Split into logical drives in Windows 10. The best programs for partitioning (partitioning) a hard drive

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.

To work with hard disk partitions (dividing into partitions or combining them into one), the Windows 10 operating system has a built-in utility “ Disk management" Its use, in my opinion, is preferable to installing any third-party tools. You can read how to split a hard drive using Ten’s own means or, conversely, combine its partitions in separate articles on this site: divide And combine. But sometimes situations arise when it is quite difficult to do without third-party tools.

This article was written in response to questions from site readers who had problems dividing a hard drive or merging its volumes. The Disk Management utility built into Windows 10, despite all its advantages, has its drawbacks: sometimes it does not allow you to create a partition of the required size, sometimes it does not allow you to split your hard drive at all, sometimes it is not possible to combine the necessary volumes into one. In these problematic situations (and only in them!) I recommend using a third-party one, even if free program for managing hard disk partitions in the "top ten". It is worth remembering that using any third-party tool to manage the operating system can be potentially dangerous. I am not inclined to dramatize the situation, but I believe that I am obliged to warn about it, even if the probability of possible problems is one chance in ten thousand. Therefore, whenever possible, it is better to still use the Disk Management utility built into Windows 10, developed by Microsoft.

When I was preparing this article, I spent several hours of time to find a truly completely free, reliable and reputable program for dividing a hard drive into partitions(or their combinations). There are a lot of outright lies and dubious programs of unknown origin in this area. A separate point in my search was the question that the software found should not only free, but also had a Russian-language interface and it also turned out completely compatible with Windows 10. The last question is far from idle - the fact is that on the Internet you can find information about how some disk partitioning programs created for Windows 7 or 8 ruined the hard drives of Windows 10 users.

So, as a result of a long and thorough search, I finally found and tried the program myself AOMEI Partition Assistant. In general, its full version, the Professional Edition, costs from $59 and much more. But don’t let this scare you, because the functionality of its free Standard Edition branch is quite enough to:

• Divide the hard drive into partitions
• Merge hard drive volumes into one partition

In general, the presence of a paid version speaks only in favor of this software. After all, this indicates the seriousness of the intentions of its authors. Those who create programs for money probably make decent solutions for free, albeit with somewhat limited functionality (especially since it’s quite enough for us). Another proof of the authority of AOMEI Partition Assistant, in my opinion, is the presence of an article about it in Wikipedia. By the way, if you doubt the reliability and safety of a particular program, always check through a search engine whether Wikipedia writes about it. This, of course, is not a 100% guarantee, but still, since this electronic encyclopedia strives for maximum objectivity, in articles about software there you can find information about the possible “pitfalls” of a particular program. It is there, on Wikipedia, that it is better to take a link to the official website of the program. The fact is that the first places in search engines are often not the official websites of certain programs.

On the official site AOMEI Tech I found it right away section dedicated to the Partition Assistant program. Let's go down a little on this page to the second screen. There, to download the free version of the program we need to manage the hard drive, we find the item Partition Assistant Standard Edition and (of course) click “Download”. Don’t be alarmed that the site is in English; the program itself has an official Russian localization. Please note that there are several options for downloading this program for different needs on the page - for free home use, choose the version Standard Edition.

The installation process of the program is not at all complicated. First, you are asked to select a language, then traditionally accept the usage agreement, and, if necessary, select the folder where the program will be stored - that’s basically all. After installation, the program will automatically launch if you leave the “Run this program” checkbox at the last stage.

I will not consider all options for using AOMEI Partition Assistant to manage a hard drive. I will only examine in detail the question of how this can free program to split your hard drive into several partitions in Windows 10. Everything else (including merging volumes) is done by analogy.

Dividing a hard drive into partitions using the free AOMEI Partition Assistant program in Windows 10

When the program starts, all the physical hard drives installed on your computer or laptop, as well as the partitions that exist on them, will be displayed at the bottom. In order to divide a disk into several volumes, you first need to “pinch off” a piece of space from an existing partition. To do this, stand on the donor volume and, right-clicking on it, select “ Resize partition».

A new window will appear in which you need to specify what size you want to leave the existing volume. All remaining space will be freed up for the new partition. I left the C drive with 150 GB. Click OK.

Now we see that we have free space labeled " Unoccupied" We need to create a new partition (volume) on it. To do this, right-click on it again and select the item “ Creating a section».

