________ is the process of dividing the disk into tracks and sectors

Before a storage disk can be used to save files, it must be prepared with a specific physical and logical structure that tells the operating system how to organise data on its surface.

The process that divides a disk into tracks, concentric circular paths, and sectors, small arcs within each track, is called formatting. Formatting also typically sets up a file system, which the operating system then uses to record where each file's data is physically stored on the disk.

"Tracking" is not a standard term for this preparation process, "crashing" describes a system failure, and "allotting" is a general word for assigning something, none of which specifically describe the structured division of a disk's surface into tracks and sectors.

Remember formatting as a two-part idea: it creates the physical tracks-and-sectors layout, and it installs the logical file system the operating system needs to store and retrieve files.