How to partition a hard drive. How to partition a hard drive in Windows

Partitioning a disk into several partitions is a very common procedure among users. Using such a HDD is much more convenient, since it allows you to separate system files from custom ones and manage them conveniently.

You can partition your hard drive into parts in Windows 10 not only during system installation, but also after it, and for this it is not necessary to use third party programs, since such a function is available in Windows itself.

In this article we will look at how to divide a HDD into logical partitions. This can be done in an already installed operating system and when reinstalling the OS. At his discretion, the user can use the standard Windows utility or third-party programs.

Method 1: Using programs

One of the options for dividing the drive into partitions is to use third-party programs. Many of them can be used both when Windows is running and as a bootable flash drive when partitioning a disk while the OS is running is not possible.

MiniTool Partition Wizard

A popular free solution that works with different types drives, is MiniTool Partition Wizard. The main advantage of this program is the ability to download an image with an ISO file from the official website to create a bootable flash drive. Partitioning a disk here can be done in two ways at once, and we will look at the simplest and fastest one.

The letter of the new volume can later be changed manually via "Disk Management".

Acronis Disk Director

Unlike the previous program, Acronis Disk Director is a paid option that also has big amount functions and can partition the disk into partitions. The interface is not very different from MiniTool Partition Wizard, but it is in Russian. Acronis Disk Director can also be used as boot software if you cannot perform operations while running Windows.

EaseUS Partition Master

EaseUS Partition Master is a program with a trial period, like Acronis Disk Director. Its functionality includes various features, including disk partitioning. In general, it is similar to the two analogues listed above, and the difference mainly comes down to appearance. There is no Russian language, but you can download a language pack from the official website.

Method 2: Windows built-in tool

To perform this task you need to use the built-in utility "Disk Management".

Method 3: Partitioning the disk when installing Windows

It is always possible to divide the HDD when installing the system. This can be done using the Windows installer itself.

Now you know how to partition a HDD in different situations. This is not very difficult, and will ultimately make working with files and documents more convenient. The fundamental difference between using the built-in utility "Disk Management" and there are no third-party programs, since both options achieve the same result. However, other programs may have additional features, such as file transfer, that may be useful to some users.

After purchasing a computer or during installation of the operating system, users can split the hard drive into several partitions or leave it unchanged.

Thanks to this, you can conveniently sort all information and files without the risk of losing them in the event of a virus attack or operating system failure.

Next, we will look at how to divide a hard drive (HDD or SSD) into several partitions using built-in and third-party Windows tools.

Additionally, we will figure out how to do this on MAC OS X and Linux (using Ubuntu as an example).

Why do you need to partition your hard drive?

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After you succeed in dividing the disk into two or more, then during Windows installations any version will be asked to select the system partition on which to install operating system.

Having chosen the one you need, Windows will prompt you to select one of the available file system formats:

• FAT is one of the first, and therefore outdated. You should only choose if you plan to work with earlier versions of Windows (95, 98, etc.). This way you can avoid various application compatibility problems. It has a lower file copying speed and does not allow you to work with files larger than 4 GB.
• NTFS is a modern file system format. Compatibility issues may occur when working with Windows 9.x (if the format is selected for the system drive). It features faster operation and reliability. Allows you to work with files of any size, without any restrictions.

If you wish, you can format each partition with different file systems to evaluate the quality and speed of their work.

During installation of Windows 7, 8, 10

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The easiest way split the disk into parts during installation of the operating system. Then you won’t have to copy the necessary files and free up space.

The method is suitable for partitioning a disk during installation of versions 7, 8 and 10 of Windows.

1 Insert the CD or bootable USB flash drive with the operating system image, restart the computer and wait for the Windows installation wizard to appear.

3 Buttons for creating and deleting partitions will become available. Before you partition your hard drive, you need to get rid of old volumes. Therefore, first click on the unnecessary sections on the screen and click “Delete”. If you see only one, then there is no need to delete anything. Once the excess sections are erased, you can begin partitioning.

Along with deleting the partition, all information stored on it will be erased. Therefore, before doing this, make sure that you have copied all the necessary information from it.

4 If you did everything correctly, then there will be one available line on the screen in the list of available drives "Unoccupied space" Click on it and below, in the toolbar, select “Create” and in the field that opens, enter the desired partition for the new volume in MB. After this, click “Apply”.

