What is it to create a simple volume on a disk. How to create a partition on your hard drive after installing Windows? How to create a new volume or partition through Disk Management

In this article I will tell you how to create a partition on your hard drive in Windows 7.
Hard drive partition- This is part of the hard drive on which information can be stored. Partitions can be created, compressed, formatted, deleted. A partition is created to separate user files from operating system files. Typically, it is enough to have two hard drive partitions on your computer: Local Disk C and Local Disk D.

On Local Drive C Windows operating system files are stored, as well as installed programs. On another partition of the hard drive (it may be called differently for you) you can store your important documents, programs, photos, videos, music. If the operating system fails, the data on this local drive will be saved, since the system will be reinstalled on Local Drive C.

Previously, it was possible to partition a hard drive only using third-party programs. For example Partition Magic, Acronis Disc Director. Now, with the advent of new operating systems, this procedure can be done using the built-in tools of Windows 7.

So, let's start creating a partition on your hard drive. To do this, you need to follow the following instructions.

Step 1 . Right click on my icon Computer and from the context menu select Control.

Step 2. In the snap-in section Storage devices select Disk Management.

Step 3 . Next, click onLocal drive C or another disk , which you want to compress (If you have only one hard drive C, then you have no choice; you will have to compress it; if there are other partitions, then the choice is yours from which drive you want to “take away” the memory). Compressing the disk is necessary to allow the creation of a new partition. In the context menu window that appears, click Compress volume...

Step 4 . The process will begin to determine the available space for compression. You'll have to wait a little... After a few seconds, a dialog box will appear in which you need to configure drive C for compression.

In field indicate the size by how much you need to compress the disk. (The compressed size is the size of the future partition being created). After you calculate what size you need, click the button Compress.

Step 5. After the compression process is completed, an unallocated black section will appear. Right-click on it and click Create a simple volume...
Next a window will appear Create Simple Volume Wizard, which will help you create a simple disk volume.

A simple volume can only reside on one disk.

To continue, click the button Further.

Step 6. Next you need specify the size of the partition to be created. In line Simple volume size enter the maximum size in M.B. or leave it as is (by default, the maximum size is indicated in the simple volume size field).
Click to continue Further.

Step 7. In the next window Simple Volume Wizards assign a drive letter to the partition from A-Z by clicking on the drop-down list (indicated by the arrow), and then click Further.

Step 8. In a new window you have to complete.

In order to save data on this partition, you must first format it.Formatting is the process of creating a file system.

Select the radio button in the section Format this volume as follows and select:

Create a simple volume using Disk Management.

Launch Disk Management.
Run the New Simple Volume wizard on Disk 2.
Define the volume size as 100 MB and label the volume as "Simple".

Create a simple volume using Diskpart.exe.

Launch Command Prompt.
Run diskpart.exe and use the following commands to create a simple volume:

list disk
select disk 3
create partition primary size=100
list partition
select partition 2
format fs=ntfs label=simple2 quick
assign.

In this beginner's guide, we'll look at how to partition (split) and merge hard drive partitions in Windows 10 using the built-in snap-in.

Sometimes you just need to create, delete or modify disk partitions in Windows 10. If you have one disk and you would not like to keep the operating system files and your files on the same disk, creating logical drives will help you. Each of the logical disk partitions can have its own file system and will allow you to load several operating systems from one hard drive. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to manage disk partitions in Windows 10, simply using a snap-in.

For the convenience of readers, this guide is divided into two parts. The first part will show you how to partition your hard drive into two partitions and assign a drive letter to the newly created volume.

In the second part, we will delete the new volume and merge the freed space, returning it back to the original volume of the C: drive. So let's get started...

