Partitioning a hard drive using Windows 7

Partitioning the C:\ drive in Win7

When purchasing a new computer or laptop with the Windows 7 operating system preinstalled, many users are faced with the problem of dividing the hard drive into several partitions.

Partitioning the hard drive into several partitions is important both from the point of view of ease of use of the system interface and the ability to save data after reinstalling or restoring the operating system.

Main partition C:\

As you know, when you reinstall the operating system, all data located on the C:\ drive is lost, while the data on the remaining partitions of the hard drive remains intact. All important files can be easily used even after the system is restored.

Partitioning a hard drive is also convenient because programs and applications are installed on the system partition C:\. If the C:\ drive is the only one, then when you add all kinds of files and folders to it, confusion arises between system files and regular folders added by the user. In this case, it is easy to get confused in the files and inadvertently delete some important system file. Therefore, partitioning the hard drive is necessary.

In order to split a hard drive in Windows 7 into several partitions (logical drives), many use specialized programs, like Partition Magic and the like. Using such programs, you can split a disk into several partitions. But Windows 7 provides the ability to split it using system utilities. In this case, the need for third-party programs completely disappears.

To partition a hard drive in Windows 7, you need to go to the computer control panel.

You can do this in two ways:

It is clear that the first method is simpler.

In the “Disk Management” tab you can view all the information on our HDD and its partitions. In addition to the main C:\ partition, there is a possibility of finding a hidden recovery partition.

Main partition C:\ and hidden recovery partition

The recovery partition is used to store information to restore the operating system in the event of a serious failure when the system does not boot. It is not indicated by a letter. It is worth noting that the amount of memory occupied by recovery files can reach several gigabytes (usually about 15GB). Also, in addition to it, there is a section on the disk System Reserved , volume 100 megabytes. These sections are official, since they are not used by the user in any way and serve for the normal functioning of the operating system.

So, let's turn our attention to the C:\ drive, which is to be divided into sections - additional logical drives.

In order to split it, right-click on the conventional image of the disk. In the drop-down menu, select “ Shrink Volume…”.

Item "Compress volume..."

After the request is completed, a window will appear in which the compression parameters will be indicated. If the disk has not been partitioned before, then by default the utility will offer to split it approximately in half. If the HDD initially had a memory capacity of, for example, 1.8 Terabytes, then after division two sections are formed with a capacity of approximately 900 Gigabytes each.

The window that appears indicates the size of the C:\ volume before compression (in megabytes) and the size of the compressed space. The size of the compressed space is the amount of memory of the new partition that will be created. The total size after compression is the size of the C:\ volume after compression. It will be slightly larger than the newly created one. As already mentioned, the system will offer to divide the available memory approximately in half.

If you have the desire and confidence in your abilities, you can indicate your numbers and divide the disk according to your needs. In any case, it will be possible to carry out the reverse procedure - volume expansion and return everything to its previous state.

After familiarizing yourself with the separation parameters, click the “Compress” button. After a short process, another partition with the inscription “Unallocated” will appear on the HDD.

The item "Create a simple volume..."

The “Create a Simple Volume Wizard” will launch. Click “Next”. The “Specify volume size” window will appear – click “Next” again. In the next window, select the letter of the new volume in the “ Assign a drive letter" You can choose any letter you like.

Assigning a letter for the new partition

Confirm your choice and specify the file system in a new window. In point " Format this volume as follows:” specify the file system NTFS , leave the cluster size at default. Put a tick in the checkbox “ Quick formatting” and click “Next”. A window will appear with all the specified parameters. If everything is correct, then click the “Done” button.

If you are not satisfied with the default parameters set by the system, then, of course, you can set your own. But in most cases this is not required.

After a few seconds, the new HDD partition will be formatted, a letter will be assigned to it, and the inscription “Good (Logical drive)” will appear in the symbol field. Now the C:\ drive will be divided into two.

New HDD partition - New volume (E:)

If desired, you can change the name of the new section, and instead of “ New volume”, give another. You can do this in several ways:

1 .In the computer control panel in the disk management window, select the one whose name we want to change. Right-click and select " Properties". In the name field, enter a new name and confirm by clicking OK.

