"A disk partition is used to define space used for storage on a hard drive. It helps to organize data efficiently and effectively so it can be retrieved faster. This also maximizes the amount of data that can be stored on a drive. The typical strategy for this partition is to place the applications and OS data in one disk partition and data in another. This enables the partition with OS to be reformatted, and the OS reinstalled if it becomes corrupted without any loss of data. A disk may have up to four primary partitions, but only one can be active at any time. It can also have three primary partitions and one extended partition, which allows you to create a larger logical partition."