Hard disk partition management program. Deep testing software. Cons of EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition

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

Often new computer comes with ready-made, marked hard drive partitions. The program developers offer users the ideal manager for hard drive partitions. Partition Wizard is a manager that is designed to work with partitions hard drive. Using the program, users will be able to resize a partition, create a new one on the hard drive, format it, and delete existing ones. Download for free MiniTool Partition Wizard 11.0.1 in Russian Password for all archives: 1progs Video on installing and activating the program On...

Hard Disk Sentinel is software that is designed to monitor and hard testing disk. The main purpose of this program is diagnostics, search and elimination various problems on disk. Users have the opportunity to view reports on the current status of the hard drive, its condition, temperature and other characteristics. The Russian version of Hard Disk Sentinel allows you to use the functionality of the program without restrictions. On our website, Internet users can download Hard Disk Sentinel activation keys absolutely free of charge. After…

Many users often encounter the problem of a so-called “braking” computer. Not everyone is able to diagnose problems on their own, and every time they spend money on service centers, to put it mildly, it’s expensive. To avoid advanced cases, sometimes it’s enough just to optimize your computer. You can optimize your computer absolutely calmly at home with the help of a simple and convenient Advanced programs SystemCare. One of the advantages is that basic version This program is provided free of charge. License key will allow...

PC users constantly experience problems with hard drive. Over a certain period, the system response to a file request becomes greater, which subsequently leads to slow work OS. To fix this situation It is necessary to defragment the disk. IObit Smart Defrag is an easy-to-use program that is designed to defragment your disk. This application perfectly prevents braking, freezes, and crashes operating system. After users install the program, it will start working in…

PC users know that the defragmentation process is important for regular hard disks, because it reduces unnecessary movements and increases the speed of data reading. Developers from different companies come up with effective tools for sorting and defragmenting files on disk. Auslogics Disk Defrag- This useful program, which improves speed characteristics and also increases stability Windows works. This software product is superior to most existing analogues, thanks to its speed and quality of defragmentation. Download for free AusLogics Disk…

AOMEI Partition Assistant is powerful program, which is intended for full control partitions on the hard drive. The following functions are available to users: hide, format, copy, align, create, activate, erase. The program has several built-in wizards. They allow you to increase the size of partitions, transfer the OS to new disk, copy disks, create bootable disks and much more. Users of this application can divide sections into several parts, combine them into one, and so on. Download free AOMEI Partition Assistant…

HDClone is functional utility, which is needed to copy information from one disk (meaning hard disk) to another. On this page you can download this program for free in a couple of clicks. Download HDClone 8.0.8 for free at Russian Free+ Basic Edition Free download HDClone Professional Edition 9.0.3 ISO Password for all archives: 1progs Application: copies information sector by sector (thus we get copy of hard disk exactly); is creating...

TestDisk - functional program from the author Christophe Grenier, which is a multi-functional tool for resuscitating parts of a hard drive. The addition is another Photorec application, which revives lost or damaged information from HDD departments and works with cameras digital type. The program: includes the option of completely deleting and duplicating files; resuscitates data after virus attacks; interacts with file types very different; enriched with MBR rewrite function. Download TestDisk 7.1 Russian version for free Password to all archives:...

The hard drive in your computer and the drive icon in the My Computer window are different concepts. For example, a computer may have one hard drive installed, while there may be several of them in “My Computer”. The reason for this strange discrepancy 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 tell you about free programs for such a delicate procedure.

Why do you need to partition your hard drive?

There are several reasons to partition a hard drive:

