Windows Disk Management. How to Open and Use

The need to partition a hard drive appears for various reasons. In addition to the fact that proper organization of information storage initially requires installing the operating system on a separate disk, the user may need to further systematize the data or install another OS in parallel.

You can cope with the task of disk partitioning using a Windows installation drive, which is usually done when installing a platform or system tools that allow you to manage disk space already on the system. But the integrated service, which is present in every version of Windows, is inferior in terms of functionality to specialized third-party products. In addition, when trying to partition a hard drive using a standard tool, there is a risk of failures leading to loss of partitions. In any case, before using a system tool or other tools to work with a hard drive, it is better to play it safe and create a backup copy of your data if it is important.

Merging, dividing partitions and redistributing space is a responsible matter, although it does not require professional skills from the user. Modern disk partition managers have a convenient and simple interface, allowing you to easily divide your drive into disks and effectively cope with other management tasks. Let's look at the best third-party utilities for HDD maintenance that work in Windows 7, 8, 10 and are current in 2020.

Acronis Disk Director

A multifunctional program for comprehensive work with a hard drive, including a whole set of hard drive maintenance tools and allowing you not only to edit partitions, but also to restore them if necessary. The software offers extensive capabilities, providing complete management of disk space without data loss, and also contains a built-in boot manager for installing several OSes on one computer. The application supports the Russian interface, does an excellent job of dividing the HDD into fragments and, in addition to Windows, can also work on Linux, and it is not necessary to install the program on your computer; you can use its portable version, launched from a flash drive or CD/DVD disk. There is a trial period of use.

Peculiarities:

secure reorganization of disk space;
resizing, copying, splitting, merging sections;
manual editing of records on the drive;
support for dynamic volumes;
backup function;
recovery of deleted partitions with any file system;
operating system detection;
a boot manager that allows you to install multiple operating systems on your PC;
availability of a portable version.

Wise Care 365

This disk maintenance program features high-quality drive defragmentation. The utility will not only put sectors and tracks in order, but will also do it as efficiently and quickly as possible. In addition, the application will deal with unnecessary files and data, removing them from the hard drive and system registry.

The program allows you to easily and quickly optimize the operating system for any needs. You need to quickly transfer files from one place to another - specify the necessary folders, and the program will “prepare” them for any operations. If you want to play “heavy” games, the application will configure the platform, disabling unnecessary (for this process) components, and process the hard drive space where game files are located to improve performance.

The developer offers users a paid and free distribution license. The first has advanced functionality and optimizes your system inside and out. The second one is limited in tools, but the most important trump card of the utility is defragmentation, it works as it should and in full.

Paragon Hard Disk Manager

An effective program for working with hard drive partitions, suitable for any version of Windows and providing memory allocation, organization, and HDD optimization. The software can be used to resize volumes, copy, rename, delete, create new disks, as well as defragment and search for damaged sectors. The manager's interface is simple and convenient, there is support for the Russian language, making the program suitable for users of different levels of training. The free version has a number of limitations, but with a subscription the possibilities expand significantly.

Peculiarities:

splitting, merging, moving, deleting partitions and redistributing memory;
backup;
restoration of information after deletion;
defragmentation and search for bad sectors;
support for all drive models and current file systems;
conversion from GPT to MBR and vice versa;
support for common virtual machines, connection, creation of virtual disks;
permanent deletion of data.

Creating new partitions on a flash drive

If you want to do the same on a flash drive, you need to use a special program - Lexar Bootlt. With it, you can redefine removable media as a regular hard drive:

Download and install this software.
Run the installed utility.
Connect your flash drive.
Now you need to select it in the “Devices” column.
Click on the “Flip Removable Bit” button.
Close Lexar Bootlt.

Now you can start partitioning a removable disk using third-party programs or standard Windows tools.

Note! All important data from the flash drive should be copied in advance, as it will be reformatted.

Partition Manager

Another simple and convenient program with powerful functionality for managing hard disk partitions from Paragon, which allows you to safely redistribute free space, split or merge disks. The free manager is equipped with all the basic options for working with HDDs, and the Professional version has expanded capabilities.

Peculiarities:

tools for creating and editing discs;
the ability to move, resize and delete volumes;
Multi-OS boot management;
changing the file system, MBR or GPT style;
recovery of deleted volumes;
backup;
working with virtual disks (in the extended version);
creation of recovery systems on CD/DVD and flash drives.

Partitioning when installing Windows

If you have a “clean” HDD with nothing installed on it, this is the easiest way. Just start installing the Windows operating system. At the disk selection stage, you can perform partitioning. To do this, delete the existing partition, and then create two (or more) new ones from the unallocated space.

MiniTool Partition Wizard

A free program for working with HDDs, the capabilities of which include monitoring the status of the HDD and managing partitions. Using the utility, you can both divide the hard drive into parts and perform a number of other tasks, such as creating volumes, deleting, formatting, resizing, hiding a partition, and other actions. The tool has a convenient Russian interface and is incredibly easy to use, so it is suitable for not very advanced users.

