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How to partition a hard drive - detailed instructions. How to partition a disk What is the best way to partition a 1 TB hard drive

Let's look at this thorny question today: into how many parts is it best to break HDD for convenient and safe work? How to properly partition the hard drive of your computer or laptop?

Let's start with the most important thing - Yes, the hard drive definitely needs to be partitioned!

For what?

The answer is actually simple - in order to lose a minimum of files in the event of a malfunction in the Operating System. The fact is that when reinstalling Windows OS, or any other OS, you need to completely format the area of the disk where it will be located. That is, if you have only one area marked hard drive(for example, Drive C), then it will have to be completely formatted with the loss of ALL data.

Division options

I recommend divide the hard drive into 2-3 areas. But not more. After all, in fact, if there are more than 3 areas, then they will be small, and there will be little point in them when storing large data (unless, of course, you have a hard drive smaller than 500-700 GB). In what proportion? Look at your needs realistically: how much space do you need for videos, music, games, images, etc.? How much space do documents take? How many users with personal information?

Attention, this method Perfectly fits discs with a total volume

Divide the disk into 2 areas: one is system, and the second is everything else. And for system - 30-50 GB, so that not only the OS, but also programs fit there. But, you must admit, this is not always convenient.

I recommend the following method for hard drives volume 700+ GB!

Divide by 3 method: one is the system one, the second is a “multimedia disk” - a disk for music, films and documents, the third is for games, images, temporary files and everything else. Wherein System one should be about 50-60 GB, because in addition to the OS there will also be programs. "Multimedia disk" - 150-200 GB. Everything else is on the third disc.

Personally, my disk is partitioned according to the second plan:

Those. 40 GB are allocated for the system + programs (+10-15 GB is possible), for “multimedia” - 150 GB - quite enough, and 460 GB for games, images + temporary files from the Internet are stored there.

So far there are no complaints! Good luck!

Using Disk Management

So, you have a computer that has only one volume on its disk, not counting the reserved area. First, let's look at how to split a hard drive into two partitions using the built-in Disk Management snap-in. By pressing Win + X call context menu Start button and select “Disk Management”.

In the window that opens, right-click on the area of the system partition with the letter C and select the “Shrink Volume” option from the menu.

After the volume is polled for allocated space, specify the size of the new partition in megabytes in the “Size of compressed space” field and click “Compress”.

As a result, you will get unallocated space highlighted in black. Right-click on it, select “Create simple volume” and follow the wizard’s instructions.

During the creation of the partition, you will be asked to specify the volume size, assign a letter, select a file system (NTFS is needed) and assign a label, that is, the name of the volume displayed in Explorer.

After clicking the “Finish” button, the section will be created.

Partitioning a hard drive in Diskpart

Now let's look at how to divide a hard drive into 2 parts in Windows 7/10 using another standard tool - a console utility Diskpart. Unlike Disk Management, which has a graphical interface, it has large set functionality, in addition, you can partition a disk into partitions in Diskpart from under bootable media even on a non-working system. So, open as administrator command line or PowerShell console and run the following commands sequentially:

diskpart
list volume
select volume 1
shrink desired=102600
list disk
select disk 0

The first command starts itself Diskpart utility, the second command displays a list of partitions available on the physical disk, the third command selects the partition number corresponding to drive C, the fourth compresses it to the specified size in megabytes. The fifth command displays a list of all physical disks, the sixth command selects the disk to be partitioned (if there is only one on the PC, its ID will be 0).

Let's continue.

create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick
assign letter=G
exit

The seventh command creates a new partition, the eighth command formats it into the NTFS file system, the ninth command assigns the specified letter to the new volume, and the tenth command terminates Diskpart.

As you can see, the algorithm of actions has much in common with how the partition was created through the built-in Disk Management snap-in. Now, if you go to the “This PC” section, you will see a new logical partition there.

Dividing a disk into parts in Acronis Disk Director

You can also use third-party tools to create custom disk volumes. One of them is Acronis Disk Director– a powerful program for partitioning your hard drive and more. The procedure for partitioning a hard drive in this program is very simple. After launching the application, select the disk to be shared with the mouse and select “Split Volume” from the operations menu on the left.

A dialog box will open in which, using the slider, set the size of the new partition.

If the source disk has user files, you can transfer them to the new volume you are creating, however, this can be done later in Explorer. But system files cannot be transferred, otherwise Windows may not boot. After setting the procedure parameters, click first “OK” and then “Apply pending operations”.

