Download the hdd program. Hard disk service - an overview of the best partitioning software

The hard drive on your computer and the disk icon in My Computer are different concepts. For example, a computer might have one hard drive, while My Computer might have several. The reason for this strange inconsistency is that the hard drive can be divided into so-called partitions. This is called logical disk layout.

I will talk about why such markup is needed, how to do it correctly (and whether it should be done at all), and also talk about free programs for such a delicate procedure.

Why you need to divide your hard drive into partitions

There are several reasons for dividing a hard disk into partitions:

Partitions on a hard disk are primarily needed for competent storage of information. For example, some users prefer the following division: the operating system and programs on the same disk (usually C), documents - on the second ( D), archive of photos on the third ( E) etc. In this case, the hard drive may well be one.
If you have one hard drive, but you want to have two or more operating systems, you will have to divide the hard drive into partitions, since Windows and other operating systems can only be installed on different partitions or hard drives.
Laptop manufacturers (and some computers from well-known manufacturers, such as Acer) have their own reason to divide hard disk partitions: on a partition that is visible as a disk C, Windows is installed, the second ( D) is absolutely empty, and the third one (which is not visible in any way in the "My Computer" window) stores a compressed copy of the partition C... This hidden section hard drive called recovery partition... If something happened to the operating system ("Windows flew" - as some users like to say), then when you turn on the laptop, just press the key combination (which one - see the instructions for the laptop) and a special program will clear the disk C, then unpacks the contents of the hidden section there. As a result, the user will receive a laptop with the programs that were originally on it at the time of purchase in the store. Disk D it will not be changed. The conclusion suggests itself: if all documents are stored on a laptop with such a recovery system not on drive C, a only on D, it will be possible at any time to restore damaged Windows with a brand new one, without losing important data for yourself. By the way, any advanced user can make such a recovery system for himself, but I'll tell you about it some other time.
Operating systems Windows 7 and Windows 8, when installed on a clean, "unpartitioned" hard drive, create a hidden partition with a size of 100-350 megabytes. This small section contains the bootloader, which is, oddly enough, to boot Windows. This section will not be there or its contents will be damaged - and the computer will not start operating system, having issued an inscription on a black screen "Boot fail", "Cannot find boot device", "Boot error" or similar, the meaning of which is the same - the boot disk with the operating system was not found. Actually, the bootloader can be stored on disk. C:, and / or hidden sectors of hard disk (outside the partitions), but the developers decided to use a separate hidden partition in Windows 7/8 in order to somehow protect the bootloader from being damaged by other programs, viruses or the user.
There are other reasons too separation of hard disk into partitions. For example, for the correct operation of GNU / Linux operating systems, several partitions should be created, but this is a topic for a separate article, we will not consider them here.

So, The main reasons for partitioning a hard drive are: for the convenience of storing information, for installing several operating systems, for the recovery system, for storing Windows bootloader 7/8.

A bit of theory: file systems, partition types

Information about partitions (ie logical drives) is stored in a "partition table". Each logical drive can have its own file system. You can read more about all this in the Wikipedia articles: Disk Partition, Logical Disk, File System. For a beginner, it is enough to know the very minimum:

If you divide the hard disk into logical disks (partitions), disk capacity will not increase- there is simply nowhere to free space! You can make partitions of any size, but in total, they cannot exceed the size of a real hard disk. Here is less - please. Then you get unallocated free space not visible in My Computer, from which you can get one or more new partitions. This is a question I often get from newbies, so I put it first.
Exists primary (main) and extended (additional) sections. One hard disk cannot have more than four main partitions (why so - see the links above), so they came up with an extended partition - this is a primary partition that can include as many partitions as you like. As a result, thanks to the extended partition, a hard disk can have as many partitions as you like - dozens, hundreds.
Each partition can have its own file system. At the moment for Windows installations Vista, 7 and 8 can only use NTFS, and the outdated Windows XP can be installed on disks with the FAT32 file system. However, I do not recommend doing this, as it imposes too many restrictions. Make all partitions in NTFS - everything will work as it should.
Any hard drive must be partitioned one way or another. Into one or more logical drives - it's up to you. When buying a hard drive, it is usually already divided into one section - so the manufacturer decided. If you are satisfied with this way of organizing information, do not touch it.
It is very undesirable to do disk partitioning in laptops - most of them have hidden recovery partitions that can be damaged (see point 3 of the previous chapter).
If you bought a 2 terabyte hard drive, and My Computer has “only” 1.86 terabytes (1,860 gigabytes), then don't rush back to the store. It's all about how the manufacturers and Windows consider the volume. Read more about this in the Wikipedia Hard Drive article. The larger the size of the hard disk, the more clearly you can see that the real gigabytes are smaller.
Sections can delete, create, shift(change their physical position on the disk), resize, format, convert file systems on partitions from one to another. Moreover, many programs are able to do this while preserving all data. There are other operations, but novice users most often need the above.
In the event of an error in the process of changing sections (see paragraph 7), information is almost always lost. Yes, it can be restored (or part of it) by special programs with the participation of specialists, but it is best to save all important information to other disks (not logical, but real disks) or flash drives, so as not to pay money for data recovery.

