A program for managing logical drives. MiniTool Partition Wizard - a program for partitioning a hard drive

When installing Windows hard The disk is traditionally divided into at least two partitions - a smaller system partition with the letter C and a larger user partition with the letter D. This division was not just invented because of someone’s whim, it has important practical value. Firstly, partitioning the hard drive in Windows 7/10 allows you to save the user’s personal files when reinstalling the system, otherwise they would be destroyed during formatting; secondly, it’s just more convenient to work with data, not to mention the fact that this significantly reduces the risk of accidentally deleting system files.

However, some computers and laptops with pre-installed installed system have only one partition - the system one, not counting the “System Reserved” area. In such cases, the user has to create additional volumes on the disk himself. This procedure is very simple, however, for beginners it can still cause certain difficulties, especially when it comes to partitioning a partition with an installed system. So how to properly break hard drive into partitions without losing data?

There are three main ways to partition a hard drive into volumes: using the standard disk management snap-in, using a command line utility Diskpart and with the help of third-party programs created specifically for these purposes. The first method has a number of limitations, the second may seem complicated, the most convenient is the third, using third-party software, but not all such programs are free. Let's consider all three options.

Using Disk Management

So, you have a computer that has only one volume on its disk, not counting the reserved area. First, let's look at how to split a hard drive into two partitions using the built-in Disk Management snap-in. By pressing Win + X Call the context menu of the Start button and select “Disk Management” from it.

In the window that opens, right-click on the area of the system partition with the letter C and select the “Shrink Volume” option from the menu.

After the volume is polled for allocated space, specify the size of the new partition in megabytes in the “Size of compressed space” field and click “Compress”.

As a result, you will get unallocated space highlighted in black. Right-click on it, select “Create simple volume” and follow the wizard’s instructions.

During the creation of the partition, you will be asked to specify the volume size, assign a letter, select file system(NTFS is needed) and assign a label, that is, the volume name displayed in Explorer.

After clicking the “Finish” button, the section will be created.

Partitioning a hard drive in Diskpart

Now let's look at how to divide a hard drive into 2 parts in Windows 7/10 using another standard tool - a console utility Diskpart. Unlike Disk Management, which has a graphical interface, it has a large set of functionality, in addition, you can partition a disk into partitions in Diskpart from under bootable media even on a non-working system. So, open a command prompt or PowerShell console as an administrator and run the following commands:

diskpart
list volume
select volume 1
shrink desired=102600
list disk
select disk 0

The first command launches the Diskpart utility itself, the second command displays a list of partitions available on the physical disk, the third selects the partition number corresponding to drive C, the fourth compresses it to the specified size in megabytes. The fifth command displays a list of all physical disks, the sixth command selects the disk to be partitioned (if there is only one on the PC, its ID will be 0).

Let's continue.

create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick
assign letter=G
exit

The seventh command creates a new partition, the eighth command formats it into the NTFS file system, the ninth command assigns the specified letter to the new volume, and the tenth command terminates Diskpart.

As you can see, the algorithm of actions has much in common with how the partition was created through the built-in Disk Management snap-in. Now, if you go to the “This PC” section, you will see a new logical partition there.

Dividing a disk into parts in Acronis Disk Director

You can also use third-party tools to create custom disk volumes. One of them is Acronis Disk Director– a powerful program for partitioning your hard drive and more. The procedure for partitioning a hard drive in this program is very simple. After launching the application, select the disk to be shared with the mouse and select “Split Volume” from the operations menu on the left.

A dialog box will open in which, using the slider, set the size of the new partition.

If there are user files on the source disk, you can transfer them to the created one new volume, however, this can be done later in Explorer. But system files cannot be transferred, otherwise Windows may not boot. After setting the procedure parameters, click first “OK” and then “Apply pending operations”.

If the system asks you to reboot, give it permission. The program will do the rest itself, you just need to wait for the operation to complete.

