Program for partitioning a hard drive download torrent. Free programs for partitioning your hard drive. Dividing a hard drive into partitions using built-in Windows OS tools

We talked about how to create a bootable AOMEI PE Builder Live CD. In this article, I decided to tell you how to partition a hard drive using Windows and the free AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition program.

Why share a hard drive at all? Many laptops and computers are sold with an unbroken hard drive, i.e. exists on disk only one sectionC: for the system and data and additional service sections for programs from laptop manufacturers.

There is a saying: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” The same is the case with your hard drive in a computer, where your operating system (Windows XP, 7, 8, 10) and your data (documents, photos, music, movies and other data) stored on one partition Your disk. This is not good, because if there is an error on the C: partition (C: drive), all data on this partition is at risk, including your data. Secondly, when reinstalling Windows, if you have only one partition, you need to copy all your data from this partition to another place, which takes considerable time if the volume is large and there is not always an external hard drive or a large flash drive where this data can be copied. And thirdly, it is always convenient to have two or more partitions (disks) for separation systems and data. In this article, I will tell you and show you how to divide your hard drive into two partitions (drive C and drive D). There is no particular difficulty in this, but you need to be careful, as there is a risk of losing data, but there is always a risk of losing in our lives but if you read this article to the end, everything will become clear even to a child. But it will be better if you create a data backup in advance, as I described how to do this. So let's get started...

How to partition a hard drive using meansWindows

Friends, to partition a hard drive using Windows, you need to go to “ Computer management" In Windows 8, to do this, right-click in the lower left corner of the screen and select “ Disk management»

In Windows 7, go to the menu “ Start" and right-click on “ Computer" and in the context menu select " Control", then select " Disk management»

The window “ Disk management" We see that the hard drive of our computer (laptop) is divided into partitions. In this case, into two partitions: reserved by the system (350 MB), on which Windows download files are located, and system partition C: (24 GB), on which the Windows system is installed.

Your disk may be divided into three or even four partitions (depending on the laptop model), this does not change the essence, since these partitions are most likely inaccessible to you and are used for utility programs of laptop manufacturers.

We are interested in section C: (marked in red in the photo), we must divide it (split) into two parts (section C: and section D:)

Don’t be surprised that in the photo I have a small hard drive (25 GB), since I am showing the whole process on a virtual machine where a hard drive of this size is installed, while for you all actions will take place on a physical computer or laptop. But this does not change the process of partitioning the hard drive. All pictures are clickable.

Right-click on section C: and select “ Compress volume...»

The system polls the hard disk volume to determine the space for compression

In the next window indicate the size compressible space in MB, that is, we indicate how much we will compress the partition so that we can then allocate this space for a new disk partition and press the button “ Compress" We mean that the size of the compressed space is indicated in MB (megabytes), so if you want, for example, to create a new partition of 250 GB (gigabytes), then multiply this figure by 1024 (in 1 GB - 1024 MB), we get 250 * 1024 = 256000 MB.

We also take into account that the system may not give us so much space, since it is already occupied by data.

And one more thing: standard Windows disk management tools can become stubborn and not give as much space as you “ask” for, although you have it free. This can be caused by a number of reasons, one of which is fragmentation of data on this partition. In this case, you need to use special disk management programs, one of which I describe Further In this article. Let's read, don't get distracted :)

After compressing the partition, we see that now we have partition C: it has become smaller and additional unallocated space has appeared...

Now we need to create a partition from this unallocated space; to do this, right-click on it and select “ Create a simple volume...»

The Simple Volume Creation Wizard window appears, in which we click “ Further»

We indicate the size of our volume in MB and click “ Further»

Note:

We assign a letter to our new partition (disk). Click " Further»

Let's format our new section with the option " Quick formatting", click " Further»

We see that the wizard has completed creating the volume (partition) with the parameters that we set at the beginning.. Click the button “ Ready»

We see our two partitions in the disk management window: the reduced partition C: and the new partition E:

Voila! Let's go to " My computer"and we see our created additional disk

This is how you can partition a hard drive using Windows, but this method is not always suitable or does not always work properly, so we will look at another option for managing hard drives, this is the multifunctional and free program AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition. With it we will do the same thing and in addition I will show its other main functions.