Disk Management snap-in for Windows

Windows has a standard tool for changing partitions - " Disk management". Depending on the Windows versions, the capabilities of this program change slightly, but in general over the past years (if we talk about Windows Vista, 7, 8) there have been no major changes. Windows XP looks more modest in this regard - apart from formatting and changing the drive letter, there is little you can do.

As an example I will take “ Disk management»Windows 7. You can open this program in several ways:

The simplest - right-click on the line A computer on the menu Start- select the item Control- in the new window select Disk management.
We open Control Panel - Administration - Computer management - Disk management.
Push Start - Execute(or the keyboard shortcut Win + R) - enter in the window that opens diskmgmt.msc- press OK.

Disk management looks like that:

Here you can see both physical disks (including DVD drives, flash drives and other devices for storing information), and logical ones, i.e. virtual - hidden partition of the bootloader Windows 7, disks C and D... The number of disks on your computer may be different.

The main actions are available by right-clicking on the desired section:

The list of actions is rather meager:

Items Open, Conductor allow you to see the contents of the disks
Make a section active- indicate on which disk (partition) the loader is located. In Windows 7 and 8, this is a system-reserved partition. You cannot make another partition active - the operating system will stop loading.
Change drive letter or drive path- you can change the drive letter displayed in the "Computer" window or display it as a folder. Yes, partitions can be displayed not only as disks, but also as folders on any disk.
Format- you can read about it in the article Formatting Wikipedia. The item opens a window with which you can start high-level formatting.
Expand volume- if there is space on the hard disk that is not marked as a partition, then you can expand the size of the partition at the expense of this free space.
Shrink volume- this item allows you to reduce the size of the partition. The result will be the formation of unallocated space, which can be put into action - to expand the volume of another section (see the previous paragraph).
Delete volume- delete a section. Don't click on an item without carefully considering the consequences. If you delete a section, then the information on it will be possible to save only with the help of special programs, and even then not always.
Properties- a properties window will open with information about the selected disk (partition).

Of course, this is not a complete list of possibilities. Disk management... You can create dynamic disks, for example. However, novice users do not need this, this article is designed just for them.

So, to create, delete, resize partitions via Disk management, only three menu items are needed: Expand volume, Shrink volume, Delete volume.

All operations take place in real time, i.e. after clicking the desired item and an affirmative answer to the question - do we want to do this - the actual action takes place.

Do not forget that there is a risk of failure, due to which we can lose both one section and all. This applies primarily to computers with a large number of unnecessary programs- each of them may be the culprit for the deletion of all data. Moreover, the scenario when you need to change the partition from which Windows is started (usually this is a disk C), is the worst - most often users experience problems when they try to change the system partition.

To minimize the risk of failure, there are three methods:

Insert the hard drive into another computer and change partitions from it by running Disk management or any other program for changing partitions. Due to the fact that Windows will be started from a different disk, no programs will climb onto the other disk, interfering with the critical operation.
Boot from Live CD - the operating system and programs will be launched not from the hard disk, but from CD or DVD, flash drives - again, nothing will interfere with changing partitions.
Use a program that can work in Native mode to change sections. For example, checking the disk C always works in this mode - black window with white text before loading the desktop. In this mode, a minimum of programs are running, the risk of failure is minimal.

The third option is the simplest, because the user does not actually need to do anything - just restart the computer and wait a few minutes. Two can do it following programs review.

Free for home use program for changing partitions of the hard disk.

By clicking on the section (it does not matter - in the list above, in the picture below), you can see the menu (both pop-up and on the left panel) with all the requested actions:

Resize / Move partition- resize the partition and / or shift its physical position on the disk. By the way, the official website says that the EaseUS Partition Master Home (free) version does not support changing partitions. It is not - everything works great.