How to partition a hard drive in Paragon Hard Disk Manager

Another powerful program for working with disks and partitions. It also has its own wizard for disk partitioning. After launching the application, switch to the “Partition Operations” tab in the main menu and click on the “Partition Wizard” link.

At the next stage, the program will prompt you to decide on the size of the new partition. Use the marking slider or enter the desired size manually. Assign a letter to the volume, click Next and confirm the operation.

Clicking “Finish” completes the wizard.

Now, to apply the planned action, click on the button of the same name on the left side of the Paragon Hard Disk Manager window and once again confirm your intentions to partition the disk.

After this, the re-partitioning procedure will start. If the disk is a system disk, you will need to restart the computer.

Disk partitioning in AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition

And finally, let's see how to partition a hard drive in a free program AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition. There is no separate partitioning wizard in this program; re-partitioning is performed in two stages. First you need to get some free space. Right-click on the shared disk and select “Change partition size” from the menu.

Drag the slider to set the new partition size and click OK.

As a result, unoccupied space will be created. Select it with the mouse and select the “Create section” option in the menu on the left.

In the window that opens, if necessary, adjust the layout parameters (you can change the size, letter, file system type and partition type) and click “OK”.

Now, to start the staking procedure, click the “Apply” button.

Since you are working with the system disk, you will need to restart the computer.

All of the above methods allow you to partition a hard drive without losing data, however, when performing this procedure, especially using third-party software, you should be careful, since the risk of losing information, although very small, is still present.

Almost every user knows or guesses that allocating the entire hard drive space only to the system partition is inappropriate, since if you have logical drives, you can save information on them that will not be deleted even if you reinstall the system. But the disk itself must be divided into at least two partitions. One will be system - the one on which the OS is installed, and the second - logical. To carry out such actions, some Windows program can be used to split hard drive. Next, it is proposed to consider the system’s own tools and third-party applications. But the main preference will be given to the operating system tools.

Built-in program for partitioning the hard drive during Windows installation

Let's start with the process of installing the OS on a computer on which a hard drive is installed that does not/or contains additional partitions.

At a certain stage, the installer prompts the user to select the volume into which the system will be installed (custom installation). In the window where all sections will be shown, you need to select the one you need and click the settings button. You can redistribute space by deleting one or more partitions, after which unallocated space will appear.

Next, click the button to create a partition indicating the volume (the window just below), after which it is advisable to immediately format it. Upon completion of the process, select the partition allocated for the system and click the continue installation button. By the way, it is always recommended to create a logical volume at the installation stage. This is especially true for aging systems, since they simply do not have built-in tools for carrying out such operations.

diskpart utility

What is at the installation stage, what can be used in an already installed system own program for partitioning a hard drive in the form of the diskpart tool, which works through the command line launched as an administrator. Many users do not like to work with the command console, considering this tool to be too complicated. Meanwhile, there shouldn’t be any special difficulties here.

So, first the initial command is written in the console, and after it the lines shown in the image above are entered sequentially. IN in this example Pay attention to the select disk selection. Its number should match your partition from the list presented after executing the list disk line. Then everything is simple:

create partition primary creates a primary partition;
format - in the above example, quick formatting with the quick attribute, which can be omitted;
assign is responsible for assigning a letter to a section.

Upon completion of all actions, a new logical section will appear in Explorer.

Universal system program for partitioning a hard drive in Windows 7 or other versions

No less powerful tool, if you don’t like it command line, can be called a specialized system tool for managing disks and partitions, called from the Run console with the command diskmgmt.msc.

Let's assume that the user needs to create a new logical volume by "biting off" some space from system disk With operating system if its volume is too large. First, through the RMB menu, the volume compression command is used, indicating the desired size of the compressed space (that which will be allocated for the new partition).

Once the compression is completed, there will be unallocated space. Via RMB, the creation of a new volume is selected, a letter is assigned (it can be changed by at will, but it’s better not to do this) and formatting is performed (here the file system can be left unchanged). After execution, the disk will be split into two partitions.

Third party utilities

Regarding software third-party developers, in principle, any program for partitioning a hard drive works on the same principles as the built-in tools of the OS itself. Some of them are simpler, others can be difficult to use.

