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How to partition a hard drive into sections - detailed instructions. How to partition a disk with an installed Windows system without losing data

We are accustomed to using conditional division of the hard disk into two partitions on our computer: C and D, respectively. The system is installed on the first, and user data is stored on the second. This is done so that the next time we install Windows, we can perform a clean installation and format the partition without losing user data. The article will address the question: how to partition a disk on Windows 10 and all the nuances associated with it.

Very often there is a need not only to divide a physical disk into logical ones, but to change the size of existing parts - this will also be discussed below. It should be noted that a positive result can be achieved by the system itself, but this will not be as easy as, for example, when using third-party software. For the sake of completeness, we will describe both methods.

The first option, which we will talk about today, is an already working system in which it became necessary to split the disk into 2 partitions. You can complete the task without using third-party software. Let's get started.

  1. Right-click on the Start button and select Disk Management.

You can run the same tool in another way: simultaneously press the two Win + R keys and enter the diskmgmt.msc command in the window that opens, and then click the OK button.

The top part of the window displays a list of all disks installed in the PC or laptop and their partitions. Here you can see the type of file system, size and status. In this case, physical disks are indicated by numbers, and logical disks by letters familiar to us.

The partition map is displayed at the bottom of the Disk Management utility. Thanks to the rectangles, we can roughly estimate the ratio of partition sizes. In our case, you can see that the system partition is 500 MB in size, drive C is about 68 GB, and the user partition D takes up the rest of the space.

You cannot make any changes to discs that do not have letters. Most often, these are system-reserved areas that contain system or boot files. If you edit such a section, the system may be damaged up to permanent failure.

  1. We continue our instructions. In order to partition a disk, you first need to determine the free space. To do this, we compress the disk to be divided. In our case, this is the user partition D. Right-click on it and select the "Compress" item.

  1. A small window will open in which we need to specify how much to compress the partition. The space here is measured in megabytes, so we write 10,000 MB, which corresponds to 10 GB, and click "Compress".

  1. The volume is being compressed. There is no progress bar here - we do not see how much is left before the completion of the operation. The fact that the process is underway is evidenced only by a circle of waiting. On our computer, the compression took about 3 minutes.

  1. Now you can create a new partition. It is impossible to share the Windows 10 system disk with regular means, so we will create an additional partition. How to increase the system volume will be discussed below. So, right-click on the unallocated space and select "Create a simple volume".

  1. In the Volume Creation Wizard that appears, click Next.

  1. Specify the size that the new partition will receive, and click "Next". We will use all space.

  1. The system will offer us a letter for the future volume - we agree and click "Next".

  1. In the next step, you need to select the partition's file system (we will use NTFS) and specify the volume name (it will be displayed in Explorer). When the desired settings are made, click on "Next".

This completes the volume setup. We just have to press the button with the inscription "Done".

You don't need to shrink the shrink disk to the limit. If you do not leave space on it, the partition will not be able to fully function. It will not be possible to do defragmentation, and the speed of the volume will drop critically, which will affect the performance of the entire system.

How to partition a disk during system installation

You can partition a physical disk into partitions with a clean installation of Windows 10. But here you have to lose all data. This option is suitable for those who have bought a new computer or laptop and want to install an OS on it, or for those who have securely stored their files elsewhere. One way or another, let's proceed to the instructions for partitioning disks when installing the system.

  1. The process of installing Windows 10 is discussed in detail on our website. We are specifically interested in the moment of working with disks. Once the installation reaches the desired stage, you will see the following window.

  1. Let's say we need to increase the size of the first partition and reduce the second. We have disks called "2" and "3", you may have other names. All of them are located on the physical device "0". Let's start partitioning the disk. First you need to delete both sections. To do this, select each of them in turn and click on "Delete".

  1. As a result, we should get unallocated space. Select it and click on the "Create" button.

  1. Specify the size of the new logical drive and click Apply. We set it to 40,000 MB, which equals 40 GB. You have the right to choose the volume you need - the figure given is only an example. For normal operation of Windows 10, you need to allocate 80 GB or more.