How to split and merge disk partitions in Windows 10

Part 1 - splitting and creating a new disk partition

In the first half of this tutorial, we will see how to split an existing disk space into two partitions. Let's say you bought a new Windows 10 PC and the disk size C: is 500 GB. Obviously, Windows will already be installed on the disk C:. But there comes a time when you need to move some of your data to some other drive. Or in another case, you want to create a new partition to boot another operating system. You need to create a new partition by partitioning the disk WITH into two parts. Here's what you need to do:

To open the snap-in - Click Win+R and in the Run window line and enter. Click OK or Enter .

In the window, right-click on the disk partition you want to partition and select Shrink Volume. In my case it's a disk WITH:

Then in the window that appears, in the line Compressible space size (MB) Enter the desired size of the disk to be created. I specified 26000(MB) (this is about a sixth of the capacity of my hard drive) Its size will be approximately 25 GB. In other words, you will get this size from an already existing partition if there is free space on it, and then click Compress.

In a few seconds, you will see the area you have freed up for the future disk partition with a mark, the same space will be taken away from the existing disk partition WITH:.

So the disk WITH: is divided into two volumes. Right-click on the unallocated space and in the context menu click Create a simple volume, will start automatically

In the window Volume Size Guidelines you can change the size of the created size, click Further.

In the next window, set the letter of the new disk partition and click Further

Now you need to format the disk, there is no need to change the default settings.

If you plan to install a new OS on this drive, make sure that Apply file and folder compression not enabled, otherwise you will face an error while installing the OS - Windows cannot be installed because this computer is using compressed...

The wizard finishes by showing you a summary of the information. Click the button.

The created logical drive will appear in the snap-in window and Windows 10 Explorer ready for use.

Part 2 - Merge disk volumes

You may need to merge the disk volumes by returning the disk WITH: previously selected space for disk Z:

Here's how to do it:

1. Open Select the disk partition that you want to merge and right-click on it, selecting from the context menu Delete volume. This will remove the drive letter and partition.

Note:This will also delete all data on the disk partition (In my case, from drive Z:, I previously transferred all the necessary information to another drive).

Click Yes to confirm volume deletion.

2. After the disk partition Z: will be deleted, you will see the disk partition marked. Now right-click on the disk volume with which you want to merge unallocated capacity ( in this case it is a disk WITH: ) and select Extend Volume.

3. In the wizard window that opens, click the button Further:

4. Then on the next screen. Simply confirm the size by clicking Further.

5. Click the button.

6. Now you will see that the volume of the disk selected for expansion has increased due to Unallocated volume.

That's all about Merge Disk Volumes in Windows 10!

Hello! I’ll probably start from the very beginning, and if you’re not very interested, and you know why this article was written, then you can safely move on to the next heading, lower on the page. I decided to install Windows 8, I want to test the new system, and I haven’t written instructions for installing Windows 8 on the blog yet. I don’t really want to install it on a virtual machine; I want to demonstrate to my blog visitors the actual installation on a real computer. Everything would be fine, but I’m not ready to give up Windows 7 yet, especially since there are not very good reviews floating around the Internet about the eight, and if people say it, then most likely it’s true :).

So I decided to install Windows 8 on one computer next to Windows 7. I think I’ll see what happens, and then if I like the eight, I can install it instead of the seven. There is only one little thing left, you need to create a partition on your hard drive to install Windows 8 as a second system. This is not even a problem, I thought about taking a boot disk with Acronis Disk Director, take some space from the local drive D and create a partition for Windows 8.

But then I realized that not everyone who reads my blog, in particular this article, has a ready-made boot disk with Acronis Disk Director. Therefore, I decided to write an article in which I tell you in detail and with pictures how to create a partition on your hard drive in Windows 7, we will do all this from the working system using a standard utility “Disk Management”.

I need to create another partition on my hard drive to install a second operating system. You may have another reason, for example, you installed Windows and, being lazy, made only one system drive C, for which all the hard drive memory was allocated. I've encountered this and it's very inconvenient. Therefore, in this way you can take some memory from a single partition and create one or two more local drives for storing photos, videos, etc.