Free ones are represented by the following utilities:

Partition Assistant from Aomei;
Partition Master from EASEUS (free version);
Partition Manager from Paragon;
Cute Partition Manager;
Minitool PW, etc.

Among the paid software packages, the most popular are the following:

Partition Magic.
Disk Director from Acronis.
7tools Partition Manager.
Partition Master from EASEUS.
Partition Wizard (professional version), etc.

Creating partitions using the example of using the Mimitool PW application

If we're talking about free utilities, naturally, as an example we will consider exactly free program for partitioning a hard drive, which is quite easy to learn and does not require special skills and knowledge when using (for example, just in case, take the English version, since it will not be difficult to understand Russified applications).

IN running program Simply select the desired disk or partition that you want to split and select the Split command through the RMB menu.

Next, all that remains is to specify the required size of the new volume (New Partition Size) and click the confirmation button (“OK”). After this, the program for partitioning a hard drive with Windows 10 or another system performs all further actions without user intervention. And this is quite a significant advantage.

What to use?

As you can see, almost any program for partitioning a hard drive is not particularly complicated (with the possible exception of the diskpart command utility). But I think the average user doesn’t even need the built-in Windows tools. Use the utility described in the example above, and all actions performed will be reduced to a minimum. But when installing the system without Windows tools there is no way around it (although if the installation media contains some utility from Acronis, you can use its tools).

When working with a computer, situations may often arise when you need to resize hard drive partitions, or even merge them into one. For example, you need to install a new operating system, which is larger in volume than the previous one. Also, if the system has 2 or more logical volumes (not counting the partition with the operating system installed), it makes more sense to combine them into one. To do this, you can use both standard Windows tools and third-party software. Let's consider both options.

Method 1: merging disk partitions using standard Windows utilities.

Before starting the procedure in this way, you need to copy all the data from the partition that needs to be attached to another, since the volume is deleted before the operation and, accordingly, all information from it is erased. In Windows OS, there is a disk management console to perform such operations. To open it, right-click on the “Computer” icon and select “Manage”. The computer management console will open, where you need to select “Disk Management” in the left menu.

The console displays all available drives. Now you need to select a section that is combined with some other. After that, right-click on it and select “Delete volume”. We confirm the operation, after which the unallocated space will appear in the menu. Then open the context menu of the volume to which you want to attach the unallocated space, and select the “Extend partition” item.

Next, the Volume Expansion Wizard opens, in which you will be asked to select a disk through which you want to increase space on the local partition. In our case, this is just one volume, which was previously a hard disk partition.

Method 2: merging disk partitions in Acronis Disk Director.

This method is more reliable, since it is not necessary to transfer data from one disk to another in Windows: the program will independently merge the partitions. Acronis Disk Director has an intuitive interface that makes it easy for any user to understand.

Note: There are 2 versions of this program: for Windows OS and a boot version. It is recommended to use the second version to avoid errors that may occur during the procedure. If this is not possible, then first make sure that your operating system is running without errors or failures.

The main window of the program will display information about all partitions of the hard drive. To merge, select the section you want to merge and click “Merge Sections” in the side menu.

A wizard will open in which you need to select the disks to merge, and also indicate which of them will be the main one, that is, which disk will be connected to which.

Having completed the necessary manipulations, you need to fix them by clicking the “OK” button. Now a new section will appear in the main window with the same volume as the previous 2. However, this does not mean that it has already been created. Acronis Disk Director uses transaction confirmation to avoid incorrect user actions. After completing the necessary manipulations, a checkbox will appear in the upper corner with the number of operations that need to be performed.

When you click on it, a window with a list of operations will appear. Here the user can once again check the correctness of his actions. If everything is correct, then clicking the “Continue” button will start step-by-step disk partitioning according to the instructions specified by the user.

This process is irreversible. If the program is running under Windows OS, the computer will be restarted to complete the operation.