  1. The system will warn us that an additional partition needs to be created for proper operation. It will store drivers and other important Windows components. We agree and click "OK".

  1. As a result, we got one system partition with a size of 500 MB, a disk for the system with the size that we specified (we have 40 GB), and unallocated space. This is what we will use to create a partition for user data. Select the free space and click on the "Create" item.

  1. Click the "Apply" button, thereby taking all the remaining space for disk D.

  1. It remains only to format the disks. We'll show you how to do this in the first section, and you'll do the same for the rest. Select the volume and click on "Format".

  1. Windows will warn us that all data from the partition will be permanently deleted. Click "OK" to start the formatting process.

After a few seconds, the process will be completed and the disks will be formatted. Now you can proceed to the installation of the system. To do this, simply select the system drive (on which you planned to install the OS) and click the "Next" button.

We use third party software

In addition to the standard system tools for partitioning a disk, there are many third-party utilities that are distinguished by better functionality and ease of use. We have chosen 3 leading programs and describe in detail the sequence of actions with each of them.

Minitool Partition Wizard Free

This is a handy application for working with hard disk partitions. All standard operations are also supported here: expansion, division, creation and deletion. There is a step-by-step wizard that will not let beginners get confused in the process.

You can download the utility. After the file is downloaded, we proceed to the instructions for its use.

  1. Installing the utility is quite simple - you first need to accept the license.

  1. We select the directory in which our application will be installed, and click "Next".

  1. The program is being installed. When it is completed, we just have to click the "Finish" button.

After the utility is installed, you can proceed to use it. We launch the program and follow the instructions.

  1. In the window that opens, click on the rectangle, which we circled with a red frame.

  1. We click on the desired disk with the right mouse button and select the item that we marked in the screenshot with the number "2".

  1. Using the slider, change the size of the disk to the value by which it will be reduced. The rest will be cut off from the disk and will serve as a place to create a second partition.

  1. We click on the resulting free space with the right button of our mouse and select the “Create” item.

  1. Since we are going to create a new volume with the size of all the free space, in the next window we do not change anything and just click "OK".

  1. Apply the changes with the button indicated in the screenshot.

  1. Since we are working with the D drive, a reboot is not needed. If the actions were carried out on the system partition, Windows would reboot.

As a result, the changes were applied and our disk was split into pieces of the size that we specified during the setup process. In the same way, you can merge disks.

Acronic Disk Manager

This is a professional tool that can be downloaded from the official website of the program. The application is paid, but there is also a demo version. Consider the process of working with Acronic Disk Director:

  1. Let's install the program first. There is nothing complicated here. Once the file is downloaded, run it. Click on the entry indicated in the screenshot.

  1. We accept the license agreement by checking the box in the desired position, and click "Next".

  1. Select the directory in which the installation will be carried out.

  1. We are waiting for all files to be copied.

  1. After the application starts, right-click on the name of the desired disk and select "Split Volume".

  1. Using the slider, change the size of the two new sections, when finished, click "OK".

  1. Now we need to apply the changes. To do this, press the button, which we have highlighted in the figure with a red frame.

As a result, our changes will be applied and the section will be cut into two parts in accordance with the parameters we specified. If you are working with the system volume, you will need to reboot.

Aomei Partition Assistant

A simple program for working with hard disk partitions. A number of functions are supported, such as: removing disks, formatting them, reducing and increasing, moving, hiding and creating. This is not a complete list of the application's features.

Aomei Partition Assistant is very easy to use. All the procedures that you will carry out with its help are like a step-by-step wizard, in addition, we will describe the process in detail using the example of partitioning a disk in Windows 10. You can download the program from the official website.

Instructions for working with Aomei Partition Assistant:

  1. After the installation distribution has been downloaded (the program is free), run it and first of all select the language in which the interface will be displayed. Russian is present and this greatly facilitates the work with the application.