Partitions on a hard drive are primarily needed for proper storage of information. For example, some users prefer the following division: operating system and programs on one disk (usually C), documents - on the second ( D), photo archive on the third ( E) and so on. In this case, there may well be only one hard drive.
If you have one hard drive, but 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.
Manufacturers of laptops (and some computers from famous manufacturers such as Acer) have their own reason for dividing hard drive partitions: on a section that is visible as a disk C, Windows installed, second ( D) is completely empty, and the third (which is not visible in the “My Computer” window) stores a compressed copy of the partition C. This hidden partition of the hard drive is called recovery partition. If something happened to the operating system (“Windows crashed” - as some users like to say), then when you turn on the laptop, just press a key combination (see which one - see the instructions for the laptop) and a special program will clean the disk C, then unpacks the contents of the hidden partition 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 however, it will not be changed. The conclusion suggests itself: if you store all documents on a laptop with such a recovery system not on drive C, A only on D, you can restore damaged Windows with a new one at any time, without losing your important data. By the way, any advanced user can make such a recovery system for themselves, but I’ll tell you about it some other time.
The Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems, when installed on a blank, “unpartitioned” hard drive, create a hidden partition of 100-350 megabytes in size. This small partition stores a bootloader designed, oddly enough, to boot Windows. This partition will not exist or its contents will be damaged - and the computer will not start the operating system, displaying the message “Boot fail”, “Cannot find boot device”, “Boot error” or similar on a black screen, the meaning of which is the same - the boot disk with operating system. Actually, the bootloader can be stored on disk C:, and/or in hidden sectors of the hard drive (outside partitions), but the developers decided in Windows 7/8 to use a separate hidden partition in order to somehow protect the boot loader from damage by other programs, viruses or the user.
There are other reasons division of hard disk into partitions. For example, for correct operation GNU/Linux operating systems should create several sections, but this is the topic of 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 operating a recovery system, for storing the Windows 7/8 bootloader.

A little theory: file systems, partition types

Information about partitions (i.e. 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. A novice user only needs to know the bare minimum:

If you divide the hard drive into logical drives(sections), Disk capacity will not increase- there’s simply nowhere to find free space! You can make partitions of any size, but in total they cannot be larger than the capacity of the real hard drive. Less please. Then you will have 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.
Exist primary (main) And extended (additional) sections. One hard drive cannot have more than four main partitions (see the links above for why this is so), so they came up with an extended partition - this is a primary partition that can include any number of partitions. As a result, thanks to the extended partition, the hard drive can have any number of partitions - tens, hundreds.
Each partition can have its own file system. IN this moment For Windows installations Vista, 7 and 8 can only be used 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. In one or more logical drives - it's up to you. When purchased, the hard drive is usually already partitioned into one partition - this is what the manufacturer decided. If you are satisfied with this way of organizing information, don't touch it.
It is very undesirable to partition the disk 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, but in “My Computer” it is “only” 1.86 terabytes (1860 gigabytes), then do not rush back to the store. It's all about how manufacturers and Windows calculate the volume. Read more about this in the Wikipedia article Hard Drive. How larger size hard drive - the more clearly you can see that there are fewer real gigabytes.
Sections can be delete, create, move(change their physical position on the disk), resize them, format them, convert them file systems on partitions from one to another. Moreover, many programs can do this while saving all the data. There are other operations, but novice users most often need the above.
If there is an error during the process of changing partitions (see point 7), information is almost always lost. Yes, it can be restored (or part of it) using special programs with the participation of specialists, but it is best to save all of it in advance important information to other drives (not logical, but real wheels) or flash drives, so as not to pay money for data recovery.

Disk Management in Windows

Windows has standard remedy section changes - " Disk management". Depending on the version of Windows, the capabilities of this program vary slightly, but in general over the years (if we talk about Windows Vista, 7, 8) there were no major changes. Windows XP looks more modest in this regard - apart from formatting and changing the drive letter, there is little that can be done there.

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

The simplest one is to click right click line by line Computer on the menu Start- select an item Control- in a new window select Disk management.
Opening Control Panel - Administration - Computer management - Disk management.
Click Start - Execute(or the Win+R key combination) - enter in the window that opens diskmgmt.msc- press OK.

Disk management looks like that:

Here you can see how physical disks(including DVD drives, flash drives and other devices for storing information), and logical, i.e. virtual - hidden partition of the Windows 7 boot loader, disks C And D. The number of disks on your computer may vary.

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

The list of actions is quite meager:

Items Open, Conductor allow you to view the contents of disks
Make the section active- indicate on which disk (partition) the bootloader is located. In Windows 7 and 8 this is system reserved chapter. 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 this in the Wikipedia Formatting article. The item opens a window with which you can start high-level formatting.
Extend Volume- if there is space on the hard drive that is not marked as a partition, then you can expand the partition size using 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 used to expand the volume of another section (see the previous paragraph).
Delete volume- delete the section. Don't click on an item without thoroughly considering the consequences. If you delete a partition, the information on it can only be saved using 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, this is of no use to novice users; this article is intended specifically for them.

