What Is Partitioning?
To partition a hard drive in Windows means to section off a part of it and make that part available to the operating system. In other words, a hard drive isn’t useful to your operating system until it’s partitioned. Additionally, it’s not available to you to store files on until you format it (which is another, just as simple process). Most of the time, this “part” of the hard drive is the entire usable space, but creating multiple partitions on a hard drive is also possible so that you can store backup files in one partition, movies in another, etc.
How to Partition a Hard Drive in Windows
Don’t worry if this process sounds a bit more complicated than you thought because it’s not. Partitioning a hard drive in Windows isn’t at all hard and usually only takes a few minutes to do. Here’s how to do it: In Windows 11/10/8/8.1, the Power User Menu is the easiest way to start Disk Management. You can also open Disk Management via command prompt in any version of Windows, but the Computer Management method is probably best for most people. Check which version of Windows is installed on your computer if you’re not sure. In Windows XP, you’ll see an Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard screen instead. Follow that wizard, making sure to not select the option to “convert” the disk, unless you’re sure you need to. Skip to Step 4 when done. Choose OK after making your selection. You might need to maximize the Disk Management or Computer Management window to see all the drives on the bottom. An unpartitioned drive will not show up in the drive list at the top of the window. In Windows XP, the option is called New Partition. In Windows XP, a Select Partition Type screen appears next, where you should choose Primary partition. The Extended partition option is useful only if you’re creating five or more partitions on a single physical hard drive. Select Next > after making the selection. The default size that you see in the Simple volume size in MB: field should equal the amount shown in the Maximum disk space in MB: field. This means that you’re creating a partition that equals the total available space on the physical hard drive. Windows automatically assigns the first available drive letter, skipping A & B, which on most computers will be D or E. You’re welcome to set the Assign the following drive letter option to anything that’s available.
Volume Type: Simple VolumeDisk selected: Disk 1Volume size: 61437 MBDrive letter or path: F:File system: NoneAllocation unit size: Default
Because your computer and hard drive are unlikely exactly like mine, expect your Disk selected, Volume size, and Drive letter or path values to be different than what you see here. File system: None just means that you’ve decided not to also format the drive right now. This only happens in Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7. You won’t see this in Windows Vista or Windows XP and that’s perfectly fine. Just skip to the last step below if you’re using one of those versions of Windows.
Advanced Partitioning
Windows doesn’t allow for anything but very basic partition management after you create one, but a number of free disk partition management software programs exist that can help if you need them.