How to partition a hard drive with a free program

To install the program AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition, go to the official website of the program: and click “ DownloadFreeware»

Click the button " Download Now»

The program will begin downloading to your computer. After downloading, run this file to install

Installing the program is simple, see the screenshots (pictures are clickable)…

To scroll through the pictures, click " Back" or " Forward»

After installation, run the program AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition

Main program window

We see that the C: partition (C: drive) is large and you can “unfasten” the second partition from it. Usually for drive C: a partition of 60-150 GB is enough, I usually leave 80 GB.

Now what are we going to do. We will shrink the C: drive (change the partition), and use the freed up space for a new partition (D: drive). What do we need for this? This program is both a bubble and attentiveness.

So, right-click on section C: and select “ Resize partition»

Enter a new partition size. To do this, “grab” the right circle of the section with the left mouse button and move it to the left... Or indicate the size of the section in numbers in the field “ Partition size»

About the same as in the photo below. I changed the size of partition C: to 80 GB. Click " OK»

Now in the main program window we see that our disk has unallocated space for a new partition(s). Let's use this 🙂 and create a new partition in this disk space. To do this, right-click on the unallocated space and select “ Creating a section»

We indicate the size of our new partition, the program by default offers all the free space, select the drive letter and click “ OK»

Note: If you want to create more than one partition, then indicate the desired partition less than the recommended maximum, and use the rest of the space for one more partition.

To apply all these actions, you need to click the " Apply»

The window “ Deferred operations", where the program shows what operations it will perform on our hard drive before reaching the final result. If you agree with the actions of the program, click " Go»

The program requires a reboot, agree and click “ Yes»

After rebooting, the program waits 10 seconds. We do not press anything during this time. If you want to cancel, press any key...

Let’s make sure again, go to “ My computer"and rejoice!

Well, did you like the free version of the program? AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition?. I like it. In addition to the fact that the program can divide disks, I will list a number of its main functions:

• Migration of the operating system to SSD/HDD drives;
• Increase, change, move, merge sections;
• Copying a disk/partition;
• Creating, deleting, formatting partitions;
• Creating a bootable CD;
• MBR recovery;
• Convert from MBR to GPT disk and back without data loss;
• Partition recovery;
• Disk surface testing;
• Aligning partitions and speeding up disks, especially SSD disks;
• Converting the FAT/FAT32 file system to NTFS

The program supports all types of storage devices: HDD/SSD hard drives with MBR/GPT disk partition styles, RAID arrays, flash drives.

Here is my video on how to partition a hard drive using the free program AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition

Competition “Like - get a key”!

Friends, there is paid version programs, . In the paid version of the program, in addition to the standard functions described above, additional functions are available:

• Converting a partition from primary to logical and vice versa;
• Distributing free space from a partition to another partition;
• Creating and working with dynamic disk partitions;
• Convert a dynamic disk to a basic disk;
• Changing the partition type;
• Changing the hard drive serial number;
• Free technical support

Full list on the page:

It just so happens that I have 3 license keys for the program AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro Edition cost 32 $ (near 1800 R. for May 2015) and I want to arrange for you contest and draw these keys among your readers!

The conditions of the competition are simple:

1. You need to click just below on one of the social networking buttons

1. In the comments, provide a link to your social network profile.

Summarizing:

June 6, 2015 I'll play these 3 Keys among those who clicked on one of the social buttons. networks (shared information about the draw) and showed this profile in the comments.

I will assign a serial number to each participant. The selection of winners will be determined randomly using a random number generator on the service www.randstuff.ru/number/ .

