Splitting a hard drive into two parts is a commonly used procedure that may be required in a variety of situations. For example, if you buy a laptop with Windows 10 already installed, you will most likely find that the hard drive is not partitioned in any way. Naturally, using a laptop in this form is inconvenient; the hard drive must be divided into at least 2 parts.
In this material we will talk about how to divide a hard drive into 2 parts in the Windows 10 operating system without deleting data and using third-party programs.
To divide your hard drive into parts, you can use both third-party programs and tools built into Windows 10. In this article we will look at the second option, namely partitioning using the Disk Management snap-in.
This can be done in different ways, but in Windows 10 it is most convenient to do this using the menu that opens by pressing the Windows-X key combination or by right-clicking on the Start menu.
You can also open “diskmgmt.msc” in Disk Management.
In the Disk Management snap-in, we can split the hard drive into 2 parts in two ways: using the Shrink Volume function and by deleting a volume and creating two new ones. In the first case, the separation will take place without deleting the data, but it may take longer, and in the second, all data will be deleted, but the whole procedure will go very quickly. We'll look at both of these options next.
Dividing the hard drive into 2 parts without deleting data
First, we will look at a method that will allow you to split your hard drive into 2 parts without deleting data. This method will be useful in cases where the disk is already full of data and there is nowhere to move it. This option should also be used if Windows 10 is already installed on the disk.
So, in order to partition your hard drive, you will need the Disk Management snap-in. Open it as described above and find the hard drive you want to partition. Right-click on this disk and select the “Shrink Volume” option.
As a result, a window with compression settings will appear. Here you need to specify how much free space you want to cut off from your hard drive to create a second partition. Specify the desired value in megabytes and click on the “Compress” button. The maximum value that can be specified here depends on the available disk space.
As a result, part of your hard drive will turn into unallocated space. Now this free space can be used to create a second partition. At the same time, all the data that was on the disk before remained in its place. In this way, you can cut off parts even from the system disk on which Windows 10 is installed.
In order to complete the division of the hard drive into two parts, you need to create a new volume in the unallocated disk space. To do this, right-click on this space and select the “Create simple volume” option.
After this, the “Create Simple Volume Wizard” window will appear. To start creating a new volume, click on the “Next” button.
Next, you need to specify the volume size in megabytes and click on the “Next” button. Since you only need to create one volume, specify the largest possible size. This will take up all the unallocated space on your hard drive.
The next step is choosing a letter. Select a letter for the new volume and click on the “Next” button again.
The last step is to select the file system and volume label. If you don't understand what this is, just click on the "Next" button.
The final step is to confirm the settings using the “Finish” button.
At this point, dividing the hard drive into 2 parts can be considered complete. Open the My Computer window to check how your hard drive is partitioned.
Dividing the hard drive into 2 parts and deleting data
If the volume you want to split into 2 parts does not have any important data, then you can simply delete the current volume and create 2 new ones in its place. In this case, all files that were previously stored on the disk will be deleted, and you will get two empty partitions.
To use this method, you need to open the “Disk Management” snap-in (this is described at the beginning of the article), find the desired disk in it, right-click on it and select the “Delete volume” option.
As a result, one large unallocated space will appear in place of your hard drive. Now, in order to divide your hard drive into 2 parts, you just need to create two new volumes on it.
To do this, right-click on the unallocated space and select the “Create simple volume” option.
As a result, the “Create Simple Volume Wizard” window will appear. Click on the “Next” button to begin creating the volume.
The process of creating a volume is no different from what has already been described above. The only important point is the size indication. Here you need to specify a size so that you have room for the second volume.
After this, a new volume will appear in place of the unallocated space.
In order to complete the division of the hard drive into 2 parts, you need to create another volume in the remaining unallocated space. To do this, right-click on it and select “Create simple volume” again.
As in previous versions of Windows, in the “ten” it is possible dividing a physical hard drive into virtual partitions, for example, C and D. This article will talk about how you can create additional volumes on HDD in the Windows 10 operating system.
First, let's talk about why this might be needed. Partitioning a hard drive is a familiar way to many to separate system information from personal files. Let's say that on drive C we will have the Windows 10 operating system itself and all installed programs, but on volume D we will have our own documents, images, audio and video recordings. It is also recommended to split the HDD into partitions if you need to reinstall Ten completely and at the same time save personal files.
Before you start dividing a hard drive in Windows 10 into partitions, we recommend removing unnecessary information from the currently existing volume, which is planned to be used as a space donor for the new partition. After this, you need to defragment it.
It is worth considering that the number of partitions in Windows 10 cannot be more than four. If, together with the system volumes, there are already 4 parts on the hard drive, then, most likely, it will no longer be possible to separate another one using the built-in “tens” tools. You will need to use third-party software. We will also talk about it, but below.
Do you need additional partitions on your hard drive?
