Partition Help please?

Hi

I wish to partition both a hard drive & USB drive - have read a lot online, but still struggling

I see a free download CNet - can I trust it - not keen on downloading .exe files without some idea of source ?

Can I partition a USB drive of 32Gb inot 8Gb which I wish to encrypt & the rest (24Gb) to have plug-in access ?

I have Vista & Win 7 64bit

Any help welcome !

Thanks

Al