Create and format a hard disk partition

To create a partition or volume (the two terms are often used interchangeably) on a hard disk, you must be logged in as an administrator, and there must be either unallocated disk space or free space within an extended partition on the hard disk.

If there is no unallocated disk space, you can create some by shrinking an existing partition, deleting a partition, or by using a third-party partitioning program.

Open Computer Management by selecting the Start button. The select Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.

In the left pane, under Storage, select Disk Management.

Right-click an unallocated region on your hard disk, and then select New Simple Volume.

In the New Simple Volume Wizard, select Next.

Enter the size of the volume you want to create in megabytes (MB) or accept the maximum default size, and then select Next.

Accept the default drive letter or choose a different drive letter to identify the partition, and then select Next.

In the Format Partition dialog box, do one of the following:

If you don’t want to format the volume right now, select Do not format this volume, and then select Next.

To format the volume with the default settings, select Next.

Review your choices, and then select Finish.

Note: When you create new partitions on a basic disk, the first three will be formatted as primary partitions. Beginning with the fourth, each one will be configured as a logical drive within an extended partition.

How to Create Bootable Partition from ISO in Windows 10/8/7?

Need to create a bootable partition from ISO? This article will teach you how to easily boot your Windows from ISO file in Windows 10/8/7.

By Dylan / Last Updated May 28, 2020

Scenario

Case one : “Hi, I want create a bootable partition from ISO for Windows 10, because I need to Windows 10 on other computer. Not DUAL-SYSTWM, I don’t want to install system. Anyone knows how to do that?”

-Question from Tenforums.com

Case two : “I have a valid Microsoft license for Windows 7 Home Premium for my computer. And I want to upgrade to Windows 8, someone tell me I can download Windows 8 ISO file and burn it to HDD to boot computer and install Windows 8. But I don’t know the detailed steps and I stuck at burning ISO file.»

«Any ideas what I can do?”

-Question from Microsoft.com

Nowadays, more and more people want to create a bootable hard drive from ISO to satisfy their different demands. Here, according to the two scenarios, we are going to teach you how to use a USB to create bootable partition from ISO for portable OS and make a bootable partition for installation in Windows 10/8/7.

How to create a bootable(USB) partition from ISO in Windows 10/8/7?

Making a hard drive bootable allows you to boot other computers from your familiar system. Here, we recommend a tool called AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional , whose “Windows To Go Creator” can make a Windows system USB like Windows 10/8/7, Windows XP, Windows Vista. In this way, wherever you go, you can use windows system on any computer.

Plugin a USB drive, and you can download the Demo version and follow this tutorial to see how to create a bootable partition (USB) from ISO with AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Preparations

A working computer with AOMEI Partition Assistant installed.

A USB or other external devices like HDD/SDD with at least 13GB (the larger, the better).

Back up your USB drive if there are important data on it, as it will be formatted.

Step 1. Install and open AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. In the main interface, click “All Tools” > “Windows To Go Creator” in the left panel.

Step 2. In this window, we choose “Create Windows ToGo with system disc/ISO”, if you don’t have ISO file, you can also create it with the current system, and click “Next”.

Step 3. In this window, AOMEI Partition Assistant will detect your USB drive automatically, if it doesn’t press “Refresh”. And select the ISO file, and click “OK”.

Step 4. It will pop up a window prompt that this operation will erase all data on the USB, ensure you have backed up important data, and click “Yes”.

Step 6. Press “Proceed” to start creating bootable partition from ISO with a USB drive.

AOMEI Partition Assistant is a powerful computer and disk management tool. If you encounter a boot issue, you can also create Windows PE bootable USB or CD to repair your computer. Besides, it can help you to clone system to SSD , resize/create/shrink system drive, etc.

How to create bootable (USB) partition from ISO for Windows installation?

If you want to install Windows system on other computers, but you don’t have an installation CD, then you can follow this tutorial and use a USB or HDD/SSD to create a bootable partition from ISO to install system.

To create a bootable partition from ISO for installation in Windows 10/8/7, firstly, you need to make hard drive or USB flash drive bootable. Secondly, you need to burn ISO file to the bootable USB or HDD/SSD.

