I've just got a new pc, and i think i want to partition the hard drive (if this means you get two drive spaces on one hard drive for example 40gb for everyday use and 40gb for storage) as its handy for storing data i dont want to loose when i get viruses.
step by step solutions for a novice user would be great.

Here's Microsofts guide on using fdisk to create partitions. Formatting created partitions is also covered in this document.

One note I'd like to add; You do not need the /s switch with the format command if you are installing windows. The windows install will "sys" your drive (install the booting files) for you. Formatting a large drive with the /s switch can sometimes give you "Not enough memory" errors. Let the O/S install do this for you. Once your drives are set up, just use;

format/c x:

(where x is the drive letter you're formatting.) The /c causes the format to check sectors while formatting. Call it cheap insurance.