How to create a partition on a hard drive under Windows?

As I wrote above, we will create another local disk using the utility “Disk Management”, first we need to launch it. We go to “Start”, "Control Panel", select "Administration", a window will open in which you can run “Computer Management”. In the window that opens, on the left you need to select “Disk Management”. Wait a moment while the system collects information about the partitions on your hard drive.

After loading the information, we will see our entire hard drive and the partitions that have already been created. This means we need to create another partition, but I only have 47 MB of free memory (see the picture below, light green area). This means we need to take some space from one of the already created partitions, look at which we have the most free space, select it, right-click and select “Shrink Volume...”. As you can see, I selected local drive D for compression.

You need to wait a little while Windows 7 determines how much space can be squeezed out of this partition :).

A window will appear in which you can see the total size of the partition before compression, and how much space is available for compression. In my case, the maximum I could take from drive D was 20,140 MB, which is great for Windows 8. But you can specify how much space you want to take from a specific local drive. Click “Compress”.

We wait a little and look at the table again. As you can see, the area with free memory (light green area) has increased. You can create a partition from this free area. Right click on it and select “Create a simple volume...”.

The Create Simple Volume Wizard opens. Click “Next”.

Based on the free area, the system will show us the maximum and minimum size of the partition to be created. And it will ask you to enter the size for the new partition. For the new logical drive, I used all the free memory, so I just clicked “Next”.

Next we need to assign a letter to the disk being created. Therefore, we leave the mark opposite “Assign a drive letter” and choose a letter, or you can leave it as a prepositional system. Click the “Next” button.

The next stage is formatting the partition. I advise you to immediately format the local disk. Against "File system" I advise you to install NTFS, “Cluster size” We leave it as default. Where “Volume Label” we indicate any name, since I am creating a partition for installing Windows 8, I named it that way. Check mark opposite “Quick Format” and click “Next”.

We check the information and click “Finish”.

All is ready! I now have another logical partition “H” called “Windows 8”. Now you can install an operating system on it, or simply save information.

If you go to "My computer", then you can see the partition we created, even without any reboots.

Conclusion

To be honest, this was the first time I created a new partition on a hard drive using a standard tool in Windows 7. Usually I always use a boot disk or a standard manager during the installation of the operating system.

But if you are running Windows 7, and you just need to create another partition and take some memory from the existing one, then all this can be done in a few minutes using the method described above, and there is no point in downloading and burning all sorts of boot disk images.

I wrote in an article about how to increase one logical partition at the expense of another using a boot disk, read it, it might come in handy. Here is another article on the topic of partitioning a new hard drive during the installation of an operating system.

Perhaps someone will say that this method is bad, and it is best to create new partitions using special programs. This is not true, I did not have a single problem either when creating or using this section. I installed Windows 8 on it next to the already installed Windows without any problems

In this article, I will tell you how to create a hard drive partition in Windows 7. A hard drive partition is a part of the hard drive on which you can store information. Sections can be created...

The terms "partition" and "volume" have the same meaning to many users, but in fact they are fundamentally different in the context of computer architecture. The term "volume" is synonymous with the word "disk", and is a separate data storage area with its own file system, while a partition is a basic structural unit that can be divided into one or more volumes. Unfortunately, the release of computer equipment with pre-partitioned and formatted disks has led to the fact that most users have no idea about the differences between a partition and a volume. But if you are going to change the disk structure of your computer, then you should understand this well.

Disk partitions

A partition is a structural unit of a hard disk that divides the data storage resource into several virtual units. Partitions are a standard object that is easily recognized by all modern operating systems. At the same time, not all operating systems are able to well identify volumes located on disk partitions. Most manufacturers sell their equipment with just one disk partition, but if this is not enough for you and you want to change the disk structure, you need to use the standard Windows 7 control panel. Select the “System and Security” section in it and you will find it contains the administration section “Administrative Tools”, which, among others, includes a utility for managing the structure of local disks. In addition, you can change the disk structure during installation of the operating system.

