At Windows installation The hard drive is traditionally divided into at least two partitions - a smaller system one with the letter C and a larger user one with the letter D. Such a division was invented not just because of someone's whim, it has important practical value. Firstly, partitioning the hard disk into partitions in Windows 7/10 allows you to save the user's personal files when reinstalling the system, otherwise they would be destroyed during formatting, and secondly, it is easier to work with data that way, not to mention the fact that this significantly reduces the risk of accidentally deleting system files.

However, some computers and laptops with pre installed system have only one section - the system, not counting the "System Reserved" area. In such cases, the user has to create additional volumes on the disk himself. This procedure is very simple, however, for beginners it can still cause certain difficulties, especially when it comes to splitting the partition with the installed system. So how do you properly partition your hard drive without losing data?

There are three main ways to partition a hard disk into volumes: using the standard disk management snap-in, using the command line utility Diskpart and with the help third-party programs, specially created for these purposes. The first method has a number of limitations, the second may seem complicated, the most convenient is the third, using third-party software, but not all such programs are free. Let's consider all three options.

Using the Disk Management utility

So, there is a computer with only one volume on its disk, not counting the reserved area. First, let's take a look at how to split a hard drive into two partitions using the built-in disk management snap-in. By pressing Win + X call the context menu of the Start button and select "Disk Management" in it.

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

After the volume is polled for allocated space, specify the size of the new partition in megabytes in the "Compressed space size" 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 instructions of the wizard.

During partition creation, you will be prompted to specify the size of the volume, assign a letter, select a file system (you need NTFS) 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 split a hard drive into 2 parts in Windows 7/10 using another standard tool - the console utility Diskpart... Unlike Disk Management, which has graphical interface, it has a large set functionality, in addition, you can partition the disk into partitions in Diskpart from under bootable media even in a non-working system. So open as administrator command line or the PowerShell console and run the following commands in sequence:

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

The first command starts the Diskpart utility itself, the second command displays a list of partitions available on the physical disk, the third one selects the partition number corresponding to the C drive, the fourth one 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 team creates new section, the eighth - formats it into the NTFS file system, the ninth command assigns the specified letter to the new volume, the tenth - terminates Diskpart.

As you can see, the procedure has a lot in common with how the partition was created through the built-in disk management snap-in. Now, if you go to the "This computer" section, you will see a new logical section there.

Partitioning a disk into parts in Acronis Disk Director

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

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

If the source disk contains custom files, you can transfer them to the created new volume however, this can be done later in Explorer. But you cannot transfer system files, otherwise Windows may not boot. After specifying the procedure parameters, click first "OK" and then "Apply pending operations".

If the system asks to reboot, give it permission. The program will do the rest by 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 partitioning the disk. After launching the application, switch to the “Operations with sections” tab in the main menu and click on the “Section splitting wizard” link.

At the next stage, the program will offer to determine the size of the new partition. Use the slider for the layout or enter the desired size manually. Assign a letter to that, click "Next" and confirm the operation.

Clicking "Finish" ends the work of the wizard.

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

After that, the repartitioning procedure will be launched. If the disk is a system disk, you will need to restart your computer.

Disk layout 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 "Resize Partition" from the menu.

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

As a result, an unoccupied space will be formed. Select it with the mouse, in the menu on the left, select the "Create section" option.

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

Now, to start the splitting procedure, click the "Apply" button.

Since the work is carried out with system disk, a computer restart is required.

All of the above methods allow you to divide the hard disk without losing data, however, when performing this procedure, especially when using third-party software, you should be careful, since the risk of losing information, albeit very small, is still present.

This article explains how to create, modify or delete sections hard disk by means of Windows 7.
To work with sections of hard disk in Windows 7 there is a tool called "Disk Management": Control Panel → System and Security → Administrative Tools → Computer Management → Disk Management OR "Start" → in the search bar enter: diskmgmt.msc and press Enter.