No more than one “ Laika” on one social network. There will be three winners. Each person will receive one license key.

The winners of the competition will receive license keys for the program AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro Edition and will be able to fully use all the functions of this wonderful program. Well, have we started? Who is first? 🙂

Very good news for owners of the Windows 7 and 8 operating system is that users do not have to download various programs to partition the hard drive, because thanks to the built-in Disk Management feature, we can do this for free. I would like to remind you that in the XP operating system, you cannot do this, since one of the main functions of this application is missing.

To quickly launch the Disk Management application, right-click on the “My Computer” desktop icon. In the menu, select Manage

In management, click the "Disk Management" section. On the right side of the program we will see a list of our hard drives.

Now you need to select a hard drive that will be partitioned. In my case, the laptop has one hard drive installed, which is divided into two partitions E and D. The program clearly shows where the main disk is and where its partitions are.

I will create another partition of 10 gigabytes. To do this, right-click on the C: drive and select “Shrink volume” from the menu.

In the small window, I fill in the compression size at 10,000, which is equal to 10 Gigabytes, and click the compress button.

Did you do everything correctly? Please note that we now have an unallocated partition with a size of 9.77GB. Now all that remains is to create a new volume from it.

Right-click on the unallocated area and right-click on it, select “Create simple volume.”

Now we follow the instructions as in the picture. Changing the volume letter or its name is not necessary, everything can be left as in the pictures. Let's go.

After formatting the disk, Windows will inform you that the disk is ready to use.

As you understand, such a breakdown cannot cause any difficulties. I also want to note that you will no longer need programs like Partition Magic, or similar ones. Firstly, many packages are paid, and secondly, the partitioning takes 10 times longer than the built-in Windows 7 or 8 application.

Good luck!

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The hard drive in your computer and the drive icon in the My Computer window are different concepts. For example, a computer may have one hard drive installed, while there may be several of them in “My Computer”. The reason for this strange discrepancy is that the hard drive can be divided into so-called partitions. This is called logical disk layout.

I will talk about why such markup is needed, how to do it correctly (and whether it should be done at all), and also tell you about free programs for such a delicate procedure.

Why do you need to partition your hard drive?

There are several reasons to partition a hard drive:

1. Partitions on a hard drive are primarily needed for proper storage of information. For example, some users prefer the following division: operating system and programs on one disk (usually C), documents - on the second ( D), photo archive on the third ( E) and so on. In this case, there may well be only one hard drive.
2. If you have one hard drive, but want to have two or more operating systems, you will have to divide the hard drive into partitions, since Windows and other operating systems can only be installed on different partitions or hard drives.
3. Manufacturers of laptops (and some computers from famous manufacturers such as Acer) have their own reason for dividing hard drive partitions: on a section that is visible as a disk C, Windows installed, second ( D) is completely empty, and the third (which is not visible in any way in the “My Computer” window) stores a compressed copy of the partition C. This hidden partition of the hard drive is called recovery partition. If something happened to the operating system (“Windows crashed” - as some users like to say), then when you turn on the laptop, just press a key combination (see which one - see the instructions for the laptop) and a special program will clean the disk C, then unpacks the contents of the hidden partition there. As a result, the user will receive a laptop with the programs that were originally on it at the time of purchase in the store. Disk D however, it will not be changed. The conclusion suggests itself: if you store all documents on a laptop with such a recovery system not on drive C, A only on D, you can restore damaged Windows with a new one at any time, without losing your important data. By the way, any advanced user can make such a recovery system for themselves, but I’ll tell you about it some other time.
4. The Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems, when installed on a blank, “unpartitioned” hard drive, create a hidden partition of 100-350 megabytes in size. This small partition stores a bootloader designed, oddly enough, to boot Windows. This partition will not exist or its contents will be damaged - and the computer will not start the operating system, displaying the message “Boot fail”, “Cannot find boot device”, “Boot error” or similar on a black screen, the meaning of which is the same - the boot disk with operating system. Actually, the bootloader can be stored on disk C:, and/or in hidden sectors of the hard drive (outside partitions), but the developers decided in Windows 7/8 to use a separate hidden partition in order to somehow protect the boot loader from damage by other programs, viruses or the user.
5. There are other reasons for partitioning a hard drive. For example, for the GNU/Linux operating systems to work correctly, several sections must be created, but this is the topic of a separate article; we will not consider them here.