Step 1. Press “Win + R” to open Run box, and input “cmd” in it and hit Enter to open Command Prompt.

Step 2. Type “disk part” and press Enter to open the Diskpart tool. Then execute the following commands one by one:

list disk

select disk n (n is the number of your external storage device)

clean

create partition primary

select partition 1

format fs=ntfs quick (if you want to create UEFI bootable USB, type “format fs=fat32 quick”)

active

Step 3. Then the partition of your USB is bootable, type “exit” and press Enter to close Diskpart. Use the following Commands and burn ISO to your USB drive

xcopy A:\*.* B: /s/e/f (replace A with the ISO file drive letter, and replace B with your USB drive letter)

D:\Boot\Bootsect /NT60 B: /force /mbr (B means the drive of your USB)

These two commands will copy ISO file to USB drive and write a bootloader to it.

Conclusion

This is how to create bootable partition from ISO in Windows 10/8/7. You are supposed to choose a method according to your need, the first method is to create a bootable USB to have a portable system, and the other one is to have a bootable USB for installing system on computer.

How to Write a New Partition Boot Sector in Windows

Use the BOOTREC Command to Fix Issues With the Partition Boot Sector

If the partition boot sector becomes corrupted or misconfigured in some way, Windows will not be able to start properly, prompting an error like BOOTMGR is Missing very early in the boot process.

The solution to a damaged partition boot sector is to overwrite it with a new, properly configured one using the bootrec command, a relatively easy process that anyone can do.

The following instructions apply only to Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista. Boot sector issues also occur in Windows XP but the solution involves a different process.

How to Write a New Partition Boot Sector in Windows 10, 8, 7 or Vista

The Command Prompt available from the Advanced Startup Options and System Recovery Options menus is similar to the one available from within Windows and works very similarly between operating systems.

At the prompt, type the bootrec command as shown below and then press Enter.

Restart your computer with Ctrl-Alt-Del or manually via the reset or power button. Depending on how you started Advanced Startup Options or System Recovery Options, you may need to remove a disc or flash drive before restarting.

Assuming that a partition boot sector issue was the only problem, Windows should start normally now. If not, continue to troubleshoot whatever specific issue you’re seeing that’s preventing Windows from booting normally.

How to Partition A Hard Drive in Windows 10 [2021 New]

Applies to: Make, create or manage hard drive partitions for free in Windows 8.1/8/7/XP/Vista and even Windows Server computers.

2 Reliable Ways toВ Partition a Hard Drive in Windows 10

Are you looking for a reliable solution to create a partition or make a partition in Windows 10/8/7? On this page, we collected two practical solutions to help you partition a hard drive in Windows 10 for free.В

Method 1.В Partition a Hard Drive with Disk Management

TIP: the coming solutions are also applicable to the question «how to partition C drive in Windows 10 without formatting». Just replace the target drive in the example with the C drive.

Step 1.В Right-clickВ theВ WindowsВ icon,В thenВ clickВ DiskВ Management.

Please check if you have unallocated space on your computer disk. If you don’t,В follow our guide step-by-step. If you do, you can directly jump to Step 4 and continue.

Step 2. Right-click the hard disk partition that you want to shrink, and select «Shrink Volume».

Step 3. Enter the amount of space you want to shrink in MB, then click on the «Shrink» button.

Wait for the process to complete, you’ll get an unallocatedВ volume.В

Step 4. Right-click on the unallocated space on your hard disk, and then select «New Simple Volume».

Step 5. In the New Simple Volume Wizard interface, click «Next».

Step 6. Enter the size of the volume you want to create in MB or accept the default size, and then select «Next».

Step 7.В Accept the default drive letter or choose a different letter for the partition, and then select «Next».

Step 8. Set the default file system as NTFS and click «Next» to format the volume.

Step 9.В Click «Finish» to complete creating a new partition in Windows 10.

Method 2. CreateВ PartitionВ in Windows 10 viaВ EaseUSВ Free Partition Manager

To some beginners, partition hard drive using Disk Management in Windows 10 is a bit complex. AВ more intelligent solution is to turn to third-partyВ free partition manager software likeВ EaseUS Partition Master Free for help.