1. Creating a section
Right-click on a free, not occupied by other partitions, place of the required hard disk → Create simple volume... The "Creation Wizard" window will open. simple volumes", Click the" Next "button. Then specify the size of the partition to be created, assign a drive letter, select the required file system and formatting options, make sure once again that you did everything correctly and click "Finish"
2. Compressing a section
Right click on the desired section → Shrink volume... A window will appear asking for a space for compression, we are waiting until the end of the poll. Then, in the window that appears, in the line "size of compressible space", specify the amount of free space and click "Compress"
3. Section extension
Expand volume... The "Volume Expansion Wizard" window will appear, click the "Next" button. Then select the desired free area in the list, click "Add", then indicate the size of the free space allocated to the partition, click the "Next" button, check the information and click "Finish"
4. Deleting a section
Right click on the desired section → Delete volume... Before proceeding with the operation, copy all the necessary files and folders to another drive, since after deleting a volume, all data on it will be lost.
5. Change drive letter
Right click on the desired section → Change drive letter or drive path… Press the Change button, select the required drive letter and press the OK button. Next, we will take a closer look at ways to expand disks and not harm the information we store.

To share HDD on the sections, you need to go to the "Start" menu → right-click on "Computer" and click on "Control".

In the window that appears, go to the "Disk Management" section.

Select the hard drive and the partition that you want to partition and right-click on it.

In the drop-down menu, select "Shrink Volume" and then select the size to which you want to shrink the existing partition. The space freed up after compression will be the new hard disk partition.

To create a new partition, right-click on the vacated space and select "create volume". Then specify the size of the new partition and wait for the operation to complete. Sooner or later, any computer user is faced with such a problem as a lack of free space on the system partition of the hard drive. This is where the question arises: How do I expand the C drive?

First we need to go to the "Computer Management" tab (see above).
When this tab opens, you will see in the window all the media that are currently connected to the computer. Each hard disk can be divided into several logical ones. The very first will be "Disc 0". The system-reserved space and logical partitions (C, D, E, F, etc.) will be displayed on the right. If you have only one C drive and it is full, you can try "Shrink Volume" (see above). If you have several logical partitions, then go ahead.

Disc division principle.

The principle of action is as follows: we must expand the C drive at the expense of an adjacent logical partition. This could be drive D, E, and so on. In the same way, you can enlarge not only the C section, but others, if you have such a need. So, we delete the adjacent disk, for example, D. Click on it with the right mouse button and select the "Delete volume" option. Click OK. Immediately after that this volume should be displayed in black. It should display "Volume not allocated". Now you can add the space we need to the C drive. To do this, right-click on the C partition and select "Expand Volume". Click "Next" and select the size you want to add.
You can use the maximum size, as suggested by default, or choose at your discretion. Click "Next" and then "Finish". If no additional windows pop up, then the operation was successful. You learned how to expand the C drive using Windows 7. The main thing to remember is that the system partition can only be enlarged if there is free space to the right of it. Otherwise, nothing will work.

Possible difficulties.

What other difficulties can there be? Let's say we have five volumes. We want to configure them in such a way that we add part of the space to drive C, and another to drive D. When deleting one of the partitions, the "Delete volume" function may not be active, and the "Expand volume" function is not available on volume C.
The point is that the section style can be used MBR *... This is an outdated style. In this case, two adjacent volumes can be linked with a green border. This means that more than four volumes cannot be created with the MBR partition style.

Windows 8 provides the same tools for increasing space. Therefore, this method is also applicable on this operating system.

Partitioning a hard drive in Windows 7 is a very simple thing. You can see for yourself if you break down and create a new section according to the described algorithm.

* MBR (Master Boot Record) PC master boot record is a table in the first sector of the boot disk that stores data about the physical and logical organization of the disk. If this entry is corrupted, it becomes impossible to boot the OS.

That's all. Thanks for reading the article. I hope you found it useful.

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The hard drive on your computer and the disk icon in My Computer are different concepts. For example, a computer might have one hard drive, while My Computer might have several. The reason for this strange inconsistency 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 talk about free programs for such a delicate procedure.