You can also use the Partition Magic and Paragon Partition Manager programs to combine hard disk partitions. They are similar in functionality to Acronis Disk Director, so you can use either of them. All of these disk merging programs work well for any version of Windows.

The hard drive in your computer and the drive icon in the My Computer window are different concepts. For example, a computer may have one hard drive installed, while there may be several of them in “My Computer”. The reason for this strange discrepancy is that the hard drive can be divided into so-called partitions. This is called logical disk layout.

I will talk about why such markup is needed, how to do it correctly (and whether it should be done at all), and also tell you about free programs for such a delicate procedure.

Why do you need to partition your hard drive?

There are several reasons to partition a hard drive:

Partitions on a hard drive are primarily needed for proper storage of information. For example, some users prefer the following division: operating system and programs on one disk (usually C), documents - on the second ( D), photo archive on the third ( E) and so on. In this case, there may well be only one hard drive.
If you have one hard drive, but want to have two or more operating systems, you will have to divide the hard drive into partitions, since Windows and other operating systems can only be installed on different partitions or hard drives.
Manufacturers of laptops (and some computers from famous manufacturers such as Acer) have their own reason for dividing hard drive partitions: on a section that is visible as a disk C, Windows installed, second ( D) is completely empty, and the third (which is not visible in any way in the “My Computer” window) stores a compressed copy of the partition C. This hidden partition of the hard drive is called recovery partition. If something happened to the operating system (“Windows crashed” - as some users like to say), then when you turn on the laptop, just press a key combination (see which one - see the instructions for the laptop) and a special program will clean the disk C, then unpacks the contents of the hidden partition there. As a result, the user will receive a laptop with the programs that were originally on it at the time of purchase in the store. Disk D however, it will not be changed. The conclusion suggests itself: if you store all documents on a laptop with such a recovery system not on drive C, A only on D, you can restore damaged Windows with a new one at any time, without losing your important data. By the way, any advanced user can make such a recovery system for themselves, but I’ll tell you about it some other time.
The Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems, when installed on a blank, “unpartitioned” hard drive, create a hidden partition of 100-350 megabytes in size. This small partition stores a bootloader designed, oddly enough, to boot Windows. This partition will not exist or its contents will be damaged - and the computer will not start the operating system, displaying the message “Boot fail”, “Cannot find boot device”, “Boot error” or similar on the black screen, the meaning of which is the same - the boot disk with operating system. Actually, the bootloader can be stored on disk C:, and/or in hidden sectors of the hard drive (outside partitions), but the developers decided in Windows 7/8 to use a separate hidden partition in order to somehow protect the boot loader from damage by other programs, viruses or the user.
There are other reasons for partitioning a hard drive. For example, for the GNU/Linux operating systems to work correctly, several sections must be created, but this is the topic of a separate article; we will not consider them here.

So, The main reasons for partitioning a hard drive are: for the convenience of storing information, for installing several operating systems, for operating a recovery system, for storing the Windows 7/8 boot loader.

A little theory: file systems, partition types

Information about partitions (i.e. logical drives) is stored in a "partition table". Each logical drive can have its own file system. You can read more about all this in the Wikipedia articles: Disk partition, Logical disk, File system. A novice user only needs to know the bare minimum:

