At any time when using the Windows 7 operating system, you may need to divide the hard drive on which it is installed into several volumes. The most common option is simple forgetfulness, when at the beginning of installing a new OS the user did not create anything on the computer except drive C.

We all know that keeping, figuratively speaking, all your eggs in one basket is very risky. Therefore, we try to follow the recommendation: there should be at least two partitions on the PC. One is for your operating system and necessary programs. The second is for optional add-ons and storage of personal data. Such separation very often helps to save information in the event of problems with the hard drive.

If it so happens that your computer has only one disk, which already contains a lot of important data, including Windows 7 itself, dividing it into several volumes becomes a difficult task. After all, we need not only to get separate disk space, but also to take care of the integrity and performance of the already installed software. This can be achieved using the built-in tools of Windows 7.

Step-by-step instruction

1. From the Start menu, select Computer and right-click on the icon. Select "Manage" from the drop-down list.

2. The Computer Management window will open. Here, find the “Storage Devices” item and select the “Disk Management” sub-item.

3. In this tab you can see all the disks of your computer. Please note that their numbering starts not from one, but from zero.

In addition to the HDD itself, this list also includes the disk drive (if it is not currently empty) and all storage media connected to the PC - flash drives, external hard drives. Therefore, if they bother you and confuse you in the upcoming work, it is better to disconnect all unnecessary things in advance.

4. We are interested in Disk 0, marked as “Main”. Before you start dividing it, go to “Computer” and check how much space is already occupied on it. Let's say the total volume of our disk is 300 GB, of which 50 GB are already occupied. Since you don't plan to stop using this volume in the future, you need to leave enough free space for data that will accumulate over time. Therefore, the optimal option would be either a division into two equal parts, or, in the case we are describing, 100 GB for drive C and 200 for the future drive D.

5. Let's proceed to the division itself. Having selected Disk 0 in the list, right-click on it and select “Shrink Volume”. The system will poll the selected volume to determine available space for compression, which may take some time.

6. A window will open in front of you with the “Size of compressed space” parameter available for change. By default, the maximum possible size is indicated here - that is, all the free space that is currently on your single disk. But we must also leave some margin for the future section C. To understand what it will be, look at the “Total size after compression” parameter. Now, by specifying the size of your future volume in megabytes, you can choose the optimal ratio between the two partitions.

7. Once you have made your selection, click the Compress button. Now Disk 0 will be smaller, and an area marked as “Unallocated” will appear next to it. This is the unoccupied volume we received. By right-clicking on it and selecting the “Create simple volume” option, you can easily create a new partition.

Dividing the hard drive into partitions in all Windows systems above Vista follows the same principle. Only the login procedure differs, but we will use the universal method.

Command line for partitioning disks

For our purpose, you can also use the console, for those who are used to working with the command line.

Disk partitioning during installation

Another convenient way is to create volumes during system installation.

We use third-party software

You can also use specialized utilities to create partitions. They differ from standard Windows tools in their expanded functionality and more stable operation. Also, such software is capable of splitting partitions without deleting data from them.

The first application that I would like to mention is Minitool Partition Wizard Free. As the name suggests, the application is completely free, but boasts quite powerful functionality.

All actions are intuitive. When the application loads, right-click on the section and select the required action. For example, to partition a disk, you need to select Split.

Then, by moving the slider or entering values ​​manually, indicate the required size and we confirm changes. When the process is complete, the disk can be used.

Another powerful free application is AOEMIPartitionAssistant. The interface and functionality are very similar to the above-mentioned application.

Launch the program and select the desired drive. Right-click on it and get the available actions.

Splitting a hard drive into logical parts is a very convenient function of operating systems. According to MicroSoft technical documentation, it is recommended to reinstall Windows once a year, and you can always save the information on a non-primary partition. There are three main ways to split a hard drive into parts:

1. When installing the system, set the appropriate partitions.
2. Shrink a volume on an already installed system.
3. Use third party software.

Step 1. When starting your computer, launch the BIOS and increase the boot priority of the drive.

On a note! You can start from the drive differently: wait until the hardware functionality test begins and, by opening the boot menu, mark your optical drive, internal or external, as the primary device.

Step 2. At the initial installation stage, the system prompts you to install specific drivers for system SCSI devices or RAID disk arrays. This page can be ignored.

Step 3. The next stage of installation is the license agreement (EULA). To go to the next page, press F8. If you refuse to accept the terms of the agreement (ESC), the installation is aborted.

On a note! The agreement changes in accordance with the release of new builds and service packs. Be careful when installing; using unlicensed software may result in litigation. For example, according to the civil code of the Russian Federation, the copyright holder has the right to demand compensation for damage from a citizen in the amount of 10,000 to 5,000,000 rubles; according to the criminal code - a fine from 200,000 to 500,000, or imprisonment from two to six years. For legal entities and officials, fines are established in accordance with the Code of Administrative Offences.

Step 5. Continue installing the operating system. After the installation is complete, you will have access to two logical volumes, instead of one.

Partitioning a hard drive by compressing it using a snap-in

Step 1. Open any folder. In the left frame of the window, find the “Computer” icon. By calling the context menu, go to the “Management” section.

Important! To work with disks, you must have administrator rights.

Step 2. Expand the "Storage Devices" list.

Step 3. Open Disk Management.

Step 4. Select the volume you want to shrink, right-click on it and check the “Shrink Volume...” option.