Peculiarities:

testing the operation and condition of the HDD;
hard disk partitioning, merging partitions, memory redistribution, volume cloning;
formatting by changing the file system from FAT to NTFS and vice versa;
resizing disks without reinstalling the OS;
moving the operating system;
recovery of deleted data;
MBR boot area recovery;
backup;
converting disks from MBR to GPT;
support for all types of HDD recognized by Windows.

GParted

Here is another unusual disk partitioning package, which is a portable application that does not require installation.

Alas, it can only be used when creating bootable media like LiveCD and starting from them. But the program allows you to perform all basic and related operations without having to start Windows. Despite this, the average user may need time to fully master it.

EaseUS Partition Master

Good free software for maintaining hard drives and other drives (there is also an extended Professional version), which includes three modules - partition manager, copy wizard and recovery wizard, which provide full interaction in all areas. The program copes well with the tasks of creating, dividing and merging partitions, as well as performing other operations without losing data, in addition, it offers the ability to retrieve lost or deleted information. The Professional version offers more advanced functionality, but for basic tasks the free version of EaseUS Partition Master will be sufficient.

Peculiarities:

a wide range of disk management tools;
resizing volumes, including the system disk, without reinstalling the OS;
copying partitions to another drive, cloning HDD;
OS migration to new media;
checking for bad sectors;
recovery of accidentally or intentionally deleted data;
allows you to hide and show sections;
support for any file systems;
work with Windows 10 and earlier versions, as well as Linux.

Programs for working with hard disk partitions

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.

AOMEI Partition Assistant

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.

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Aomei Partition Assistant

An excellent multifunctional program that can also be used to partition a hard drive. The software allows you to perform various manipulations with the HDD without losing data and is a convenient tool for full-fledged disk management, optimization and distribution of used memory on a computer. The program supports a Russian interface and is offered in free and paid versions (with a trial period of use).

Peculiarities:

a basic set of tools that allows you to divide a hard drive into partitions, as well as existing partitions into parts, merge, recreate, copy, clone, delete and format, as well as change labels of logical volumes;
HDD cloning, moving the operating system to another SSD/HDD drive;
virtualization of physical partitions;
checking for errors and bad sectors;
Partition recovery, MBR recording;
creating boot drives;
conversion between FAT and NTFS.

Disk partitioning in Windows

At work, various situations may arise, for example, you want to split an area of your HDD that is too large into several parts in order to store important files/programs/games separately. Or a situation arises, like mine, when you need to increase the size of a disk that does not have enough space - the procedure also begins with this step.

Go to the Disk Management Tool, select the area for partitioning the Windows disk and in the context menu click on the “Shrink a Volume” item:

After this you will have to wait a bit (especially in large HDDs). After a couple of minutes, a pop-up window will open where you need to enter the desired amount in MB by which you would like to reduce the current partition.

There is:

current disk volume;
valid parameter value for splitting;
field where you enter your value;
the final size of the original partition after the procedure is completed.

It is quite logical that you cannot partition your hard drive into partitions in Windows that would exceed the total amount of free space available. Likewise, it is not allowed to perform the process for areas containing system files that cannot be deleted (swap, backup).

So, after setting all the values in the pop-up window, click “Shrink”. After some time, you will see the resulting free space (Unallocated Space) in the Disk Management Tool. The partitioning phase is complete.

GParted Live

A powerful software tool for working with drives that will help with partitioning a hard drive, creating, deleting and managing logical partitions. The utility allows you to work with any type of drive and will be an excellent assistant in creating space for new operating systems, reorganizing disk use, copying and other actions. The software allows you to work with disk partitions without an operating system, which is very useful if there is no operating system or it is damaged. The utility operates in Live CD mode from any media and is distributed free of charge, while being stable and reliable.

Peculiarities:

creating and editing sections;
interaction with any drive;
support for all common file systems;
work with any OS;
built-in security system that allows you to roll back actions that could cause instability or system crash;
Work in Live CD mode from any media.

If you plan to use only basic options, there is no need to pay for the product and its advanced capabilities, you can use the free version of the program, the functionality of which is sufficient to solve basic problems. For professional purposes, it would be advisable to use paid software tools, without any limitations on capabilities.

How to open the application?

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The program can be found in the Start menu in the appropriate section or called using the Run component (the easiest way). The tool requires very few resources to operate, which makes its use most preferable.

Disk selection

It is worth noting that the application quickly copes with any type of work. Regardless of the degree of complexity of the task. That is why users increasingly prefer to use this particular disk manager.

It is also worth noting that the tool works great with external hard drives and USB drives. And this is a definite plus. Now it’s worth taking a closer look at the main features of the application.

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Third party offerings

If the basic Windows tools don't suit you for some reason, you can easily use other programs. There are a large number of applications for these purposes: both paid and freely available.

One of the most popular utilities is Acronis Disk Director. This is a powerful paid application with a huge number of useful features. Among the free programs, Aomei Partition Assistant is recommended.

Logging into disk management through “This PC” (method 7)

If you have a This PC icon on your computer's desktop (Computer, My Computer), you can access Disk Management through the Computer Management console.