Disk Partition Management

An extra disk partition can make a computer look as though it has more than one hard drive, as in effect  a hard drive can be broken down in many partitions each with a unique drive letter for example.

If we have a 100gb hard drive and we choose to create  2 partitions, one with 30% of the total size and one with 70% this in effect will give us two drives one with 30gb and the other with 70gb, the drive letters should be C & D, we explain more on this below.

In this article we cover why and when we should partition a hard drive, information on partitions, and how to go about partitioning hard drives.

Why partition a drive?
As hard drive capacity has increased, one of the major benefits of partitioning a hard drive is to reduce the size of the master file table, large hard drives with a single partition can have a very large sequentially accessed master file table or MT, this in effect gives increased disk read times, converting a hard drive into 2 equal partitions can in effect halve this.

File protection
If one partition becomes corrupt then it’s easier to recover data if we still have a working partition, if the data partition becomes corrupt we still have a bootable drive which can be used to try and recover data from the faulty partition.

If the system partition fails, this can be repaired or rebuilt without affecting data on the other partition.

System optimization
Having a system with the operating system on one partition and the page file on the other increases system performance.

System organization
Having a partition solely for the operating system and applications, and a secondary partition for files helps to keep everything very organised, this also makes file backups much more straightforward.

Large partitions
Having a single large partition really offers no advantages, as some hard drives are now up to a terabyte in size finding files on this can be a real chore not only for us but for the operating system as it has a far larger area to open files from especially if the disk ever becomes fragmented

If you already have a device such as a CD/DVD drive or card reader using the D drive then this will need to be changed.

Driver letters can be changed from disk manager, to access this

Right click on my computer, select Manage and Disk management under storage.

When you change a drive letter you need to ensure the drive letter you wish to use is free in the first place as no device can share the same drive letter.

So for example if you’ve setup a new drive partition and you wish to set this to D, but this is already being used by your DVD drive then you must first change the DVD drive to another free drive letter.

Disk Partitions General Information
Generally disk partitions cannot be resized from within Windows using Windows, the only exceptions to this are secondary partitions which can be deleted, split or re-created through Administrative Tools > Computer Management >Disk Management, the best time to setup disk partitions is when actually installing an operating system to begin with. The Windows install interface is concise and easy to use and allows the setup of multiple custom partitions.

There are a number of applications available, such as partition magic which allow already created partitions to be resized, merged and separated, but these are not suitable for a novice pc user.

In any case a backup of any files should be made before attempting this, as it’s not uncommon to have to perform a rebuild if this fails.

Partition a Drive
To find out more about creating disk partitions as you install Windows checkout our Windows installation page where this is covered.

Should you wish to change any disk partition information Right Click on My Computer > Manage > Storage > Disk Management >

Remember your system partition cannot be changed

To change driver letters, Format, Delete or Create partitions, Right Click on the Drive/Partition you wish to change, then you’ll see a popup menu with available options.

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