Why you need to divide your hard drive into partitions

There are several reasons for dividing a hard disk into partitions:

1. Partitions on a hard disk are primarily needed for competent storage of information. For example, some users prefer the following division: the operating system and programs on the same disk (usually C), documents - on the second ( D), archive of photos on the third ( E) etc. In this case, the hard drive may well be one.
2. If you have one hard drive, but you 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. Laptop manufacturers (and some computers from well-known manufacturers, such as Acer) have their own reason to divide hard disk partitions: on a partition that is visible as a disk C, Windows is installed, the second ( D) is absolutely empty, and the third one (which is not visible in any way in the "My Computer" window) stores a compressed copy of the partition C... This hidden hard disk partition is called recovery partition... If something happened to the operating system ("Windows flew" - as some users like to say), then when you turn on the laptop, just press the key combination (which one - see the instructions for the laptop) and a special program will clear the disk C, then unpacks the contents of the hidden section 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 it will not be changed. The conclusion suggests itself: if all documents are stored on a laptop with such a recovery system not on drive C, a only on D, it will be possible at any time to restore damaged Windows with a brand new one, without losing important data for yourself. By the way, any advanced user can make such a recovery system for himself, but I'll tell you about it some other time.
4. Operating systems Windows 7 and Windows 8, when installed on a clean, "unpartitioned" hard drive, create a hidden partition with a size of 100-350 megabytes. This small section contains the bootloader, which is, oddly enough, to boot Windows. This section will not be or its contents will be damaged - and the computer will not start the operating system, displaying an inscription on a black screen "Boot fail", "Cannot find boot device", "Boot error" or similar, the meaning of which is the same - not found boot disk with the operating system. Actually, the bootloader can be stored on disk. C:, and / or hidden sectors of hard disk (outside the partitions), but the developers decided to use a separate hidden partition in Windows 7/8 in order to somehow protect the bootloader from being damaged by other programs, viruses or the user.
5. There are other reasons too separation of hard disk into partitions. For example, for the correct operation of GNU / Linux operating systems, several partitions should be created, but this is a topic for a separate article, we will not consider them here.

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

A bit of theory: file systems, partition types

Information about partitions (ie 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. For a beginner, it is enough to know the very minimum:

1. If you divide your hard drive into logical drives(sections), disk capacity will not increase- there is simply nowhere to free space! You can make partitions of any size, but in total, they cannot exceed the size of a real hard disk. Here is less - please. Then you get 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. Exists primary (main) and extended (additional) sections. One hard disk cannot have more than four main partitions (why so - see the links above), so they came up with an extended partition - this is a primary partition that can include as many partitions as you like. As a result, thanks to the extended partition, the hard disk can have as many partitions as you like - dozens, hundreds.
3. Each partition can have its own file system. V this moment only NTFS can be used to install Windows Vista, 7 and 8, and outdated Windows XP can install 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. Into one or more logical drives - it's up to you. When buying a hard drive, it is usually already divided into one section - so the manufacturer decided. If you are satisfied with this way of organizing information, do not touch it.
5. It is very undesirable to do disk partitioning 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, and My Computer has “only” 1.86 terabytes (1,860 gigabytes), then don't rush back to the store. It's all about how the manufacturers and Windows calculate the volume. Read more about this in the Wikipedia Hard Drive article. The more hard size disk - the more clearly you can see that the real gigabytes are less.
7. Sections can delete, create, shift(change their physical position on the disk), resize, format, convert file systems on sections from one to another. Moreover, many programs are able to do this while preserving all data. There are other operations, but novice users most often need the above.
8. In the event of an error in the process of changing sections (see paragraph 7), information is almost always lost. Yes, it will be possible to restore it (or part of it) by special programs with the participation of specialists, but it is best to save all important information to other disks (not logical, but real disks) or flash drives, so as not to pay money for data recovery.

Disk Management snap-in for Windows

Windows has a standard tool for changing partitions - " Disk management". Depending on the Windows versions, 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 you can do.