Types of Partitions

There are two types of partitions: primary and extended. Most operating systems only require a primary partition to function properly. Only one volume can be created on each primary partition. An extended partition is a special type of partition that can contain multiple volumes (or logical drives) of your choice, the total size of which cannot exceed the size of the extended partition. In total, you can create up to four partitions on one physical disk, one of which can be extended.

Tom

A volume is analogous to a system disk. After creating a disk structure from partitions, you can create a logical disk or volume from each partition, format it and thus get several separate disks in the operating system, just like it looks like when you attach several physical disks to a computer. Each of these volumes is independent and you can format them without fear of damaging data on other logical drives. You can manage all volumes through the “Disk Management” utility, which is launched through the context menu of the “Computer” section or the control panel.

Benefits of creating multiple partitions and logical drives

Although it takes some time to create multiple partitions and volumes on a single physical disk, there are many advantages to such a disk structure. By partitioning the disk into partitions, it is possible to maintain the functionality of one partition, while the file system (FS) of another partition has become inoperable due to FS system errors or detection of bad sectors. Additionally, the time to scan, format, and defragment small-capacity logical drives is significantly less than for whole drives. This division also allows you to separate the system disk from other information, which allows you to reinstall the operating system without any problems or restore it from an image, while preserving your personal and multimedia data.

In this beginner's guide, we'll look at how to partition (split) and merge hard drive partitions in Windows 10 using the built-in snap-in.

Sometimes you just need to create, delete or modify disk partitions in Windows 10. If you have one disk and you would not like to keep the operating system files and your files on the same disk, creating logical drives will help you. Each of the logical disk partitions can have its own file system and will allow you to load several operating systems from one hard drive. In this tutorial, I will show you how to manage disk partitions in Windows 10, simply using the .

In the second part, we will delete the new volume and merge the freed space, returning it back to the original volume of the C: drive. So let's get started...

How to split and merge disk partitions in Windows 10

Part 1 - splitting and creating a new disk partition

To open the snap-in - Click Win+R and in the Run window line and enter . Click OK or Enter .

In the window, right-click on the disk partition that you want to partition and select Shrink Volume. In my case it's a disk WITH:

In a few seconds, you will see the area you have freed up for the future disk partition marked , the same space will be taken from the existing disk partition WITH:.

So the disk WITH: is divided into two volumes. Right-click on the unallocated space and in the context menu click Create a simple volume, will start automatically

In the window Volume Size Guidelines you can change the size of the created size, click Further.

In the next window, set the letter of the new disk partition and click Further

Now you need to format the disk, there is no need to change the default settings.

The wizard finishes by showing you a summary of the information. Click the button.

The created logical drive will appear in the snap-in window and Windows 10 Explorer ready for use.

Part 2 - Merge disk volumes

You may need to merge the disk volumes by returning the disk WITH: previously selected space for disk Z:

Here's how to do it:

1. Open Select the disk partition that you want to merge and right-click on it, selecting from the context menu Delete volume. This will remove the drive letter and partition.

Note:This will also delete all data on the disk partition (In my case, from drive Z:, I previously transferred all the necessary information to another drive).

Click Yes to confirm volume deletion.

2. After the disk partition Z: will be deleted, you will see the disk partition marked . Now right-click on the disk volume with which you want to merge unallocated capacity ( in this case it is a disk WITH: ) and select Extend Volume.

3. In the wizard window that opens, click the button Further:

4. Then on the next screen. Simply confirm the size by clicking Further.

5. Click the button.

6. Now you will see that the volume of the disk selected for expansion has increased due to Unallocated volume.

That's all about Merge Disk Volumes in Windows 10!

