How to Partition your Hard Drive

Partitioning your hard disk can be sometimes tricky. There are all those suspicions about what will happen to your existing data. Today, we are going to see how can you partition your disk even when you have some data in it. I am going to use the free tool, Mini tools partition wizard for this purpose. This tool has several other features such as Format, Delete, Merge, copy partition. Also it can check your file system also for errors.
You can download this tool at ,
http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html
Download and install this software into your computer.It supports almost all popular versions of the Microsoft Windows Operating systems.

Before starting out its important to know what it means to partition your hard disk.
Disk partitioning is process of dividing the storage space of a hard disk drive into separate data areas. These separate data areas are known as partitions. A partition editor program can be used to create, delete or modify these partitions. You must be careful while choosing the size of the partition as it can affect the data you have on it and the file system already installed.

I am going to partition a disk into two on a Windows 7 system with NTFS file system. I have some data in my drive and want to make sure the your data is safe after partition.

The steps are as follows,

1) Its a good practice to back up your data on the drive before actually getting into the process as a precaution. After all, computers are dumb machines.

2) Even if you don't want to, not to worry much because, Mini Tools has an option of Enhanced Data Protection mode which makes sure you data will be safe in case some thing unexpected happens.

3) Make sure you defragment your hard drive before starting the partition operation. Because, Windows has this tendency to scatter the program files into different sectors on your hard drive. Defragmentation re-arranges the data in a more orderly format. This can also significantly increase the performance of the programs.

4) Now, we are all set to partition the hard disk.

5) Go to start -> All Programs -> Click and launch MiniTools Partition wizard.

6) It will display all your drives and the size, usage and many other features.

7) Right click on the drive you want to partition.

8) Select the Move/ReSize option.

9) Make sure Using Enhanced Data Protection Mode option is checked.

10) Select the slider and drag it towards left to resize your partition.

11) Stop at the size where you want to limit your current partition to.

12) The three bozes below the slider will show the selected space.

a) Unallocate space before will always be 0MB.

b) Partition size will be the total size of your partition. This will reduce to the size you choose.

c) UnAllocated space After will show the remaining free space which you can use to create a new partition.

13) Now click ok.

14) And you will see the existing partition reduced in size and the unallocated space partition also.

15) Right Click on unallocated space and click on create option.

16) In the next window, Name your partition, select drive letter and choose the file system and click ok.

17) Click on Apply on the top left corner of the Mini Tools Wizard.

Thats it. It creates a new partition for you with the attributes you have assigned.
Happy Partitioning.