Step 5. Wait for the volume polling process to complete.

Step 6. Specify the amount of disk space allocated for the new partition. The process begins by clicking on the “Compress” button.

Step 7 Wait for the unallocated space to appear on your hard drive. And create a simple volume by calling the corresponding button.

Step 8 Specify the size of the new disk and proceed to the next page of the wizard.

Step 9: Assign a drive letter.

On a note! The letters "A" and "B" are reserved for floppy drives. A kind of atavism, but these characters are reserved.

Step 10 Format the volume with the desired file system.

Important! Take your time and uncheck the “Quick Format” box. The process is longer, but corrects errors in damaged sectors.

Step 11 Complete the wizard by using the “Finish” button.

Partitioning a hard drive by compression via command handler

Step 1. To enter the command processor, you need to expand “Start” and enter the “cmd” key in the “Search programs and files” line. The launch must be made as an administrator.

Step 2. There is a special “diskpart” section for managing hard drives. You can enter it by entering the command of the same name.

Step 3. To display a table of your computer’s disks, use the “list volume” command.

Step 4. To select a specific volume, use the “select volume x” key, where x is the volume number from the first column of the table.

Important! Please note that the disk is accessed not by name, but by number.

Step 5. The space available for compression is determined using the “shrink querymax” request.

Step 6. The “shrink desired=y” command, where y is the amount of disk space, separates a logical volume of the specified size.

Important! Remember that volume is measured using programmer categories and not the SI system. One gigabyte is not 1000 megabytes, but 1024, take this into account when dividing. When entering the command, do not forget about the syntax - the key "desired", the "=" sign and the size of the new volume are written together.

Partitioning a hard drive using third party software

One of the most popular software products is “EaseUS Partition Master”. This product has both a professional version (paid license) and a free one.

Step 1. Open the main program interface of the program.

Step 2. Select the volume to be compressed.

Step 3. In the left frame, use the “Resize/Move partition” button.

Step 4. Specify the size of the freed up disk space in the “Unallocated Space After” box, or by moving the right slider of the volume indicator. Confirm the start of the compression procedure by pressing the “OK” button

Important! Please note that the program provides an optimization option for solid-state drives (OptimizeforSSD). Differences in data storage between standard (HDD) and solid state (SSD) is thatSSDs do not require defragmentation, so the optionoptimizeforSSD will save you time.

Step 5. Wait for the process to complete.

Video - How to partition a hard drive

Video - How to partition or partition a Windows 10 hard drive

Conclusion

We have described four techniques for partitioning a hard drive. Of the methods described, only one requires additional software. The evaluation of each method is given in the summary table.

Partition a disk in Windows 7 it is possible using the built-in Disk Management utility; this is very convenient to do and there is no need to resort to third-party programs, so-called partition managers, for example Acronis. But to be honest, in particularly interesting cases that novice users like to find themselves in, as well as when installing several operating systems, you still can’t do without these programs. To show you everything clearly, I installed an additional hard drive in my system unit and on it I will show you how...

Partition a disk in Windows 7

What prompted me to write this article was a letter from our visitor, which I received in the mail.

• "Hello. I read your articles and set the Seven myself, can you imagine, but I was just worried and forgot split the disk into before installing on two partitions, one for the operating system, the other for my personal data, you have articles on your website, but I understood them for Windows XP, but what should I do?”

So we launch our program: Start->Computer->Management,

in this window you can see all the information about the hard drives connected to your computer. Using the capabilities of the Disk Management program, we can not only Partition a disk in Windows 7 into two or more partitions, but also increase the size of volumes, compress them and delete, attach, in general, such things can be done without the appropriate knowledge, so let’s be careful.
In the program window Disk management You can see that I have three hard drives.
Disk 0 is the first hard drive, the countdown does not start from one, but from zero, remember. Its volume is 232.88 GB.
Disk 1->second hard drive in the system, its capacity is 465.76 GB
Disk 2->third hard drive, with a capacity of 232.88 GB, you can notice its size is the same as the first one.

We will carry out all operations with disk number 2, that is, with the third, most recent one. The most important thing is that Disk 2 is not empty, there are files on it and not just that, but the Windows 7 operating system, I have two of them, nothing should happen to it during our actions and all the files will remain intact and it will load.

First, divide the disk into two parts, point the mouse at Disk 2 and right-click on the volume in the drop-down menu, select Shrink Volume,

Program response Space available for compression->222361 MB, or approximately 217 GB.
Next, we need to indicate how much we will compress -> Size of compressible space figure 222361 MB, or 217 GB,

If we agree now and click Compress, the size of the first volume with the operating system will turn out to be very small. The total size after compression is -> 16112 MB or 15 GB.

Therefore, for example, I will make two volumes approximately the same and indicate the size as 115361 MB or 112 GB, as you can see it changed immediately Overall size after compression to the number 123112 MB or 120 GB, that is, our disk (D:) after compression will be 120 GB in size, and the unallocated space for the new partition will be 112 GB.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Capabilities of the installed system

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Creating a volume during Windows installation

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

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

The breakdown is done at the stage when the program asks you to indicate the location where the OS will be installed. What to do next:

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

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

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

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

These are not the only, but only the most accessible ways to partition disks.

The native functions for working with disk space, which are available in all versions of Windows starting from Windows 7, are sufficient in almost all situations, so there is no longer any need to use third-party programs such as Acronis Disk Director or Paragon Partition Manager.