  1. Select the installation path (the "Browse" button) and press the button marked "2" in the screenshot.

  1. We are waiting for the installation of the program to finish. It took us about 1 minute.

  1. Now you can proceed to use. Click the button marked in the picture.

  1. In the program window, select the disk that we want to partition, right-click on it, and then "Resize Partition".

  1. Using the slider or entering a value, set the new size, then click on "OK".

  1. Right-click on the unallocated space that appears and select "Create Partition" from the context menu.

  1. We confirm the size, the letter of the future disk and its file system. When finished, click "OK".

  1. For the changes to take effect, click the Apply button.

The operation will go in the so-called PreOS-mode. Simply put, at the moment when Windows 10 is not yet fully loaded, our program will begin its work on partitioning the disk.

It remains only to confirm the procedure - click "Yes".

After the computer has rebooted, we see a new partition in the disk editor with the size that we specified. The system drive C has shrunk. The procedure completed correctly.

Instead of an afterword

In the article, we addressed the question: how to partition a Windows 10 disk into sections. We did this in several ways, using the tools of the operating system itself and third-party utilities. If after reading the material you still have questions, read or ask them in the comments, and we, in turn, will try to give an intelligible answer as soon as possible.

Today we will talk about how to partition a hard drive into partitions in Windows 10: what is it for, as well as several ways to do it. Increasingly, an advanced computer user, when installing the Windows operating system, decides to split the system or hard drive into several partitions. What is it for? The main goal is the convenience of work, and most importantly, the separation of working files of the operating system and personal data that we do not want to lose in any case. And this can happen if the system suddenly crashes. In addition, partitioning your hard drive into partitions will help your Windows 10 be a tool that will help it run faster.

So, here are a few ways to partition your hard drive into partitions in Windows 10:

  1. Standard means of the operating system
  2. When you install Windows 10
  3. With the help of special programs

Now let's look at each of the methods in more detail.

How to create partitions on a hard drive using Windows 10

The main condition in this method of dividing a hard drive into partitions in Windows 10 is a sufficient amount of free space (so that it is no less than you decide to define for a new one).

  • Press the Win + R keys and in the "run" window enter diskmgmt.msc
  • The download of a special management utility has begun
  • After loading it, we right-click on the partition that corresponds to the disk we are working with
  • Next, select "shrink volume"
  • In the window that opens, in the "Partition of compressible space" column, indicate the size that we are going to allocate for a new disk or logical partition
  • Choose "Squeeze"
  • Unallocated space should appear on the right, right click on it
  • You need to select the item "create a simple volume"
  • The resulting volume will have a default size that is equal to all free space. We can specify a lower value if, for example, we want to create multiple logical drives
  • Specify the letter of our new drive
  • We determine the file system (set a new one or leave it as it is) and click "next"
  • That's it, if the steps were followed correctly, our disk is divided into two

Splitting on the command line

You can also change the disk size in Windows 10 using the command line. This method also applies to the tools of your operating system. Please note that this method will only work when you divide the only system partition into two - for system data and your personal ones. And here's how to create a new volume on a Windows 10 hard drive this way:

  • Open command prompt as administrator
  • We begin to enter commands in this order: first diskpart
  • Then list volume. When this command is executed, pay attention to the volume number that corresponds to drive C
  • Enter select volume N. N is the volume number from the previous paragraph
  • Next command shrink desired=size. Instead of the word "Size" we enter a number in megabytes, by which we will reduce drive C in order to divide it into two
  • Then list disk. When executing this command, we remember the number of the HDD or SSD disk where there is partition C
  • The next command is select disk M. M is the number that we remembered in the previous paragraph
  • Next, enter these commands in order: create partition primary
  • Format fs=ntfs quick
  • Assign letter=desired_drive_letter
  • Process completed. You can look in the explorer at the disk partition we created