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Preparation of hard drives has a number of features associated with their significant volume and the ability to create several logical volumes on one physical storage medium. When working on a personal computer, it may be necessary to create or delete partitions on a hard drive, convert them, or restore them. If during the initial installation of Windows 7 the creation of volumes takes place interactively and the process is intuitive, then making changes to the created partitions requires a certain skill. Without any experience in these matters, you can perform the wrong operation, which will lead to irreversible consequences from complete loss of information to failure of the hard drive.

Rules for hard disk distribution in Windows 7

The sequence of preparing hard drives for installing Windows 7 is as follows:

low-level pre-formatting;

partitioning of a physical drive into logical volumes;

installation of software on logical drives.

All modern hard drives come formatted at a low level. After mounting them on a system unit or laptop, they must be marked and formatted as logical volumes. This is done at the initial stage when installing Windows 7 on a computer. You can carry out the distribution later by creating a single, common logical disk during installation, using all the free space on the hard drive for this.

A number of specialists in the field of computer technology believe that there should be only one partition on the drive, and the presence of several only slows down the performance of the computer. This is not entirely true. Storing personal folders on another volume provides certain advantages, as it avoids accidental destruction when reinstalling the system or deleting old files and directories. And also the second volume allows you to unload the system partition and reduce the movement of files on it, which does not lead to large fragmentation of clusters.

To directly resolve issues of partitioning into volumes, Windows 7 has a built-in Disk Management utility. This is a practical visual tool that is used to manage hard drive volumes, configure volumes, and perform other service operations.

Using the built-in Disk Management utility allows you to:

create and delete volumes on the drive;

compress volumes;

add volumes without rebooting;

manage local and remote network drives.

There are several methods for launching the Disk Management utility.

The Start key services menu is applied:

The console “Administrator: Command Line” is used:

Launch using the Run service:

Another option: click on the “Start” button, select “Control Panel”, activate the “Administrative Tools” service, in the “Run” panel that opens, select “Computer Management”, and then “Disk Management”.

What actions to take if the hard drive is not allocated

Before installing Windows 7 on a hard drive, you need to prepare it for this.

Most hard drives are sold prepared for installation of Windows 7, that is, with the main partition already created. Operations for distribution onto several volumes are carried out during system installation. Installation is carried out when booting from an optical bootloader or USB drive. When performing one of the initial installation steps, a window appears asking you to select a space for installing Windows 7.
In the “Windows Installation” window, select the logical drive for installation

Then you need to follow the instructions that appear on the screen. The installation program itself will guide you through all the steps.

If the hard drive was not prepared for immediate installation of the system before going on sale, then all operations will have to be done by the user. To do this, you will need a bootable optical disc or USB drive.

Before installing the system, you must enter the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) software and set it to boot initially from a DVD or USB drive. Entering the BIOS is done by pressing the F2, “Del” or other keyboard combination, depending on the manufacturer, when the computer starts booting. You can use the F11 key for this purpose, pressing it at the initial stage to display the bootloader panel.
In BIOS, select boot from USB drive

To create a system partition on a hard drive, all free space is used. The creation of other logical partitions is carried out after installing Windows 7. For these purposes, it is best to use bootable media with Windows PE, the assembly of which has built-in “Acronis Disk Director” or “Partition Magic”, which provides management of logical partitions of the hard drive.

In the absence of such boot media, you can boot from an outdated boot media for Windows 98 containing the Volkov Commander software shell.
Find and run the utility “Fdisk.exe”

Volkov Commander launches the system utility “Fdisk.exe”, which is used when creating a system partition. The drive is then formatted using the Format.com utility.

Rules for creating volumes on a hard drive in Windows 7

A new volume is created in a free area of the hard drive that is not yet part of a formatted volume. In the Disk Management console, this space is highlighted in bright green, and in the legend line it is indicated as “Free”.

Before creating a volume, we compress an arbitrarily defined partition. Thus, we take away part of the volume of this volume:

Enter the size of the space to be compressed and click the “Compress” button.

