How to partition Maxtor Ext. HD?

This morning I  unpacked, installed and reformatted my new external one-touch Maxtor 250 GB HD, which I got primarily for backup (and possibly for storing entertainment files, and private or security information).  Installing software, hardware, and reformatting HD to NTFS was easy enough, but I couldn't figure out how to add 2 partitions to the new hard drive, or how to open the partitioning wizard mentioned in the procedure.  (I'm new to most of this stuff.)

What I tried:  I started by getting into the MS Mgmt console, clicking on F1, to search for "partition" info.  I selected the procedure for "create a partition".  I couldn't complete step 3, where they ask you to right click on an unallocated region of a basic disk.  Seemed like they expected me to be looking at a graphic I could click on but none was there.   So my question is, how do I divide my new ext. HD into three sections?    I'm new to all this and hope I'm on the right track.

Should I try to make a primary partition, logic drives or ? to achieve all this?  Should I use MBR partitioning?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

System info:  new Dell 8400 desktop, P4, XP Pro

Donna

Are Maxtor ext HDs reliable?  I was surprised at how hot this one gets!