A powerful program for working with a hard drive. The best programs for partitioning (partitioning) a hard drive

Today, many users and computer owners are faced with the need to maintain their hard drive. Most often, this term refers to managing hard drive partitions: creating, deleting, formatting, changing the file system, etc. However, sometimes in practice you have to solve a number of other problems. These include, for example, restoring partitions that were deleted or “lost” as a result of failures, cloning hard drives when upgrading a computer, etc.

Today, many users and computer owners are faced with the need to maintain their hard drive. Most often, this term refers to managing hard drive partitions: creating, deleting, formatting, changing the file system, etc. However, sometimes in practice you have to solve a number of other problems. These include, for example, restoring partitions that were deleted or “lost” as a result of failures, cloning hard drives when upgrading a computer, etc.

To perform these operations you need special software, since the operating system is clearly not enough. Which one exactly? Each user will have to answer this question independently, taking into account their own needs, capabilities and features of certain products. We will help you make this choice by describing and comparing utilities for working with hard drives.

To begin with, it is necessary to note one aspect. The fact is that all software designed to solve the described problems can be divided into two unequal groups. The first includes universal products that can be used to perform a whole range of different hard drive maintenance tasks. All the tools in them are integrated with each other and “collected” in a single interface, which, of course, is very convenient. The second group is highly specialized programs designed to perform a single operation. With their help, you can, for example, only manage hard drive partitions.

Why did we call these groups unequal? It's very simple. There are much fewer products belonging to the first group on the market today. The most famous of them are programs and. Naturally, both of them were included in our review today. The second group has much more representatives. For comparison, we selected several of the most typical programs from it and also included them in the comparison.

Today it is one of the most well-known programs on our market for maintaining computer hard drives. Its important feature is that it can work with almost all types of hard drives, including external hard drives and flash cards.

Functionally it consists of four modules (each of which was once a separate software product). The first of them is “Partition Manager”. It is designed to manage hard disk partitions. With its help you can perform almost any operation with them. In particular, the user can create and delete partitions, change their size, convert them to another file system without losing information, change the letter and much more. In addition, the latest version of the product in question has introduced such features as splitting a section into two new ones and, conversely, merging two existing sections into one. These operations are also performed without data loss. A distinctive feature of the "Partition Manager" is its two modes of operation. The first of them, automatic, is intended for inexperienced users. It is as easy as possible to use. And thanks to the use of clear step-by-step wizards, the risk of doing something wrong is significantly reduced. The second operating mode, manual, is intended for more experienced users.

The second module included in the software is called "Download Administrator". It allows you to install various operating systems on your computer and manage the order in which they load. Thanks to it, up to 100 operating systems can “get along” on one PC, and not only Windows of different versions, but also various versions of Linux, FreeBSD, UNIX, OS/2, etc. It is noteworthy that thanks to the “Boot Administrator” it is possible to install in the future boot the OS from any partition on any hard drive. You can also install several versions of Windows in one partition.

The third module is “Disk Editor”. With its help, you can view and change the contents of the hard drive directly, without using operating system functions. This is a professional tool whose capabilities can be used to solve problems such as recovering lost information, restoring hard drive zones, and backup.

Finally, the last, fourth module is “Partition Recovery Utility”. This is a very easy-to-use tool with which anyone, even a novice user, can literally return to its place a section that was accidentally deleted by him or lost due to a failure, virus or hacker with just a few clicks of the mouse. In addition to automatic recovery, the program also implements a manual version of this operation. When used, adjusting various parameters allows you to give the operation greater flexibility.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that the product has the ability to create your own emergency disk (this can be a CD or DVD, or a USB drive). You can boot from it if the operating system stops starting (or it doesn’t exist at all, for example, on a new computer), and perform all the necessary actions with the hard drive. For example, this is how you can restore the OS if you accidentally delete a system partition.

As well as, it is one of the leaders in the Russian market of software for working with hard drives. Once upon a time, this product also began as a relatively simple utility for managing hard drive partitions. However, as it developed, it acquired capabilities and turned into a multifunctional program for maintaining hard drives.