If the system asks you to reboot, give it permission. The program will do the rest itself, you just need to wait for the operation to complete.

How to partition a hard drive in Paragon Hard Disk Manager

Another powerful program for working with disks and partitions. It also has its own wizard for disk partitioning. After launching the application, switch to the “Partition Operations” tab in the main menu and click on the “Partition Wizard” link.

At the next stage, the program will ask you to decide on the size of the new partition. Use the marking slider or enter the desired size manually. Assign a letter to the volume, click Next and confirm the operation.

Clicking “Finish” completes the wizard.

Now, to apply the planned action, click on the button of the same name on the left side of the Paragon Hard Disk Manager window and once again confirm your intentions to partition the disk.

After this, the re-partitioning procedure will start. If the disk is a system disk, you will need to restart the computer.

Disk partitioning in AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition

And finally, let's see how to partition a hard drive in a free program AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition. There is no separate partitioning wizard in this program; repartitioning is performed in two stages. First you need to get some free space. Right-click on the shared disk and select “Change partition size” from the menu.

Drag the slider to set the new partition size and click OK.

As a result, unoccupied space will be created. Select it with the mouse and select the “Create section” option in the menu on the left.

In the window that opens, if necessary, adjust the layout parameters (you can change the size, letter, type file system and partition type) and click OK.

Now, to start the staking procedure, click the “Apply” button.

Since you are working with the system disk, you will need to restart the computer.

All of the above methods allow you to partition a hard drive without losing data, however, when performing this procedure, especially with the use of third-party software, you should be careful, since the risk of losing information, although very small, is still present.

In this material we'll talk on how to partition a disk in the Windows 7, 8, 10 operating system. Many people prefer to perform this operation using third party applications, but this is much easier to do with standard tools. This statement is true for some operating systems. For example, Windows 7, 8 and 10. XP does not have a standard disk partitioning tool. The main advantage of this option is that all actions take place in the explorer, that is, you do not need to buy, download, or install anything.

This material will be especially useful for people who recently bought a laptop or computer that has one disk with installed Windows. At the end of the article, instructions will be given on how to partition a disk using a third-party utility, Partition Master Free. It will come to the aid of those who, for some reason, cannot split the disk into the required number of partitions using standard tools.

There can be many reasons for this - ranging from simple convenience to security. For example, if there is a need to reinstall the operating system Windows system, then for clean install it is necessary to format the disk, and this will entail deleting all data. Of course, you can transfer all important data to other media, but, firstly, this is not very convenient, and secondly, it is not always possible. In other words, storing everything in one place is not rational.

The most correct option is to create a small system disk on which the operating system and programs will be stored in the future. It is also important to create additional disk, on which all basic data will be stored: photos, documents, videos, music, etc.

How to correctly split disk D into 2 parts when installing the system?

The easiest way to partition a disk is when installing an operating system. To do this, you need to load a disk or flash drive, select the required language, accept the terms of the agreement and select “ Full installation" In the window that opens you will see whether there is free place, which is not used by any partition. There will also be a “Disk Setup” button that you need to click. After this, a panel with tools for working with disk space will appear.

The panel allows you to format, create new and even delete old partitions. For example, if there was unallocated space on the disk, you can turn it into a partition using the “Create” button. Next, the user will only need to enter the size of the future partition and click on the “Apply” button.

If there is one large partition from which you need to create two separate ones, then you need to separate the necessary volume from it, which will be transferred to unused space. And then you will need to make a new partition from this space and click “Create”.

There is nothing to describe in more detail here, because the Windows developers made this tool incredibly simple. For clarity, we suggest watching the video:

What should I do if the disk is not formatted and I cannot create a system partition on the unused space?

If a disk partition refuses to be formatted or changed, then most likely this indicates damaged sectors. The Victoria program, which can be downloaded, allows you to evaluate bad sectors. The latter usually appear due to distortion of the reception and transmission of various types of information. In addition to detecting defects, the utility allows you to hide them using three available tests (in the program you must select the “Remap” option in the “Tests” section). Not always, but in some cases the program allows you to bring the hard drive back to life by correcting this situation.

Partitioning a hard drive in Windows 7, 8, 10 using standard means

To do this, go to Start - Computer - Management or right-click on the icon My Computer – Manage – Disk Management. Next, the user will be presented with a picture typical of many computers - the system has only one drive C (it can be labeled D, E, F, it doesn’t matter) and a second partition, System Reserved. The last disk is for storing files Windows boot. It is hidden from the user and you should not perform any manipulations with it.