In the volume compression panel, select the size of the space to be compressed and press the “Compress” button

When compression is complete, right-click on the compressed area, which is highlighted in light green, and in the drop-down context menu click “Create simple volume...”.

Right-click on the free space and select “Create simple volume” from the drop-down menu

The simple volume creation wizard algorithm will begin to execute, in which the volume of the new volume is selected.

Press the “Next” button

We determine the storage capacity for the created volume.

Select the simple volume size and press the “Next” button

We assign a letter to designate the volume.

Assign a drive letter and press “Next”

Set quick formatting options. The volume is formatted in the NTFS file system, leaving other parameters unchanged. Turn on the “Quick Format” switch.

Select the file system, cluster size and volume label. Enable quick formatting

In the final window, click on the “Done” button. A logical volume with the specified letter is created.

Press the “Done” button

Video: creating new partitions on a hard drive in Windows 7

Rules for converting an MBR drive to a GPT drive

GPT is a fundamentally new organization of the disk system structure, used when preparing a hard drive for the installation of Windows 7. It was developed and began to be implemented simultaneously with the release of Windows 8 to the market. It is gradually replacing the format of drives with MBR and a basic input/output system (BIOS).

GPT disks have a number of advantages:

support up to 128 partitions on a physical drive;

work with hard drives up to 18 exabytes (EB);

information about partitions and boot information is stored in several copies in different places;

performance is better than that of an MBR drive and allows you to restore files if they are damaged;

stores code redundancy values (CRC), which allows you to determine information corruption.

Before converting an MBR volume to GPT, you need to copy all information from it, since during the conversion process all information is destroyed. After conversion, the information is returned to the storage volume.

To change the MBR format to GPT, there are two options:

The command utility “Diskpart.exe” is used:

Use the built-in Disk Management utility:

You can modify an MBR drive into a GPT drive using third-party developments. The most popular are “MiniTool Partition Wizard” or “Acronis Disk Director”. These developments are not supported by Microsoft and although they have proven themselves to be positive, 100% results can never be guaranteed.

How to properly configure a network drive

Before creating a network drive, select a directory that will be designated as such on the local network and open public access to it. The directory size is unlimited and varies depending on the free space on the hard drive. Before selecting a directory, configure the network parameters of Windows 7:

go from the desktop through the chain “Control Panel” - “Network and Sharing Center”;

Click on the service “Change additional sharing settings”;

Select “Change advanced sharing settings” in the left panel

A console opens containing settings for two main profiles:

current profile;
general profile.

in the profiles we turn on all the switches for network discovery and sharing.

In the panel, turn on the switches for network discovery and sharing

Having finished setting the network settings for Windows 7, we move on to opening shared access to the selected directory and mapping a network drive.

Creating a public access:

find the directory on the hard drive, right-click on it and in the drop-down menu click on the “Properties” line;

in the “Properties: Contacts” panel, go to the “Access” tab and click on the “Sharing” button;

In the “Properties” panel, select the “Access” tab and press the “Sharing” button

enter the word “Guest” in the top field, press the “Add” button and give him certain rights to work;

In the “File Sharing” panel, add “Guest”, assign him rights and click on the “Sharing” button

public access is opened;

We are waiting for the folder to be shared

When the opening is complete, click on the “Done” button.

Click on the “Finish” button

Creating a network drive:

right-click on the “Computer” service on the “Desktop” and in the drop-down menu click on the line “Map network drive”;

In the “Computer” pop-up menu, select “Map network drive...”

in the panel that opens, indicate the drive letter to connect;

Click on the “Browse” button and find the desired directory;

In the panel, select the drive letter and the required folder

select the directory, click on the “OK” button and in the next panel click on the “Finish” button.

You can create such a disk on a local network on any local computer.

How to remove drive C

It is not possible to remove a system drive that is currently in use by Windows 7. If you try to do this, the system will warn you that the partition is in use and will not allow you to carry out the operation. This is a kind of fuse against rash user actions, which can lead to the loss of boot and system files. You can delete the system partition only during the reinstallation of Windows 7.

