How to find a partition using minitool partition wizard. What to do with excess space on the system disk. Free AOMEI Partition Assistant

One of the operations that optimizes computer performance is aligning hard disk partitions. This operation is designed to increase HDD performance, reduce SSD wear, and reduce the risk of file system errors on any type of media. Details about what causes unaligned partitions and how alignment solves this problem have already been described in other articles on the site, where we carried out this operation using programs:

I wouldn’t like to repeat the theory once again; if you’re interested, take a look at any of these articles using the links. In this publication I would like to touch upon the topic of carrying out this operation from a slightly different angle - how to carry it out free of charge. The fact is that the Paragon Alignment Tool program, which aligns disk partitions, is a paid product. For a certain time, this operation could be performed in the free standard edition of AOMEI Partition Assistant, but now the alignment function has been moved to the paid Pro edition of the program. One of the site’s readers told us how to align disk partitions for free. With his easy approach, friends, I am sharing this secret with you.

About MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition Wizard is another disk space management manager for Windows devices, offering basic functionality in the basic Free edition and more advanced features in the paid Professional, Server and Enterprise editions. You can do quite a lot of things for free in the Free edition of the program:

Create sections, delete them, resize, copy, hide, align;

Copy entire discs;

Format partitions into NTFS, FAT32, exFAT file systems, also supported by Linux Ext2, Ext3, Ext4;

Carry out a disk surface test;

Recover MBR bootloader, etc.

The advantages of this program are that it is free and has a modern usable interface; the disadvantage is the lack of support for Russian.

You can download MiniTool Partition Wizard Free from the link:

https://www.partitionwizard.com/download.html

Alignment operation.

So, friends, download the program, install it and launch it.

In the MiniTool Partition Wizard window we will see the interface organization familiar to disk space managers: a menu bar at the top, a menu bar on the left, and in the center a visual and tabular representation of the disk structure. How do you know which partitions are unaligned?

Click on each hard drive in turn and click the “Align All Partitions” option.

If the disk does not have unaligned partitions, we will see a software notification like this.

It tells us that the disk does not need to align the partitions, they are all already aligned. And if there are unaligned sections, we will see a different notification. It will indicate how many of them need leveling. Click “Ok”.

Now we look down the left side panel: when we expand the tree of sub-items of the planned operation, we will see a list of sections that are defined by the program as unaligned. Then we can do things differently. We can click the “Apply” button at the top and begin applying the alignment operation to all identified sections.

Very often the task of transferring applications between devices arises. To do this, you can use a personal SD card and special utilities. But first you need to prepare the card by creating a special section on it for the files that will be transferred.

Preparing the map

You need to download and install any program that allows you to create partitions on disks. In our example, MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition will be used. You can download it on the developer's website.

Connect your card reader to your computer or laptop and place the desired SD card in it. Keep in mind that if there is already data on it, you need to make a backup copy of it. They will be deleted during the partition creation process.

Launch the program, and select our card from the list of active storage devices. There will probably be only one partition on it - we need to delete it. Right-click on it and select “Delete” (delete) in the context menu:

After this, all available space on the map will be unmarked. Call the context menu again and click the “Create” button:

If everything is correct, the Partition Setup Wizard will launch.

Creating partitions

We need to create two partitions:

FAT32 partition - for user files

EXT2 section - files for transfer will be stored here

To create the first partition, in paragraph Create as select Primary. Then in the drop down menu file system select FAT32. If your card's memory capacity is less than 2 GB, you should select FAT.

Items Partition label And Drive Letter filled in as desired - they are responsible for naming the disk and partition.

All that remains is to select the amount of memory for the main partition. You can do this using the slider in the area Size and Location by moving it to the desired position, or by typing the required value from the keyboard. To complete the operation, wait for OK and go back to the main program window.

To create a second section, click on the unallocated area and select Create again. Next, we repeat everything by analogy, only in the File System item we select Ext2:

When purchasing a computer or installing Windows or another OS, many users want to split the hard drive into two or, more precisely, into several partitions (for example, drive C into two drives). This procedure makes it possible to store system files and personal data separately, i.e. allows you to save your files in case of a sudden system crash and improve the performance of the OS by reducing fragmentation of the system partition.

Update 2016: new ways to split a disk (hard or SSD) into two or more have been added, a video has also been added on how to split a disk in Windows without programs and in the AOMEI Partition Assistant program. Corrections have been made to the manual.

There are several ways to partition a hard drive (see below). The instructions discuss and describe all these methods, indicating their advantages and disadvantages.

In Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and 7 - without using additional programs, using standard tools.
During OS installation (including how to do this when installing XP).
Using free programs Minitool Partition Wizard, AOMEI Partition Assistant, and Acronis Disk Director.

How to partition a disk in Windows 10, 8.1 and Windows 7 without programs

You can partition a hard drive or SSD in all the latest versions of Windows on an already installed system. The only condition is that there be no less free disk space than you want to allocate for the second logical drive.

To do this, follow these steps (in this example, the system drive C will be partitioned):

After these steps, your disk will be divided into two, and the newly created one will receive its own letter and will be formatted into the selected file system. You can close Windows Disk Management.

Note: You may later want to increase the size of your system partition. However, it will not be possible to do this in the same way due to some limitations of the considered system utility.

How to partition a disk using the command line

You can split a hard drive or SSD into several partitions not only in Disk Management, but also using the command line in Windows 10, 8 and Windows 7.

Be careful: the example shown below will work without problems only in cases where you have a single system partition (and possibly a couple of hidden ones) that needs to be divided into two partitions - for the system and data. In some other situations (MBR disk and already have 4 partitions, when shrinking the disk, there is another disk "after" it) this may work unexpectedly if you are a novice user.

The following steps show how to split the C drive into two parts at the command prompt.

Done, now you can close the command line: in Windows Explorer you will see the newly created disk, or rather, the disk partition with the letter you specified.

How to partition a disk in Minitool Partition Wizard Free

Minitool Partition Wizard Free is an excellent free program that allows you to manage partitions on disks, including dividing one partition into two or more. One of the advantages of the program is that a bootable ISO image with it is available on the official website, which can be used to create a bootable flash drive (the developers recommend doing this using Rufus) or to burn a disc.

This makes it easy to perform disk partitioning in cases where this cannot be done on a running system.

After loading into Partition Wizard, you just need to right-click on the disk you want to split and select “Split”.

The next steps are simple: adjust the partition sizes, click OK, and then click the “Apply” button at the top left to apply your changes.

You can download the Minitool Partition Wizard Free bootable ISO image for free from the official website https://www.partitionwizard.com/partition-wizard-bootable-cd.html

Video instruction

I also recorded a video on how to partition a disk in Windows. It shows the process of creating partitions using standard system tools, as described above, and using a simple, free and convenient program for these tasks.

How to partition a disk during installation of Windows 10, 8 and Windows 7

The advantages of this method include its simplicity and convenience. Partitioning will also take relatively little time, and the process itself is very clear. The main disadvantage is that the method can only be applied when installing or reinstalling the operating system, which in itself is not very convenient; in addition, there is no possibility of editing partitions and their sizes without formatting the HDD (for example, in the case when the space of the system partition has run out and the user wants add some space from another hard drive partition).

If these shortcomings are not critical, consider the process of disk partitioning during OS installation. These instructions are fully applicable when installing Windows 10, 8 and Windows 7.

Attention! When you delete disk partitions, all data located on them will be deleted.

Partitioning a hard drive when installing Windows XP

During the development of Windows XP, no intuitive graphical interface was created. But although control occurs through the console, partitioning the hard drive when installing Windows XP is as easy as when installing any other operating system.

Step 1. Delete existing partitions.

You can repartition the disk while defining the system partition. You need to split the section into two. Unfortunately, Windows XP does not allow this operation without formatting the hard drive. Therefore, the sequence of actions is as follows:

Step 2. Create new partitions.

Now you need to create the necessary hard disk partitions from the unallocated area. This is done quite simply:

Step 3. Determine the file system format.

After the partitions are created, select the partition that should be system and press Enter. You will be prompted to select a file system format. FAT format is more outdated. With it you will not have problems with compatibility, for example, Windows 9.x, however, due to the fact that systems older than XP are rare today, this advantage does not play a special role. If you also consider that NTFS is faster and more reliable and allows you to work with files of any size (FAT - up to 4GB), the choice is obvious. Select the desired format and press Enter.

Then the installation will proceed in standard mode - after formatting the partition, the installation of the system will begin on it. You will only be required to enter user parameters at the end of the installation (computer name, date and time, time zone, etc.). As a rule, this is done in a convenient graphical mode, so it is not difficult.

Free AOMEI Partition Assistant

AOMEI Partition Assistant is one of the best free programs for changing the structure of partitions on a disk, transferring a system from HDD to SSD, and, among other things, you can use it to split a disk into two or more. At the same time, the program interface is in Russian, unlike another good similar product - MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Note: despite the fact that the program claims to support Windows 10, on my system it did not partition for some reason, but no failures occurred (I think it should be fixed by July 29, 2015). Works without problems in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.