Disk management

Here you can see all the information about the hard drive. Standard tools for working with disks allow you to perform the following tasks:

divide a disk from one into several partitions;
increase the size of existing partitions;
shrink, attach and delete volumes.

The functionality of the standard tool is comparable to most features of third-party programs. The illustration shows that the disk has a size of 250 GB and two partitions. With an MBR entry, you can only make four partitions: the three key ones will be marked in a dark bluish color and the last, additional one, will act as a logical one.

Using drive C as an example, all operations will be performed. Please note that before dividing it will be important to defragment it.

Let's start dividing the volume (drive C) into two parts. To do this, you need to right-click on it and click on the “Shrink Volume” item in the drop-down menu. After this, you will need to specify exactly what size you want to compress. If this is a 250 GB hard drive, then the response “available space for compression is 200449 MB” will be received. Here the user needs to be careful, because repeating this action may cause difficulties. If you specify a compression size of 150,000 MB, then approximately 149 GB will be taken from drive C for the new partition. For a system disk, in most cases, a volume in the range of 50-100 GB will be sufficient.

As mentioned above, “Compressible Size” is the size of the partition created by the user. Here you need to hover your mouse over the freed space and right-click on the “Create Simple Volume” menu.

The Create Simple Volume Wizard will now open. You should click next and agree to everything that is asked. Here you can select the future drive letter. If the user has drive C in the system, then you can create drive D or F. In the process, it is strongly recommended to give preference to the file NTFS system. There is no need to worry about formatting the new partition, because all the existing data was left on the C drive, and not on the new one, which is just in the process of being born.

That's all. This way you can create sections yourself and without resorting to the help of specialists. However, it is worth noting that partitioning a disk using standard tools is a simple method, but not always universal. If the standard tool refuses to work, then in this case it is better to install Acronis Disc Director or Partition Master Free.

Partitioning a hard drive using Partition Master Free

The option described above allows you to partition a disk using standard tools. Unfortunately, it does not always work, so we offer you the option of partitioning a disk using the Partition Master Free program.

Ease Partition Master is a wonderful tool with a very good interface, but its main advantage is that it is distributed free of charge. If we talk about functionality, then everything is simple: the user can fully work with partitions, that is, format, split, resize, delete partitions, etc.

You can download the application from the official website http://www.partition-tool.com/landing/home-download.htm or the Russian version http://files.wom.com.ua/E/EaseUSPartitionMaster/EaseUS%20PM%2010.0% 20RUS.zip

As mentioned above, the program is distributed free of charge, but during installation the user will be asked to install paid software, which is unlikely to be needed. You should wait for the installation process to complete and click on the “Finish” button.

Completing the installationEaseUS. You need to launch the program and select “Ease Us Partition Master Free”. Now the user will see the program interface, as well as all available disks (in our case, the disk size is 150 GB).

The program shows that there is only one partition (C:\). Now you need to select it to take away the disk space from it (in our case it is approximately 90 GB) using the “Resize/Move” button. For most users, two partitions will be enough, but if necessary, you can create a maximum of four (it is worth remembering that you cannot create more on a disk with an MBR structure).

Afterwards, a window will appear where you need to pay attention to the parameters Partition Size (size of the compressed partition) and Unallocated After (size of the future partition). The “Optimize for SSD” item will also be present here. You definitely need to disable it if you plan to work with solid state drive(HDD).

After taking the space, a new partition will appear (unrecognized space) weighing approximately 90 GB. You should select it and click on the “Create” button. In the window that appears, the user needs to indicate the volume label, that is, the future name for the disk, and also set the drive letter. The remaining settings can be left unchanged.

Now a new section will appear in the program window. You should check all the settings, and if everything is satisfactory, then click “Apply”. After this, a window will appear in which it says that drive C will be compressed, and instead a new partition will be created from this space.

Now, if you open “My Computer”, you can see a new Local drive with the letter E (approximately 90 GB in size).

That's all, the program did its job perfectly. That is, the size of the C drive was reduced and a new one was created from the freed space. However, the reader was familiar with only part of the opportunities offered free version Partition Master Free programs.

When purchasing a computer or installing Windows or another OS, many users want to split the hard drive into two or, more precisely, into several partitions (for example, drive C into two drives). This procedure makes it possible to store system files and personal data separately, i.e. allows you to save your files in case of a sudden system crash and improve the performance of the OS by reducing fragmentation of the system partition.