If you have a solid-state drive (SSD) installed in your system instead of an HDD, then the separation technique is similar.

From time to time, users want to redistribute free space on their hard drive. This happens in cases where, for example, one has already run out of space, while the other still has quite a lot of it. To divide free space without any problems, it is recommended to look at special editing software. In principle, you can try to do all the work using standard Windows tools, but it is better to use software that was developed specifically for these purposes. Although there are many different applications that you can download, we will describe only a few of them that have gained immense popularity.

One of the best is undoubtedly a hard drive partitioning program called Partition Magic. The software boasts many positive qualities and advantages, among which are a convenient and intuitive interface, as well as rich functionality. Its capabilities are very great; it can move information, change, merge, delete, and also create new sections.

Among other things, the free Partition Magic program is designed to work with all known file systems, including NTFS, FAT and FAT32. You will be able to convert one system to another without losing data. In general, if you need a high-quality and useful software that will quickly cope with any tasks related to working with hard drives, then you should definitely study Partition Magic - you will really like the software.

Also called Paragon Partiton Manager. The software is distinguished by its high speed of performing all separation operations. At the same time, its functionality allows you to convert file systems, solve loading problems, and backup individual files and entire disks. Unfortunately, it can only be installed on Windows, which forces all other users to find an alternative.

Finally, we’ll tell you about the cool Acronis Disk Director utility - a full-fledged software package that includes a large number of important components - a partition manager for moving, copying, deleting, merging. In addition, if installed, users will be able to recover partitions on the hard drive if they were lost as a result of a system failure.

To work with hard disk partitions (dividing into partitions or combining them into one), the Windows 10 operating system has a built-in utility “ Disk management" Its use, in my opinion, is preferable to installing any third-party tools. You can read how to split a hard drive using Ten’s own means or, conversely, combine its partitions in separate articles on this site: divide And combine. But sometimes situations arise when it is quite difficult to do without third-party tools.

This article was written in response to questions from site readers who had problems dividing a hard drive or merging its volumes. The Disk Management utility built into Windows 10, despite all its advantages, has its drawbacks: sometimes it does not allow you to create a partition of the required size, sometimes it does not allow you to split your hard drive at all, sometimes it is not possible to combine the necessary volumes into one. In these problematic situations (and only in them!) I recommend using a third-party one, even if free program for managing hard disk partitions in the "top ten". It is worth remembering that using any third-party tool to manage the operating system can be potentially dangerous. I am not inclined to dramatize the situation, but I believe that I am obliged to warn about it, even if the probability of possible problems is one chance in ten thousand. Therefore, whenever possible, it is better to still use the Disk Management utility built into Windows 10, developed by Microsoft.

When I was preparing this article, I spent several hours of time to find a truly completely free, reliable and reputable program for dividing a hard drive into partitions(or their combinations). There are a lot of outright lies and dubious programs of unknown origin in this area. A separate point in my search was the question that the software found should not only free, but also had a Russian-language interface and it also turned out completely compatible with Windows 10. The last question is far from idle - the fact is that on the Internet you can find information about how some disk partitioning programs created for Windows 7 or 8 ruined the hard drives of Windows 10 users.

So, as a result of a long and thorough search, I finally found and tried the program myself AOMEI Partition Assistant. In general, its full version, the Professional Edition, costs from $59 and much more. But don’t let this scare you, because the functionality of its free Standard Edition branch is quite enough to:

• Divide the hard drive into partitions
• Merge hard drive volumes into one partition

In general, the presence of a paid version speaks only in favor of this software. After all, this indicates the seriousness of the intentions of its authors. Those who create programs for money probably make decent solutions for free, albeit with somewhat limited functionality (especially since it’s quite enough for us). Another proof of the authority of AOMEI Partition Assistant, in my opinion, is the presence of an article about it in Wikipedia. By the way, if you doubt the reliability and safety of a particular program, always check through a search engine whether Wikipedia writes about it. This, of course, is not a 100% guarantee, but still, since this electronic encyclopedia strives for maximum objectivity, in articles about software there you can find information about the possible “pitfalls” of a particular program. It is there, on Wikipedia, that it is better to take a link to the official website of the program. The fact is that the first places in search engines are often not the official websites of certain programs.