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

1. The simplest - right-click on the line A computer on the menu Start- select the item Control- in the new window select Disk management.
2. We open Control Panel - Administration - Computer management - Disk management.
3. Push Start - Execute(or the keyboard shortcut Win + R) - 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 boot loader Windows 7, disks C and D... The number of disks on your computer may be different.

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

The list of actions is rather meager:

• Items Open, Conductor allow you to see the contents of the disks
• Make a section active- indicate on which disk (partition) the loader 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 it in the article Formatting Wikipedia. The item opens a window with which you can start high-level formatting.
• Expand volume- if there is space on the hard disk that is not marked as a partition, then you can expand the size of the partition at the expense of 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 put into action - to expand the volume of another section (see the previous paragraph).
• Delete volume- delete a section. Don't click on an item without carefully considering the consequences. If you delete a section, then the information on it will be possible to save only 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, novice users do not need this, this article is designed just for them.

So, to create, delete, resize partitions via Disk management, only three menu items are needed: Expand volume, Shrink volume, Delete volume.

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

Do not forget that there is a risk of failure, due to which we can lose both one section and all. This applies primarily to computers with big amount unnecessary programs- each of them may be the culprit for the deletion of all data. Moreover, the scenario when you need to change the partition from which Windows is started (usually this is a 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 started from a different disk, no programs will climb onto the other disk, interfering with the critical operation.
2. Boot from Live CD - the operating system and programs will be launched not from the hard disk, but from CD or DVD, flash drives - again, nothing will interfere with changing partitions.
3. Use a program that can work in Native mode to change sections. For example, checking the disk C always works in this mode - black window with white text before loading the desktop. In this mode, a minimum of programs are running, the risk of failure is minimal.

The third option is the simplest, because the user doesn't really need to do anything - just restart the computer and wait a few minutes. The following two survey programs are able to do this.

Free for home use program for changing partitions of the hard disk.

By clicking on the section (it doesn't matter - in the list above, in the picture below), you can see the menu (both pop-up and on the left panel) with all the requested actions:

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

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

Merge partitions- merging two or more sections. Convenient if you need to save information on the hard disk, 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 standard program Windows to defragment the disk.

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

Hide partition- make sure that the section is not visible in the "Computer" window.

Delete partition- deleting a section.

Format partition- section formatting.

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

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 partition. By clicking on the system partition (from where Windows is running), there will be no items for deleting, hiding, 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: sections, information in them. This requires 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 enlarged in proportion to the size of the new hard disk.

Delete all partitions- delete all sections.

Wipe disk- the same as the previous point, only with special deletion algorithms, due to which the information will be impossible to recover.

Surface test- Checking the surface of the disk (physical). Allows you to detect bad sectors (the so-called "bad", "bad blocks").

View properties- display information about the disc.

Yes, knowledge of English is clearly required here, especially when you consider that almost every item calls up a window with settings for the action to be performed. After you make the necessary manipulations, you need to apply the changes by clicking the button Apply(Apply):

Only then will the partition change begin. This process can 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 a lot of functions, it's hard to list them all. I recommend that you read the help for EaseUS Partition Master. It is in English, unfortunately, but you can use the Google translator. The translation is quite understandable.

Pros of EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition:

• There are a lot of functions.
• All actions are "virtual" until the Apply button is pressed. So, you can undo operations before this "point of no return" and try to do something else with the partitions. Or not at all if you change your mind.
• Works consistently and predictably. For example, during testing while changing partitions, I started copying files to the partition to be changed. Bottom line - a window appeared stating that the partition could not be locked, 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 probably too many opportunities - 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 the partition, the data on the partition will disappear. However, this is a minus of absolutely all programs for changing partitions.

Output: 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 not clear. Moreover, the paid version of the program is Russian.

The main window of the program is no different from the hero window 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 the ideal mode for beginners, if not for one "but": everything is in English. And I had a suspicion that the English was somehow wrong, as if it was not a person who translated, but a machine.