So, The main reasons for partitioning a hard drive are: for the convenience of storing information, for installing several operating systems, for operating a recovery system, for storing the Windows 7/8 bootloader.

A little theory: file systems, partition types

Information about partitions (i.e. logical drives) is stored in a "partition table". Each logical drive can have its own file system. You can read more about all this in the Wikipedia articles: Disk partition, Logical disk, File system. A novice user only needs to know the bare minimum:

1. If you divide your hard drive into logical drives (partitions), Disk capacity will not increase- there’s simply nowhere to find free space! You can make partitions of any size, but in total they cannot be larger than the capacity of the real hard drive. Less please. Then you will have unallocated free space, not visible in My Computer, from which you can get one or more new partitions. This is a question I often get from newbies, so I put it first.
2. Exist primary (main) And extended (additional) sections. One hard drive cannot have more than four main partitions (see the links above for why this is so), so they came up with an extended partition - this is a primary partition that can include any number of partitions. As a result, thanks to the extended partition, the hard drive can have any number of partitions - tens, hundreds.
3. Each partition can have its own file system. At the moment, only NTFS can be used to install Windows Vista, 7 and 8, and the outdated Windows XP can be installed on disks with the FAT32 file system. However, I do not recommend doing this, as it imposes too many restrictions. Make all partitions in NTFS - everything will work as it should.
4. Any hard drive must be partitioned one way or another. In one or more logical drives - it's up to you. When purchased, the hard drive is usually already partitioned into one partition - this is what the manufacturer decided. If you are satisfied with this way of organizing information, leave it alone.
5. It is very undesirable to partition the disk in laptops - most of them have hidden recovery partitions that can be damaged (see point 3 of the previous chapter).
6. If you bought a 2 terabyte hard drive, but in “My Computer” it is “only” 1.86 terabytes (1860 gigabytes), then do not rush back to the store. It's all about how manufacturers and Windows calculate the volume. Read more about this in the Wikipedia article Hard Drive. The larger the size of the hard drive, the more clearly it is clear that there are fewer real gigabytes.
7. Sections can be delete, create, move(change their physical position on the disk), resize them, format them, convert them file systems on partitions from one to another. Moreover, many programs can do this while saving all the data. There are other operations, but novice users most often need the above.
8. If there is an error during the process of changing partitions (see point 7), information is almost always lost. Yes, it can be restored (or part of it) using special programs with the participation of specialists, but it is best to save all important information in advance on other drives (not logical drives, but real drives) or flash drives, so as not to pay money for data recovery.

Disk Management in Windows

Windows has a standard partition changer - " Disk management". Depending on the version of Windows, the capabilities of this program change slightly, but in general over the past years (if we talk about Windows Vista, 7, 8) there have been no major changes. Windows XP looks more modest in this regard - apart from formatting and changing the drive letter, there is little that can be done there.

As an example I’ll take “ Disk management» Windows 7. You can open this program in several ways:

1. The simplest one is to right-click on the line Computer on the menu Start- select an item Control- in a new window select Disk management.
2. Opening Control Panel - Administration - Computer management - Disk management.
3. Click Start - Execute(or the Win+R key combination) - enter in the window that opens diskmgmt.msc- press OK.

Disk management looks like that:

Here you can see both physical disks (including DVD drives, flash drives and other devices for storing information) and logical ones, i.e. virtual - hidden partition of the Windows 7 boot loader, disks C And D. The number of disks on your computer may vary.