On the official site AOMEI Tech I found it right away section dedicated to the Partition Assistant program. Let's go down a little on this page to the second screen. There, to download the free version of the program we need to manage the hard drive, we find the item Partition Assistant Standard Edition and (of course) click “Download”. Don’t be alarmed that the site is in English; the program itself has an official Russian localization. Please note that there are several options for downloading this program for different needs on the page - for free home use, choose the version Standard Edition.

The installation process of the program is not at all complicated. First, you are asked to select a language, then traditionally accept the usage agreement, and, if necessary, select the folder where the program will be stored - that’s basically all. After installation, the program will automatically launch if you leave the “Run this program” checkbox at the last stage.

I will not consider all options for using AOMEI Partition Assistant to manage a hard drive. I will only examine in detail the question of how this can free program to split your hard drive into several partitions in Windows 10. Everything else (including merging volumes) is done by analogy.

Dividing a hard drive into partitions using the free AOMEI Partition Assistant program in Windows 10

When the program starts, all the physical hard drives installed on your computer or laptop, as well as the partitions that exist on them, will be displayed at the bottom. In order to divide a disk into several volumes, you first need to “pinch off” a piece of space from an existing partition. To do this, stand on the donor volume and, right-clicking on it, select “ Resize partition».

A new window will appear in which you need to specify what size you want to leave the existing volume. All remaining space will be freed up for the new partition. I left the C drive with 150 GB. Click OK.

Now we see that we have free space labeled " Unoccupied" We need to create a new partition (volume) on it. To do this, right-click on it again and select the item “ Creating a section».

The pop-up window appears again. We leave everything in it as default and click OK.

After this, a new section will appear on the program screen. It would seem that you can rejoice. But it was not there. Turns out, no changes have been made to the hard drive itself yet! For the operation to be completed, you need to click the button at the top. Apply».

Typically, you will need to restart your computer to complete the operation. This is exactly what the new window in the AOMEI Partition Assistant program tells us. Click “Go” on it. It is better to leave the checkbox next to the “Check partitions before execution” item. This will allow the program to check partitions for errors before dividing.

After this, a new window will appear again warning you to restart your computer. We agree and click “Yes”.

After the reboot, the actual physical division of the hard drive into two partitions begins. It occurs before the Windows 10 operating system boots in PreOS mode.

Personally, this process took me only a couple of minutes. Most likely, the fact is that on the shared hard drive I had nothing except the clean installed Windows 10 and several programs. Therefore, it did not take much time to move files. If the computer is weak and there is a lot of information on the disk, then the division process may take much longer. My computer rebooted twice and then started up normally. After this, a new section appeared in Explorer, and the existing one became smaller.

Let me remind you that, by analogy with this instruction in Windows 10, using the free AOMEI Partition Assistant program, you can combine hard drive partitions.

I foresee a question from some meticulous readers of my site about why I reviewed only one free program for managing hard drive partitions on the “ten”. Will explain. The fact is that the rest of the programs I studied did not suit me for various reasons: some of them did not have the Russian language (and for many this is important), others had too much functionality in the free version, others raised doubts about the plan security for the operating system and compatibility with Windows 10. In addition, I absolutely see no point in looking for something else to solve fairly rare problems. I believe that the software reviewed copes with the assigned tasks with a bang and has undoubted advantages over all other free programs that I have studied. So why then bother yourself and others with unnecessary information?)

A hard drive is designed to permanently store information used when operating a computer. They are also called hard drives or hard drives. The abbreviation HDD also stands for hard drive in computer terminology. A hard disk is one of the fastest devices for writing and reading information, not counting RAM.

Most often, it is not convenient to use a hard drive as a single storage of information, so most users of PCs and laptops split the hard drive into partitions for convenience.

The concept of a hard drive partition

A partition (often referred to as a volume) is an area of ​​a hard drive that can be formatted for a specific file system. A partition or volume is designated by a letter of the Latin alphabet, for example F, E, H, Z, or other letters that are not currently used on this hard drive.

