About creating a new partition in Lion

Hi there!

I'm a newbie with Mac OS X, and I've a question about creating partition.

I want to create a new partition with my MacBook Pro to keep my personal data so that they will be fine and untouched even if I erased Lion system and install a clean one.

I'm wanna know:

- What need I notice during creating a new partition?

- What's the difference between Mac OS Extended Journaled and not?

Is it OK for me to choose the "Mac OS Extended (not Journaled)" format partition to just keep my personal data?

- Once new partition created, is it safe to erase the partition where Lion system is on and install a whole new system?

- Is there any cons to having a new partition on Mac OS?

THX a lot!

If you're new to the Mac and OS X, the first thing is to forget about the way you did things in Windows and on your PC. You do not need to create a separate partition to keep your personal data. The reason:

What happens if the entire drive fails? Hard drives crash, even new SSDs can be defective. The best protection for your personal data and any data is to make backups.

If you erase Lion how are you going to access the other partition? The only exception is the Lion Recovery partition which will remain intact. My recommendation is do not create a separate partition.