How Do You Partition A Hard Drive?

Drive C and D are part of the hard disk drive (HDD) or more commonly known as hard drive. If you find drives C and D in your PC, then it means it already has one partition. But can you make more partitions? Yes, you can. Computer users do this if they want to separate data and programs, or if they want to have another operating system on their computer.

Drive C is the main partition that contains the operating system, system files, applications, programs, and data related to them. Drive D, on the other hand, is used only for back up storage. Why C and D though? What happened to A and B?

 

But first things first. Keep in mind that HDDs along with SSDs (Solid State Drive), DVDs (Digital Versatile Disc), CD-ROMs (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) are physical storage devices. And they have two volumes. Now that we got that out of the way, what did happen to A and B?

 

A and B were letters assigned for floppy drives and the older tape drives back then. And since such things no longer exist (well, technically, they still do but they are no longer in use), the letter assignment was awarded to the next line: C and D. Succeeding letters will be for other storage drives both internal and external.

 

But again, before we proceed with the partition, you might want to take extra precaution when it comes to your data and files.

 

The first thing you want to do is have backup. Back up as many files as you can: photos, music, videos, documents, and other important files.

Make a full image backup of the entire drive if you don’t already have one. Disasters happen.

(Via:https://www.pcworld.com/article/2066191/how-to-partition-a-hard-drive.html)

 

Ensure that there is enough space.

Make sure you have enough free room on the existing partition to create the new one.

You might also want to empty the recycle bin.

If you still don’t have enough room, you can move files to an external drive. Once the partitioning is done, you can move them back to a new partition.

(Via:https://www.pcworld.com/article/2066191/how-to-partition-a-hard-drive.html)

 

Next, open or run the partition tool.

Open Windows partitioning tool. Windows comes with a reasonably useful partitioning tool. It will probably serve your needs, and if it doesn’t, you’ll know soon enough. To open it, type partition into the search bar, then click on Create and format hard disk partitions. (In Windows 8, type partitions—yes, you need the s).

(Via:https://www.pcworld.com/article/2066191/how-to-partition-a-hard-drive.html)

 

Shrink the current partition.

Right-click the partition and select Shrink Volume.

Then wait. It may take a while Eventually, a dialog box will ask how much you want the partition shrunk. The default number will be the maximum available.

And therein lies Disk Management’s problem. If the current partition has 228GB free, you should be able to shrink it by anything less than 228GB. But Disk Management may not let you shrink it anywhere near that much. If the program won’t allow you to shrink the partition as much as you want, skip to the last paragraph.

Let’s assume that Disk Management allows you to shrink the partition sufficiently. In that case, set the right size, click the Shrink button, and follow the prompts.

(Via:https://www.pcworld.com/article/2066191/how-to-partition-a-hard-drive.html)

 

Make a new partition.

When the resizing is done, right-click the physical drive’s unallocated space and select Simple New Volume.

Then follow the wizard.

(Via:https://www.pcworld.com/article/2066191/how-to-partition-a-hard-drive.html)

 

If disk management won’t let you go as far as you would want your partition to be, you can always use the help of a third-party app.

If Disk Management can’t shrink the partition as far as you want it to, it’s time to go with a third-party program.

(Via:https://www.pcworld.com/article/2066191/how-to-partition-a-hard-drive.html)

 

Partitioning your drive may help you a lot depending on your needs. But having backup for your data is just crucial. In case your data and files are lost, https://www.harddrivefailurerecovery.net/data-recovery-near-me/ can always help you. Click here for more info.

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