In terms of managing hard disk partitions, it has all the necessary capabilities. Using this program, you can quickly create, delete or format a partition, change its size or letter, convert to another file system, etc. Naturally, all operations are performed without loss of information recorded on the hard drive. Additionally, it implements such features as checking the integrity of the file system, testing the surface of magnetic “pancakes” and updating the master boot record. In general, you can use it to perform the entire range of work with partitions.

In addition, the product in question implements a number of additional features. First of all, it is worth noting the download management function. For this, a special manager is used, with which you can create a multiboot environment. This feature allows you to install several operating systems on your computer and control the order in which they boot.

The next additional feature is defragmentation. The program "can" optimize the placement of information on the hard drive in accordance with the user-selected parameter (for example, creation date or file size). In this case, not only the data itself is defragmented, but also the main file table, which speeds up its operation. In addition, it can optimize the allocation of space for paging and hibernation files in Windows.

Another additional function of the product in question is information backup. To do this, use the procedure for creating complete images of hard disk partitions. The resulting archives can be saved both on a local hard drive and on any removable drives. In the future, the data can be restored in its entirety (including to a new, even undamaged hard drive) or selectively. The capabilities are not enough to create a full-fledged automatic backup system. However, they are more than enough to back up the system in order to restore it after various failures.

Of course, there is also the possibility of creating rescue disks. They can be either CD/DVD/BD media or flash drives. When booting from such a disk, the user can work with hard disk partitions, as well as restore information from a previously created archive.

In addition, the product in question implements a number of other interesting features: copying individual partitions or entire hard drives, two operating modes (for beginners and advanced users), a wizard for installing Windows Vista and Windows 7 on Apple computers, and much, much more.

O&O Software GmbH is known for its defragmentation products. However, among its developments there is also a program for managing hard drives. It is called O&O Partition Manager 2. This product can work with internal and external hard drives, USB drives and flash memory cards.

Frankly speaking, O&O Partition Manager 2 does not shine with its functionality. This program allows the user to perform only basic actions with hard drive partitions: create and delete them and change their size. You cannot perform any other operations, such as changing a partition letter or converting it from one file system to another, using this product. Perhaps the only additional feature of O&O Partition Manager 2 is the function of secure deletion of information. It allows you to destroy confidential data without the possibility of recovery using special software.

Among the advantages of the product in question, note the presence of a bootable CD based on Windows PE. Having created it, the user can boot the computer from it and use all the features of O&O Partition Manager 2. In particular, this feature can help if it is necessary to partition the hard drive of a new computer.

One of the disadvantages of O&O Partition Manager 2 is the English-language interface. In principle, program management is quite simple and straightforward, and therefore experienced users will not have any difficulties. But for those who are just starting to master the computer, the Russian language of the interface and help system is still very desirable. Moreover, in such a program, the incorrect use of which can lead to very unpleasant consequences.

Active Partition Manager is a freely distributed, that is, free partition manager. It can work with internal and external hard drives, as well as flash drives. True, the functionality of Active Partition Manager leaves much to be desired. With its help, you can only create, delete and format partitions, as well as view information about them and change some attributes (for example, a letter), but cannot resize them. If the user needs to reduce or enlarge a partition, he will have to first delete it and then create another in its place (of course, if there is enough free space). It is clear that in this case all information will be lost.

Among the advantages of Active Partition Manager, it is worth noting that it is free and has a function for restoring an accidentally deleted partition. In some cases, this procedure can be of significant assistance to the user. Disadvantages, in addition to small functionality, include support for only three file systems (FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS), as well as the inability to work with the program in the absence of an operating system or its failure. More precisely, Active Partition Manager can be included in a special boot disk along with other Active products. But to create it you need to purchase a special program.

Let's sum it up

For ease of comparison of the reviewed products, we have summarized all their features in a single table.

Basic partition management features

Advanced partition management capabilities

Download Manager

Partition recovery

Disc editor

Defragmentation

Creating partition images

Availability of boot disk

Interface

Russian-speaking

Russian-speaking

English-speaking

English-speaking

License

commercial

commercial

commercial

free

Looking at the table, it is very easy to draw conclusions. In terms of functionality, the products and . In addition to directly managing partitions, each of these programs has a whole set of additional service capabilities. It is clear that it is better to purchase such a “kit”, which can be useful for solving a number of problems, than to buy a simple utility with a limited set of functions for the same money. We must not forget about the Russian-language interface with a detailed help system. Their presence also makes them the best choice for inexperienced computer users. It is necessary to understand that errors in partition management can lead to undesirable consequences, for example, the loss of important information.