So, to create, delete, resize partitions via Disk management, you only need three menu items: Expand Volume, Shrink Volume, Delete Volume.

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

Do not forget that there is a risk of failure, due to which we could lose either one or all of the partitions. This applies primarily to computers with big amount unnecessary programs- each of them may be the culprit in deleting all data. Moreover, the scenario is when you need to change the partition from which Windows is launched (usually this is the disk C), is the worst - most often problems arise for users when they try to change 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 launched from another drive, no programs will go onto the foreign drive, interfering with a critical operation.
Boot from a Live CD - the operating system and programs will be launched not from the hard drive, but from a CD or DVD, flash drive - again, nothing will interfere with changing partitions.
To change partitions, use a program that can work in Native mode. For example, disk check C always works in this mode - a black window with white text before loading the Desktop. In this mode, a minimum number of programs are launched and the risk of failure is minimal.

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

Free for home use program for changing hard disk partitions.

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

View properties- display information about the disk.

Yes, knowledge of English is clearly required here, especially considering that almost every item opens a window with settings for the action being performed. After you have made the necessary manipulations, you need to apply the changes by pressing a button Apply(Apply):

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

Depending on whether the system partition is affected or not, 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 so many functions that it is impossible to list them all. I recommend that you read the help for EaseUS Partition Master. She is on English language, unfortunately, but you can use Google translator. The translation is quite understandable.

Pros of EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition:

Lots of functions.
All actions are “virtual” until you click the Apply button. This means that you can cancel operations before this “point of no return” and try to do something else with the partitions. Or don’t do it at all if you change your mind.
Works stably and predictably. For example, during testing, while changing partitions, I started copying files to the partition that was to be changed. Result - 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.

Minuses EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition:

The interface is in English only.
There are perhaps even too many possibilities - 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 a partition, the data on the partition will disappear. However, this is a minus of absolutely all programs for changing partitions.

Conclusion: 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 unclear. Moreover paid version Russian-language programs.

The main window of the program is no different from the window of the hero 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 common actions:

One could say that this is an ideal mode for beginners, if not for one “but”: everything here is in English. Moreover, I had a suspicion that the English here was somehow incorrect, as if it was not a person who was translating, but a machine.

Pros of Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free:

Many windows are clear enough to understand the functions.
Some operations are carried out immediately 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-language, and due to the strange construction of phrases it is quite difficult to understand.
The simplified Express Mode works exactly the opposite: firstly, the descriptions of operations and the operations themselves have more technical subtleties than is required; secondly, this mode is very capricious and does not really work, producing meaningless errors.
The program is too slow. For example, deleting a 38 GB hard drive partition took me about 5 minutes - quite long for such a simple operation.

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

Changing partitions during installation of Windows 7, 8, 10

This tool also deserves a mention.

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

It seems that everything is simple: you need to click on a section in the list, then the action button. Unfortunately, there is little action here: deletion, formatting, partitioning and expansion.

You can, for example, delete a partition and, using the freed up space, increase the size of another partition or partitions (when selecting the desired partitions, you must press the Delete and Expand buttons in turn).

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

All operations take place in real time, i.e. after pressing the button, the action occurs.

Result: editing partitions during Windows installation is an extremely primitive tool. It 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 you suddenly accidentally deleted a partition during Windows installation or through some program, do not despair - the partition recovery function is included in EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition.

In order to recover a deleted hard drive partition, don't touch the partitions, immediately boot into Windows (or insert the hard drive into another computer if you deleted the system partition and booting Windows is impossible), then run the above-mentioned program, click on the line with the word in the list Unallocated("Unallocated"), then click the button Partition recovery.

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

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

All you need for this is several sections. If your hard drive already has a second partition that is visible in the " 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.) disk. Once installed, you will be able to select Windows using a menu that appears when you turn on your computer.

If you have one disk ( C), I suggest the simplest option: Through Disk management give it to the section first WITH team Compress, reducing by at least 20 gigabytes (or better yet, more, because in addition to Windows you will also install programs):

Right click on drive C...