5 Create the desired number of new partitions in a similar way.

After this, do not forget to specify the drive on which the operating system will be installed and click “Next”.

As soon as the program finishes, opening “My Computer” you will see the created partitions.

During installation of Windows XP

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Despite the fact that Microsoft has officially stopped supporting XP and releasing updates for it, many continue to use this version of the operating system.

Disk partitioning during XP installation is slightly different from the method for seven or ten.

1 Before partitioning your hard drive on Windows XP, you will have to delete existing partitions. To do this, select the unnecessary volume using the arrows on the keyboard, and then press the “D” button. Confirm the action by pressing the Enter key.

2 After this the line will appear "Unallocated area". We will create the necessary partitions from this disk space. To do this, press “C” on your keyboard and then “Enter”.

3 A new window will appear where you can enter the desired disk size in MB (the maximum and minimum available are indicated in the line above). Confirm your actions by pressing the Enter key.

Create in a similar way required quantity partitions, then continue and complete the installation of the operating system.

Dividing a disk via the command line

Since Windows 7 can be divided into 2 disks using system tools, it is most logical to use them without resorting to third-party software.

Although it also has its advantages (about them in another section of the article).

To start it "Disk Management"(it is through this program that we will do everything) click on the “My Computer” icon with the right menu button, and then select “Manage” in the context menu.

If for some reason this cannot be done, then use another method. Open "Control Panel"- "Administration"(easy to find via the search form).

Find and open in the list "Computer Management". Then select from the menu on the left "Storage Devices" - "Disk Management".

After opening the utility, you will see a list of available volumes, their location, type and file system used. You only need to divide those where the letter is indicated (C, D, E, etc.).

Volume "Reserved by the system" It won't be possible to break it into parts, because... it is hidden and is needed solely to store files necessary to boot the operating system.

Using the utility you can:

• divide the HDD or SSD into two or more partitions;
• delete an unnecessary volume and give its memory to another;
• change (reduce, increase) the sizes of existing volumes;
• rename sections, etc.

To immediately launch the program for editing drives, open the “Run” utility (shortcut keys “Windows + R”) and enter “diskmgmt.msc” (without quotes) and then press the “Ok” or “Enter” button.

Divide the disk into two

Before you start dividing the volume (in our case, this is drive C), you need to compress it. To do this, select it in the list, and then right-click on it and select “Shrink Volume”.

The program will begin analyzing the space available for compression, after which it will prompt you to manually enter the size in MB that will be allocated for the new volume.

Please enter this information as carefully as possible. If you enter incorrect information the first time, it will be much more difficult to repeat this operation to correct it.

If you share the system disk (on which Windows is installed), then try to leave at least 60 GB on it. For comfortable operation of the computer, there should always be free space on it (10-20% of the total capacity).

Once you decide on the size, click on the “Shrink” button and wait for the operation to complete. After this, “Unallocated space” will appear opposite the selected one, exactly what we just selected.

Creating a new volume

• Having decided on the size, click “Next”, after which the utility will prompt you to select a letter for the new drive (only those available for selection will be in the drop-down list). Here you can connect the volume as an empty NTFS folder.
• Next, you will be asked to format the future drive using one of the file systems available for selection. We recommend choosing NTFS, and leave the rest of the indicators at default. Despite the terrible threat that all information will be deleted from the partition, feel free to agree and start formatting (after all, we are creating a new partition with nothing on it).

After this, the Create Simple Volume Wizard will complete its work and display brief information regarding the new disk.

Now, after opening “My Computer”, you will see the partition you just created, which can be used to install programs and store files.

Using third party software

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In some Windows versions The system utility for creating new volumes may work slightly differently.

Therefore, you have to use third-party software that supports working with HDD and SSD.

In addition, unofficial programs have a more understandable and “friendly” interface, making it easier for untrained users to work with sections.

Today we will look at how to partition a Windows 10 disk using the completely free and Russified program AOMEI Partition Assistant.

You can find and download it from the official website of the developer.

• Launch the program. In the window that opens, you will see a list of available disks, partitions, volumes and their short description(including removable hard ones).
• Right-click on the disk you plan to partition and select from the context menu "Split Partition".
• A new window will open, where in the “New size” field you will need to indicate the capacity of the future drive (should not exceed the volume from the “Original size” field). Enter the information and click “OK” to move to the next step.

This method is much faster and easier than using system tools because the program automatically reserves the required space and compresses the volume.