Acronic Disk Manager

This program will also help us expand or reduce the size of the railway. How to use it:

  • When you first start the program, select the "manual" mode of operation
  • A window will open in which we select the section that we will split
  • Right click on it and select "split volume"
  • Set the size, then click "OK"
  • Click "apply pending operations"
  • Restart your computer and click OK again

There are times when when buying a computer or laptop, there is only one system drive "C". We think everyone knows that having one partition is bad. After all, after reinstalling the operating system, all your files and documents will be permanently deleted. Therefore, it is necessary to have at least two sections C and D. The first one will contain the operating system with all the necessary programs, and the second one will contain personal files (music, video, photos, etc.). To do this, you need to partition the hard drive. So the question is - how to partition a hard drive in windows 7? At the same time, so that the files on the hard drive are not affected. The easiest way is split hard drive, using native Windows 7 tools. And we will consider this method with you today.


So let's get started. Right-click on the "My Computer" icon and select Manage.



Find the item "Disk Management" and click on it.



Below you can see that we have 3 hard drives, and one of them (Disk 0) is already divided into two partitions.



Disks 1 and 2 are not partitioned.



Using Disk 2 as an example, we will show you step by step how to partition a hard disk. It is not empty, it contains the operating system and various files. It is in your case that it will not be Disk 2, but Disk 0, since we have three hard drives installed in our computer.

So, we divide Disk 2 into two partitions - for this, right-click on Disk 2 and select "Compress Volume".



There is a request for space to compress.



And here in the window we see the available space for compression - 222361 MB.



Now you need to specify how much we will compress the volume. If we didn’t touch anything here, if we clicked “Compress”, then the size of the volume with the OS would become small, that is, about 15 GB. This is naturally very small, so be careful.



It is clear that a lot depends on the total size of your hard drive, but we would advise you to set the size of the future C partition to at least 60 GB (I usually set 80-100 GB).


In this case, we will try to divide the hard disk into two identical partitions. I will set the size of the compressed space to 115 361 MB, this is exactly the section that will be empty. And now we observe that the total size after compression has changed to the number 123 112 MB, that is, 120 GB, this is the system partition on which the operating system with programs is located.


In other words:

The size of the compressible space is the size of the extra drive;

The total size after compression is the size of the system disk C. For example, you have a 1000 MB hard disk, then 100-150 GB can be allocated to disk C, and everything else (850-900 GB) to the second disk.


After you have decided on the partitions, click "Compress". When the compression process is complete, unallocated space will appear. Now it needs to be converted to a simple volume. To do this, right-click on the unallocated space and select "Create a simple volume".




The wizard will open, click Next.



After we assign any letter for the future partition (disk). We chose the letter F.

Hello readers of the ComService company blog (Naberezhnye Chelny). The topic of the article is how to partition a Windows 7 hard drive. To my shame, I confess that I learned about this feature a few months ago. In order to consolidate this knowledge, you need to naturally - try. And preferably not on your own). Up to this point, I tried to break at . If any partition needed to be changed or another one created, then special utilities were used. It was necessary to boot from it. And all you need to cut off is 50 GB from the end to install the second operating system. You will learn how to partition a disk using the operating system in this article.

Article structure

Our HDD is broken by means of Windows. Everything is ready to go. On one physical one, you can create no more than 4 main partitions. If you need more, create one additional partition and split it into as many as you need. The limit of 2000 sections I hope is enough.

2. What to do if the disk in Windows 7 does not break

I tried to partition the hard drive using another . Three of the 4 partitions are broken normally (it is possible to compress the disk), but the largest one is not. At the very end of this disk there are files (hidden and system) and they could not be removed from there.

In this case, you will have to use third-party utilities. For example Akronis or Paragon. If there is one more option. Boot from a boot disk with any operating system and defragment a non-compressible partition. If anyone has tried this, please post in the comments. Thank you.