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

We indicate unallocated space. The installer will create the partition itself.

After installation, you will have two operating systems. You can create unallocated spaces or empty disks and indicate them for installation.

Thanks to reader Vladimir for raising 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 blue and green sections?

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

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

Why do you need to partition your hard drive?

There are several reasons to partition a hard drive:

Partitions on a hard drive are primarily needed for proper storage of information. For example, some users prefer the following division: operating system and programs on one disk (usually C), documents - on the second ( D), photo archive on the third ( E) and so on. In this case, there may well be only one hard drive.
If you have one hard drive, but 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.
Manufacturers of laptops (and some computers from famous manufacturers such as Acer) have their own reason for dividing hard drive partitions: on a section that is visible as a disk C, Windows installed, second ( D) is completely empty, and the third (which is not visible in the “My Computer” window) stores a compressed copy of the partition C. This hidden partition of the hard drive is called recovery partition. If something happened to the operating system (“Windows crashed” - as some users like to say), then when you turn on the laptop, just press a key combination (see which one - see the instructions for the laptop) and a special program will clean the disk C, then unpacks the contents of the hidden partition 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 however, it will not be changed. The conclusion suggests itself: if you store all documents on a laptop with such a recovery system not on drive C, A only on D, you can restore damaged Windows with a new one at any time, without losing your important data. By the way, any advanced user can make such a recovery system for themselves, but I’ll tell you about it some other time.
The Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems, when installed on a blank, “unpartitioned” hard drive, create a hidden partition of 100-350 megabytes in size. This small partition stores a bootloader designed, oddly enough, to boot Windows. This partition will not exist or its contents will be damaged - and the computer will not start the operating system, displaying the message “Boot fail”, “Cannot find boot device”, “Boot error” or similar on a black screen, the meaning of which is the same - the boot disk with operating system. Actually, the bootloader can be stored on disk C:, and/or in hidden sectors of the hard drive (outside partitions), but the developers decided in Windows 7/8 to use a separate hidden partition in order to somehow protect the boot loader from damage by other programs, viruses or the user.
There are other reasons for partitioning a hard drive. For example, for the GNU/Linux operating systems to work correctly, several sections must be created, but this is the topic of a separate article; we will not consider them here.

A little theory: file systems, partition types

If you divide your hard drive into logical drives (partitions), Disk capacity will not increase- there’s simply nowhere to find free space! You can make partitions of any size, but in total they cannot be larger than the capacity of the real hard drive. Less please. Then you will have 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.
Exist primary (main) And extended (additional) sections. One hard drive cannot have more than four main partitions (see the links above for why this is so), so they came up with an extended partition - this is a primary partition that can include any number of partitions. As a result, thanks to the extended partition, the hard drive can have any number of partitions - tens, hundreds.
Each partition can have its own file system. At the moment, only NTFS can be used to install Windows Vista, 7 and 8, 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. In one or more logical drives - it's up to you. When purchased, the hard drive is usually already partitioned into one partition - this is what the manufacturer decided. If you are satisfied with this way of organizing information, don't touch it.
It is very undesirable to partition the disk 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, but in “My Computer” it is “only” 1.86 terabytes (1860 gigabytes), then do not rush back to the store. It's all about how manufacturers and Windows calculate the volume. Read more about this in the Wikipedia article Hard Drive. The more hard size disk - the more clearly you can see that there are fewer real gigabytes.
Sections can be delete, create, move(change their physical position on the disk), resize them, format them, convert them file systems on partitions from one to another. Moreover, many programs can do this while saving all the data. There are other operations, but novice users most often need the above.
If there is an error during the process of changing partitions (see point 7), information is almost always lost. Yes, it can be restored (or part of it) using special programs with the participation of specialists, but it is best to save all important information in advance on other drives (not logical drives, but real drives) or flash drives, so as not to pay money for data recovery.

Disk Management in Windows

Windows has a standard partition changer - " Disk management". Depending on the version of Windows, 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 that can be done there.

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

The simplest one is to right-click on the line Computer on the menu Start- select an item Control- in a new window select Disk management.
Opening Control Panel - Administration - Computer management - Disk management.
Click Start - Execute(or the Win+R key combination) - 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 Windows 7 boot loader, disks C And D. The number of disks on your computer may vary.