Copy partition- copy the partition to another disk with all the information available on it.

Merge partitions- merging two or more sections. Convenient if you need to save information on the hard disk, but reduce the number of partitions. Convert to logical / primary- conversion to logical (extended) / main (primary) partition.

Change label- change the disc label.

Change drive letter- change the drive letter.

Defragment- launch of the standard Windows programs to defragment the disk.

Check partition- checking the disk for errors using again standard program Windows.

Hide partition- make sure that the section is not visible in the "Computer" window.

Delete partition- deleting a section.

Format partition- section formatting.

Wipe partition- clearing the contents of the section. All folders and files will be deleted, the section will remain. Information deleted in this way cannot be recovered.

Explore partition- view the contents of the section.

View properties- see how much space is occupied on the partition, what file system it has and find out other technical information.

The list of actions changes depending on where you click. In the screenshot above, I clicked on the non-system partition. By clicking on the system partition (from where Windows is running), there will be no items for deleting, hiding, cleaning. If you click on the physical disk icon, the list of actions will be completely different:

I will list the points:

Copy disk- the contents of the entire disk are copied: sections, information in them. This requires a second disk of the same or larger capacity.

Upgrade disk- the function is primarily needed for Windows transfer to a new, larger hard drive. The partition is copied and enlarged in proportion to the size of the new hard disk.

Delete all partitions- delete all sections.

Wipe disk- the same as the previous point, only with special deletion algorithms, due to which the information will be impossible to recover.

Surface test- checking the surface of the disk (physical). Allows you to detect bad sectors (the so-called "bad", "bad blocks").

View properties- display information about the disc.

Yes, knowledge of English is clearly required here, especially when you consider that almost every item calls up a window with settings for the action to be performed. After you make the necessary manipulations, you need to apply the changes by clicking the button Apply(Apply):

Only then will the partition change begin. This process can take some time - from a couple of minutes to several hours.

Depending on whether the system partition is affected or not, the operations are carried out either immediately in the window, or you will need to restart the computer and start changing the partition in Native mode:

The program has a lot of functions, it's hard to list them all. I recommend that you read the help for EaseUS Partition Master. It is in English, unfortunately, but you can use the Google translator. The translation is quite understandable.

Pros of EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition:

There are a lot of functions.
All actions are "virtual" until the Apply button is pressed. So, you can undo operations before this "point of no return" and try to do something else with the partitions. Or not at all if you change your mind.
Works consistently and predictably. For example, during testing while changing partitions, I started copying files to the partition to be changed. Bottom line - a window appeared stating that the partition could not be locked, all operations were interrupted, the data did not disappear anywhere.
The program is free for home use.

Cons of EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition:

The interface is in English only.
There are probably too many opportunities - this can confuse beginners.
A serious failure during the operation will lead to serious consequences.
For example, if you turn off the computer while changing the partition, the data on the partition will disappear. However, this is a minus of absolutely all programs for changing partitions.

Output: the program is good. You can and should use it, there is no alternative among free programs.

Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free

Free program for changing partitions from a company based in Russia. Unfortunately, the program is in English. What made the developers take such a step is not clear. Moreover, the paid version of the program is Russian.

The main window of the program is no different from the hero window of the previous review, except that the buttons have changed their order:

Deserves special mention Express Mode(Simplified mode). By clicking on this button, we will get a window with a list of the most frequent actions:

One could say that this is the ideal mode for beginners, if not for one "but": everything here is in English. And I had a suspicion that the English was somehow wrong, as if it was not a person who translated, but a machine.

Pros of Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free:

Many windows are clear enough to understand the functions.
Some operations are carried out directly in the program window, some (if required) in Native mode. That is, the program does everything to reduce the chance of data loss.
The program is free to use at home.

Cons of Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free:

English-speaking, and due to the strange construction of phrases, it is rather difficult to perceive.
The simplified Express Mode works exactly the opposite: first, the descriptions of operations and the operations themselves have more technical subtleties than required; secondly, this mode is very capricious and does not really work, giving out meaningless errors.
The program is running too slowly. For example, it took me about 5 minutes to delete a 38GB hard drive partition - long enough for such a simple operation.

Output: the program works, but somehow unpredictable. I do not recommend using this program, since there is an alternative in the form of EaseUS Partition Master Home.