If you divide your hard drive into logical drives (partitions), Disk capacity will not increase- there’s simply nowhere to find free space! You can make partitions of any size, but in total they cannot be larger than the capacity of the real hard drive. Less please. Then you will have unallocated free space, not visible in My Computer, from which you can get one or more new partitions. This is a question I often get from newbies, so I put it first.
There are primary (main) And extended (additional) sections. One hard drive cannot have more than four main partitions (see the links above for why this is so), so they came up with an extended partition - this is a primary partition that can include any number of partitions. As a result, thanks to the extended partition, the hard drive can have any number of partitions - tens, hundreds.
Each partition can have its own file system. At the moment, only NTFS can be used to install Windows Vista, 7 and 8, and the outdated Windows XP can be installed on disks with the FAT32 file system. However, I do not recommend doing this, as it imposes too many restrictions. Make all partitions in NTFS - everything will work as it should.
Any hard drive must be partitioned one way or another. In one or more logical drives - it's up to you. When purchased, the hard drive is usually already partitioned into one partition - this is what the manufacturer decided. If you are satisfied with this way of organizing information, leave it alone.
It is very undesirable to partition the disk in laptops - most of them have hidden recovery partitions that can be damaged (see point 3 of the previous chapter).
If you bought a 2 terabyte hard drive, but in “My Computer” it is “only” 1.86 terabytes (1860 gigabytes), then do not rush back to the store. It's all about how manufacturers and Windows calculate the volume. Read more about this in the Wikipedia article Hard Drive. The larger the size of the hard drive, the more clearly it is clear that there are fewer real gigabytes.
Sections can be delete, create, move(change their physical position on the disk), resize them, format them, convert them file systems on partitions from one to another. Moreover, many programs can do this while saving all the data. There are other operations, but novice users most often need the above.
If there is an error during the process of changing partitions (see point 7), information is almost always lost. Yes, it can be restored (or part of it) with special programs with the participation of specialists, but it is best to save all important information in advance on other drives (not logical drives, but real drives) or flash drives, so as not to pay money for data recovery.

Disk Management in Windows

Windows has a standard partition changer - " Disk Management". Depending on the version of Windows, the capabilities of this program change slightly, but in general over the past years (if we talk about Windows Vista, 7, 8) there have been no major changes. Windows XP looks more modest in this regard - apart from formatting and changing the drive letter, there is little that can be done there.

As an example I’ll take “ Disk Management» Windows 7. You can open this program in several ways:

The simplest one is to right-click on the line Computer in the menu Start- select an item Control- in a new window select Disk Management.
Opening Control Panel - Administration - Computer management - Disk Management.
Click Start - Execute(or the Win+R key combination) - enter in the window that opens diskmgmt.msc- press OK.

Disk Management looks like this:

Here you can see both physical disks (including DVD drives, flash drives and other devices for storing information) and logical ones, i.e. virtual - hidden partition of the Windows 7 boot loader, disks C And D. The number of disks on your computer may vary.

Basic actions are available by right-clicking on the desired section:

The list of actions is quite meager:

Items Open, Conductor allow you to view the contents of disks
Make the section active- indicate on which disk (partition) the bootloader is located. In Windows 7 and 8, this is a system-reserved partition. You cannot make another partition active - the operating system will stop loading.
Change drive letter or drive path- you can change the drive letter displayed in the Computer window or display it as a folder. Yes, partitions can be displayed not only as disks, but also as folders on any disk.
Format- you can read about this in the Wikipedia Formatting article. The item opens a window with which you can start high-level formatting.
Extend volume- if there is space on the hard drive that is not marked as a partition, then you can expand the partition size using this free space.
Shrink Volume- this item allows you to reduce the size of the partition. The result will be the formation of unallocated space, which can be used to expand the volume of another section (see the previous paragraph).
Delete volume- delete the section. Don't click on an item without thoroughly considering the consequences. If you delete a partition, the information on it can only be saved with the help of special programs, and even then not always.
Properties- a properties window will open with information about the selected disk (partition).

Of course, this is not a complete list of possibilities. Disk Management. You can create dynamic disks, for example. However, this is of no use to novice users; this article is intended specifically for them.

So, to create, delete, resize partitions via Disk Management, you only need three menu items: Expand Volume, Shrink Volume, Delete Volume.

All operations take place in real time, i.e. after clicking the desired item and answering the question in the affirmative - do we want to do this - the actual action occurs.

Do not forget that there is a risk of failure, due to which we could lose either one or all of the partitions. This applies primarily to computers with a large number of unnecessary programs - each of them may be the culprit in deleting all data. Moreover, the scenario is when you need to change the partition from which Windows is launched (usually this is the disk C), is the worst - most often users experience problems when they try to change the system partition.