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

The list of actions is quite meager:

Items Open, Conductor allow you to view the contents of disks
Make the section active- indicate on which disk (partition) the bootloader 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 this in the Wikipedia Formatting article. The item opens a window with which you can start high-level formatting.
Extend Volume- if there is space on the hard drive that is not marked as a partition, then you can expand the partition size using 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 used to expand the volume of another section (see the previous paragraph).
Delete volume- delete the section. Don't click on an item without thoroughly considering the consequences. If you delete a partition, the information on it can only be saved with the help of special programs, and even then not always.
Properties- a properties window will open with information about the selected disk (partition).

So, to create, delete, resize partitions via Disk management, you only need three menu items: Expand Volume, Shrink Volume, Delete Volume.

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

Do not forget that there is a risk of failure, due to which we could lose either one or all of the partitions. This applies primarily to computers with a large number of unnecessary programs - each of them may be the culprit in deleting all data. Moreover, the scenario is when you need to change the partition from which Windows is launched (usually this is the 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 launched from another drive, no programs will go onto the foreign drive, interfering with a critical operation.
Boot from a Live CD - the operating system and programs will be launched not from the hard drive, but from a CD or DVD, flash drive - again, nothing will interfere with changing partitions.
To change partitions, use a program that can work in Native mode. For example, disk check C always works in this mode - a black window with white text before loading the Desktop. In this mode, a minimum number of programs are launched and the risk of failure is minimal.

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

A free hard drive partitioning program for home use.

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

View properties- display information about the disk.

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

The program has so many functions that it is impossible to list them all. I recommend that you read the help for EaseUS Partition Master. It is in English, unfortunately, but you can use Google Translator. The translation is quite understandable.

Pros of EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition:

Lots of functions.
All actions are “virtual” until you click the Apply button. This means that you can cancel operations before this “point of no return” and try to do something else with the partitions. Or don’t do it at all if you change your mind.
Works stably and predictably. For example, during testing, while changing partitions, I started copying files to the partition that was to be changed. Result - 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 perhaps even too many possibilities - 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 a partition, the data on the partition will disappear. However, this is a minus of absolutely all programs for changing partitions.

Conclusion: 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 unclear. Moreover, the paid version of the program is Russian.

The main window of the program is no different from the window of the hero 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 common actions:

Pros of Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free:

Many windows are clear enough to understand the functions.
Some operations are carried out immediately 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-language, and due to the strange construction of phrases it is quite difficult to understand.
The simplified Express Mode works exactly the opposite: firstly, the descriptions of operations and the operations themselves have more technical subtleties than is required; secondly, this mode is very capricious and does not really work, producing meaningless errors.
The program is too slow. For example, deleting a 38 GB hard drive partition took me about 5 minutes - quite long for such a simple operation.

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

Changing partitions during installation of Windows 7, 8, 10

This tool also deserves a mention.

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

All operations take place in real time, i.e. after pressing the button, the action occurs.

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

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

Right click on drive C...

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

We indicate unallocated space. The installer will create the partition itself.

After installation, you will have two operating systems. You can create unallocated spaces or empty disks and indicate them for installation.

Thanks to reader Vladimir for raising this topic.

Today, many users and computer owners are faced with the need to maintain their hard drive. Most often, this term refers to managing hard drive partitions: creating, deleting, formatting, changing the file system, etc. However, sometimes in practice you have to decide whole line other tasks. These include, for example, restoring partitions that were deleted or “lost” as a result of failures, cloning hard drives when upgrading a computer, etc.

Today, many users and computer owners are faced with the need to maintain their hard drive. Most often, this term refers to managing hard drive partitions: creating, deleting, formatting, changing the file system, etc. However, sometimes in practice you have to solve a number of other problems. These include, for example, restoring partitions that were deleted or “lost” as a result of failures, cloning hard drives when upgrading a computer, etc.

To perform these operations you need special software, since the operating system is clearly not enough. Which one exactly? Each user will have to answer this question independently, taking into account their own needs, capabilities and features of certain products. We will help you make this choice by describing and comparing utilities for working with hard drives.