How to properly delete the “System Reserved” partition

System Reserved is a hidden partition designed to save Windows 7 boot information. The partition is used to provide information necessary when the computer fails to boot and is not reflected in the Explorer logical drive tree. It is not recommended to delete a section; it can be made invisible to the user if it begins to appear in Explorer. This is done very simply:

go to the “Disk Management” snap-in;

right-click on the backup volume and in the drop-down context menu click on the line “Change drive letter or drive path...”;

In the drop-down menu, select “Change drive letter or drive path...”

in the panel that opens, click on the “Add” button; in the next panel, indicate the letter that denotes the reserved disk;

In the panel, enter the drive letter to delete

Double-click on the “Delete” button.

I do not recommend deleting this partition; it is better to leave everything as it was created when installing Windows 7. A size of 100 megabytes does not affect anything and is not worth breaking the system. It seems to me that Microsoft did not come up with it in vain.

Video: how to hide a “System Reserved” volume

How the “System Reserved” section is created

A backup volume always identifies itself as active, system, and primary. It can be used to launch one or two operating systems installed on a hard drive. If the partition was not created automatically during the system installation process, or was intentionally deleted, you can create it again by executing a certain command algorithm in the administrator console:

opening the “Run” panel, in the “Open” field enter the line “Diskpart.exe”;

In the panel enter the command diskpart.exe

enter the line list disk - display information about partitions;

enter the line select disk - select a volume with working Windows 7;

enter the line shrink desired=100 - shrink the volume by 100 megabytes;

diskpart reduces the volume by 100 megabytes;

enter the line creat partition primfry - create a volume;

diskpart creates a partition;

enter the line format fs=ntfs - format the volume in the NTFS file system;

diskpart will format the volume;

enter the line activ - the volume becomes active;

enter the line assign letter J - assignment of an arbitrary letter;

enter the line exit - exit the program;

termination of work "Diskpart.exe";

enter the line bcdboot C:\Windows - boot files are created in the “System Reserved” volume.

This completes the creation of the “System Reserved” volume of 100 megabytes in size.

Popular programs for dividing a hard drive into partitions

“MiniTool Partition Wizard” is a small utility that allows you to quickly manage hard drive partitions. It has a clear Russian-language interface that allows you to use it without much difficulty. Provides the ability to convert MBR drives to GPT drives without loss of information. Provides support for drives larger than two terabytes. The program has all the basic functions for working with hard drive partitions. Allows you to backup information.

Start panel of the MiniTool Partition Wizard program

Acronis Disk Director is one of the most famous programs used for hard drive partitioning and partition management. It is often included in the assembly of boot media to divide the drive into logical drives before installing Windows 7. It has the ability to divide the volume into two parts and install two different operating systems in them. Supports all modern file systems. It has the function of converting, without loss of information, MBR drives into GPT drives. Can clone the system to another drive. Allows you to use a wide range of functions for working with partitions.

Main window of the Acronis Disk Director program

Video: Partitioning a hard drive with Acronis Disk Director

Despite all the variety of programs for working with hard drives, you should only use proven ones. There is always a danger that after processing a disk with an unknown program, you can lose information that has been accumulated and stored for a long time. If you are not completely sure, then it is better to use the disk management utility built into Windows 7, developed by Microsoft, or a program from the bootable media assembly. The programs from the assembly have wider functionality for processing hard drives, but require certain skills in operation. An error when working with them can lead to irreversible consequences. Therefore, it is recommended to start using them only after thoroughly familiarizing yourself with their capabilities.

Hello everyone, in this article I will show you how to create a partition on your hard drive in two different ways. The first method is based on the use of third-party programs, the second - using the operating system. Both methods are equally effective. But the first will require searching and downloading the program, the second will require the latest versions of Windows, starting with Vista.

