One not very wonderful day, after another trip outside the house with his old laptop, he suddenly refused to work and “ordered to live a long time.” As an engineer from the service center later explained to me, one of the key chips on the motherboard had failed, and ordering a replacement would have been comparable in price to a new laptop.

There is nothing to do - I looked around and bought myself a new copy with a fairly balanced configuration and not too steep in price. Here, in fact, a situation arose that became the motive for writing this post.

I was surprised to discover that the laptop’s hard drive was already divided into two logical partitions, the first of which, as usual now, had the Windows 7 (64-bit) operating system installed. Everything seems to be correct, on an old laptop I once had to create partitions myself from the only default system drive. However, the hard drive turned out to be divided exactly in half, and given that its declared size was 500 GB, as much as 250 GB were allocated for the system disk, which was clearly a lot, 5 times more than required in the case of modest requests to the installed software.

It is possible that not everyone had to be closely interested in this topic and then the problem will not be entirely clear: “Well, just think, the system disk is large, so fill its empty space with data, what difference does it make where to store it.” Let me explain, just in case, what’s going on here.

The operating system on a computer is akin to a living organism: it lives its own life, constantly acquires additions and updates, and often gets sick. And sometimes it happens that the virus or viruses it picks up turns out to be so indestructible that the best anti-virus remedy is a complete restoration of the system partition from its pre-saved image - a specially created backup archive of the entire logical drive. Therefore, if you also store your data on the system disk, then firstly, the saved image will become too large, and secondly, such saves will have to be done too often (if you want to have fresh backup copies of your data), and this procedure is not very fast.

Therefore, the task arose: to change the distribution of space on the hard drive among its logical partitions (as they say, its “partitioning”) while preserving the data already on them and at the same time create a backup copy of the system partition, which is then periodically updated. Nothing special, but the caveat was that I decided to try to do all this exclusively with the help of free programs that I could find on the Internet.

The search didn't take too long. We managed to find several worthy alternatives to well-known commercial products such as Partition Magic or Acronis True Image, and even many descriptions of how to use them step by step, in Russian. After reading the descriptions on the manufacturers’ websites, the impressions of those who have already used them and weighing all the pros and cons, I chose the following finalists:

Step one is to create a backup copy of the partition. The program was perfect for this mission EaseUS Todo Backup Free(http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm). The availability of a free version of this program for use in business enterprises also deserves special note, which will undoubtedly please the owners of any companies who understand the importance of backing up their data.

Step two is the main one, for which everything was started, repartitioning the logical drives. I chose as a tool MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition(http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html) from the Canadian company MiniTool Solution Ltd. To be even more precise, I used a version of this program that runs from a separate CD and thus does not require installation on a computer - MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable CD.

All the steps - creating a backup of the system partition and re-partitioning the hard drive - were completed without any surprises: I made a backup copy of the system disk in the form of an image, reduced the size of drive C to 60 GB, and attached the rest of the free space to drive D.

Both programs had an intuitive interface, so you didn’t even need to read the documentation available in English. By the way, many detailed step-by-step descriptions of using these programs in Russian were found on the Internet.

Hello friends, today I want to write a review of an interesting program from foreign developers called MiniTool Partition Wizard. I’ll say right away that the program allows you to work with disks. Now we’ll talk about what it is, what capabilities it has.

New review of version 10.2 -
Backup utility -

Why is the MiniTool utility needed?

So, the MiniTool Partition Wizard program is a disk manager that contains many features and functions for working with disk partitions. There are several versions of this program; the more expensive version you choose, the more functions will be available to you.

What can the program do? It can merge partitions, convert disks, delete or format partitions, and has secure erase.

Features of Partition Wizard

• Ability to convert drive from and vice versa.
• Ability and vice versa.
• Copy volumes.
• Copy boot disks.
• UEFI boot support.
• Supports disks with 4 KB sectors.
• Changes the cluster size without affecting the data.
• Merge partitions without damage.

And this is just a small part of the functions that are available in the program.

As I said above, there are several editions of this utility.