To begin with, it is necessary to note one aspect. The fact is that all software designed to solve the described problems can be divided into two unequal groups. The first includes universal products with which you can perform a whole complex of various works hard drive maintenance. All the tools in them are integrated with each other and “collected” in a single interface, which, of course, is very convenient. The second group is highly specialized programs designed to perform a single operation. With their help, you can, for example, only manage hard drive partitions.

Why did we call these groups unequal? Everything is very simple. There are much fewer products belonging to the first group on the market today. The most famous of them are programs and. Naturally, both of them were included in our review today. The second group has much more representatives. For comparison, we have selected some of the most typical programs and also included them in the comparison.

Today it is one of the most famous programs on our market for maintenance of hard computer disks. Its important feature is that it can work with almost all types of hard disks, including external hard drives and flash cards.

Functionally it consists of four modules (each of which was once a separate software product). The first of them is “Partition Manager”. It is designed to manage hard disk partitions. With its help you can perform almost any operation with them. In particular, the user can create and delete partitions, change their size, convert them to another file system without losing information, change the letter and much more. Besides, in latest version The product in question now has such features as splitting a section into two new ones and, conversely, merging two existing sections into one. These operations are also performed without data loss. A distinctive feature of the "Partition Manager" is its two modes of operation. The first of them, automatic, is intended for inexperienced users. It is as easy as possible to use. And thanks to the use of understandable step by step masters The risk of doing something wrong is significantly reduced. The second operating mode, manual, is intended for more experienced users.

The second module included in the software is called "Download Administrator". It allows you to install various operating systems on your computer and manage the order in which they load. Thanks to it, up to 100 operating systems can “get along” on one PC, and not only Windows different versions, but also various options Linux, FreeBSD, UNIX, OS/2, etc. It is noteworthy that thanks to the “Boot Administrator” you can install and in the future boot the OS from any partition on any hard drives. You can also install several Windows versions in one section.

The third module is “Disk Editor”. With its help, you can view and change the contents of the hard drive directly, without using operating system functions. This is a professional tool whose capabilities can be used to solve problems such as recovering lost information, restoring hard drive zones, and backup.

Finally, the last, fourth module is “Partition Recovery Utility”. This is a very easy-to-use tool with which anyone, even a novice user, can literally return to its place a section that was accidentally deleted by him or lost due to a failure, virus or hacker with just a few clicks of the mouse. Except automatic recovery The program also implements a manual version of this operation. When using it, the setting various parameters allows for greater flexibility in the operation.

In conclusion, it is worth noting that the product has the ability to create your own emergency disk (this can be a CD or DVD, or a USB drive). You can boot from it if the operating system stops starting (or it doesn’t exist at all, for example, on a new computer), and perform all the necessary actions with the hard drive. For example, this is how you can restore the OS if you accidentally delete a system partition.

Like, he is one of the leaders Russian market software for working with hard drives. Once upon a time, this product also began as a relatively simple utility for managing hard drive partitions. However, as it developed, it acquired opportunities and turned into multifunctional program for servicing hard drives.

In terms of managing hard disk partitions, it has all the necessary capabilities. Using this program, you can quickly create, delete or format a partition, change its size or letter, convert to another file system, etc. Naturally, all operations are performed without losing information recorded on the hard drive. Additionally, it implements such features as checking the integrity of the file system, testing the surface of magnetic “pancakes” and updating the master boot record. In general, you can use it to perform the entire range of work with partitions.

In addition, the product in question implements a number of additional features. First of all, it is worth noting the download management function. For this, a special manager is used, with which you can create a multiboot environment. This opportunity allows you to install several operating systems on your computer and control their boot sequence.

The next additional feature is defragmentation. The program "can" optimize the placement of information on the hard drive in accordance with the user-selected parameter (for example, creation date or file size). In this case, not only the data itself is defragmented, but also the main file table, which speeds up its operation. In addition, it can optimize the allocation of space for paging and hibernation files in Windows.

Another additional function of the product in question is information backup. To do this, use the creation procedure full images hard drive partitions. The resulting archives can be saved both on a local hard drive and on any removable drives. In the future, the data can be restored in its entirety (including to a new, even undamaged hard drive) or selectively. There are not enough opportunities to create a full-fledged automatic system Reserve copy. However, they are more than enough to back up the system in order to restore it after various failures.

