Create multiple drives from a single massive disk to manage your data in the Windows 11 PC.
The majority of the time, when you buy a new computer or connect an entirely newly installed Hard Drive to your computer it will come with just one partition. However, it’s recommended to have 3 or more partitions on your hard drive due to various reasons. The larger storage capacity your drive has,, the more partitions you will be able to have.
In Windows, the partitions that make up a Hard Drive are referred to as Drives. They usually include a letter in it to indicate. You can create, shrink, or resize partitions, and much more. It’s a simple process and utilizes an integrated Disk Management tool.
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Why Create Partitions of a Hard Drive?
Making partitions on a hard Drive can benefit you in many ways. It is always advised to keep your Operating System or the system files on its own partition or drive. If you need the need to restart your PC, if you keep your OS on an independent drive, the other data could be saved by formatting the drive in which you have the OS has been installed.
In addition to the above reason that installing games and programs on the same drive as the operating system you are running, can ultimately slow your PC. Labeling partitions aids in organizing your the files. When your drive large enough, you need to make several partitions.
How Many Disk Partitions Should You Make?
The number of partitions on your hard drive should you create is based upon the capacity of your hard drive that you are using on your PC. It is generally recommended to create 3 partitions on the hard disk. One partition is to be used by your Operating System, one is for your applications like games and software, and the third partition is reserved for personal files such as media or documents.
If you are using a smaller hard drive, such as 128GB or 256GB, you shouldn’t create any additional partitions. This is due to the fact that it is suggested to install your OS on an internal drive that has at least 120-150GB of capacity. However when you have the 500GB-to-2TB Hard Drive create the partitions that you require.
Partitioning the hard Drive within Windows 11 using Disk Management application
The procedure of creating partitions on the hard drive is well-organized and is also quite simple. A brand new hard drive will come without a partition or Drive. Drives are partitions of the hard disk. If there are two partitions on your drive, your computer will display two drives within the File Explorer window.
Create Unallocated Space by Shrinking the Drive
To successfully create an entirely new partition or drive first, you need reduce the existing one in order to make space that is not allocated. The space that is not allocated to the Hard Drive cannot be used. It must be allocated as a brand new drive in order to create partitions.
Then first, press the Windows button to open Windows Search and type ‘disk partitions’. Choose ‘Create and format partitions on disks’ from the results of the search.
This will open your Disk Management window. The window provides information on your current drives or partitions. Disk 0, Disk 1 represents the number of partitions or drives you have. Disk 0, Disk 1 indicates the number of storage units, like hard Drives as well as Solid State Drives you have installed.
To shrink a Drive, first, select the box that is the one you want to reduce. It will display diagonal patterns within the box, which indicates that you’ve selected the drive you want to shrink.
Then, right-click it and choose ‘Shirnk Volume’. …’.
An additional window should open in which you can choose the amount you would like the disk to be reduced. You can decide the amount of space you want to remove from the chosen drive. To demonstrate we’ll use 100000, which is approximately 97.5GB and then click “Shrink”.
Today, 97.66 GB of unallocated space is now available. This space is now used to create a brand new disk or partition.
Create an entirely new Drive from the unallocated Space
To convert an unallocated space into a brand new drive, click the box labeled ‘Unallocated’ in Disk Management window, and then select the ‘New Simple Volume’ …’ choice from the contextual menu.
The “New Simple Volume Wizard” window will appear. Click the Next button to continue.
In the Specify Volume Size step, leave the default settings if you want to create a new drive using all of the space that is not allocated or alter the size of your volume to reserve some space to create a new partition. After that, click the next button.
Click on the Next button to continue or, if you prefer to, you can select any alphabet to be used on the new drive by selecting it from the menu of dropdowns.
The next step is to assign the new drive a name by entering it into the field ‘Volume label. After that, click the button ‘Next.
Then, click “Finish” to create the new drive.
Now you will be able to view the newly created partition or drive in the Disk Management window.
Increasing Size of a Drive by Deleting Another Drive on the Disk
If you want to expand the size of an existing drive, you may accomplish this by deleting a drive that is not being used and then using the space left behind by the drive that was deleted to increase the size of a different drives on the disk.
NOTE: Before you delete the partition, ensure that you’ve moved the files that it holds or have created backup.
First start first the Disk Management app by searching for it on the Start Menu. Select the option to create and format hard partitions’ from the results of your search to start the application .
In the Disk Management window, create an unallocated space if it doesn’t already have it. You can do this by eliminating an existing drive that you don’t require.
To erase the disk, click on the drive and choose “Delete Volume …’ option” from the contextual menu.
There will be a prompt for you to confirm the removal of your drive. Select the “Yes” option to verify.
After the drive has been deleted there will be an the space that was allocated as ‘Unallocated’ on the disk that is exactly the size as the one that you deleted.
To increase the size of a drives on your disk click on it with a right mouse button you want to expand and choose the “Extend Volume” from the contextual menu.
In the ‘Extend Volume Wizard Window. Click on ‘Next’.
The space that is not allocated will be selected automatically. Simply click the ‘Next button’ to continue.
Finally, click the button ‘Finish’ to complete the procedure.
You will notice that the space not allocated is added to the selected drive, and the capacity has been increased.
It is the way you can create new partitions on the Hard Drive or add merge two partitions to create one within Windows 11.