To minimize the risk of failure, There are three methods:

Insert the hard drive into another computer and change partitions from it by running Disk Management or any other program for changing partitions. Due to the fact that Windows will be launched from another drive, no programs will go onto the foreign drive, interfering with a critical operation.
Boot from a Live CD - the operating system and programs will be launched not from the hard drive, but from a CD or DVD, flash drive - again, nothing will interfere with changing partitions.
To change partitions, use a program that can work in Native mode. For example, disk check C always works in this mode - a black window with white text before loading the Desktop. In this mode, a minimum number of programs are launched and the risk of failure is minimal.

The third option is the simplest, because the user essentially does not need to do anything - just restart the computer and wait a few minutes. The following two review programs can do this.

A free hard drive partitioning program for home use.

Surface test- checking the disk surface (physical). Allows you to detect bad sectors (so-called “bads”, “bad blocks”).

View properties- display information about the disk.

Yes, knowledge of English is clearly required here, especially considering that almost every item opens a window with settings for the action being performed. After you have made the necessary manipulations, you need to apply the changes by pressing a button Apply(Apply):

Only then will the partition changes begin. This process may take some time - from a couple of minutes to several hours.

Depending on whether the system partition is affected or not, operations are carried out either immediately in the window, or you will need to restart the computer and start changing the partition in Native mode:

The program has so many functions that it is impossible to list them all. I recommend that you read the help for EaseUS Partition Master. It is in English, unfortunately, but you can use Google Translator. The translation is quite understandable.

Pros of EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition:

Lots of functions.
All actions are “virtual” until you click the Apply button. This means that you can cancel operations before this “point of no return” and try to do something else with the partitions. Or don’t do it at all if you change your mind.
Works stably and predictably. For example, during testing, while changing partitions, I started copying files to the partition that was to be changed. Result - a window appeared stating that the partition could not be locked, all operations were interrupted, the data did not disappear anywhere.
The program is free for home use.

Cons of EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition:

The interface is in English only.
There are, perhaps, too many possibilities - this can confuse beginners.
A serious failure during the operation will lead to serious consequences.
For example, if you turn off the computer while changing a partition, the data on the partition will disappear. However, this is a minus of absolutely all programs for changing partitions.

Conclusion: the program is good. You can and should use it; there is no alternative among free programs.

Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free

Free program for changing partitions from a company based in Russia. Unfortunately, the program is in English. What made the developers take such a step is unclear. Moreover, the paid version of the program is Russian.

The main window of the program is no different from the window of the hero of the previous review, except that the buttons have changed their order:

Deserves special mention Express Mode(Simplified mode). By clicking on this button, we will get a window with a list of the most frequent actions:

One could say that this is an ideal mode for beginners, if not for one “but”: everything here is in English. Moreover, I had a suspicion that the English here was somehow incorrect, as if it was not a person who was translating, but a machine.

Pros of Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free:

Many windows are clear enough to understand the functions.
Some operations are carried out immediately in the program window, some (if required) in Native mode. That is, the program does everything to reduce the chance of data loss.
The program is free to use at home.

Cons of Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free:

English-language, and due to the strange construction of phrases it is quite difficult to understand.
The simplified Express Mode works exactly the opposite: firstly, the descriptions of operations and the operations themselves have more technical subtleties than is required; secondly, this mode is very capricious and does not really work, producing meaningless errors.
The program is too slow. For example, deleting a 38 GB hard drive partition took me about 5 minutes - quite long for such a simple operation.

Conclusion: The program works, but somehow it is unpredictable. I do not recommend using this program, fortunately there is an alternative in the form of EaseUS Partition Master Home.

Changing partitions during installation of Windows 7, 8, 10

This tool also deserves a mention.

Take any installation disk with Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8 or 10, start installing the disk, go to the partition selection and click Disk setup:

It seems that everything is simple: you need to click on a section in the list, then the action button. Unfortunately, there is little action here: deletion, formatting, partitioning and expansion.

You can, for example, delete a partition and, using the freed up space, increase the size of another partition or partitions (when selecting the desired partitions, you must press the Delete and Expand buttons in turn).