Pros of Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free:

• Many windows are clear enough to understand the functions.
• Some operations are carried out directly 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-speaking, and due to the strange construction of phrases, it is rather difficult to perceive.
• The simplified Express Mode works exactly the opposite: first, the descriptions of operations and the operations themselves have more technical subtleties than required; secondly, this mode is very capricious and does not really work, giving out meaningless errors.
• The program is running too slowly. For example, it took me about 5 minutes to delete a 38GB hard drive partition - long enough for such a simple operation.

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

Changing partitions during installation of Windows 7, 8, 10

This tool deserves a mention too.

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

Everything seems to be simple: you need to click on a section in the list, then the action button. Unfortunately, there is little action here: deletion, formatting, partition creation and expansion.

You can, for example, delete a partition and, at the expense of the free space, increase the size of another partition or partitions (selecting the desired partitions, press the Delete and Expand buttons one by one).

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

All operations take place in real time, i.e. after the button is pressed, the action takes place.

Outcome: editing partitions during Windows setup is a very primitive tool. 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 suddenly you accidentally deleted a partition during Windows installation or through any program, do not despair - the partition recovery function is available in EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition.

In order to recover a deleted hard disk partition, do not touch sections, immediately boot into Windows (or insert the hard drive into another computer if you deleted the system partition and Windows boot impossible), then run the above program, click on the line with the word in the list Unallocated("Unassigned"), then click Partition recovery.

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

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

All it takes is several sections. If the hard disk already has a second partition, which is visible in the window " A 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.) drive. Once installed, you will be able to select Windows using the menu that appears when you turn on your computer.

If you have one disk ( C), I suggest the simplest option: Through Disk management first give the section WITH command Shrink, having reduced by at least 20 gigabytes (or better - more, because in addition to Windows, you will also install programs):

Right-click on the C drive ...

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

We indicate unallocated space. The section will be created by the installer itself.

After installation, you will have two operating systems... You can make more unallocated spaces or empty disks, specify them for installation.

Thanks to reader Vladimir for bringing up 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 the blue and green sections?

A green bar in Disk Management is a sign of an extended (additional) partition. As I already wrote above, inside there may be "nested" sections, which from the user's point of view are no different from the main (primary) sections. Nested partitions have one peculiarity - if you reduce their size, then due to the free space that appears, it will not be possible to expand the main partition just like that. You must first compress the extended partition itself (which stores free space and a smaller partition) in order to create free space outside any partitions, only then you can expand the disks.

Standard Disk Management does not know how to work normally 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 extended partitions, move free space where necessary and expand the main disk.

On new PCs and laptops, you can often find an inefficient allocation of disk space: on the entire hard disk, even if it is a 500 or 1000 GB HDD, not counting small technical partitions, there is only one system C part of the workers' partitions. Suppliers computer technology when installing Windows, they do not always divide the disk into several partitions (C, D, E, etc.), providing the user with the ability to store personal files in reliable, crash-proof Windows work places. However, the number of partitions on a disk and their size is the sphere of user needs, therefore, the latter should bother with the allocation of disk space. Below we will look at how to divide a hard drive consisting of a single C partition with Windows installed on it into several partitions using the AOMEI Partition Assistant program. We will use its Standard Edition, which is distributed free of charge.

AOMEI Partition Assistant is a rare case when functional program professional grade is supplied free of charge. The expansion of its capabilities is provided for in paid editions, but even in the free edition we will find everything you need to organize disk space, and not only at the basic level, but also at the advanced level. If we are talking only about dividing a disk into partitions, this can be done without resorting to third-party software, using the standard utility of the Disk Management system. But AOMEI Partition Assistant has more potential: mastering it will take the user to a new, more high level owning a computer and will allow him to solve many problems with the disk on his own. So, even such a seemingly simple operation as partitioning a disk into partitions, the AOMEI Partition Assistant program will allow different ways- by dividing the section and by changing its size. We will consider all this in detail below, but first a couple of words directly about the size of section C.

