Often the standard tools offered by the system are not enough to work with the hard drive. And therefore we have to resort to more effective solutions that allow us to obtain detailed information about the HDD and its partitions. The solutions discussed in this article will allow you to familiarize yourself with the operations applied to the drive and its volumes.
Thanks to its tools, AOMEI Partition Assistant is one of the best programs of its kind. Wide functionality will allow you to effectively configure hard disk volumes. In addition, the program makes it possible to check a specific section for errors. One of the interesting features is the ability to transfer the OS with all installed software to another hard drive or SSD.
Writing an image file to a USB device is also supported. The interface is endowed with a pleasant graphical shell. Despite the large number of useful functions, the program is available for free use, which makes it even more popular. At the same time, it is possible to download the Russian version.
MiniTool Partition Wizard
This software has powerful functionality that allows you to merge, split, copy partitions, and a number of other functions. MiniTool Partition Wizard is completely free and available for non-commercial use only. The program provides the ability to change the disk label, and when creating a partition, the cluster size.
The surface test operation allows you to detect bad sectors on the HDD. The ability to convert is limited to only two formats: FAT and NTFS. All tools for working with disk volumes are placed in a very convenient way, so even an inexperienced user will not get confused.
EaseUS Partition Master
A program that opens up many possibilities when working with a hard drive. Among the main ones: disk cloning and importing the OS from HDD to SSD or vice versa. Partition Master allows you to copy an entire partition - this function is suitable if you need to create a backup copy of one partition to another.
The program has a convenient interface in which all operations are located in the left block - this allows you to quickly find the function you need. The peculiarity of EaseUS Partition Master is that it can be used to hide a specific volume by deleting a letter on it. Creating a bootable OS is another interesting and useful tool.
Eassos PartitionGuru
Convenience of working with Eassos PartitionGuru is achieved primarily due to its simple design. All tools are located on the top panel. A distinctive feature is the ability to build a virtual RAID array. To do this, the user just needs to connect drives to the PC, from which the program itself will construct a RAID.
The available sector editor allows you to search for the desired sectors, and hexadecimal values are displayed in the right block of the panel. Unfortunately, the software is supplied in an English trial version.
Macrorit Disk Partition Expert
A pleasant interface displays functionality, which is divided into sections. The program allows you to scan your PC for bad sectors, and you can configure the disk space to be scanned. Conversion of NTFS and FAT formats is available.
Macrorit Disk Partition Expert is free to use, but only in the English version. The software is suitable for people who need to quickly set up a hard drive, but for more efficient work it is recommended to use analogues.
WonderShare Disk Manager
A program for performing various operations with a hard drive, allowing high-quality data recovery. Compared to other similar software, Macrorit Disk Partition Expert allows you to deeply scan partitions for lost information.
You can trim and merge hard disk volumes without losing files stored on it. Other tools will allow you to hide the partition if necessary or convert the file system.
Acronis Disk Director
Acronis Disk Director is one of the most powerful programs with a set of functions and operations for managing hard disk partitions and more. Thanks to the capabilities of this software from Acronis, users can recover lost or deleted data. Among other things, it is possible to defragment the volume and also check it for file system errors.
Using mirror technology allows you to save a backup copy of a partition selected by the user. Acronis Disk Director offers the use of a disk editor, which makes it possible to find a lost cluster, taking into account the fact that the execution environment for this operation displays hexadecimal values. The program can be safely used to carry out the most efficient work with the HDD.
Partition Magic
A program that allows you to perform basic operations with a hard drive. The interface is largely reminiscent of the standard Windows Explorer application. At the same time, among the tools located in the graphical shell, it is easy to find what you need. The advantageous feature of Partition Magic is that it allows you to select multiple active partitions, each of which has its own separate OS.
You can also use file system conversion services, two of which are supported: NTFS and FAT. You can resize the volume and merge partitions without losing data.
Paragon Partition Manager
Paragon Partition Manager pleases users with an interesting set of functions and purposes for their use. One of them is connecting a virtual disk image. Among them, image files of VirtualBox, VMware and other virtual machines are supported.
A noteworthy feature is that it allows you to convert HFS+ file system formats to NTFS and vice versa. Other operations are basic for partitions: trimming and expanding. A large number of settings provided by the program will allow you to customize all the functionality to your liking.