Changing partitions during installation of Windows 7, 8, 10

This tool deserves a mention too.

We take any installation disk with Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8 or 10, start the installation of the disk, go to the partition selection and click Disk setup:

Everything seems to be simple: you need to click on a section in the list, then the action button. Unfortunately, there is little action here: deletion, formatting, partition creation and expansion.

You can, for example, delete a partition and, at the expense of the free space, increase the size of another partition or partitions (selecting the desired partitions, press the Delete and Expand buttons in turn).

Alas, a very popular operation - reducing the size of partitions - is not here. You can delete a partition, then re-create a new one with a smaller partition, but, unfortunately, we will lose data in this case.

All operations take place in real time, i.e. after the button is pressed, the action takes place.

Outcome: editing partitions during Windows setup is a very primitive tool. Works, but performs only a limited list of actions, among which the only one that saves data is increasing (expanding) the size of the partition. If you need to install Windows and do not need to save data on partitions, then the tool will come in handy.

If suddenly you accidentally deleted a partition during Windows installation or through any program, do not despair - the partition recovery function is available in EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition.

In order to recover a deleted hard disk partition, do not touch sections, immediately boot into Windows (or insert the hard drive into another computer if you deleted the system partition and Windows boot impossible), then run the above program, click on the line with the word in the list Unallocated("Unassigned"), then click Partition recovery.

The rest, as they say, is a matter of technology - the action wizard will tell you where to click, where to tick, then restore your deleted disk.

Tip # 2: Install two or more Windows operating systems on one hard drive

All it takes is several sections. If the hard disk already has a second partition, which is visible in the window " A computer"- make sure that there is at least 20 GB of free space (more is better), then during Windows installation, simply specify this second (third, fourth, etc.) drive. Once installed, you will be able to select Windows using the menu that appears when you turn on your computer.

If you have one disk ( C), I suggest the simplest option: Through Disk management first give the section WITH command Shrink, having reduced by at least 20 gigabytes (or better - more, because in addition to Windows, you will also install programs):

Right-click on the C drive ...

After pressing the button Shrink disk size C decreases, unallocated (free) space appears in the partition map:

We indicate unallocated space. The section will be created by the installer itself.

After installation, you will have two operating systems. You can make more unallocated spaces or empty disks, specify them for installation.

Thanks to reader Vladimir for bringing up this topic.

You may have noticed that in the screenshots of the Disk Management window, all partitions are marked with a blue stripe. You may have sections with green stripes. What is the difference between the blue and green sections?

A green bar in Disk Management is a sign of an extended (additional) partition. As I already wrote above, inside there may be "nested" sections, which from the user's point of view are no different from the main (primary) sections. Nested partitions have one feature - if you reduce their size, then due to the free space that appears, you will not be able to expand the main partition just like that. You must first compress the extended partition itself (which stores free place and a reduced partition) to create free space outside of any partitions, only then you can expand the disks.

Standard Disk Management does not know how to work normally with extended disks, so if you see green marks instead of blue ones, it is better to use the free programs above - they will reduce extended partitions, move free space where necessary and expand the main disk.

For normal and stable operation of the operating system of any personal computer or laptop, it is necessary to carry out the correct division of the space on the hard disk (perform a partitioning of the HDD). Often when buying a computer in a store, you may find that the entire hard drive space is reserved for only one system drive (usually this is the system drive "C"). This setting for HDD memory allocation is not entirely correct. In addition, this can negatively affect the operation of the computer, because important documents and system files may be under the threat of disappearance (it is recommended to use a separate partition on the hard disk for such data).

Therefore, in order to avoid any troubles associated with improper use of the computer's HDD memory, it is customary to divide it into several additional partitions (disks), one of which is usually reserved for the needs of the operating system. And nevertheless, it should be remembered that the process of separation itself hard disk very responsible and scrupulous procedure. Before starting it, it is recommended to back up all important documents to a USB flash drive or other storage medium, and then proceed directly to changing the size of the disk space.

So, in order to partition a hard drive, you have to go through several step-by-step procedures. First of all, you should select the disk partition to be divided into subsections. After that, you must specify the size of the new partition that you want to create, indicating the type of file system. Having passed all these points, you can start the procedure for partitioning the HDD itself. As a result of the successful execution of this operation, the program will display a list of the changes made. It is also worth noting that most modern programs for working with hard drives will help you not only split HDDs, but also merge them, perform deep formatting and other complex procedures.