Download EaseUS partition manager and apply it toВ create partitions in Windows 10 now:

EaseUS Partition Master Free

• Support creating, shrinking, extending, merging, moving partitions for free.В
• Support disk surface test, converting file system, formatting/deleting volumes.
• Support cloningВ hard drive,В migratingВ OS to HDD/SSD, partition recovery. (Advanced Features)

Steps toВ Partition Hard Drive (and Make Partitions)В in Windows 10 with EaseUS Partition Master:В

Step 1. Check for free space

To devide a disk partition into multiple ones, you must ensure that there is adequate free space to be allotted.

Step 2. Shrink a disk partition to create unallocated space

By doing so, start with the «Resize/Move» feature. Right-click on a partition with a lot free space and select «Resize/Move»

Drag either end of the partition rightwards or leftwards so you can shrink its size as the red arrow does, in order to get ample unallocated space. You can visually know how much space you’ve decreased in the «Partition size» area. Click «OK».

At last, you need to click the «Execute xx Operation» on the top menu and then «Apply» to save all the changes. Go back on the main window, there should be unallocated space appearing under the same disk of the shrinked one.

Step 3. Create a new partition on unallocated space

The last step is to turn the unallocated space into a usable partition drive with a recognized file system. Right-click on the unallocated space and choose «Create. «.

Customize the partition information by choosing a drive letter, partition label, file system (NTFS, FAT32, EXT2. )В and many more settings in the Advanced Settings. Click «OK».

Finally, cick «Apply» to confirm that you want to create a partition on the unallocated space. Repeat the whole steps to partition a hard drive in many more partitions.

Video Tutorial: More TipsВ to Partition a Hard Drive in Windows 10:

For more disk partition tips,В follow this video tutorial and useВ EaseUS free partition manager to partition a hard drive in Windows 10, including extending, shirking, creating, deleting, etc.В on your own.В

BonusВ Tips: HowВ To FormatВ Partition (Volume) in Windows 10

If you need to format an existing partition or changeВ the volume format to a new file system, try the following steps:В

Step 1. Press Windows + R keys to open the Run box, typeВ diskmgmt.msc, and hit Enter.

Step 2. Right-click the volume that you want to format, and then select «Format».

Step 3. To format the volume with the default settings (as NTFS), in the Format dialog box, select «OK», and then select «OK» again.

Advantages of Disk Partition in Windows 10

To most Windows users, only very few of them know the necessity and advantages of makingВ disk partitions in Windows 10/8/7. Check out the advantages of partition a hard drive on your computer.В

Advantages of Partition a Hard Drive vs. Disadvantages of Not PartitionВ Hard Drive

Advantages	Disadvantages
ManageВ data in a clean and logical way: create disk partitions as OS partition, personal data volume, and media drive, etc. GuaranteeВ data safety: isolate system files from personal data, protect dataВ fromВ OS crashingВ or system failure error.В	Endanger data easily with only one drive due toВ OS failure or reinstallation, virus infection error.В Way too complex to find and manage files with everything saved inВ one drive.

How Many Partitions Can You Make On a Hard Drive:В

• On MBR disk, you can create maximumly 4 partitions in total — 3 primary partitions + 1 extended partition, or 4 primary partitions.
• On GPT disk, you can create as many partitions withВ no limitation for the number of partitions.
• For MBR users who wish to make five partitions or more, you need to convert MBR to GPT.В

Go andВ Partition Hard Drive in Windows 10, MakeВ Use Of Your Drive NowВ

On this page, we discussedВ how to partition a hard drive in Windows 10. Based on the needs, we introduced two commonly used disk partitioning tools for Windows 10 users, including Windows Disk Management and EaseUS Partition Master Free.

As for beginners, free partition manager software — EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition is more flexible and advisable for partitioning hard drive in Windows 10/8/7.

In the end, we also talked about the necessity of disk partition. WeВ suggest that all of you Windows users take steps to make partitions on your computer so as to manage your OS data, personal documents, and other programs in a safe and sound manner.В В