Update 2016: new ways to split a disk (hard or SSD) into two or more have been added, a video has also been added on how to split a disk in Windows without programs and in the AOMEI Partition Assistant program. Corrections have been made to the manual. Separate instructions: .

You can split a hard drive or SSD into several partitions not only in Disk Management, but also using the command line Windows strings 10, 8 and Windows 7.

Be careful: the example shown below will work without problems only in cases where you have a single system partition (and possibly a couple of hidden ones) that needs to be divided into two partitions - for the system and data. In some other situations (MBR disk and already have 4 partitions, when shrinking the disk, there is another disk "after" it) this may work unexpectedly if you are a novice user.

The following steps show how to split the C drive into two parts at the command prompt.

Done, you can now close the command line: Windows Explorer you will see a newly created disk, or rather a disk partition with the letter you specified.

How to partition a disk in Minitool Partition Wizard Free

Minitool Partition Wizard Free is an excellent free program that allows you to manage partitions on disks, including dividing one partition into two or more. One of the advantages of the program is that a downloadable version is available on the official website. ISO image with it, which can be used to create bootable flash drive(the developers recommend doing this using Rufus) or to burn a disc.

This makes it easy to perform disk partitioning in cases where this cannot be done on a running system.

After loading into Partition Wizard, you just need to right-click on the disk you want to split and select “Split”.

The next steps are simple: adjust the partition sizes, click OK, and then click the “Apply” button at the top left to apply your changes.

Free download boot image ISO Minitool Partition Wizard Free is available from the official website https://www.partitionwizard.com/partition-wizard-bootable-cd.html

Video instruction

I also recorded a video on how to partition a disk in Windows. It shows the process of creating partitions regular means systems, as described above and using a simple, free and convenient program for these tasks.

How to partition a disk during installation of Windows 10, 8 and Windows 7

The advantages of this method include its simplicity and convenience. Partitioning will also take relatively little time, and the process itself is very clear. The main disadvantage is that the method can only be applied when installing or reinstalling the operating system, which in itself is not very convenient; in addition, there is no possibility of editing partitions and their sizes without formatting the HDD (for example, in the case when the space of the system partition has run out and the user wants add some space from another hard drive partition). Creating disk partitions when installing Windows 10 is described in more detail in the article.

If these shortcomings are not critical, consider the process of disk partitioning during OS installation. This instruction Fully applicable when installing Windows 10, 8 and Windows 7.

Attention! When you delete disk partitions, all data located on them will be deleted.

Partitioning a hard drive when installing Windows XP

During the development of Windows XP, there was no intuitive GUI. But although control occurs through the console, partitioning the hard drive when installing Windows XP is as easy as when installing any other operating system.

Step 1. Delete existing partitions.

You can repartition the disk while defining the system partition. You need to split the section into two. Unfortunately, Windows XP does not allow this operation without formatting the hard drive. Therefore, the sequence of actions is as follows:

Step 2. Create new partitions.

Now you need to create the necessary hard disk partitions from the unallocated area. This is done quite simply:

Step 3. Determine the file system format.

After the partitions are created, select the partition that should be system and press Enter. You will be prompted to select a file system format. FAT format is more outdated. With it you will not have problems with compatibility, for example, Windows 9.x, however, due to the fact that systems older than XP are rare today, this advantage does not play a special role. If you also consider that NTFS is faster and more reliable and allows you to work with files of any size (FAT - up to 4GB), the choice is obvious. Select the desired format and press Enter.

Then the installation will proceed in standard mode - after formatting the partition, the installation of the system will begin on it. You will only be required to enter user parameters at the end of the installation (computer name, date and time, time zone, etc.). As a rule, this is done in a convenient graphical mode, so it is not difficult.

Free AOMEI Partition Assistant

AOMEI Partition Assistant is one of the best free programs to change the partition structure on the disk, transfer the system from HDD to SSD, and, among other things, it can be used to split the disk into two or more. At the same time, the program interface is in Russian, unlike another good similar product - MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Note: despite the fact that the program claims to support Windows 10, on my system it did not partition for some reason, but no failures occurred (I think it should be fixed by July 29, 2015). Works without problems in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.

After launching AOMEI Partition Assistant, in the main program window you will see connected hard disks and SSD, as well as partitions on them.

To partition a disk, right-click on it (in my case on C), and select the “Partition Partition” menu item.

At the next step, you will need to specify the size of the partition to be created - this can be done by entering a number, or by moving the separator between the two disks.