Basic actions are available by right-clicking on the desired section:

The list of actions is quite meager:

• Items Open, Conductor allow you to view the contents of disks
• Make the section active- indicate on which disk (partition) the bootloader is located. In Windows 7 and 8, this is a system-reserved partition. You cannot make another partition active - the operating system will stop loading.
• Change drive letter or drive path- you can change the drive letter displayed in the Computer window or display it as a folder. Yes, partitions can be displayed not only as disks, but also as folders on any disk.
• Format- you can read about this in the Wikipedia Formatting article. The item opens a window with which you can start high-level formatting.
• Extend Volume- if there is space on the hard drive that is not marked as a partition, then you can expand the partition size using this free space.
• Shrink Volume- this item allows you to reduce the size of the partition. The result will be the formation of unallocated space, which can be used to expand the volume of another section (see the previous paragraph).
• Delete volume- delete the section. Don't click on an item without thoroughly considering the consequences. If you delete a partition, the information on it can only be saved with the help of special programs, and even then not always.
• Properties- a properties window will open with information about the selected disk (partition).

Of course, this is not a complete list of possibilities. Disk Management. You can create dynamic disks, for example. However, this is of no use to novice users; this article is intended specifically for them.

So, to create, delete, resize partitions via Disk management, you only need three menu items: Expand Volume, Shrink Volume, Delete Volume.

All operations take place in real time, i.e. after clicking the desired item and answering the question in the affirmative - do we want to do this - the actual action occurs.

Do not forget that there is a risk of failure, due to which we could lose either one or all of the partitions. This applies primarily to computers with a large number of unnecessary programs - each of them may be the culprit in deleting all data. Moreover, the scenario is when you need to change the partition from which Windows is launched (usually this is the disk C), is the worst - most often users experience problems when they try to change the system partition.

To minimize the risk of failure, There are three methods:

1. Insert the hard drive into another computer and change partitions from it by running Disk management or any other program for changing partitions. Due to the fact that Windows will be launched from another drive, no programs will go onto the foreign drive, interfering with a critical operation.
2. Boot from a Live CD - the operating system and programs will be launched not from the hard drive, but from a CD or DVD, flash drive - again, nothing will interfere with changing partitions.
3. To change partitions, use a program that can work in Native mode. For example, disk check C always works in this mode - a black window with white text before loading the Desktop. In this mode, a minimum number of programs are launched and the risk of failure is minimal.

The third option is the simplest, because the user essentially does not need to do anything - just restart the computer and wait a few minutes. The following two review programs can do this.

A free hard drive partitioning program for home use.

By clicking on a section (it doesn’t matter - in the list at the top, on the picture below), you can see a menu (both a pop-up and in the left panel) with all the required actions:

Resize/Move partition- resize the partition and/or move its physical position on the disk. By the way, the official website says that EaseUS Partition Master version Home (free) does not support changing partitions. This is not true - everything works great.

Copy partition- copy the partition to another disk with all the information on it.

Merge partitions- merging two or more sections. Convenient if you need to save information on your hard drive, but reduce the number of partitions. Convert to logical/primary- conversion to logical (extended)/main (primary) partition.

Change label- change the disc label.

Change drive letter- change the drive letter.

Defragment- launch a standard Windows program to defragment the disk.

Check partition- checking the disk for errors using, again, a standard Windows program.

Hide partition- make sure that the partition is not visible in the “Computer” window.

Delete partition- deleting a section.

Format partition- partition formatting.

Wipe partition- clearing the contents of the section. All folders and files will be deleted, the partition will remain. Information deleted in this way cannot be restored.

Explore partition- view the contents of the section.

View properties- see how much space is occupied on the partition, what file system it has, and find out other technical information.

The list of actions changes depending on where you click. In the screenshot above, I clicked on the non-system section. By clicking on the system partition (from where Windows is running), there will be no options for deleting, hiding, or cleaning. If you click on the physical disk icon, the list of actions will be completely different:

I will list the points:

Copy disk- the contents of the entire disk are copied: partitions, information in them. To do this, you need a second disk of the same or larger capacity.