Free Edition. Free version, which includes standard functions of formatting, converting, resizing partitions and more.

Professional Edition. The same functions are available, plus it allows you to create bootable CDs or flash drives. This is useful if problems arise with the operating system and you cannot work with disks. There are more features than in the free version.

Server Edition. This type of program can be used in a commercial environment. A version has been developed for Windows Server and Windows PC, all functions of previous versions are available.

Enterprise Edition. This version is aimed at enterprises, but almost the same functions are available. Can be used on an unlimited number of computers.

Technician Edition. This version has no restrictions and is suitable for all types of Windows OS, absolutely all functions are available. The version costs $699.

Bootable CD. A special program for creating bootable CDs, the same as in the built-in functions of previous versions.

Thus, we have analyzed the program for working with disks. You can download MiniTool Partition Wizard for Windows XP, 7, 8 and Windows 10. The interface is very nice and simple, everything is intuitive. If you have any questions, you can go to the official website of the program and find out information from the developers.

Formatting a hard drive is the process of forming a new file table and creating a partition. This deletes all data on the disk. There may be many reasons for carrying out such a procedure, but the result is the same: we get a clean disk that is ready for work or further editing. We will format the disk in the MiniTool Partition Wizard program. It is a powerful tool that helps the user create, delete and edit partitions on hard drives.

1. Run the downloaded installation file, click "Further".

2. Accept the license terms and click the button again "Further".

3. Here you can select the installation location. It is recommended to install such software on the system disk.

4. Create shortcuts in a folder "Start". You can change, but you cannot refuse.

5. And an icon on the desktop for convenience.

6. Check the information and click "Install".

7. Done, leave a checkmark in the checkbox and click "Complete".

So, we have installed MiniTool Partition Wizard, now let's start the formatting procedure.

This article will tell you how to format an external hard drive. With a regular hard drive, you will need to perform the same steps, except that a reboot may be required. If such a need arises, the program will notify you about it.

Formatting

We will format the disk in two ways, but first we need to determine which disk will undergo this procedure.

Media Definition

Everything is quite simple here. If the external drive is the only removable media in the system, then there is no problem. If there are several media, then you will have to be guided by the size of the disk or the information recorded on it.

In the program window it looks like this:

MiniTool Partition Wizard does not automatically update information, so if the disk was connected after starting the program, it will need to be restarted.

Format operation. Method 1

1. Click on the partition on our disk and on the left, on the action panel, select "Format partition".

2. In the dialog box that opens, you can change the disk label, file system, and cluster size. Let's leave the old label and select the file system FAT32 and cluster size 32kB(for a disk of this size, exactly these clusters are suitable).

Let me remind you that if you need to store files of size 4GB and more, then FAT won't fit, just NTFS.

Click "OK".

3. We have planned the operation, now we press "Apply". The dialog box that opens contains important information that you need to disable power saving, because if the operation is interrupted, problems may arise with the disk.

Click "Yes".

4. The formatting process usually takes a little time, but this depends on the size of the disk.

The disk is formatted with a file system FAT32.

Format operation. Method 2

This method can be used if there is more than one partition on the disk.

1. Select a section and click "Delete". If there are several sections, then we perform the procedure with all sections. The partition is converted to unallocated space.

2. In the window that opens, assign a letter and label to the drive and select a file system.

Good day, readers of the blog site. How to format a hard drive or flash drive I already described it in this post. It describes the Acronis Disk Director 11 program, an excellent tool for partitioning and formatting a hard drive, but the downside is that the product is paid. You can, of course, download all sorts of cracks and keys to this program, but on this site I do not describe such actions because this is still a violation of the law, and I don’t want to break it. So, I offer you an alternative to the paid Acronis Disk Director 11 - this is Partition Wizard.

Formatting a hard drive via Partition Wizard

What is formatting, what is low-level, quick and full formatting read in this note. In this article we will learn formatting the hard drive via Partition Wizard no unnecessary theory. By the way Partition Wizard - this is an improved version of the program Partition Magic. Unlike Partition Magic , which only works from external media, Partition Wizard can format directly from Windows. Read how to format using Partition Magic.