Type of computer hard drive

Types of hard disk partitions

Experts in modern computer terminology related to hard drive partitions distinguish three main types of volumes on a hard drive:

• Primary (Primary partition);
• Extended partition;
• Logical partition.

The primary hard drive partition typically stores user data, programs, and operating system files. There can be more than one primary partition on a hard disk, but there cannot be more than four. It is impossible to install more than one operating system on one primary hard drive volume, so if you want to use several operating systems on one PC, split the hard drive into several partitions. And since there cannot be more than four primary partitions on one hard drive, there cannot be more than four installed operating systems either.

During each session of working with a computer, only one primary partition is active, the one from which the operating system was loaded. Many operating systems have the ability to boot only from the active volume on the hard drive.

An extended partition combines logical drives, which are also called logical partitions. You can create a huge number of logical disks in an extended partition. They can store various information, such as user data, applications, programs, personal photos, videos and documents, even operating system files that can be loaded not only from the primary partition.

Logical partitions are almost no different from extended partitions. Any logical drive is simply an area of ​​an extended partition.

Computer hard drive

Partitioning your hard drive

Many owners of laptops and personal computers, after purchasing, think about the problem of dividing the hard drive into partitions. The essence of this partition is to divide the computer's hard drive into two or more partitions. In most cases, they create a local drive C containing the operating system and system folders, as well as a local drive D on which they mainly store their favorite movies, music, photos, text documents, etc. But for storing personal data, not one, but several local drives can be used and They can be named by any letters of the Latin alphabet.

Hard disk division occurs only formally

Advantages of partitioning your hard drive

Splitting your hard drive into several partitions has many advantages. For example, the most significant advantage of this procedure is that personal files such as videos, photographs and documents will be stored on a separate disk. Because if the need arises to reinstall the operating system, and formatting the disk with the OS is simply inevitable in this case, then all your personal files and folders will be saved.

There is, of course, another solution to this problem. Before reinstalling the operating system, move all important data to removable media, but this is quite a labor-intensive task, especially if the amount of information that needs to be saved is tens or even hundreds of gigabytes. And if a situation arises when an emergency reinstallation of the operating system is necessary, access to personal files saved on a shared local drive along with the OS is no longer possible, important information will simply be lost.

This is what a computer's hard drive looks like when purchased in a store.

Storing system and personal files in different sections of the hard drive will be more convenient. It will be easier to find the information you are interested in, since each section will be less cluttered, and you will easily find the necessary files or folders. In addition, the obvious advantage of partitioning a hard drive is that it is easier for the operating system to work with a less loaded partition, that is, the performance of the OS increases significantly.

Another advantage of dividing a hard drive into partitions is the ability to use several operating systems on one computer. For example, Windows 7 and Windows 8 or Windows XP can be installed on one hard drive, but for this the hard drive must be partitioned. If a failure occurs in one of the operating systems, you will have another operating system installed and ready to use.

To summarize, it is worth highlighting the main advantages of dividing a hard drive into partitions. So, the advantages of this procedure include:

• ensuring the security of personal data even if failures occur in the OS;
• high efficiency of organizing information stored on the hard drive;
• increased OS performance due to less partition load;
• the ability to install and use several operating systems on a computer.

A hard drive is a very complex device that provides quick access to stored information.

Dividing a hard drive into partitions using built-in Windows OS tools

Since we have found out the main reasons why a hard drive is partitioned and become familiar with the main advantages that such a solution subsequently brings, we should consider in detail how to partition a hard drive into local disks in practice. Moreover, we will describe the algorithm for performing this procedure in relation to the most popular operating systems - Windows 7, 8 and 10.

Partitioning a hard drive in Windows 7

If your computer or laptop has the Windows 7 operating system installed, then to divide the hard drive into partitions, follow these steps:

Step 1. Right-click on the “Computer” icon on the desktop or in the “Start” panel, open the context menu, and click “Manage.”

Right-click on the Computer icon

Step 2. In the window that opens, select the “Disk Management” utility from the menu. After this, you will have to wait for a few seconds until a window with the hard drive structure opens.

Select Disk Management

Hard disk partitions

Step 3. To partition your hard drive, you need to select a volume that has a fairly large space, but it is worth remembering that it is better to compress a non-system partition if possible. Right-click on the selected volume and select “Shrink Volume” from the context menu. A small window will open and you will still need to wait some time.