The default file system is NTFS, so if you want to format a future disk in FAT 32, then at the stage Section divisions you will need to click on the button Advanced settings then specify the desired parameters.

This article talks about how you can divide your hard drive into partitions without using third-party programs. And also the reverse process of deleting an unnecessary section or sections.

Hard disk partitioning involves creating several logical disks on one physical disk, which are defined by the operating system as separate physical disks.

What is it for?

The main thing for security is that the majority of virus attacks are directed specifically at the system disk, where the operating system is usually installed.

If you have to reinstall the OS, then drive “C” will be formatted, which means that all your data that is there will be lost.
But not all users agree on the need to split the hard drive into sections; there are many discussions on this issue on the Internet, and opinions are divided.

But the purpose of this article is not to impose your personal idea, but to show how to partition a hard drive, and whether he needs it is up to everyone to decide for himself.

On my own behalf, I can add that having two disks on one of which is the system, and on the other all my files: photos, music, games, etc. create for me certain convenience and order on the computer.

How to properly partition a hard drive

To do this, we will use the basic Windows utility.

In or on, move the cursor over the computer by right-clicking. In the context menu that appears, select the Management tab.

In the window that opens, find the Disk Management item.

In the next window we can see all the disks that are on this computer, including service ones that are not used by the user in any way, are usually hidden.
I show with my example, it may be different for someone, in any case, we do not pay attention to them, but right-click on the “C” drive and select Shrink Volume in the context menu.

We wait some time until compression processing takes place and available space is determined.

After this, a window will appear where you will need to select the size; for example, I chose 1500 MB, which is equal to about 1.5 GB, then click the compress button. Leave about 100 gigabytes on “C”, provided you don’t install anything on this system drive. (note the size is indicated in megabytes, 1 GB = 1024 MB)

After that I had an unallocated area of ​​1.46 GB. Right-clicking on it, I select “Create a simple volume”.

Here just click Next.

Here, too, we leave everything as is, click Next.

Assign any letter, Next.

And here we leave everything as it is.

To complete the procedure, click Finish.

And finally, a new volume has been created!

We go into my computer and see if there is a new disk. If it is not there, it will definitely appear after a reboot.

How to delete a partition on a hard drive?

Knowing how you can divide a hard drive into partitions, let's look at the reverse deletion process. Since my “C” drive was already divided earlier, and I don’t need another partition, I’ll delete it.

We go back to the computer management program, right-click on the created disk, and in the window that pops up, select the Delete volume tab.

We agree.

Now right-click on the “C” drive and select the Expand Volume tab.

Click next.

We don’t change anything, just click Next.

Click Finish.

That's all, in a few steps we returned to the original state!

As you can see, there is nothing complicated; any user can divide a hard drive into partitions without resorting to outside help, as well as in the reverse process.

Dear friends, today I want to tell you how smash HDD windows 7 into sections without formatting it. Each time I clicked on the computer icon I saw that there were hard drives “C” and “D”; I will not dwell on removable media. The standard situation is when on drive “C” we have, and on drive “D”, those who take care of their documents, we store photos, videos, films, music files and, of course, install various programs and games there. Those who installed the operating system on their computer themselves, during installation they saw that you were asked to format the hard drive and configure the hard drive, that is .

It would seem then that there is nothing complicated, formatted “C”, you want to break it into sections, but you want to install the whole system. But this is “C”, but what about “D”? You can’t create a partition without formatting, but I’m not going to format it either, I have data collected on it for almost a whole year.

Why did he give up this section anyway? I started looking on the Internet for information on how I could split the “D” drive without losing data. There are a lot of articles - format and break them up. Or split without formatting using this, this, and this program. In general, everything is as usual.

I won’t burden you with unnecessary information, but will describe it in detail, with pictures. how to break a hard one windows disk 7 into sections without formatting it.

Go to the “Start” menu and enter “Computer Management” in the search bar. Select the “Computer Management” tab. A window will open in which you need to click on “Disk Management”.

In the window that opens, right-click on the disk you want to partition. In the window that pops up, click on the line “Compress volume”.

Scanning of free space will begin.

A window with settings will open, that is, you will see how much maximum space you can take from the disk (most likely “D”; you won’t be compressing the volume on drive “C”, where the operating system is located) for the disk you are creating. Feel free to set the maximum value (without going beyond the limits suggested to you), if compression is not possible, then reduce the volume for compressing the partition. Do not be afraid - on the partitioned disk, in addition to your files, after these actions there will also be a lot of free space. Click the “Compress” button.