Before proceeding with the division of section C, it is necessary to decide on the size left to it. In order to prevent data loss and Windows disruption, AOMEI Partition Assistant will not allow you to shrink the C partition to a size smaller than the actual size of the data. But the size of partition C should not be equal to its actually occupied space. For Windows to work properly, it is necessary that about 20% of the volume of the C partition remain free. It is desirable that the C partition be at least 80 GB, and better - 100 GB. The data is given without taking into account the installation of certain resource-intensive games and programs on the system partition.

1. Splitting a section

Partitioning is the creation of non-system partitions by dividing existing partitions into two parts. First, section C is divided into two parts, then section D is divided into two in the same way, and so on. This method is a couple of steps simpler than its alternative - the operation to resize the original partition, which will be discussed below. Partitions formed as a result of division automatically receive their letter and "inherit" the file system from the original partition, and on MBR disks, the type is also primary (main). Only the fourth section will be automatically created with a boolean type.

In the AOMEI Partition Assistant window, click on partition C and click on the "Partition partition" context menu option.

Moving the slider of the graphic block, we form the sizes of the sections. For section C we leave, for example, 80-100 GB, and give everything else to section D. Next, click the "Advanced" button at the bottom and activate the option. Click "Ok".

In the main window of the program, we will see a picture of the partitions, which it is not yet, but will be after the application of the planned operations. AOMEI Partition Assistant provides for carrying out several designated operations in a single process. So, in the way described above, the newly formed section D can be divided into two more sections - one smaller, one larger. And the larger section, in turn, can be divided into two more parts. Etc.

After completing the formation of the sections, we can add some more operations. The section context menu, the functions of which are duplicated on the operation panel on the left of the window, allows you to assign the necessary letters to the formed sections and give them your own names (change labels).

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If you need to install for some of the partitions of the file system, not NTFS, but another, you can add formatting with a change of the file system to the operations already planned.

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Once everything is ready, you can start applying the scheduled operations. To do this, press the "Apply" button.

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Then we confirm the decision twice - in the list of pending operations and in the window warning about the need to perform operations in the pre-boot mode of the system.

We are waiting for the completion of the work of AOMEI Partition Assistant and after rebooting the system we check the results.

2. Resize the partition

Partition resizing is a way of creating non-system partitions in which the size of the C partition is reduced, while the freed space remains unallocated. From it, respectively, you can form sections. The advantage of this method is the task required parameters partitions as soon as they are created. In the AOMEI Partition Assistant window, click on partition C and click "Resize Partition".

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Move the slider of the graphic box to the left until the C section is reduced to the desired size. Next, click "Advanced" and set the option to align partitions. Click "Ok".

Returning to the main window of the program, click the unallocated space formed as a result of the previous operation and click "Create a section".

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A special form will appear, where for the future section we can immediately select a letter and file system. If not all disk space is allocated for the partition, we reduce it by moving the slider of the graphic block to the left. Next, click the "Advanced" button.

In the extended mode of this form on MBR disks, we can select the type of partition - primary or logical. Having decided on the settings, we check that the option to align partitions is active, and then click "OK".

We apply the planned operations and confirm them.

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Have a great day!

From time to time, users want to reallocate free space on their hard drive. This happens in cases where, for example, one place has already ended, while the other is still quite a lot. To perform the division of free space without any problems, it is recommended to look at the special software for editing. In principle, you can try to do all the work with the help of standard Windows tools, however, it is better to use exactly the software that was developed specifically for this purpose. Despite the fact that there are many different applications available for download, we will only describe a few of them that have gained immense popularity.

One of the best is undoubtedly a hard drive partitioning program called Partition Magic. The software boasts many positive qualities and advantages, among which are convenient and clear interface, as well as rich functionality. Its capabilities are very large, to carry out the movement of information, change, merge, delete, as well as the creation of new sections.

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

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

Finally, let's talk about the cool utility Acronis Disk Director - a full-fledged software package including a large number of important components - manager of sections move, copy, delete, merge. In addition, if installed, users will be able to restore partitions on the hard drive if you have been lost as a result of a system failure.