Upgrade disk- the function is primarily needed to transfer Windows to a new, larger hard drive. The partition is copied and increased in size in proportion to the size of the new hard drive.

Delete all partitions- delete all sections.

Wipe disk- the same as the previous paragraph, only with special deletion algorithms, making it impossible to restore the information.

Surface test- checking the disk surface (physical). Allows you to detect bad sectors (so-called “bads”, “bad blocks”).

View properties- display information about the disk.

Yes, knowledge of English is clearly required here, especially considering that almost every item opens a window with settings for the action being performed. After you have made the necessary manipulations, you need to apply the changes by pressing a button Apply(Apply):

Only then will the partition changes begin. This process may take some time - from a couple of minutes to several hours.

Depending on whether the system partition is affected or not, operations are carried out either immediately in the window, or you will need to restart the computer and start changing the partition in Native mode:

The program has so many functions that it is impossible to list them all. I recommend that you read the help for EaseUS Partition Master. It is in English, unfortunately, but you can use Google Translator. The translation is quite understandable.

Pros of EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition:

• Lots of functions.
• All actions are “virtual” until you click the Apply button. This means that you can cancel operations before this “point of no return” and try to do something else with the partitions. Or don’t do it at all if you change your mind.
• Works stably and predictably. For example, during testing, while changing partitions, I started copying files to the partition that was to be changed. Result - a window appeared stating that it was not possible to lock the partition, all operations were interrupted, the data did not disappear anywhere.
• The program is free for home use.

Cons of EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition:

• The interface is in English only.
• There are, perhaps, too many possibilities - this can confuse beginners.
• A serious failure during the operation will lead to serious consequences.
• For example, if you turn off the computer while changing a partition, the data on the partition will disappear. However, this is a minus of absolutely all programs for changing partitions.

Conclusion: the program is good. You can and should use it; there is no alternative among free programs.

Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free

Free program for changing partitions from a company based in Russia. Unfortunately, the program is in English. What made the developers take such a step is unclear. Moreover, the paid version of the program is Russian.

The main window of the program is no different from the window of the hero of the previous review, except that the buttons have changed their order:

Deserves special mention Express Mode(Simplified mode). By clicking on this button, we will get a window with a list of the most frequent actions:

One could say that this is an ideal mode for beginners, if not for one “but”: everything here is in English. Moreover, I had a suspicion that the English here was somehow incorrect, as if it was not a person who was translating, but a machine.

Pros of Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free:

• Many windows are clear enough to understand the functions.
• Some operations are carried out immediately in the program window, some (if required) in Native mode. That is, the program does everything to reduce the chance of data loss.
• The program is free to use at home.

Cons of Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free:

• English-language, and due to the strange construction of phrases it is quite difficult to understand.
• The simplified Express Mode works exactly the opposite: firstly, the descriptions of operations and the operations themselves have more technical subtleties than is required; secondly, this mode is very capricious and does not really work, producing meaningless errors.
• The program is too slow. For example, deleting a 38 GB hard drive partition took me about 5 minutes - quite long for such a simple operation.

Conclusion: The program works, but somehow it is unpredictable. I do not recommend using this program, fortunately there is an alternative in the form of EaseUS Partition Master Home.

Changing partitions during installation of Windows 7, 8, 10

This tool also deserves a mention.

Take any installation disk with Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8 or 10, start installing the disk, go to the partition selection and click Disk setup:

It seems that everything is simple: you need to click on a section in the list, then the action button. Unfortunately, there is little action here: deletion, formatting, partitioning and expansion.

You can, for example, delete a partition and, using the freed up space, increase the size of another partition or partitions (when selecting the desired partitions, you must press the Delete and Expand buttons in turn).

Alas, a very popular operation - reducing the size of partitions - is not here. You can delete the partition, then re-create a new one with a smaller partition, but, unfortunately, we will lose the data.