Alas, a very popular operation - reducing the size of partitions - is not here. You can delete the partition, then re-create a new one with a smaller partition, but, unfortunately, we will lose the data.

All operations take place in real time, i.e. after pressing the button the action occurs.

Result: editing partitions during Windows installation is an extremely primitive tool. It works, but performs only a limited list of actions, among which the only one that saves data is increasing (expanding) the size of the partition. If you need to install Windows and do not need to save data on partitions, then the tool will come in handy.

If you suddenly accidentally deleted a partition during Windows installation or through some program, do not despair - the partition recovery function is available in EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition.

In order to recover a deleted hard drive partition, don't touch the partitions, immediately boot into Windows (or insert the hard drive into another computer if you deleted the system partition and booting Windows is impossible), then run the above-mentioned program, click on the line with the word in the list Unallocated("Unallocated"), then click the button Partition recovery.

The rest, as they say, is a matter of technique - the action wizard will tell you where to click, where to check the boxes, and then restore your deleted disk.

Tip #2: Installing two or more Windows operating systems on one hard drive

All you need for this is several sections. If your hard drive already has a second partition that is visible in the " Computer" - make sure that there is at least 20 GB of free space (more is better), then during Windows installation simply specify this second (third, fourth, etc.) disk. After installation, you will be able to select Windows using a menu that appears when you turn on your computer.

If you have one disk ( C), I suggest the simplest option: Through Disk Management give it to the section first WITH team Compress, reducing it by at least 20 gigabytes (or better yet, more, because in addition to Windows you will also be installing programs):

Right click on drive C...

After pressing the button Compress disk size C decreases, unallocated (free) space appears in the partition map:

We indicate unallocated space. The installer will create the partition itself.

After installation, you will have two operating systems. You can create unallocated spaces or empty disks and indicate them for installation.

Thanks to reader Vladimir for raising this topic.

You may have noticed that in the screenshots of the Disk Management window, all partitions are marked with a blue stripe. You may have sections with green stripes. What is the difference between blue and green sections?

A green bar in Disk Management is a sign of an extended (additional) partition. As I wrote above, there may be “nested” sections inside, which from the user’s point of view are no different from the main (primary) ones. Nested partitions have one peculiarity - if you reduce their size, then due to the free space that appears, you will not be able to simply expand the main partition. You must first shrink the extended partition itself (which stores free space and the reduced partition) so that free space is created outside of any partitions, only then can you expand the disks.

Very good news for owners of the Windows 7 and 8 operating system is that users do not have to download various programs to partition the hard drive, because thanks to the built-in Disk Management feature, we can do this for free. I would like to remind you that in the XP operating system, you cannot do this, since one of the main functions of this application is missing.

To quickly launch the Disk Management application, right-click on the “My Computer” desktop icon. In the menu, select Manage

In management, click the "Disk Management" section. On the right side of the program we will see a list of our hard drives.

Now you need to select the hard drive that will be partitioned. In my case, the laptop has one hard drive installed, which is divided into two partitions E and D. The program clearly shows where the main disk is and where its partitions are.

I will create another partition of 10 gigabytes. To do this, right-click on the C: drive and select “Shrink Volume” from the menu.

In the small window, I fill in the compression size at 10,000, which is equal to 10 Gigabytes, and click the compress button.

Did you do everything correctly? Please note that we now have an unallocated partition with a size of 9.77GB. Now all that remains is to create a new volume from it.

Right-click on the unallocated area and right-click on it, select “Create simple volume.”

Now we follow the instructions as in the picture. Changing the Volume Letter or its name is not necessary, everything can be left as in the pictures. Let's go.

After formatting Windows disk will indicate that the disk is ready for use.

As you understand, such a breakdown cannot cause any difficulties. I also want to note that you will no longer need programs like Partition Magic, or similar ones. Firstly, many packages are paid, and secondly, the partitioning takes 10 times longer than the built-in Windows 7 or 8 application.

Good luck!