The pop-up window appears again. We leave everything in it as default and click OK.

After this, a new section will appear on the program screen. It would seem that you can rejoice. But it was not there. Turns out, no changes have been made to the hard drive itself yet! For the operation to be completed, you must press the button at the top “ Apply».

Typically, you will need to restart your computer to complete the operation. This is exactly what the new window in the AOMEI Partition Assistant program tells us. Click “Go” on it. It is better to leave the checkbox next to the “Check partitions before execution” item. This will allow the program to check partitions for errors before dividing.

After this, a new window will appear again warning you to restart your computer. We agree and click “Yes”.

After the reboot, the actual physical division of the hard drive into two partitions begins. It occurs before the Windows 10 operating system boots in PreOS mode.

Personally, this process took me only a couple of minutes. Most likely, the fact is that on the shared hard drive I had nothing except the clean installed Windows 10 and several programs. Therefore, it did not take much time to move files. If the computer is weak and there is a lot of information on the disk, then the division process may take much longer. My computer rebooted twice and then started up normally. After this, a new section appeared in Explorer, and the existing one became smaller.

Let me remind you that, by analogy with this instruction in Windows 10, using the free AOMEI Partition Assistant program, you can combine hard drive partitions.

I foresee a question from some meticulous readers of my site about why I reviewed only one free program for managing hard drive partitions on the “ten”. Will explain. The fact is that the rest of the programs I studied did not suit me for various reasons: some of them did not have the Russian language (and for many this is important), others had too much functionality in the free version, others raised doubts about the plan security for the operating system and compatibility with Windows 10. In addition, I absolutely see no point in looking for something else to solve fairly rare problems. I believe that the software reviewed copes with the assigned tasks with a bang and has undoubted advantages over all other free programs that I have studied. So why then bother yourself and others with unnecessary information?)

In Windows 10, as in its predecessors, it is possible to partition the hard drive into parts of a certain size, that is, into partitions. For example, C and D, so that everyone understands.

In this article we will talk about how to make additional bays on the Hard Disk Driver in the Windows 10 operating system. We hope that everything works out for you!

What is all this for?

Before we start working on dividing the hard drive into volumes, let's figure out why this might even be needed?

Firstly, this is an excellent opportunity to separate all system files and user documents.

Doing this is quite useful, because, firstly, it will be more convenient to work, and secondly, when cleaning you are guaranteed not to delete any system files that support the stable operation of the computer.

Secondly, this can be done if you need to reinstall the operating system while saving some files.

Let's say you need to put a new ten, but you don't want to lose any photos, audio recordings or anything else. You can, of course, use physical media in the form of a flash drive or hard drive, but it will be easier, faster and more efficient to split the HDD into volumes.

Hello admin! For the second time in my life I’m buying a laptop and I can’t figure out the hidden partitions on its hard drive! I bought my first laptop a long time ago,with Windows 7 preinstalled in 2009 and there were two hidden partitions, yesterday I bought a laptop with Windows 8.1, and there are already three hidden partitions on it, and after upgrading to Windows 10 there were already four, and one IT specialist friend said that there is also a fifth partition, but you can see it only using the command line or a special program! Explain to a layman why they are needed, because in total they take up 20 GB of disk space on my laptop.

What do hidden sections of a Windows 10 laptop contain?

Hello friends! On all modern laptops with Windows 7, 8.1, 10 operating systems installed, you will see hidden partitions on the hard drive. Why are they needed, how to view their contents and what will happen if you delete them, I will talk about all this in today’s article.

Hidden partitions on laptops appeared along with the Windows 7 operating system. On Windows XP there were no hidden partitions; along with the laptops there was an installation disk with the operating system; if the XP device behaved unstable, it could easily be reinstalled using the distribution kit.

Windows Vista

With the advent (in 2007) operating system Windows Vista the rules have changed; when purchasing a laptop, no installation disk was included, but it was possible to create recovery DVDs on the laptop and, if necessary, restore Vista using them. Many laptop models already came with ready-made recovery discs.

Windows 7

In 2009, on laptops with Windows 7 pre-installed, I first saw two hidden partitions, the first 9 GB Good (recovery partition) and the second System Reserved 100 MB.