After you click OK, the program will display that the disk has already been partitioned. In fact, this is not the case yet - to apply all the changes made, you must click the “Apply” button. You may then be warned that your computer will restart to complete the operation.

And after the reboot, you will be able to observe the result of disk separation in your Explorer.

Other programs for creating partitions on your hard drive

There is a huge amount of different software for partitioning a hard drive. These are both commercial products, for example, from Acronis or Paragon, and distributed throughout free license– Partition Magic, MiniTool Partition Wizard. Let's look at dividing a hard drive using one of them - the Acronis Disk Director program.

How to partition a hard drive in MacOS X using standard means

You can partition your hard drive without reinstalling the operating system or installing additional software on your computer. In Windows Vista and higher, the disk utility is built into the system, and this is also the case in Linux systems and MacOS.

To partition a disk on Mac OS, do the following:

After this, after a short (for SSD anyway) partition creation process, it will be created and available in the Finder.

I hope the information is useful, and if something doesn't work as expected or you have questions, please leave a comment.

Partitioning a hard drive is a way to organize information storage, comparable to putting things on shelves in a closet.

In this article you will learn how to partition your hard drive and why.

Most users prefer to divide disks into 2-3 partitions for the following reasons:

so as not to mix operating system and personal files in case of OS reinstallation;
for the convenience of manual search for information;
to install more than one operating system on a computer;
so that each user, if there are several of them, has his own “corner” for personal files;
to hide some information from other PC users (along with the section).

Note! When installing operating systems, service partitions are created - boot, recovery, for the swap file, etc., which are not visible in Explorer. These areas are hidden because changing or deleting their contents disrupts the operation of the OS.

Some believe that it is necessary to partition the hard drive into partitions: this way, they say, personal files will not be damaged in the event of a system failure, will be less fragmented, and, therefore, will be opened faster.

In fact, the files will not disappear anywhere, even if the OS crashes completely. And this will not affect performance, especially since modern systems defragment themselves without user intervention.

On the contrary, the system partition tends to fill up quickly, and if there is not enough space on it, the computer will first slow down and then stop loading altogether due to the fact that the system has no room to expand.

Do you think you still need an additional section? Then read how to create it.

Two ways to partition a disk in Windows 7, 8, 10

Capabilities of the installed system

Starting with Windows 7, you can partition disk space using the OS itself, both during installation and after.

There is only one condition: when dividing an existing partition, it is important that there is no less free space in the part being divided than in the part that will be separated.

Let's look at how to divide a hard drive into partitions in a running Windows 10.

Go to the context menu of the Start button and launch “Disk Management”.
Open the context menu of the section you will be splitting. Click “Shrink Volume”.
The window that opens after this shows the total size of the compressed area and the space available for compression. From the last one, select a part that will be a new section.
As you remember, it should not exceed half of the value specified here. Then click the “Compress” button.

After compression, unallocated space will appear in the list of volumes - this will be your new partition. Right-click on it and select “Create Simple Volume”. The “Simple Volume Creation Wizard” utility will launch.

In the wizard window, specify the size of the new volume. If you leave the default value (which is the entire area of unallocated space), the entire area you separated will become a new partition.
If you specify a lower value, one part will become a volume and the other will remain unallocated. Click “Next”.

Assign a letter to the new volume if you want it to appear in Explorer, or mount it as a folder. If you decide to do this later, select “Do not assign drive letter or path.”

Next, the wizard will offer to format the volume and assign a label to it. A label is a short name for a section that explains what is there. If desired, leave this line blank.

After formatting, the unallocated space will become a full-fledged partition.

Creating a volume during Windows installation

Creating new partitions during Windows installations differs from the method we discussed above in that the shared disk will have to be deleted first, that is, completely cleared of information.

And then build a new partition structure from the unallocated space.

The breakdown is made at the stage when the program asks you to indicate the location of the OS installation. What to do next:

In the “Where do you want to install Windows?” window Click the Disk Setup button.

Mark the partition you are going to split and delete it. Instead, unoccupied space will appear.

We showed the process of creating logical volumes using the example of installing Windows 7. On Windows 8 and 10 this is done in exactly the same way.

During the installation of Windows, it is not necessary to allocate all the disk space; it is enough to select the area where the system will be installed. You can mark out the rest of the free space later, whenever you want.

These are not the only ones, but only the most available methods partitioning disks.

Own functions for working with disk space, which are found in all Windows versions starting with “seven” is sufficient in almost any situation, so the need to use third party programs, such as Acronis Disk Director or Paragon Partition Manager, have already disappeared.

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