You will see that there is free space. Right-click on it in the “Create simple volume” window that opens. The “Create Simple Volume Wizard” will open. Click “Next”.

Here set the maximum value proposed to you that you have chosen. Click "Next".

Here you will be asked to assign a drive letter. Select the partition letter and click Next.

After selecting a letter, you need to format the created partition. The “Master...” will do all this himself. All that remains is to click “Finish”.

Reboot the computer. All! You have a new partition (new volume). . If you don’t like the name of the partition you created - “New Volume”, then right-click on it and click “Rename”. Just remove the “New Volume” label. The computer will then call it “ Local disk» adding the letter you assigned.

Well, that's all, now you know how to partition windows 7 hard drive simply and easily. Good luck to all!!!

How to partition a hard drive on a laptop with Windows 8 operating system installed? The laptop was purchased a week ago. What confused me! Firstly, a new and unfamiliar operating system. Secondly, I went to Disk Management, the 750 GB hard drive is divided into four partitions, and if you go to the “Computer” window, you can see only the C: drive. What then is on the other sections, why are they not assigned letters? And how can I share the hard drive of a new laptop without messing up? I wish I had two discs! First drive C:, with installed Windows 8, another D: drive for storing files? And lastly, I heard that almost all new laptops now come with hard drives of the new style of placing GPT partition tables. What kind of animal is this?

How to partition a hard drive on a laptop

Hello friends, the question has been accepted and now we will figure it out. For example, let’s share the hard drive on a laptop, which is now sold in many computer stores. Since most laptops are now sold with hard drives in the GPT partition table style (which has many advantages over the old MBR), we will partition just such a hard drive. If it turns out that your hard drive uses MBR, then I will give you a link to another article.

Note: If this article does not help you, for example, you cannot separate enough space from the C: drive to create a D: drive, then know that the hard drive on a laptop can be divided not only using the Disk Management utility built into the operating system.

There is also a good free program, EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition, which has more powerful capabilities than Disk Management. Read our new article"" Or you can use a paid program.

Let's return to our article.

Right-click in the lower left corner of the desktop and select Disk Management from the drop-down menu.

And right-click on our disk, select “Properties”,

Then we go to the “Volumes” tab and see that our hard drive has a Partition Style: GPT (GUID Partition Table).

If you have the Partition Style specified in the “Volumes” tab: Master Boot Record (MBR). This means you need to act exactly as written later in the article. If something doesn’t work out for you, describe your situation in Disk Management in a comment and I will tell you the answer or give you a link to another article.

So I'll show you how to partition a hard drive on a laptop using the built-in Windows Disk Management utility.

First partition: hidden, 1.00 GB in size, healthy (Recovery partition), this is a service partition of the laptop, do not touch it under any circumstances.
Second partition: hidden, volume 260 MB Healthy (Encrypted (EFI) system partition) belongs to the operating system, do not touch it either.
Third partition: volume 687 GB, installed operating system Windows system 8, that is, drive C: in person. So we will divide it into two sections approximately in half. Drive C: we will leave 350 GB, and the rest of the space (also approximately 350 GB) will be allocated to drive D:, on which we will store all our files.
Fourth partition: hidden, 10.75 GB in size, healthy (Recovery partition), this partition contains files with the factory settings of your Windows laptop 8. We won’t touch it either, we will still need it. But you don’t have to worry, even if you want, you won’t be able to do anything with this section here, all the tools are not available in the control menu, only “Help” is present.

Right-click on the C: drive and select “Shrink Volume”

As we agreed, we will divide drive C: in half. Select the Size of compressed space (MB) 350000 and click on the “Compress” button.

Note: Unfortunately Disk Management in some cases it makes it possible to simply divide our hard drive in half. If you are not satisfied with this, use the free program EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition , link at the beginning of the article.

Unallocated space appears. Right-click on it and select “Create simple volume”

The “Create a Simple Volume Wizard” starts. Click “Next”

You can assign any drive letter, personally I’ll leave E:, click “Next”.

"Ready".

With the help of such a simple operation, we shared the hard drive on the laptop.

If you need another section, then in exactly the same way you can create another section, and even more than one, but it’s better not to get carried away with it, it seems to me that two or three sections are quite enough for the needs of a simple user.