The software solutions considered have unique potential, each in its own way. The powerful tools of the developed software make it possible to save disk space and prolong the life of the hard drive. And the function of checking the HDD for errors allows you to prevent critical errors in the operation of the drive.
For normal and stable operation of the operating system of any personal computer or laptop, it is necessary to correctly partition the space on the hard drive (partition the HDD). Often, when buying a computer in a store, you may encounter the fact that the entire hard drive space is allocated to only one system drive (usually the system drive “C”). This setting for HDD memory allocation is not entirely correct. In addition, this can negatively affect the operation of the computer, because important documents and system files may be at risk of disappearing (it is recommended to use a separate partition on the hard drive for such data).Therefore, in order to avoid any troubles associated with improper use of the computer’s HDD memory, it is customary to split it into several additional partitions (disks), one of which is usually allocated for the needs of the operating system. Nevertheless, it should be remembered that the process of partitioning a hard drive itself is a very responsible and scrupulous procedure. Before starting it, it is recommended to back up all important documents to a USB flash drive or other storage medium, and then proceed directly to changing the size of the disk space.
So, in order to partition a hard drive, you have to go through several step-by-step procedures. First of all, you should select the disk partition that needs to be divided into subpartitions. After this, you must specify the size of the new partition that you want to create, indicating the file system type. Having gone through all these points, you can start the HDD partitioning procedure itself. As a result of successful completion of this operation, the program will display a list of changes made. It is also worth noting that most modern programs for working with hard drives will help you not only partition the HDD, but also merge them, perform deep formatting and other complex procedures.
There is a method that allows you not to wander through folders, but use one command to call the Disk Management service.
“Command Line” is a powerful tool for calling absolutely all services on your computer, launching applications and executable files. Disk Management is no exception.
To do this you need:
Why doesn't Disk Management open?
A rare situation, but it still happens. This can happen in two cases:
- service disabled;
- the service has been deleted.
If for some reason your Disk Management service is disabled, the fix is quite simple:
The service can be deleted if your antivirus has deleted the dmserver.dll file. This happens if an emulator program interferes with the operation of this service. Then you will have to restore this file from your antivirus quarantine. It is possible that this file did not exist in the first place. Some pirated assemblies are problematic due to their unreliability in the operation of some Windows services. Reinstalling the system to a more reliable one can help here.
How to manage hard disk partitions
The Windows 7 system allows you to carry out some procedures with hard disk volumes: compress and expand space, rename, etc. This can help make using your computer more comfortable and even faster. After all, if you don’t need to search in one large section for a movie that is buried behind seven folders, you can save time.
How to properly create a hard drive partition
So, let's imagine that you have unallocated space on your hard drive that you would be happy to use for another partition. And there is no point in keeping unused space on the hard drive.
To create a new partition:
- Right-click the unallocated space on the disk where you want to create the partition and click the Create Simple Volume button. The Create Simple Volume Wizard will launch.
The “Create simple volume” command allows you to create a hard disk volume from unallocated space
- Click "Next".
Create Simple Volume Wizard - a service that performs operations to create a new volume
- Check the future size of the new volume and click Next.
Setting that selects the size of the new volume
- Check the drive letter that will be assigned to the new volume (it must be different from those already used on your computer), click the "Next" button.
Settings window that specifies the name and path to the volume
- Make sure the file system is set to NTFS and click Next.
A setting that specifies the file system setting in which the new volume will be formatted
- Click the "Done" button.
Confirming all settings and starting the creation of a new volume
- The volume will begin formatting and all settings will be applied once it is complete.
New created volume in Disk Management
Compressing space on a hard drive partition
The procedure for shrinking a partition allows you to unpin an area from it that is not currently in use. This space on the HDD becomes unallocated, that is, available for creating a partition and its further use as an independent local disk.
To compress space on the disk you need:
Video: the process of compressing a hard drive partition
How to merge and expand disks
The standard Windows 7 system for combining HDD partitions is not ideal, as it has a flaw - the joined partitions will completely lose the information stored on them. Therefore, take care in advance to save important information.