All operations take place in real time, i.e. after pressing the button the action occurs.

Result: editing partitions during Windows installation is an extremely primitive tool. It works, but performs only a limited list of actions, among which the only one that saves data is increasing (expanding) the size of the partition. If you need to install Windows and do not need to save data on partitions, then the tool will come in handy.

If you suddenly accidentally deleted a partition during Windows installation or through some program, do not despair - the partition recovery function is included in EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition.

In order to recover a deleted hard drive partition, don't touch the partitions, immediately boot into Windows (or insert the hard drive into another computer if you deleted the system partition and booting Windows is impossible), then run the above-mentioned program, click on the line with the word in the list Unallocated("Unallocated"), then click the button Partition recovery.

The rest, as they say, is a matter of technique - the action wizard will tell you where to click, where to check the boxes, and then restore your deleted disk.

Tip #2: Installing two or more Windows operating systems on one hard drive

All you need for this is several sections. If your hard drive already has a second partition that is visible in the " Computer" - make sure that there is at least 20 GB of free space (more is better), then during Windows installation simply specify this second (third, fourth, etc.) disk. Once installed, you will be able to select Windows using a menu that appears when you turn on your computer.

If you have one disk ( C), I suggest the simplest option: Through Disk management give it to the section first WITH team Compress, reducing it by at least 20 gigabytes (or better yet, more, because in addition to Windows you will also be installing programs):

Right click on drive C...

After pressing the button Compress disk size C decreases, unallocated (free) space appears in the partition map:

We indicate unallocated space. The installer will create the partition itself.

After installation, you will have two operating systems. You can create unallocated spaces or empty disks and indicate them for installation.

Thanks to reader Vladimir for raising this topic.

You may have noticed that in the screenshots of the Disk Management window, all partitions are marked with a blue stripe. You may have sections with green stripes. What is the difference between blue and green sections?

A green bar in Disk Management is a sign of an extended (additional) partition. As I wrote above, there may be “nested” sections inside, which from the user’s point of view are no different from the main (primary) ones. Nested partitions have one peculiarity - if you reduce their size, then due to the free space that appears, you will not be able to simply expand the main partition. You must first shrink the extended partition itself (which stores free space and the reduced partition) so that free space is created outside of any partitions, only then can you expand the disks.

Standard Disk Management does not work well with extended disks, so if you see green marks instead of blue ones, it is better to use the free programs above - they will reduce the extended partitions, move the free space where necessary and expand the main disk.

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 examine in detail only 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 must press 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?)

EaseUs Partition Master Free 12.9 – a program for partitioning a hard drive into partitions. This software will help you create local disk partitions directly from the program window. You don't have to do this through the BIOS or reinstall Windows.

When purchasing a computer, there is often a situation where only one local volume with an operating system is created on the computer, which occupies the entire hard drive memory. But for ease of use, it is correct to store system files separately from others. EaseUs Partition Master will help you divide your hard drive into partitions.

Features of the EaseUs Partition Master Free application

When you first launch it, the program scans your hard drive to detect the amount of free memory and local disks. The main interface window will display scan information. That is, local disks, if present, and the remaining unallocated memory area. Below, in the form of a progress bar, the used and free memory on the disks is displayed.

The main features of the program are provided with separate buttons for quick access to them. These are: Create/Resize Disk, Delete, Connect, Format and Copy. EaseUs Partition Master has the ability to convert MBR disk to GPT and vice versa without data loss.

Each operation can be canceled before it begins. And if you are confident in your actions, then when you click confirm, a window with a progress indicator will appear. Depending on the selected operation, it will last from several to ten minutes.

The program also has functions for data recovery and creating a boot disk. This software is free and you can download it without registration, completely free of charge.

Specifications:

Version: EaseUs Partition Master Free 12.9
Russian language
Status: free
Author: EaseUs
System: Windows All
Size: 27.8 Mb