The question is Should I partition my hard drive in Windows 10? to additional sections, still does not have a clear answer. However, over time, an increasing number of specialists are inclined to use a minimum number of volumes. If in the days of Windows XP and 7 it was traditionally believed that it was better to use two different disk partitions (for example, C and D) for system and personal files, then recently in the professional environment you can increasingly hear the voices of those who do not see the point in such division. Since the physical HDD remains the same singular number, dividing it into volumes does not provide any speedup in operation (even the opposite) and only creates psychological convenience for the user, allowing the storage to be divided into two volumes. Today, instead of creating additional hard drive partitions, we can recommend buying an additional HDD for the system and programs, or even better, an SSD solid-state drive, which provides information exchange speeds several times higher than that of a traditional disk. Using two physical hard drives will certainly give you a performance boost, while two volumes on one HDD will slow down your computer rather than speed it up. Perhaps all these thoughts will convince someone to give up dividing their hard drive into additional partitions unless absolutely necessary. For those who are adamant in their desire to create additional volumes, below is step by step instructions with pictures.
We share a hard drive using built-in Windows 10 tools
To split a hard drive into two or more volumes in Windows 10 no need to look for third-party programs. Already in the operating system itself there is a special tool for these purposes. To run it, you need to:
- RIGHT click on menu Start.
- And select the item " Disk management».
In this utility, unlike Windows Explorer, you always see not only all storage media connected to the computer (SSD, HDD, CD/DVD, USB), but also all partitions (or volumes) of each of them.
To split an existing large partition into several volumes, you need to:
- Select the item " Compress volume...».
- After a few seconds, a new window will appear in which, under “ Compressible space size (MB)"You can specify in megabytes the size of the space we need to create a new volume or volumes. This amount of MB will be taken from the existing hard drive partition that we are currently working with. 1024 MB = 1 GB, that is, to create a new partition of 100 GB we need to specify a size of 102400 MB.
- After this you need to click “ Compress" This means reducing the space of an existing partition. It will not be possible to compress a volume by more than the maximum value offered by the system. If you need to transfer more space to a new partition than the Disk Management utility allows, then you should use third-party programs. We'll talk about one of them below.
After compressing the existing volume, changes occurred in the disk structure - a unallocated space, highlighted with a black stripe. In our case it is 100.00 GB. Now you can create one or more additional hard disk partitions in this space. To do this you need:
- Click on it with the RIGHT mouse button.
- Select the item " Create a simple volume...»
- In the “Create a Simple Volume Wizard” window that opens, simply move on.
- Now we need to specify the size of the hard disk partition to be created in megabytes. For example, we will take half of the unallocated space - 51200 MB.
- Click “Next”.
- If necessary, change the drive letter.
- “Next” again.
- And again we move forward.
- At the final stage, in the Simple Volume Creation Wizard window, click “Finish”.
- In the Disk Management utility we see that we have a new hard disk volume under the letter D with a size of 50 GB.
From the remaining unallocated space we can create another partition or add it to an existing one. To do this, on volume D you need to RIGHT-click and select “ Expand volume...». note, that with the built-in tools of Winodws 10 you can expand only the partition that is directly adjacent to the space labeled “Not allocated”. That is, in a situation like in the image above, expanding drive C with free 50 gigabytes will not work. From them, you can only create a new volume or increase the size of D. To solve such atypical issues, below we consider using a third-party program to partition the hard drive and work with these partitions.
Working with hard drive partitions in Windows 10 using the AOMEI program
In some cases, the functionality built into Windows 10 may not be enough to partition a hard drive and manage volumes. It is better to use third-party software only when there are no other options left. This program, unlike many analogues recommended on the Internet, is completely trustworthy. There is a separate article about it on Wikipedia. This is where you can find a link to official site AOMEI Partition Assistant tool. One thing that speaks in favor of this program is that it was developed primarily for sale. However, the free version of the tool called AOMEI Partition Assistant is quite suitable for our needs. Standard Freeware. You can download the installation file on the Download page of the website we mentioned above. By the way, we recommend checking all downloaded programs for security on the website VirusTotal.com. It allows you to scan any file in several dozen antivirus programs.
Free program AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard can help when the built-in Windows 10 program cannot cope. Let's say, in the case as in the image below, the standard Disk Management utility does not allow you to add unallocated space to drive C, since this partition is located from free space through another volume (D).
But with the help of the AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard program, it is possible to solve this problem. As an example, we will describe in more detail the algorithm of its operation using this specific example. So, we need to attach 50 GB of free space to volume C. To do this, in the AOMEI program:
- Click the RIGHT mouse button on volume C.
- Select the “Merge Partitions” item.
- We check the boxes on those parts of the hard drive that we need to combine into one.
- Click OK.
- And most importantly, click on the green checkmark “ Apply» (in English Apply) so that the changes made will be applied.
After this, you will need to confirm the action with the “ Go”(in fact, it should be called “Continue” - but there are apparently shortcomings of the Russian translation).
Similar to merging a C partition with unallocated space, the AOMEI program performs splitting one volume into several, merging them, and all sorts of other operations. Please note that in order to perform some actions, the tool will need to restart your computer and perform them in PreOS mode (before loading the Windows 10 operating system). It is this mode that allows you to perform those tasks that the standard Disk Management tool is not designed to perform.