Video: how to expand a hard drive partition
Other disk functionality
You can also change the letter used to designate a particular partition of the hard drive. To do this, just select “Change drive letter or path” and specify a free letter of the Latin alphabet. You need to remember that if programs or games are installed on this disk, the actual path to them will change. This means that shortcuts and other systems for accessing these programs will no longer work correctly.
The Change Volume Letter command allows you to change the volume letter and path
In the "Disk Management" menu, you have access to the function: "Make disk active". It means that the computer will try to load the operating system from this particular partition. And if there is not one on it, it will try to load from each volume in alphabetical order until it finds the necessary download files.
It is very functional, has more than 10 disk operations, and is completely free. All changes you make are virtual until you commit them, which means you have room for “error” and viewing the result. Among the minuses, perhaps, is only that the program does not have a Russian interface.
Acronis Disk Director is the most popular disk management program. It has huge and powerful potential, the ability to work from a boot disk and many other advantages. He is a long-time leader in working with hard disk partitions. For home use it is distributed free of charge.
Interface of the Acronis Disk Director program for quickly resolving issues with hard drives
Our instructions will help you master and save information on your computer and will make working with hard drives more convenient and comfortable.
Partition Assistant is a program for managing disks and disk partitions in FAT and NTFS formats. Using this application, you can check the disk for errors, check the disk surface for bad sectors, change the disk size (increase or decrease), merge disk partitions, create, hide, format and delete disk partitions. Partition Assistant includes a wizard for copying an entire disk and a separate disk partition using space and by sector, as well as a wizard for restoring a disk/partition from a previously made copy. The advantage of Partition Assistant is that it is a free program for private (home) use, and as you know, tools for administering disk partitions cost a lot of money.
Disk management program
Using Partition Assistant, you can make a bootable USB drive, convert media from NTFS to FAT32 and vice versa, change the drive letter, delete information from the disk permanently, split the disk, expand the disk partition using unallocated space or using another partition, Moreover, you can expand or reduce the size of the system partition. The utility will help you transfer your current OS from a solid-state (SSD) to a regular HDD and vice versa. Partition Assistant will tell you in detail about all the properties of the disk - information about the file system, the number of physical sectors, the total size, the first and last sector used, and will show the name and mount point of the volume. With this program you can also restore the MBR partition of a disk.
Screenshots of the Partition Assistant program
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Hard drive partitioning is the process of dividing one drive into several logical drives. In this article we will look at popular programs for partitioning a hard drive.
The Windows 7 operating system is equipped with a built-in utility for partitioning disks. To launch it, follow the path: Start - Control Panel - System - Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Disk Management.
By launching the Disk Management utility, you will have access to all the necessary functions. For existing disks, you can perform: delete, format, change letter, compress and delete the disk. If you have a new, unpartitioned hard drive connected to your computer, you can partition the drive.
If the capabilities of the built-in disk partitioning utility are not enough for you, you can use third-party programs.
Wondershare Disk Manager Free
There are not many high-quality free disk partitioning programs. One such program is Wondershare Disk Manager Free. This program allows you to create, delete, copy, and convert partitions. The program has a very simple and intuitive interface. Thanks to this, even the absence of the Russian language will not complicate the process of working with the program, even for not very experienced users. To install this program, you will have to go through a free and extremely simple registration on the manufacturer’s website.
Paid programs for disk partitioning
One of the most popular and well-known programs of this kind is Partition Magic from Symantec. This program can run from a boot disk, which greatly simplifies the partitioning before installing the operating system. Partition Magic supports NTFS and FAT file systems. In addition to basic operations such as creating and formatting, Partition Magic allows you to convert file systems, resize partitions, and merge partitions.
Paragon Partition Manager
Paragon Partition Manager is a powerful program for hard disk partitioning, backup, and operating system management. Unlike the previous program, Paragon Partition Manager has a wider range of features and functions. Thus, this program is one of the few that allows you to work with disks for virtual machines (MS Virtual PC, VMware Workstation, VMware Fusion and Sun VirtualBox).
Acronis Disk Director
Acronis Disk Director is another advanced program for hard disk partitioning and disk management. Acronis Disk Director consists of three parts: the disk management module, the Acronis Recovery Expert module for recovering lost data, and the Acronis OS Selector module for managing multiple operating systems. Acronis Disk Director is equipped with all the necessary functions for disk management, and the program supports all modern file operating systems.