True, it was not possible to identify a clear leader among these two products. Both programs cope well with their tasks and are easy to use. Their cost is almost the same. Therefore, when choosing a solution, we can advise you to pay attention to their additional capabilities. In this regard, they are developing in slightly different directions. If the function of recovering deleted partitions and a disk editor are important to you, then you should choose the first product. If you prefer the presence of defragmentation and the ability to create images, then choose the second option. Boxed versions are published and distributed by 1C in the 1C Distribution line of publications. Buy or can be purchased from 1Soft partners.

Marat Davletkhanov

All rights reserved. For questions regarding the use of this article, please contact: [email protected]


The hard drive stores all the files on your computer. The operation of each program and even the operating system itself depends largely on the operation of your hard drive. Therefore, it is important that it is in perfect condition and optimized.

Optimizing your hard drive in Windows 7

Disk optimization is a complex process that involves several steps. These steps differ depending on whether you are using an SSD drive or an HDD drive.

Advanced Disk Cleanup in Windows 7

The first step in optimizing disk performance should be cleaning it. Temporary files and other garbage accumulate on the disk over time and slow down its performance. To remove them, we will use the Disk Cleanup system utility. We do the following:


In addition, you can delete additional files in the “Clean up system files” section. But that's not all. You can access advanced disk cleanup by entering the command at the command prompt. To do this:


Disk defragmentation in Windows 7

Defragmentation of the hard drive is the basis for its optimization. If over time your drive begins to work slower than before, and the response when opening files and launching programs has become significantly faster, then your hard drive needs to be defragmented. This process itself consists of moving file fragments towards each other for faster access to them. The need for defragmentation arises when these pieces, during active use of the disk, end up being written to different parts of the disk.


During the defragmentation process, all red areas will appear nearby, providing quick access to the file

Disk defragmentation should be done as needed. Before defragmentation, you should allow the utility to analyze the fragmentation of all partitions and issue a report. If the share of fragmented files is 10% or more, then it is worth defragmenting them, but if it is less than 10%, then you can postpone defragmentation.

By default, automatic defragmentation is enabled in the Windows 7 operating system. It is set to Wednesday and turns on at night. However, depending on your computer work schedule, this may not be enough or the defragmentation process may be interrupted by you. In this case, you need to start it manually. This is done as follows:


It is worth mentioning that defragmentation is a rather long process. You may have to wait for several hours.

Video: how to defragment a disk on Windows 7

Optimizing an SSD on Windows 7

If you have an SSD drive, the situation is slightly different. It does not require defragmentation, and the system takes this into account. Automatic defragmentation will not occur when using an SSD drive. But in the case of such a drive, there are a number of other actions that can help increase the speed of the disk. And instead of manually setting up an SSD drive, it will be easier to use a special program - SSD Mini Tweaker.

After downloading the program from the Internet and downloading it, do the following:

The complex setup of your SSD drive has been completed. Of course, you can configure most of these options yourself, but it will take much more time. And you can also get information about each option that this program changes if you read the help data.


In the help you will find information about all SSD settings

Video: how to configure a system for an SSD using SSD Mini Tweaker

Disk Management utility

To configure the disk, you may need to access Disk Management. With its help, you can change the drive letter, divide the drive into virtual volumes, or, conversely, merge them together, which can be convenient for creating a separate partition for the operating system. In the future, this can help avoid losing important data and provide the opportunity to format the partition without the risk of deleting necessary files.


To interact with the disk, use the context menu: it is called up by clicking the right mouse button

To open the Disk Management Manager in Windows 7, just call the “Run” menu by pressing the Win + R key combination and enter the command “diskmgmt.msc” there.


Enter the command "diskmgmt.msc" and click "OK"

Actions in the dispatcher itself are performed mainly using the context menu. That is, just select the required disk and call up the menu by clicking the right mouse button.

Hard drive bug fixes

Let's figure out how to solve the most common errors that can occur with your hard drive.