Of course, there is also the possibility of creating rescue disks. They can be either CD/DVD/BD media or flash drives. When booting from such a disk, the user can work with hard disk partitions, as well as restore information from a previously created archive.

In addition, the product in question implements a number of other interesting opportunities: copying individual partitions or entire hard drives, two operating modes (for beginners and advanced users), a wizard for installing Windows Vista and Windows 7 on Apple computers and much, much more.

O&O Software GmbH is known for its defragmentation products. However, among its developments there is also a program for managing tough disks. It is called O&O Partition Manager 2. This product can work with internal and external hard drives, USB drives and flash memory cards.

Frankly speaking, O&O Partition Manager 2 does not shine with its functionality. This program allows the user to perform only basic actions with hard drive partitions: create and delete them and change their size. Perform some other operations, such as changing the partition letter or converting it from one file system to another using of this product it is forbidden. Perhaps the only additional feature of O&O Partition Manager 2 is the function safe removal information. It allows you to destroy confidential data without the possibility of recovery using special software.

Among the advantages of the product in question, note the presence bootable CD, based on Windows PE. Having created it, the user can boot the computer from it and use all the features of O&O Partition Manager 2. In particular, this feature can help if necessary breaking down hard disk of the new computer.

One of the disadvantages of O&O Partition Manager 2 is the English-language interface. In principle, program management is quite simple and straightforward, and therefore experienced users will not have any difficulties. But for those who are just starting to master the computer, the Russian language of the interface and help system is still very desirable. Moreover, in such a program, the incorrect use of which can lead to very unpleasant consequences.

Active Partition Manager is freely distributed, i.e. free manager sections. It can work with internal and external hard disks, as well as with flash drives. True, the functionality of Active Partition Manager leaves much to be desired. With its help, you can only create, delete and format partitions, as well as view information about them and change some attributes (for example, a letter), but cannot resize them. If the user needs to reduce or enlarge a partition, he will have to first delete it and then create another in its place (of course, if there is enough free space). It is clear that in this case all information will be lost.

Among the advantages of Active Partition Manager, it is worth noting that it is free and has a function for restoring an accidentally deleted partition. In some cases, this procedure can be of significant assistance to the user. The disadvantages, in addition to small functionality, include support for only three file systems(FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS), as well as the inability to work with the program in the absence of an operating system or its failure. More precisely, Active Partition Manager can be included in a special boot disk along with other Active products. But to create it you need to purchase a special program.

Let's sum it up

For ease of comparison of the reviewed products, we have summarized all their features in a single table.


Basic Features on partition management
Advanced partition management capabilities
Download Manager
Partition recovery
Disc editor
Defragmentation
Creating partition images
Availability of boot disk
Interface	Russian-speaking	Russian-speaking	English-speaking	English-speaking
License	a commercial	a commercial	a commercial	free

Looking at the table, it is very easy to draw conclusions. According to their own functionality products and . In addition to directly managing partitions, each of these programs has a whole set of additional service capabilities. It is clear that it is better to purchase such a “kit”, which can be useful for solving a number of problems, than to buy a simple utility with limited set functions. We must not forget about Russian-language interface with detailed help system. Their presence makes and optimal choice for inexperienced computer users. It is necessary to understand that errors in partition management can lead to undesirable consequences, for example, the loss of important information.

True, it was not possible to identify a clear leader among these two products. Both programs cope well with their tasks and are easy to use. Their cost is almost the same. Therefore, when choosing a solution, we can advise you to pay attention to their additional features. In this regard, they are developing in slightly different directions. If the recovery function is important to you deleted partitions and disk editor, then it’s worth stopping at the first product. If you prefer the presence of defragmentation and the ability to create images, then choose the second option. Boxed versions are published and distributed by 1C in the 1C Distribution line of publications. Buy or can be purchased from 1Soft partners.

Marat Davletkhanov

Naturally, accidental and intentional deletion of files destroys previously recorded information, which can be restored using special utilities. But you can also find cases of quick or complete formatting of hard drives, when data is believed to be deleted irrevocably, not to mention damage to the hard drives themselves. What to do in this case? This is where programs come to the rescue restoration of hard disks. You can download mostly simple utilities for free. However, even they help, as they say, to bring the disk to life. Let's look at the most popular ones, including both free and paid utilities.