Before we begin.

Friends. I enter in a separate paragraph what should be written immediately. My fault, but better late than never: the ideal partitioning of a disk into several partitions is at the STAGE OF INSTALLING THE VERY FIRST SYSTEM. That is, at that moment when the disk is pristine and there are no partitions at all! The Windows Installer GUI allows you to do this without any problems. If you decide that there will be 2 or more copies of Windows on your computer, prepare for that IN ADVANCE. But, since most computers come with pre-installed operating systems, read on.

Why do you need to create multiple partitions?

There are several reasons, but I will name the most important for any user.

Reason one - safety. Having a single logical drive, in the event of a system failure, you risk losing access to all data and, most importantly, the usual system settings. Splitting the hard drive into two or more logical ones will allow you, by storing all important data on a specially dedicated partition, to save the data and save a lot of time on subsequent recovery. On the same disk you can store a copy of the system registry, restore points, etc.

Reason two – the ability to install a Windows backup on an additional logical drive. These can be copies of different or identical generations, there can be two, three or more. For what? It's safety again. If one version of Windows fails, you can use the capabilities of the second without wasting time until the reasons for the failure of the main copy of Windows are determined.

It's time to create a partition on your hard drive.

How to create a partition on a hard drive. First appointment. If you have Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, etc. This task is easily solved on the systems described. In some cases, the built-in Windows utility will not be enough, but for the current task it is enough.

TERMINOLOGY

The limitations of the MBR table may generally allow you to create only 4 partitions, assigning a Latin letter to each of them. First section ( Primery), which can be labeled as Active, will tell the BIOS which partition should contain the system files needed to boot Windows. If the active partition also contains OS files, it is named as Bootable chapter.

The owner of our laptop already has two partitions on the experimental device. These are VistaOS and DATA. Your disks are probably called differently.

And we will create a third one. Let's click:

On the left side of the computer management window, select the item Disk Management:

A partition map will appear on the right side. Let me remind you that we already have two. The system is stored on one, we will not touch it, but we will pay attention to the second.

Right-click on it and select Compress volume...

Specify the size of the future partition. I will select approximately 25 GB (I will indicate 25000 MB from the keyboard) and click on the button Compress.

Oops! A new piece has appeared. But this is not a full-fledged disc yet.

Let's format it properly. Right-click on it and select the command Create a simple volume... The Create Simple Volume Wizard appears. All we need to do is follow the instructions and click OK. In the settings you can select the letter of the future volume, I left the suggested F. It will take a few minutes to format the disk and that’s it.

A new logical drive has appeared in the system New Volume F about 25 GB in size, which has nothing to do with other disks.

How to create a partition on a hard drive. Reception second. We will use a FREE program to work with sections. A lot of them have already been released, and all of them are quite suitable for home use in terms of functionality. I will offer you the first one I come across called AOMEI. You can download the version AOMEI Partition Assistant or check for a later version on the manufacturer's website. The advantages of using programs like this are advanced functionality, which I advise you to take a closer look at.

Install the program on your computer. This won't cause any problems. Agree to all terms and conditions and launch.
Yours with all sections will appear in the program window. The owner has already created one of the sections. So let's create another partition using the program AOMEI Partition Assistant. To repeat the experience, by the way, I had to roll back to the initial stage, when the hard drive was divided into two logical partitions.

As in the first case, we will take a bite from drive D, on which NON-SYSTEM files are stored. As in the first case, we will bite off about 25 GB of space.

Open the program and in its main window you will see already familiar features with two logical sections:

The steps are the same as in the Windows version. Select a free disk and right-click on it. Let's choose a team Resize partition and indicate with the mouse directly in the window the desired size of the future partition.

Unallocated space will appear. We will immediately create a section in it. By default, it will be assigned the same letter F.

In the upper left part of the program, click on the button Apply with a green tick. Agree to all changes and click OK. In a couple of minutes everything is ready.