The disk is defined as dynamic foreign (unspecified)

If in the manager you find that the disk is not defined as basic, but as dynamic with the annotation “undefined” or “foreign”, then most likely you will not be able to access the data on this disk.


Dynamic foreign disk will not work properly

This error can be corrected using special programs. To fix it, we will need to convert the dynamic disk back to a basic one, and this can be done using the free TestDisk program or the paid Acronis Disk Director. The capabilities of a paid program, of course, are much wider, and we will use its example to analyze this process. Do the following:


Of course, if the problem occurs on the disk with the operating system installed, you will not be able to access it. The solution here is simple - insert the disk into another computer as an additional one and perform all the actions you need, and then return it to its place when the disk is restored.

Video: working with Acronis Disk Director

Windows 7 has detected a hard drive failure

If, during any check, the system displays a message about problems with the hard drive, the first thing you should do is create a backup copy of the necessary files. While your drive is still functioning, copy all the necessary files from the drive to another drive or upload them to the cloud. This may help you salvage these files later if the problems get worse.

You can determine which disk you have a problem with by carefully studying the error message. The letter designation of the virtual disk partition will be indicated there.


At the bottom of the notification you will see a drive letter

The error could occur for the following reasons:

  • The problems appeared directly with the drive itself. This may be due to physical damage or contamination. In this case, it is recommended to take your drive to a service center for diagnostics and troubleshooting;
  • problems with the operating system. If certain system files are damaged by viruses, the error may appear on its own without any reason from the disk. In this case, it is recommended to scan the system with anti-virus programs, and then restore damaged files using the installation disk.

Regardless of the cause of the problem, the best thing you can do is back up your files in advance. If the error message continues to appear and you want to get rid of it, you can disable the disk diagnostic system. This is done as follows:


Formatting a disk to install the Windows 7 operating system

To make the disk work more efficiently, when reinstalling Windows, it is recommended to format it, that is, completely clear the disk of files on it. You can format the disk directly during the installation of Windows 7. Be sure to make backup copies of all necessary files, since formatting will completely delete them. To start formatting:


Thus, formatting is carried out quickly and without any special frills. In addition, it is possible to perform formatting using special programs. For example, this option is available in the Acronis Disk Director program mentioned above. The program must be written to disk, and the disk itself must be selected as the boot device. This can be done in the Boot BIOS menu or by pressing the corresponding key when turning on the computer (depending on the version of your BIOS).


Install CD/DVD as the first Boot device

After the disk with the program is loaded, do the following:


Disk programs

There are many programs that can help you optimize, clean, or do other things with your drives. Let's look at the capabilities of some of them.

CCleaner disk cleaning program

Disk Cleanup involves removing temporary files and installed applications of the user's choosing. A good cleaning program can remove your browser cache and temporary files of various programs, and perform system diagnostics. And one of the best programs in this area is CCleaner. This program has the following features:

  • automation of system cleaning;
  • completely harmless and safe cleaning of temporary files, as well as analysis of registry damage and its correction;
  • works with all popular browsers.

The program's interface is simple and convenient, suitable for beginners who want to regularly clean their computer of junk. In addition, the free version of the program is not reduced in functionality and has the same capabilities as the paid one.

CCleaner will help you configure startup applications, which will also speed up your computer.


CCleaner is a popular disk cleaning program

Video: CCleaner and its main functions

Hard drive cloning program EaseUS Disk Copy

In this case, cloning means transferring information from one disk to another. This can be extremely useful when reinstalling the system. EaseUS Disk Copy is an excellent free solution for this task. It is different:

  • the ability to work with any operating system;
  • support for disks up to terabyte in size;
  • high cloning speed;
  • simple interface for novice users;
  • support for dynamic disks.

In general, it copes well with the task for which it was created, and its only serious disadvantage is the lack of Russian in the program.


EaseUS Disk Copy - disk cloning program

Recovering disk partitions using Starus Partition Recovery

If a hard drive partition is damaged, one of the special recovery programs - Starus Partition Recovery - can help. She does this job well. The main features of this program:

  • deep disk scanning for damage;
  • recovery of partitions that have been damaged or deleted;
  • recovery of information on any type of media;
  • comprehensive disk analysis.

The program is considered simple and effective among users.