So, with download a free program to format your hard drive You can download Partition Wizard from the developers’ website using this link. The only disadvantage of the program is the English language, but everything can be overcome, read on. The site is also in English. To translate a website, you can use, for example, these services.

Download the Home version

After installation, launch the program. We see the following.

Here we see all available disks and flash drives. In order to format, for example, a flash drive or any partition of a hard drive, you need to select it with a mouse click. In the picture above, the I:\ drive has been ripped out. Next, in the top menu of the program you need to select the button Format.

Afterwards we make formatting settings, namely:

1. You can set the drive label

2. File system, if you do not plan to store movies on disk, then you can install Fat32, although this is already an outdated disk partitioning system.

MINITOOL PARTITION

License type:

Quacked

Languages:

Windows 8, 8 64-bit, 7, 7 64-bit, Vista, Vista 64-bit, XP, XP 64-bit

Downloaded:

Creating a partition on an SD card

Do you want to handle SD cards like a pro? This guide will help you with that!

Personal SD cards are now widely used in mobile devices. They are used for the purpose of storing system and user files. The price of such cards is low, and at the same time there is a large selection of volumes. Today we will talk about migrating third-party custom applications. An SD card is perfect for this purpose.

Before transferring, you should prepare the card accordingly. We will talk in detail about creating a second partition on microSD for its subsequent use.

Preparing the SD card

First, it would be a good idea to check the card for errors, which can be done using Windows factory tools. After this, you need to find any program that allows you to create new partitions on the SD card. In this example, this will be done using MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition. This free program provides all the functions we need. You can download it from our website using this link.

Very good, now you can move on to completing the task at hand. To begin, the SD card needs to be connected to the PC. Use a card reader or any other analogue for this.

If there is important data on the card, make a backup copy before the process, otherwise the information will be deleted.

Open the MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition utility. This is what the main program window looks like.

Check if your SD card appears in the list of connected removable drives. Most likely, there will be only one partition on it, which we will now delete. Using the mouse, click on it, thereby activating it. Next, on the menu bar, click “Partition”, and then “Delete”.

After this, all free memory will be marked as “Unallocated”, that is, not allocated.

Now you need to select the unmarked area, after which we again go to the “Partition” menu, but this time click “Create”.

If you did everything correctly, the Partition Setup Wizard window will appear. Next we move on to creating a section.

Preparing Section 2

For our purposes, two sections will be enough for us:

• We will format the first partition in FAT32 and use it for user data
• Second in EXT2 - this partition will be used to transfer files

So, the last step is to launch the wizard to create partitions. Let's start creating the first of them. We should fill in all the required fields in the window that opens.

In the "Partition label" line you need to specify the name of the partition. Choose any name that suits you. Next, select Primary in the “Create As” field. In the "File System" section, you must select the format of the partition to be created. As we decided, the FAT32 format will be used. Select it from the menu. If the available SD capacity is less than 2 GB, you must select FAT. Next you need to assign the beech and cluster size. You can set these settings as you wish. After this, it remains to configure the volume of the created partition. In the "Size and Location" field you should configure three parameters:

• Unmarked area up to
• Partition size
• Unmarked area after

Also note that you need to leave space for an additional partition.

Creating partition 2 on the SD card

We don't have much left. Further, there will be no particularly difficult tasks. All that remains is to create the second section of the map, and this process is very similar to the one described above. The only difference is that we will select the EXT2 format. Fill in all fields in the same way, but instead of FAT32 or FAT, select EXT2. To use, set up all remaining space. Click "OK". After this, you will be moved to the main window of the utility. If you did it correctly, click the "Apply" button in the top left corner. Mini Tool Partition Wizard will ask you to confirm and start the process.

Press "YES" and wait for the process to complete, after which you can use the card.

Conclusion

So, as a result, our SD card has two partitions in FAT/FAT32 and EXT2 format. If we have a backup copy of information, then we can restore it to the user partition.

This is done by simple copying. You now have a second microSD partition to which you can transfer applications. We hope that you liked this instruction and found it useful.