Note: on laptops from many manufacturers, on the contrary, the first section was System Reserved 100 MB, and the most recent (third or fourth) recovery partition is 9-15 GB.

Naturally, I immediately wanted to know what was inside these sections! E if you assign a letter first hidden section -System Reserved System reserved 100 MB, then it turns out that the section containsin itself boot storage configuration files (BCD) Boot folder And system boot manager (bootmgr file)- these files are responsible for loading the operating system.

The second partition (9 GB) contained a compressed Windows 7 image file divided into several parts and a Recovery rollback program, with which you could return the laptop to its factory state even if it did not boot.

Windows 8, 8.1, 10

On October 26, 2012, laptops appeared with Windows 8 installed, and a year later Windows 8.1 and they already had a UEFI BIOS with the Secure Boot protocol, and contained four hidden partitions, including the third hidden service partition MSR, which is not displayed in Disk Management(size 128 MB), you can see it using the command line

or any hard disk partition manager, for example .

When updating Windows 8.1 before Windows 10 has another (fifth) hidden partition

You can see all existing partitions of your laptop’s hard drive not only using AOMEI Partition, but also using the command line. Launch the command line as administrator, enter the commands:

diskpart

lis dis

seldis 0

lis par

So, what do the hidden sections of a new laptop that has been updated from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 contain?

How to enter a hidden section and see what’s there?

Friends, if you enter Disk Management on your laptop and right-click on the hidden partition, only “Help” will open, that is, assign hidden section letter and you won’t be able to enter it.

There is another way to do this. Eg, let's take a look at the hidden partition (463 MB) that was created when updating from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10.

Launch the command line as administrator, enter the commands:

diskpart

lis vol

sel vol 1 (1 hidden section number created when updating from Win 8.1 to Win 10 ), you may have a different number.

assign

The drive name or mount point assignment was successful.

exit

exit

Windows 10 assigned the letter (E:) to our hidden partition and it is visible in Explorer, go into it.

The hidden partition contains the Recovery folder.

In the Recovery folder there is a folder WindowsRE and is already in ita custom image with Windows 10 Recovery Environment tools (Winre.wim).

So we have guessed the secret of this hidden partition created when upgrading Windows 8.1 to Windows 10; it contains all the emergency system recovery tools. If this hidden section is deleted, then we will not be able to restore Windows 10 in the recovery environment.

Let me remind you how the recovery environment works.

We reboot Windows 10 while pressing the key Shift.

And we enter the Windows 10 recovery environment,

Diagnostics -> Extra options. We see all the available operating system recovery environment tools.

Now format or completely delete the hidden partition.

We enter the recovery environment and see that not a single tool is available to us.

Also, we will not be able to create a USB flash drive or Windows 10 recovery disk, an error will appear“We are unable to create a recovery disk on this computer. Some required files are missing. To troubleshoot problems when your computer won't boot, use Windows installation media." That is, when restoring Windows 10, we will have to boot from the operating system distribution, since it also contains recovery environment files.

At the end of the article, let's see what is contained on other hidden partitions of a Windows 10 laptop:

1. The first hidden partition is 400 MB in size contains Windows 8.1 recovery environment files, located in the Windows RE folder a custom image with Windows 8.1 Recovery Environment tools (Winre.wim). N oh since we upgraded to Windows 10 and are not going to roll back to Windows 8.1 , then we no longer need this section and we can delete it.

2. Second hidden partition of 300 MB in size OK (Encrypted (EFI) system partition) FAT32 contains boot storage configuration files (BCD) - EFI\Microsoft\Boot folder. This section must not be touched under any circumstances, otherwise you will not boot into Win 10.

3. The third hidden and not displayed in Disk Management service partition MSR, required for GPT markup in UEFI systems, NTFS file system, size 128 MB.

4. We have already disassembled the fourth hidden partition of 400 MB; on it, like on the first hidden partition 400 MB, there are recovery environment files, but not Windows 8.1, but Windows 10.

5. On the fifth partition, in the Recovery folder, there is a factory image of install.wim with Windows 8.1. Using this section, you can return your factory settings at any time, that is, Windows 8.1.

Total: Of all the hidden partitions of a laptop that has been updated from Windows 8.1 to Win 10, only the first 400 MB partition can be deleted without consequences (but what will that give you). The rest, whatever one may say, are still needed.

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.