Starus Partition Recovery can recover damaged partitions of your disk

Disk drive emulation program DAEMON Tools

If you are planning to reinstall the system, you cannot do without a flexible tool for creating virtual disks. DAEMON Tools Lite or another version of DAEMON Tools will help you create an installation disk or make virtual disks. The program also makes it possible to create several virtual drives at once and use them simultaneously.

This program is easy to use, and the limitations of the free version of the program are not too noticeable.


DAEMON Tools - a program for creating and using virtual disks

Video: review of DAEMON Tools Lite

It's important to know how to configure your hard drive to work efficiently. The disk optimization process is not a one-time process, and actions to improve its performance must be carried out from time to time throughout the life of the device. Now you know how easy and simple it is to improve the performance of your drive with the Windows 7 operating system.

After purchasing a computer or installing a new hard drive, as a rule, you will only have 1 partition on it. We’ll talk about this today: how to divide a hard drive into 2 or more partitions. This example will be given on Windows 7 OS through the operating system, without installing additional software.

How many sections should there be:

For Windows 7 to work correctly, 1 partition “drive C” is enough. The system is installed on it and it doesn’t need anything else because... it has all the necessary folders. But, from the point of view of convenience and personal safety, it is recommended to have at least 2 partitions: drive “C” and drive “D”. Why 2? It's simple! It is advisable to leave drive C only for windows and programs, and use drive D for games, music, movies, photos, etc. Thus, in the event of a failure and reinstallation of Windows, all important information will not be affected.

How to split drive C into multiple drives

In order to partition the disk, open: Start Menu, Control Panel. Next we will have to work with the “System and Security” tab.

That's it, we've come to the right place and you should see a window like this:

To see which partitions are already installed, open Disk Management. The operating system is usually located on the C drive, so you need to be careful when working with it.

To split drive “C” into partitions, right-click on it and select “Shrink Volume”.

In the new window that opens, enter the desired size of the new partition:

Now click “create”. In the window that opens, enter what volume you want.

In the new window, on the unallocated area, right-click and select “create simple volume” as below:

Ready. You can start working, but it is advisable to restart your computer.

Program for partitioning HDD into partitions

Personally, I prefer to do without third-party programs; if it is possible to do it using Windows, I do so. I have already written above how to partition a HDD without a program, now let’s look at an alternative method using third-party software.

For example, I took the simplest, free and very convenient program “disk manager free”

I uploaded it to Yandex disk, you can download for free— https://yadi.sk/d/c0A22sBs3ReiFh

Installation and use are as simple as doors. To partition a disk, you need to do everything the same as in the example above without programs. As you can see, it is of no use, in my opinion, and it is better to do everything as in the example above, without downloading anything.

Good afternoon

For some reason, many users believe that the heart of the computer is the processor (for some game lovers, the video card). But purely in my opinion, the most important piece of hardware in a computer/laptop is the hard drive (HDD).

Whatever the breakdown of the hardware (if it is not related to the disk), by replacing and repairing it, you will restore your work and continue it as if nothing had happened.

But if the hard drive “flies”, then restoring the data is not always easy... Okay, lyrics, on this page I want to collect the most necessary and useful programs for working with the hard drive. I present only the most popular and relevant programs, which I have used myself more than once or twice.

I really like this utility for its clarity and focus on novice users. All you need to do is install the program, after a while you will learn:

  • state of the “health” of your disk in percentage terms;
  • status about its performance;
  • temperature;
  • how much actual time it worked (not to be confused with age and date of manufacture).

The utility operates in constant mode (minimized in the tray, next to the clock), and when alarm signals appear, it will notify you in time. What else do inexperienced users need for diagnostics?!

Note : not only work on a PC is supported, but also on laptops, netbooks, etc. SSD drives are also supported.

One of the most renowned utilities for testing and diagnosing disks. The program allows you to test: HDD, FDD, CD/DVD, USB/Flash/SCSI.

Main functions:

  • viewing complete information about the drive;
  • support for IDE/SATA controllers;
  • tests to check the “mechanics” of the disk;
  • SMART monitor;
  • low-level formatting and much more.

In general, I must admit that the program is not very friendly and simple for novice users. It must be used with caution - here, more than ever, it is correct: “if you don’t know, don’t press!”