Select Shrink disk and wait a few seconds

Step 4. The system will offer available compression options. Maximum values ​​will be indicated, but it is not recommended to use them, so reduce the size a little to the level required for you. This will be the size of the future logical disk. Enter the required values ​​in the boxes and click on the “Compress” button. Next, we wait again until the compression process is completed.

Maximum allowed values ​​for volume compression

Step 5: Once the process is complete, a new partition will appear in the Disk Management window. A black stripe and the inscription “Not distributed” will be visible on the top of it. To convert it into a hard disk volume, right-click, then select “Create simple volume”.

Unallocated space on your hard drive

Step 6. The “Simple Volume Creation Wizard” will open, click “Next” and select the maximum size.

Creating a Simple Volume

Step 7. Assign from the proposed letters of the Latin alphabet the letter that will later become the name of the new section and click “Next”.

Working with the Simple Volume Wizard

Select the name of the future partition in the Simple Volume Creation Wizard

Step 8. Check the box next to “Format this volume as follows”; select the NTFS file system; cluster size – default; Check the box next to “Quick Format” and click “Next”.

Manually setting formatting options

Step 9. When the “Completing the Create Simple Volume Wizard” window appears, check all the data and click the “Finish” button.

Completing the Create Simple Volume Wizard

Step 10. And the new hard drive partition is ready!

Ready new section

So, without the use of additional software, you can easily and simply partition the hard drive on a computer or laptop with the Windows 7 operating system installed.

Partitioning a hard drive in Windows 8

Owners of Windows 8 OS can partition the hard disk also using the Disk Management utility, but to open this window you need to simultaneously hold down two Windows + R keys. As a result, the Run window will appear, enter “diskmgmt.msc” into the command line » only without quotes and press the Enter button on your computer keyboard.

Next, the “Management” window will open, similar to that in the operating system discussed earlier. In order to create a new partition on your hard drive, you need to sequentially perform the same steps as in the algorithm described in Windows 7. That is, you perform all the manipulations described in steps 2-10.

Partitioning a hard drive in Windows 10

The hard drive on computers and laptops with the Windows 10 operating system installed can be divided into partitions using the same built-in Disk Management utility. You can open this utility in Windows 10 by opening the Start menu. We type “Control Panel”, left-click on it and select “System and Security”.

Finding Control Panel in Windows 10

Control Panel in Windows 10

Hard disk structure

In the window that opens, scroll down the scroll bar and find the “Administration” item. In this item you need to find “Creating and formatting a hard disk”, click on it and wait a couple of seconds, after which a window with the “Disk Management” utility opens in front of us. We carry out further steps in full accordance with the hard drive division algorithm in Windows 7, again we do steps 2-10.

Other ways to create a new volume on a hard drive

It is worth mentioning that the Disk Management utility also allows you to delete hard drive partitions. You will need this if, for example, there is no more free space left, and you simply need to create a new volume. To do this, you can right-click on the hard disk partition to be deleted and select “Delete Volume”. An unallocated volume will appear in place of the deleted partition, which can be formatted to the parameters you require.

Removing a volume using Disk Management

The steps described in the algorithm show how to create a new partition using the compression method. But there is a way to create a new volume from unallocated space, which may appear after deleting a partition, as described in the paragraph above, or after previous divisions, there could simply be unallocated space on the hard disk, from which you can create a new volume by following steps 5-10 of the above algorithm .

In addition, it is possible to expand another of the existing volumes into the free space after deleting the old volume, or the partition can be expanded into unused unallocated space. To do this, click on the “Extend volume” item in the context menu, select “Next” and “Finish”.

Partitioning a hard drive when installing Windows OS

After launching the operating system loader, select your language, accept the terms of the License Agreement, and select “Full installation”. The bootloader will prompt you to select a partition on which the operating system will subsequently be installed. Next, a window will open with a “Disk Settings” button. By clicking on this button, you will have access to all the tools that will allow you to work with disk space.

In this window, using the buttons, you can format the disk or disks, delete partitions, create new disks and select the desired size for them. Any changes you make will only take effect after you click the “Apply” button.