The reasons why it is necessary to divide the hard disk into several partitions are different for each. For some, this is an opportunity to organize necessary information and store it correctly; someone with the help of several partitions uses several operating systems in their work on their computer or laptop. Finally, if the hard drive is divided into several parts, then separately.

Standard PC equipment: the simpler the better

This program is rightfully considered one of the best or even the best hard drive partitioning program.

This is the most simple program, which will help you effectively manage multiple systems and different programs.

Its main advantages are elimination of errors in sections, transformation file systems and data protection. Another advantage is that this utility is very popular, because there is a lot of reference information on it on the net.

2. Disk management in Windows

In any version of Windows there is a function "Disk Management": this is the simplest, most affordable and effective enough tool that allows you to change partitions.

Each version of Windows OS has its own differences, but in the most popular (Windows Vista, Windows 7 and 8) there are no fundamental differences. Let's take a closer look at how to break hard Windows disk using this utility.

The program opens through the Start menu, and in the "Disk Management" item, even a novice user with the help of three main items (Expand, Shrink and Delete the volume) performs all the necessary actions in real time. No special knowledge is required for this - it is enough to give affirmative or negative answers and press the necessary menu items.

There is only one drawback of the regular program - there are risks of failures that lead to the loss of certain sections. The risk exists if there is a lot of unnecessary programs on the disk, or when you try to divide the partition of the hard drive in which Windows is running: the processor does not always unambiguously respond to an attempt to "experiment" with the system partition.

Free software for everyone

Two programs that can be downloaded absolutely free from the network - EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition and Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free - are also easy to learn and use, but require some knowledge.

1. EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition

The program helps not only to partition the hard drive, but also to create, copy, resize or completely delete partitions; as well as recover deleted partitions.

The disadvantage that affects the popularity of the program is the exclusively English version. But with the knowledge of English language you can appreciate the excellent functionality and predictability of the program, the stability of the work and the ability to carry out all procedures in virtual mode - at any time you can correct the settings error, cancel the disk partition procedure and restore the original data.

2. Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free

The program is again with an English-language interface, but for a beginner it is more interesting than the previous one - the main windows are quite visual and make it easier to navigate through the functions. The disadvantages of the program include low speed and unpredictability.

If funds permit, you can purchase a Russian-language version of this program for money, but it also retains the main disadvantages of the English-language product.

Advanced User Programs

These programs have advanced functionality - this is support for various disks and flash drives, the ability to convert file systems, create bootable media and much more. The main differences are in performance, functionality and special features.

5. [email protected] Partition Manager

This program is free manager that simplifies the work with logical disks: a system reboot is not required when creating, formatting or deleting disk partitions.

Even if you accidentally delete important partition data, the program will help you recover it!

But the lack of the ability to resize disks (the partition must first be deleted and then created another in the same place) leaves no chance of recovering lost information.

6. MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition

Experienced users can use the equally simple and affordable MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition manager. The most important plus of the program is the ability to work as with a separate hard disk and RAID arrays based on two or more disks.

Programs for hard drives in Russian are collected in this section. All programs can be downloaded for free with activation keys.

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Diskeeper Pro is a software defragmenter for the Windows operating system. If we compare the work of the utility with the built-in tools of the OS, then the program will work 6 times faster. At the same time, the efficiency of work will also be higher, because more powerful tools are used. But the advantages of the defragmenter do not end there either, because during the work process it uses the minimum resources of the device, which allows you to freely use your computer. If you defragment using built-in tools, ...

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WizTree is a simple yet very useful software that allows you to scan large files and folders. Its main feature is the highest speed of work, which allows you to analyze the space on your hard disk in a matter of minutes. The developers of this application managed to achieve high performance due to the fact that they use direct interaction with file table containing all the necessary information about the media. If you compare such a process with a standard check ...

With the help of this simple development, you can not only get a lot of information of interest to you on the existing system, but also, in particular, find out the current state of the hard disk, which is no less important. Now it is worth being a unique and special person who will apply many of his incredible character traits and will try to be a more wonderful and special member of society, who wants to constantly admire and actively go towards the goal, no matter how difficult it may be on the chosen path. Download…

TreeSize Professional is a program that helps you find out how much space is used on your hard drive. It was developed by JAM Software. Anyone can download a free utility quickly on this site. The program: has a simple and convenient English interface; interacts with the operating room Windows system XP, 7, 8, 10, Vista; costs about $ 50; finds files and folders itself big size as well as a duplicate object. Free download TreeSize Professional 7.1.2.1461 Password for all archives: 1progs The application provides ...