Developer's website: http://mhddsoftware.com/

A very popular free program for diagnosing hard drives. Allows for fairly accurate diagnostics of fur. parts of drives, view SMART attributes, identify defective sectors (note: bad blocks), it contains various tests, and other useful functions.

An excellent program for testing disks. Its main advantage over MHDD and Victoria (discussed above) is support for all drives with a wide variety of interfaces: ATA/ATAPI/SATA, SSD, SCSI and USB.

By the way, the program does not work under Windows; to run it, you need to burn bootable media (flash drive or CD/DVD disk), and after booting from it, run the utility.

A very high-quality utility for checking HDDs and SSDs for bad sectors, viewing S.M.A.R.T., for setting up special... parameters (power management, acoustic mode adjustment, etc.).

The hard drive temperature can be displayed on the taskbar (to be aware of how things are going ☺).

Supported drives:

  • HDD with ATA/SATA, SCSI, USB, FireWire or IEEE 1394 interface;
  • SSD with ATA/SATA interface;
  • RAID arrays with ATA/SATA/SCSI interface;
  • Flash drives with USB interface.

A decent program for monitoring the status of hard drives that support S.M.A.R.T technology.

The program displays detailed information about your drives: interface, total operating time, firmware, serial number, standard, allows you to manage AAM/APM settings (useful when your drive is very noisy), displays S.M.A.R.T. parameters. (reading errors, track search time, number of on-off cycles, performance, spindle starts/stops, sector errors, etc.).

Cleaning HDD from debris

Advanced System Care

One of the best programs for cleaning your computer from junk, fixing errors, editing the registry, removing incorrect shortcuts, etc. Allows you to tidy up your Windows in a few minutes and make it work much faster.

Using the program is very simple: just install and run. In my example below, I did just that - it turned out that there were enough problems (although I regularly use wizards to clean up Windows...).

Also note that after installing Advanced SystemCare, a special manager appears in the upper right corner of the screen: it shows the current CPU and RAM load (in percentage). Thanks to this manager, you can take screenshots, watch disk, memory, processor load, perform quick cleaning, and diagnostics. In general, it replaces the task manager...

CCleaner

A free utility for comprehensive cleaning of your Windows. Cleans various garbage: temporary unnecessary files, “residues” from deleted programs, browsing history in browsers (all popular ones are supported: Firefox, Opera, Chrome, etc.).

There is a portable version: which does not require installation. The program works in all popular versions of Windows: XP, 7, 8, 10.

Wise Disk Cleaner

This program allows you to deep clean your Windows system and hard drive from various debris. No other utility will find as much garbage as Wise Disk Cleaner finds!

In addition to its main purpose, the program has a built-in defragmenter. Defragmentation carried out after cleaning has a very good effect on the responsiveness and performance of the hard drive.

Wise Disk Cleaner has a convenient and pleasant interface: all the main tabs are located at the top; by clicking on one of them, you can quickly complete the current task. In general, only positive emotions from such software ☺!

Formatting, breakdown - working with sections

A very convenient and multifunctional program for working with hard drives. Its capabilities are more than enough for the average user, here you have: resizing a partition (without formatting), moving a disk partition, joining (merging) partitions (without losing information), deleting a partition, formatting, backup wizard, migration wizard from HDD to SSD and much more.

What especially deserves attention: all operations with disks are performed using a step-by-step wizard, which at each stage will tell you what is being used for what. Also, most disk operations occur without data loss (unless the program warns otherwise).

Aomei Partition Assistant - what can be done with the HDD partition

Acronis Disk Director

A very powerful and reliable tool for managing disks and volumes on a computer. Main functions: split and merge disk volumes, disk formatting (all popular file systems are supported: FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, Exts, Ext3, Reiser3, Linux or SWAP), recovery of accidentally deleted volumes, ability to download the program offline (without using Windows - for this you need to prepare a bootable USB flash drive in advance), etc.

MiniTool Partition Wizard

A very convenient machine for working with a hard drive: it allows you to perform the entire list of operations that an ordinary PC user might need.