Conclusion

In the article how to partition a Windows 7 hard drive, we divided the partition into two parts. Naturally, this can be done with administrator rights or at least archive operator on computer. Windows tools allow you to shrink a volume to non-removable files. It can either be shadow copy files. If you have it enabled. In most cases, in order to break it, it is enough to disable system protection on the selected partition and move the paging file to another disk. Shrink the volume and put everything back in place. If all else fails, then you need to turn to the help of third-party programs. An excellent alternative is Acronis or another equivalent.

Write questions in the comments. Let's try to figure it out together.

Video - How to partition a hard drive in Windows 7 Thanks for sharing the article on social media. All the best!

With a 99% probability, a very sad picture will appear in the existing computer: the new disk will contain only one partition. Perhaps for people using Linux as their operating system, this is not so important, but when using Windows 7, it is more convenient to store your files on several partitions. Moreover, in case of reinstalling or restoring the system, it is easier to save your data if there is a separate partition available - in this situation, you will appreciate your former foresight.

The required minimum in terms of the number of partitions, dictated by more than one year of using the Windows 7 operating system, is two. The first section should be allocated exclusively for the operating system and work programs (including games), while the second section should be used to store documents, movies, music and other things. You must decide on your own the number of partitions that you will be comfortable working with later, therefore, given that disk partitioning usually does not change for years, approach this issue with all responsibility.

To partition a hard drive into several separate partitions, hardened “computers” are used to using third-party software like the well-known Partition Magic or Acronis Disk Director, but in Windows 7 there is no need for this - programs for performing these manipulations are included in the operating system itself. For this reason, you do not have to look for and install any third-party software. The only thing you have to take care of is giving your account system administrator rights, since ordinary users do not have the necessary rights to change the parameters that are so important to the system.

So, let's start the task of dividing the hard drive into several partitions, for which you should go to the Control Panel by clicking the "Start" button and selecting the appropriate item in the system menu. Next, follow the following path: "System and Security" -> "Administration" -> submenu "Create and format hard disk partitions".

The "Disk Management" tab will allow you to familiarize yourself with the existing partitions. When buying a computer with the Windows 7 operating system, in addition to the main partition (drive C:) on the hard drive, there may be a hidden partition that serves to restore the OS in case of loss of its performance. It is up to you to decide whether to leave this partition or delete it, but in the latter case, you can free up an additional few gigabytes (the size of this partition can vary greatly) and lose the ability to quickly restore the system.

To partition a disk, right-click on the symbolic image of the partition designated as (С:) and select the "Compress volume ..." item in the context menu. Wait a little while the system performs the necessary preparatory steps, after which in the window that appears you will be asked to select the size of the space allocated for the new partition (in general, the translation of some terms, as well as their original name in Russian versions of Windows 7, is not always logical, so this value is indicated in the “Size of the compressible space” item, and the size of the C: drive after the manipulations are indicated in the “Total size after compression” item). If you make a mistake or decide to resize the partition, you can perform the reverse of compression - expanding the volume.

After making sure that the specified data is correct, you can click the "Compress" button and after a while you will receive a new partition, which will be marked as "Unallocated". To fully use the newly created partition in the system, you need to format it, for which right-click on the partition and select "Create a simple volume ...". After clicking the Next button twice, the New Simple Volume Wizard will prompt you to determine the drive letter for the new partition. You can choose any that you like, but only from those not previously occupied by the system. Confirm your choice and in the next window you will be asked to specify the file system type. In the "Format this volume as follows:" item, specify the NTFS file system, then, if using a new disk, click the "Next" button, otherwise, you must, among other things, check the box next to the "Quick Format" item and only then click "Next ".

In the next window, make sure that all options have been set correctly and click the "Finish" button. If you specified the quick format option in the previous step, the whole process will be completed in a matter of seconds, otherwise you will have to wait about an hour (the time depends on the amount of disk space given to the new partition).

After all the manipulations performed, you will receive a hard drive with two partitions. More sections can be obtained by performing the same steps as many times as necessary.