External hard drive

Dividing a hard drive with special programs

In addition to built-in tools, such as the Disk Management utility, special programs are also used to divide the hard drive into partitions, they are also called volume managers. At the moment there are a huge number of them. The functionality of these programs allows you to perform many functions, not only dividing a hard disk into partitions. Among the most popular programs that have received a large number of positive reviews, it is worth noting the following:

• Acronis Disc Director;
• Paragon Partition Manager;
• AOMEI Partition Assistant;
• Norton Partition Magic;
• EASEUS Partition Master
• Ranish etc.

Most of these programs can be downloaded for free on the Internet, in addition, many of them are available in Russian.

Acronis Disc Director hard drive management software

Paragon Partition Manager hard drive management program

Conclusion

The above describes in detail how to quickly and easily divide a hard drive into partitions using the built-in tools of Windows operating systems in versions 7, 8 and 10. The option of how to partition a hard drive initially when installing the operating system on a computer or laptop is also considered. Here is a list of the best programs for managing hard disk partitions according to user opinions.

The described benefits obtained from dividing a hard drive into partitions are simply undeniable. After all, this way you not only rationally use disk space, but also increase the performance of the operating system.

Creating, deleting and formatting computer disk partitions is only part of the possibilities hard drive management applications. Today, they make it possible to securely perform operations that previously required data deletion or other mind-boggling combinations.

Many of the tasks performed through the Partition Manager can, in theory, be accomplished using Windows' built-in Disk Management tool. However, it is not as intuitive as the programs discussed here.

A good disk management application consists of several modules. They are used to create, delete and format partitions. Apart from these functions, they also have functions for copying and moving partitions, creating images and backups.

Additional modules support system migration, merging and splitting partitions. Supports various partition schemes, dynamic disks, RAID configurations, various file systems and boot records.

Attention! Whenever you work with hard drive partitions, you need to plan everything carefully, back up your data, and make sure you select the correct hard drive or partition before pressing Enter.

Attention! All operations carried out on partitions are fraught with risks. The editors recommend extreme caution and are not responsible for possible loss of data or other damage incurred by readers.

EaseUS Partition Master Disk Management

One of the most popular programs for managing hard drive partitions in Windows. Ensures the allocation of new partitions without data loss.

Benefits of EaseUS Partition Master

• Easy conversion of partition type, primary to logical and vice versa
• Recovers deleted or non-existent partitions
• Supported hard drive capacity up to 8 TB

Flaws

• Inability to transfer data from HDD to SSD in the free version

License: freeware
Price: free

AOMEI Partition Assistant Disk Management

Also popular. Creates, divides, connects, copies hard drive partitions, changing their size, while saving files. System transfer is possible.

Benefits of AOMEI Partition Assistant

• Convenient wizards for every operation
• Supports all the most popular file systems
• Displays accurate information about supported media
• Allows you to create a bootable CD with the application

License: freeware
Price: free

Disk Management in GParted

A tool for managing computer hard drive partitions. Distributed as an ISO file. Install it on a flash drive or burn it to a CD and start your computer from it.

Benefits of GParted

• Does not require installation and does not take up disk space
• Attractive free offer for companies
• Wide range of partition management capabilities for almost any file system

Flaws

• Mastery takes time
• Only available via Live CD

License: freeware
Price: free

MiniTool Partition Wizard

Performs all operations with hard disk partitions and also hides it. Copying the contents of the disk and changing the file system.

Advantages of MiniTool Partition Wizard

• Lots of tools, including disk cleaning and checking
• Convenient visual wizard for each operation
• Allows you to convert NTFS to FAT32 without formatting, change the disk type from MBR to GPT

License: freeware
Price: free

Active@ Partition Manager

Performs operations on disk partitions. Formats the flash drive in FAT32 and NTFS. Fixes MBR disks. Converts MBR to GPT and vice versa.

Benefits of Active@ Partition Manager

• Disk Imaging Tool
• Convenient wizard for creating and changing partitions
• Built-in boot sector editor, allows you to manually make changes
• Shows S.M.A.R.T data. for hard drives

Flaws

• English only

License: freeware
Price: free