Partition your Vista hard drive

Tag : Used Hard Disk


In this article, we'll look at partitioning with Windows Vista.

We’ll describe how to split a single hard disk into severalsections (called partitions), each of which will appear to Vista asa separate drive.

Although partitioning a hard disk is not an inherently risky ordifficult thing to do, human error can result in the loss of itsentire contents.

We strongly advise against undertaking any of the procedures inthis article unless you have an up-to-date backup of your PC. Ifnecessary, experiment using a spare disk first.

And should it all go wrong, we will not accept any blame. You havebeen warned.

Why use partitions?

To recap on some of what we said last issue, splitting a hard diskinto two or more partitions permits a single computer to run morethan one operating system: perhaps two different versions ofWindows or a mix of Windows and Linux, with a program called a bootloader asking which one should be loaded every time the PC isstarted.

Partitions also make backing up easier. Using a disk-imagingprogram, the entire contents of a partition can be copied in acompressed format onto another partition. Even if Windows failscatastrophically, it’s possible to boot from a recovery CD(provided with disk-imaging programs) and replace the damagedversion of Windows with a perfect copy from the backup image.

Another good use for a partition is to store data. By keeping dataseparate from the partition containing Windows and all itsinstalled software, file management and backing up are greatlysimplified, while sharing a partition on a network makes it easy todraw the line between what you want to keep private and what youallow others to see.

Vista’s enhanced partitioning features

As with Windows XP, Vista’s partitioning tools are in theDisk Management section of the Computer Management Console, andthey’re similarly buried deep w ithin the Control Panel.However, there’s also a quick way of getting to them: openthe Start menu and right-click on Computer, then select Manage.

This opens the Computer Management Console, where Disk Managementcan be selected. Although the options look similar to those inWindows XP, there is a big difference in that users are allowed toshrink and extend partitions without losing any data, which meanspartitions can be modified to reflect a user’s changingcomputing needs.

There has also been a change in terminology. Every physical harddisk can contain up to four primary partitions, which whenformatted perform like four separate hard disks. It’s alsopossible to create three primary partitions, plus one extendedpartition.

An extended partition can be subdivided into so-called logicaldrives, each acting like a partition in its own right, and eachbeing identified by its own drive letter in Windows, thus breakingthe limitation of only four partitions – handy ifyou’re carving up a capacious disk.

In Windows XP, when creating a new partition with the New PartitionWizard, users are asked to specify whether partitions should beprimary or extended. They are also obliged to explicitly create atleast one logical drive within an extended partition before it canbe used.

Vista has done away with all this fuss by referring to all primaryand extended partitions, as well as logical drives, as‘volumes’. When making new volumes using the SimpleVolume Wizard, the first three are automatically created as primarypartitions, and the fourth is created as an extended partitioncontaining a single logical drive. Further logical drives can beadded using the same Simple Volume Wizard.