AOMEI Partition Assistant is powerful program which is intended for full control partitions on your hard disk. Available to users following functions: hide, format, copy, align, create, activate, erase. The program has several built-in wizards. They allow you to increase the size of partitions, port the OS to new disc, copy discs, create bootable discs, and more. Users of this application can split sections into several parts, combine into one, and so on. Free Download AOMEI Partition Assistant ...

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Now many modern PC users do not even know how often any program for formatting hard disk .

After all, the hard drives had to be formatted regularly.

It's all to blame for the imperfection of software products - both those that were used for the basic purposes of the user, and those that were used to perform maintenance operations on installed systems.

Background

Another aspect of the once-frequent use of hard drive formatting software is hardware problems. Small amount of media, frequent hardware errors, and the like.

But oddly enough, over time, the need to format drives still remained, even with the advent of modern solid-state drives. At the same time, the formatting operation has ceased to be an everyday norm, and if it is required to format the hard disk, many users are at a loss in what and in what way it can be done.

Fortunately, over time, the quality of software products designed for formatting hard drives, and their number has increased markedly. And now the user is not limited to the built-in system utilities, but has access not just to third-party software products, but to a whole set of software tools that allow you to perform not only formatting, but also several other useful operations, in particular, improving the condition of the hard disk and the life its operation.

Some of these tools belong to the shareware category, some come with free license, and the rest, however, is only available upon purchase. Each of them has its own advantages and we propose to consider several of the most frequently used and popular tools, endowed with sufficient functionality.

Paragon Partition Manager Free Edition

A hard drive formatting program called Paragon Partition Manager Free Edition stands out against the background of other similar software products by the ability to perform operations on virtual storage media. In addition, for those who still cannot refuse using windows XP, it will provide the ability to support high-capacity drives of the order of 2 TB or more. But it also works on modern OS Windows 7 and 8.

An additional advantage of this complex is the support of the multiboot management function. This option will be useful for those who use several operating systems in test mode or simply require their parallel use.

The program interface is quite simple and straightforward, and in some cases it is simply irreplaceable. An example of this is the ability to merge partitions without losing data, which is especially important when formatting partitions. In this case, the user is given the opportunity to even convert partitions.

As far as file systems are concerned, the number of supported files is quite large. They can use this program to convert one to another, in particular, NTFS to HFS.

Other features include copying and restoring disks, merging them, moving them and resizing them. And all this in the presence of a Russified shell.

For some, the defragmentation function is superfluous, but absolutely everyone will like protection against system failures and detection of bad sectors.

Rice. 1 - Fragment of the Paragon Partition Manager window

EASEUS Partition Master

This hard disk formatting program has the advantage of having several versions with different functionality. Some of them are free, but the Home Edition and Master Free versions deserve special attention of ordinary users.

The program has excellent functionality available through the Russian-language software shell. It can be run by the family operating windows in particular, 7, 8 and 10 versions are both 32-bit and 64-bit, and some versions allow you to work through Linux as well.

The software product provides work with a wide range of heterogeneous drives, the most important of which are:

HDD disks;
solid state SSD drives;
USB sticks;
memory cards in various designs.

Above them, you can carry out not only formatting, but also creating or changing partitions, for example, merging, deleting, copying and resizing.

The program has access to work with RAID arrays and provides user interaction with MBR and GPT. Some of the operations can be performed using built-in wizards, which greatly facilitates the user's work.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that each version of the product has its own limitations, in particular, on the maximum drive size. For example, in the Home Edition version it is 8 TB, while in Master Free it is only 4 TB. And also the user is advised to pay attention to the installation process, since you can install unnecessary utilities along the way.

Rice. 2 - Fragment of the EASEUS Partition Master window

Aomei Partition Assistant

A program for formatting a hard drive called Aomei Partition Assistant belongs to products distributed free of charge, but with decent functionality. It provides a number of features that are not available to others. free products and therefore belongs to a completely different class.

This software package, like the previous product, has a Russian-language shell and supports modern operating systems of the Windows and Linux families and, accordingly, the file systems operating under their control: FAT 12/16/32, NTFS, Ext2 / 3/4, exFAT / ReFS.