After launching AOMEI Partition Assistant, in the main program window you will see the connected hard drives and SSDs, as well as the partitions on them.

To partition a disk, right-click on it (in my case on C), and select the “Partition Partition” menu item.

At the next step, you will need to specify the size of the partition to be created - this can be done by entering a number, or by moving the separator between the two disks.

After you click OK, the program will display that the disk has already been partitioned. In fact, this is not the case yet - to apply all the changes made, you must click the “Apply” button. You may then be warned that your computer will restart to complete the operation.

And after the reboot, you will be able to observe the result of disk separation in your Explorer.

Other programs for creating partitions on your hard drive

There is a huge amount of different software for partitioning a hard drive. These are both commercial products, for example, from Acronis or Paragon, and distributed under a free license - Partition Magic, MiniTool Partition Wizard. Let's look at dividing a hard drive using one of them - the Acronis Disk Director program.

How to partition a hard drive in MacOS X using standard means

You can partition your hard drive without reinstalling the operating system or installing additional software on your computer. In Windows Vista and higher, the disk utility is built into the system, and this is also the case in Linux systems and MacOS.

To partition a disk on Mac OS, do the following:

After this, after a short (for SSD anyway) partition creation process, it will be created and available in the Finder.

I hope the information is useful, and if something doesn't work as expected or you have questions, please leave a comment.

Sooner or later, every computer user is faced with such a need as changing the size, volume of local disks or creating new partitions on his computer. I had such a need as a result of switching from the XP operating system to Windows 7. The fact is that Windows 7, when installed, takes up more disk space than XP. Moreover, after installing all the programs I needed, the amount of memory occupied on the C:\\ drive became even larger. And so I needed to increase the memory of the C:\\ disk (partition) from 30 GB to 50 GB at the expense of other partitions. (for example, partition E:\\) And now the problem arose of finding a program with which to perform this operation. The fact is that for the XP operating system there are many programs that do an excellent job of this task, but for Windows 7 there are not many such programs and mostly they are all paid. But as they say, “he who seeks finds.” I searched and I found such a program.

It's called MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition. That’s exactly what we’ll talk about in this article...
Go…

Installation, overview of functionality (according to the developers) and work with MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition. Installing MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition.

The installation is extremely simple, so I won’t dwell on it. And you can download this miracle of programmer thought and generosity (don’t forget - the program is free, unlike others like it) on the official website of the program developer. And from our website you can.

Functionality of the MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition program.

Supports both 32 and 64-bit operating systems of the Windows family, that is, Windows XP, Windows 7 and Vista (you can read about what 32/64-bit operating systems are). Home users will be able to easily perform complex operations with system partitions. Functions include: changing the size (volume) of partitions, copying system partitions, creating new partitions in the system, deleting or formatting a partition, converting partitions, hiding a partition, changing the drive letter (partition), setting the active partition, recovery partition, etc. . The program also supports working with disks and partitions with a memory capacity of more than 2 TB. (terabyte). I think this is more than for a free program.

Working with MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition.

As for working with this program. I will only describe the procedure that I already described above, namely, increasing the memory capacity of the C:\\ drive. Why not all the features of the program? Because the program has a lot of functions and it is impossible to put it all in one article with a detailed description. And I don’t want to simply pour “water” without doing this work myself.
And so... First, let's launch the program itself (I hope you have already downloaded and installed it). An interface will open where everything is in Russian.

I think even the least advanced user will be able to figure it out and do everything himself, without anyone’s help. But still... I will describe how I personally did all this...
First, to increase the size of the C:\\ partition from 30 GB to 50 GB, we need 20 GB of extra memory, which we don’t have. To get it, you need to reduce the size of another partition, say partition E:\\, by 20 GB. To do this, we launch the program. By launching it, we will see all the disks and partitions that are on your system. I have three partitions in my system: C, E, and D. Select drive E by simply clicking on it once. Next, at the top of the program there is a button “Size”, click on it. You can also right-click and select “Size” from the context menu. A window like this will open.

Here, in order to reduce the size of the partition, drag the right end of the slider to the left and at the bottom in the “Free up space after” field, monitor the volume. When there is approximately 20,000 MB there, it will mean that we have freed up 20 GB from the E:\\ partition.