If you have questions about AOMEI or using the standard Disk Management tool, feel free to ask in the comments below.
We are used to dividing the hard drive into two partitions, namely drive C and D. The first acts as a system drive, the second is used to store personal information and media files.
Finding software for dividing a disk on the Internet is quite easy. Free disk management programs can also be downloaded on our website. However, you can divide your hard drive into partitions in the Windows 10 operating system using standard tools. Let's take a closer look at how to do this.
How to partition a hard drive in an already installed Windows 10?
In order to divide a hard drive into two partitions in an already installed Windows 10, you must perform the following steps:
- Press “Win+R” and enter “msc”.
- If for some reason the “Run” service does not work for you, go to: “Start”, “Control Panel”, “System and Security”, “Administration” and select the “Create and format hard disk partitions” section here.
- The Disk Management utility will open. You can also call it by right-clicking on the Start icon.
- In order to split a disk into two partitions, you need to “take away” free space from an existing disk. In our case there are already 2 disks. Let's say that we need to create a third disk.
- To “pinch off” some memory from a disk, right-click on it and select “Shrink Volume”.
- The volume will be scanned to see if it can be divided. After this, a window will appear where you need to indicate how many gigabytes you want to allocate for the new partition.
- We set it to 50 GB. The compression will take some time. Then unallocated space will appear in the utility.
- Now you need to create a new disk. Right-click and select “Create simple volume.”
- The Volume Creation Wizard will launch. We confirm or we can change the disk size.
- In the next window, select a letter for the new drive. Click “Next”.
- By selecting the disk format and clicking the “Next” button, you will receive a finished disk. You can view it in Explorer.
How to partition a hard drive in an already installed Windows 10 programmatically?
In Windows 10, you can divide a disk into two parts using the paid program Acronis Disk Director. However, you can use the free Aomei Partition Assistant Free. The principle of its operation is as follows:
- Download and install the program.
- We launch the software on our PC. In the main window, select the disk. In the left menu, click “Partition disk”.
- In the next window, we indicate the amount of memory for the new disk and the volume from which we are taking this space.
- At the end of the operation, you can view the result in Explorer.
How to partition a disk in Windows 10 during system installation?
You can split a disk into two or more volumes in Windows 10 during the installation phase in the following ways:
- We start the installation of Windows 10 from a disk or flash drive. Follow the prompts.
- After entering the system activation key, select “Custom installation”.
- In a new window you will need to remove the disk. Unallocated space will appear. Select “Create” disk. Specify the disk size.
- After creating the second disk, it is worth formatting it, since it may not appear in Windows 10 and will have to be formatted through Disk Management.
Thus, resizing the disk and allocating a separate volume in Windows 10 is possible both with built-in utilities and third-party programs.
Many users are accustomed to using two partitions on one physical hard drive or SSD - conditionally, drive C and drive D. This instruction details how to divide a disk into partitions in Windows 10 using built-in system tools (during installation and after it), and using third-party free programs for working with partitions.
Despite the fact that the available Windows 10 tools are quite sufficient to perform basic operations on partitions, some actions with their help are not so easy to perform. The most typical of these tasks is increasing the system partition: if you are interested in this particular action, then I recommend using another guide:.
Dividing disks into partitions is also possible with a clean installation of Windows 10 on a computer from a flash drive or disk. However, one important nuance should be noted here: this will not be possible without deleting data from the system partition.
When installing the system, after entering (or skipping input, more details in the article) the activation key, select “Custom installation”, in the next window you will be prompted to select a partition for installation, as well as tools for configuring partitions.
In my case, drive C is partition 4 on the drive. In order to make two partitions instead, you must first delete the partition using the corresponding button below, as a result it will be converted to “unallocated disk space”.
The second step is to select the unallocated space and click “Create”, then set the size of the future “Disk C”. After creating it, we will have free unallocated space, which can be turned into a second disk partition using the same method (using “Create”).
I also recommend that after creating the second partition, select it and click “Format” (otherwise it may not appear in Explorer after installing Windows 10 and you will have to format it and assign a drive letter through Disk Management).
And finally, select the partition that was created first, click the “Next” button to continue installing the system on drive C.
Programs for partitioning disks
In addition to Windows' own tools, there are many programs available for working with disk partitions. Of the well-proven free programs of this kind, I can recommend Aomei Partition Assistant Free and Minitool Partition Wizard Free. In the example below, we will consider using the first of these programs.
In fact, it’s so easy to partition a disk in Aomei Partition Assistant (and besides, everything is in Russian) that I don’t even really know what to write here. The order is as follows:
- Installed the program (from the official website) and launched it.
- We have allocated a disk (partition) that needs to be divided into two.
- In the menu on the left, select “Split Section”.
- Set new sizes for two partitions using the mouse, moving the separator or entering a number in gigabytes. Clicked OK.
- Click the “Apply” button at the top left.
If, however, you encounter problems when using any of the described methods, write and I will answer.