In parallel with work on physical media, the program performs operations on virtual disks.

As for the special functionality, it is implemented in the form of access to disks that are invisible by other software tools. The program allows you to check, test and a number of other useful operations. All this against the background of minimal system requirements ranging from processor version to volume available memory on disk.

This software product is able to work even under such conditions when the device has 128 disks and the volume size is 16 TB. It is also one of the few products that can handle SSHDs, flash drives and flash cards. Is it worth mentioning at the same time that it supports UEFI Boot, and all the operations performed are performed without damaging user information as assured by the creators?

Rice. 3 - Aomei Partition Assistant window

MiniTool Partition Wizard

This program for formatting a hard disk is more modest, but much more popular, not only in the domestic space, but throughout the world. It is free and provides interoperability under the control of operating systems of the Windows family, including the latest versions of various bit sizes, while processing both EXT disk partitions, as well as Linux Swap.

The software interface has a russified shell and provides work with partitions larger than 2 TB. It is quite simple and will be understandable even for a novice user. The functionality of the interface is quite wide and even includes a newfangled migration from HDD to SSD.

And also the software product performs a number of basic operations with disks and their partitions, including cloning, creating and modifying them. An additional operation can be considered the operation of converting file systems FAT / FAT32 to NTFS while maintaining the integrity of user data, which is supplemented by functionality Reserve copy stored information and a data recovery utility after failures. If desired, the user can test their disks by testing their performance.

Like some of the programs described above, this one can convert disks from MBR to GPT, which is important when often used system partition... In parallel with this, it is possible to assign active sections and interact with them.

Rice. 4 - MiniTool Partition Wizard window

HDD Low Level Format Tool

This program for formatting your hard drive belongs to a different category than those discussed above. software... Therefore, it deserves special attention. This is not a large software package with wide functionality, but a small program that has only the ability to low-level formatting in its set of functions.

Such an option provides, with the given settings, the possibility of restoring the operability of the storage media. At the same time, this functionality applies to both hard drives and flash drives. The only problem for the user in this case is the complete destruction of data on the media without the possibility of their further recovery.

Unfortunately, there are no other operations that this product can do with media.

Rice. 5 - HDD Low Level Format Tool window

Acronis Disk Director

This program for formatting a hard drive is also quite interesting. Its peculiarity is that it can be launched from any carrier. So, it can be installed on a boot disk or a USB flash drive and even without a full-fledged operating system to be able to work with disk partitions.

Such functionality is especially important in emergency situations, when it is more important for the user to restore the system's operability, and not just create an additional partition for more convenient data storage or installation of a game. The functionality of the program is suitable for working with disks under both Windows and Linux. However, this product has one significant drawback, which is noticeable when compared with the above programs - it is its cost.

In fact, this app is classified as shareware. After the specified trial period, the user is offered two options - to purchase a license or to remove the software product. Therefore, it can be safely used and compared with other programs for free, but for a limited time.

Otherwise, this is a full-fledged tool for working with disks and their partitions with wide functionality. It includes all the basic operations for working with partitions, including formatting, and also allows the owner of the PC to view in a general way the information stored on these partitions.

Rice. 6 - Acronis Disk Director window

Windows standard tools

When describing programs for formatting disks, one cannot fail to mention standard means operating systems available to users without downloading third-party software products. This can be done using the example of operating systems of the Windows family. A feature of these systems is that they have several tools at once for working with hard drives and their partitions.

The first tool is quite simple and this utility is available to the user from the Explorer program. In order to use it, for a logical partition of a hard disk, you can call context menu, and in it select the "Format" item. After that, a form will become available in which you can specify the desired parameters for the formatting operation.

This functionality will be available for all logical partitions of the disk, except for the active system disk. In this case, you need to use a slightly different tool, available exclusively from command line... To work with him, special skills are required that are available exclusively experienced users.

Important! To have access to them, you need to have boot disk, as well as exhibited in BIOS settings, forcing the PC to boot from removable media, and not from the hard drive, in order to provide the functionality necessary for the system. It is provided by a small utility called diskpart. But its main problem is that the user does not receive a high-quality visualization of the actions being performed, and any error during their execution can cost the system's performance.

This state of affairs forces users to resort to using third-party software products.

Rice. 7 - Format utility window

Formatting the hard drive before installing Windows

In the video I will show you how to format your hard drive. This can come in handy when you reinstall the Windows operating system.