In it, we drag the left slider to the left, thereby filling it with those megabytes that we took from drive E. And, so that the program has already completed all these operations, click, in the upper left corner, the first “Apply” button in the form of a checkmark. During the process, the program may ask you to restart the computer and will already perform operations to resize partitions in Bios e. After the reboot, you will already be able to work with the computer. You can also create new sections in the same way. First, we free up the required amount of memory from any partition, then on the unallocated, freed part, press the left mouse button and click on the “Create” item. In the next window, indicate the letter of the future partition, and leave the rest as default. And click OK, and then “Apply”. That's all. After the reboot, you will be able to work with the new sections you created.
That's probably all there is to it. I think now you can easily change the size of partitions in your system at your discretion, as it is convenient for you.

Note: This program will be very convenient when purchasing a Laptop, since their hard drives are often not partitioned.

Attention: When working with a Laptop, you must consider the following nuances:

Before work, be sure to fully charge the laptop, or even better, leave it connected to the power supply, otherwise data loss may occur if you turn it off while the program is running.
Laptops have so-called “secret” partitions designed for system recovery. You need to work with them more carefully or not touch them at all.
Among other things, I warn you that if your disk on a laptop, or even on a desktop computer, is full to capacity, then I think in any case it will not be possible without data loss. Therefore, before doing this, save the data that is important to you on some removable media.
If, after resizing the disk, the system requires you to format the disk, then simply restart the computer and the disk will work as it should.

Update (09/08/2013):
A new version of the Minitool Partition Wizard Home Edition_8 program has appeared. You can also download its English version from the official website of the developer. I gave a link to the official website at the beginning of the article. To download its Russian version from our website, use the link -. There are two programs in the archive from our website. This is actually Partition wizard home edition 8 rus and another very useful program from the same developer called Power Data Recovery, which is designed to recover deleted files and partitions from various media. You can read the instructions for using it in the article

Introduction:

Target:

Instructions:

Step 1

Step 2
Opening

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Feel free to click “OK” and move on.

Step 6

p.p.s. All manipulations with the SD card are at your own discretion! Remember, the more applications you transfer to a flash drive, the less life you leave for it! Transfer only “heavy” applications and applications that you rarely use!

PapaRoach PapaRoach

2012-05-12T11:28:34Z 2012-05-12T11:28:34Z

26 liked

- Introduction:
I quite often get asked questions about how to create a partition on a memory card for transferring applications, for example, using a program such as .
And for this reason, I decided to write a short instruction on how to properly divide a flash drive into sections for those who have difficulties. Maybe many people don’t need it anymore, but as statistics show, there will always be questions)))

Target:
Divide the flash drive into 2 partitions FAT32 and EXT2.
FAT32 - partition for your data.
EXT2 - section for portable applications on the card.
The current size of the EXT2 partition is 32-512MB. There is no point in doing more than 512MB! But if you suddenly want more, then keep in mind that the size of the EXT2 partition should occupy no more than 90% of the total volume of the card!

Instructions:

First, we need to acquire a program for creating partitions on disks. I personally used it, and I advise you, the program is free and convenient.

Step 1
Insert the SD card into the card reader. We automatically connect the card reader to the computer. If necessary, we make a backup of data from a flash drive, because... When dividing, all data will be erased!

Step 2
Opening MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition, find our map and delete the section by clicking "Delete" in the context menu:

Step 3
Next, click “Create” on the unallocated space of the map:

A window will open in front of us where we will configure the section parameters.

Step 4
First, we create a partition of type FAT/FAT32, which will store your usual data such as photos, music, and all sorts of files. This will be a section tailored to your needs.
To do this, in the "File System" item, select the type FAT or FAT32:

For cards up to 2GB, it is recommended to choose the FAT type. If the card is 4GB or more, then select the FAT32 type.

Next, in the “Create As” item, select the “Primary” item:

In the "Drive Letter" item, a volume letter is assigned (this is like a local drive letter, etc.). You can also enter the name (label) of your partition in the “Partition Label” column. I named it "SDCARD" for example.
Then in the “Partition Size” item, select the size of our partition and click “OK”:

Step 5
Similarly, click the “Create” item on the unallocated area of the map and now create a section on which the applications transferred to the SD card will be stored.
In this case, a warning window like this may pop up:

Feel free to click “OK” and move on.
But now in the “File System” column we select the type EXT2 or EXT3:

In the “Create As” item, select “Primary” again, enter a label name if you want, and the size of the partition will be the rest of the map. And click "OK".

Step 6
Now click the “Apply” button in the upper left corner and agree to the changes:

Afterwards the processing process will start and, if everything is successful, a window will pop up:

The process is over! If you made a backup, then we throw the data back onto the FAT32 partition (although you will only see it in the computer explorer) and insert the flash drive into the device and use it to your health!

p.s. I don't pretend to be universal. We write about errors and other things in the comments. Glad if it helped someone.