Main functions:

  • Windows Migration Wizard to another disk/partition (convenient, for example, when migrating Windows from HDD to SSD);
  • Partition Copy Wizard;
  • recovery wizard;
  • merging, formatting, splitting, deleting partitions;
  • Russian language support;
  • Works in all popular Windows: 7, 8, 10.

EASEUS Partition Master Free

The best free solution for Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, which will help you create, delete, resize, transfer, expand, split, format, clone partitions of any disks: HDD, SSD, USB media (flash drives, disks etc.), memory cards, and other storage media.

The program allows you to change the file system (from FAT32 to NTFS) without data loss, change the MBR disk layout to GPT or the reverse operation - GPT disk layout to MBR (also without data loss).

In general, it is a convenient and indispensable manager for working with disks (certainly more convenient than the built-in Windows wizard...).

Defragmentation

If, when opening some files from the disk, your PC begins to think, does it slowly and not immediately, then in the most harmless case, this is to blame fragmentation. To correct this mess, you need to carry out the reverse operation - defragmentation(such a tautology ☻).

Defragmentation- the process of optimizing information storage on disk to ensure a continuous sequence of clusters. In general, if we step back from unclear terms, then after defragmentation your disk starts working faster: reading and writing files speeds up. Thanks to this, your programs become more responsive, and it becomes more pleasant to work on such a PC!

Windows, by the way, has its own defragmentation wizard, but in my opinion, it does not work perfectly... Therefore, I will give a couple of necessary utilities.

Auslogics Disk Defrag

Despite its compact size, this utility will give a head start to many competitors! The program works very quickly, optimizes the file system, which speeds up your work. Needless to say, the program is used by more than 11 million users around the world!

Main functions:

  • defragments files and unused space on the HDD;
  • When defragmenting, special attention is paid to system files (which affects performance);
  • you can defragment specific files (there are not many programs where there is a data feature);
  • the ability to work in the background (i.e., unnoticed by you);
  • free for home use!

A free and small utility for defragmenting HDDs, USB drives, memory cards, floppy disks. By the way, the program makes it very convenient to set the startup time - you can set up a work schedule so that the disk is analyzed and defragmented when you are not working on the PC.

Main functions of MyDefrag:

  • there is a version that works from the command line (does not need installation);
  • 2 algorithms for defragmentation;
  • there is a task scheduler;
  • The standard version of the program is automated and will not take you a minute of time to set up.

A free defragmenter from the manufacturer of the CCleaner utility (Piriform Ltd). The program allows you to work both with an entire disk partition and with individual files and folders.

After analyzing the desired hard drive partition: the program will display a list of fragmented files. You can select the ones you need, and Defraggler will quickly optimize their placement. As a result, you don’t waste time defragmenting the entire disk (in general, in some cases it’s very convenient!).

The page will be updated with new software as you work with the site.

Additions on the topic of the article are welcome!

From time to time, users want to redistribute free space on their hard drive. This happens in cases where, for example, one has already run out of space, while the other still has quite a lot of it. To divide free space without any problems, it is recommended to look at special editing software. In principle, you can try to do all the work using standard Windows tools, but it is better to use software that was developed specifically for these purposes. Although there are many different applications that you can download, we will describe only a few of them that have gained immense popularity.

One of the best is undoubtedly a hard drive partitioning program called Partition Magic. The software boasts many positive qualities and advantages, among which are a convenient and intuitive interface, as well as rich functionality. Its capabilities are very great; it can move information, change, merge, delete, and also create new sections.

Among other things, the free Partition Magic program is designed to work with all known file systems, including NTFS, FAT and FAT32. You will be able to convert one system to another without losing data. In general, if you need a high-quality and useful one that will quickly cope with any tasks related to working with hard drives, then you should definitely study Partition Magic - you will really like the software.


Also called Paragon Partiton Manager. The software is distinguished by its high speed of performing all separation operations. At the same time, its functionality allows you to convert file systems, solve loading problems, and backup individual files and entire disks. Unfortunately, it can only be installed on Windows, which forces all other users to find an alternative.


Finally, let's talk about the cool Acronis Disk Director utility - a full-fledged software package that includes a large number of important components - a partition manager for moving, copying, deleting, merging. In addition, if installed, users will be able to recover partitions on the hard drive if they were lost as a result of a system failure.