition to destination_partition.
        /SWAP:'first_partition#','second_partition#' [drive#]
                        Swaps two partition entries.

      For handling flags on a hard disk:
        /CLEARFLAG[{:'flag#'} | /ALL} ] [drive#]
                        Resets 'flag#' or all on 'drive#'
        /SETFLAG:'flag#'[,'flag_value'] [drive#]
                        Sets 'flag#' to 1 or 'flag_value'
        /TESTFLAG:'flag#'[,'flag_value'] [drive#]
                        Tests 'flag#' for 1 or 'flag_value'

      For obtaining information about the hard disk(s):
        /DUMP           Dumps (displays) partition information from all
                        hard disks (for debugging).
        /INFO [/TECH]   Displays partition information from 'drive#'.
        /STATUS         Displays the current partition layout.

#### [Main menu] [top] [Syntax] (Options) [Comments] [Examples] [See also] [File]

## Comments:

      As FDISK creates / deletes partitions you should handle it carefully.
      If you want to make a HD bootable, don't forget to set the 'Active' flag.
      FreeDOS supports only one primary partition. If you want to create more
      than one partition on a HD you should first create a primary partition,
      then an extended partition and in this extended partition one or more
      logical partitions.
      FDISK has the following EXITCODES (ERRORLEVEL):
         0  Normal program completion, no errors
         1  Syntax error
         3  Error in the fdisk.ini file
         4  Error in the part.dat file
         5  Non-existant hard disk
         6  Buffer allocation failure
         7  Hard disk is already partitioned.  (This is only
            returned if the "/AUTO" function is used and there are
            already partitions other than a Compaq Diagnostic
            Partition on the hard disk.)
         8  Error reading from or writing to the boot.mbr file.
         9  Miscellaneous error. It is best to examine
            the output printed to the screen from Free FDISK to
            determine the exact cause of the problem.
        20  Flag has been set (see /SETFLAG, /TESTFLAG, and
            /CLEARFLAG for details)
        21  Flag has not been set (see errorlevel 20, above)

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## Examples:

      fdisk
      fdisk /status

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## See also:

      format
      label
      mirror
      undelete
      unformat

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## File:

      Please read this command's lsm file also.
      You will find the updated version (internet) here and
      the version described in this manual page here.
      The lsm file contains information about the name of the programmer,
      the download site, and some other command related information.

#### [Main menu] [top] [Syntax] [Options] [Comments] [Examples] [See also] (File)

      Copyright © 2003 Brian E. Reifsnyder, updated 2008 by W. Spiegl.

      This file is derived from the FreeDOS Spec Command HOWTO.
      See the file H2Cpying for copying conditions.