How does the process of deleting files from a hard drive work?

Before considering the main topic, let’s make a short digression into the theoretical part and see how information is deleted. In Windows systems, there are two ways: deleting to the Recycle Bin and without it. In the first case, the files are simply moved to a reserved area on the hard drive, so restoring them from the Recycle Bin is as easy as shelling pears.

In the second case, what happens is that the first character in the name is changed to unreadable ($). If during work in the clusters where such a file is located, no overwriting was performed, the information can also be restored.

The situation is worse with fast or full formatting disks and partitions, as well as situations when the hard drive begins to “crumble” or is simply subject to physical damage. Many users mistakenly believe that it is impossible to recover files in this case, saying that only professional experts can do this. Nothing like this! If you use, for example, the same programs to restore hard Seagate drives Barracuda, with which there were many problems at one time, anyone, even an untrained user, can carry out such a process. And it’s completely elementary.

Programs for restoring hard drives after formatting: can it be done?

In the case of a quick format of the hard drive, the partition tables are overwritten, and in case of a full format, the disk surface is also checked and then corrected bad sectors. In this case, we are talking about factory low level formatting doesn't work at all.

This is precisely what allows many developers to create programs for restoring hard drives, which seem to perform the reverse process. This gives the same recovery effect. But first things first.

The best hard drive recovery programs

As for the most famous utilities today, a sample list might look like this:

Victoria HDD;
R.Saver and R-Studio;
HDD Regenerator;
Acronis Recovery Expert and Active Partition Recovery Pro;
Hetman Partition Recovery;
Zero Assumption Recovery.

Naturally, it is impossible to provide a complete list, since today you can find hundreds of such software products. But let’s look at the above utilities in a little more detail.

Victoria HDD

If we consider the most popular programs for recovering hard drives and disk partitions, of course, the leadership belongs to one of the most powerful utilities modernity under named Victoria HDD, developed by Sergey Kazansky.

The program has five levels of hard drive testing, is capable of identifying and displaying faulty areas, eliminating errors, plotting surface condition graphs, measuring performance, etc. The operating modes also look interesting. The application can be run in a regular graphical shell, or you can use a somewhat unusual DOS mode. By the way, it is with such a test that the most powerful effect is achieved.

R.Saver and R-Studio

These two programs for recovering hard drives from a flash drive work just fine and are very similar to each other. They can even be used as portable versions.

The main advantage of these utilities is that they support almost all file systems known today and are capable of recovering data on any type of media, including even formatted or damaged cards memory.

HDD Regenerator

This utility is relatively new among all programs. It is designed specifically for restoring bad sectors and, as the developers themselves say, even for resuscitating the surface of the hard drive.

Applies here latest technology the so-called magnetization reversal, which allows you to completely restore the hard drive and the information that was previously recorded on it. It works, however, only in DOS mode, which causes some confusion among many. In addition, the technology itself looks almost unrealistic, because some people cannot imagine how a surface can be remagnetized programmatically. Nevertheless, everyone who has encountered it expresses only admiration - the application is able to revive even completely “dead” disks.

Acronis Recovery Expert and Active Partition Recovery Pro

Here are two representatives of the family of utilities for HDD recovery. The special thing about these applications is that they support a large number of file systems and hard drives.

In addition, they provide a creation mode bootable media, with which you can fix many problems if starting the operating system from a problematic hard drive is impossible.

True, the first utility is paid, the second is not. But the second application is also interesting because it can be launched from both DOS and Windows.

Hetman Partition Recovery

Another USB device or memory card and the information stored on it is interesting because it can work with all types virtual partitions. It goes without saying that data can be recovered even after full formatting.

But the most important thing is that the program can work both in manual mode and in “Wizard” mode, which allows any user to automate the entire recovery process.

Zero Assumption Recovery

Finally, one more small and fairly simple application, abbreviated as ZAR. This program is mainly designed to recover file files. FAT systems and NTFS, although it can also be used for Linux. For Windows system users, it is perfect.

But here it is worth considering that in this case we are talking exclusively about recovering information (even from bad sectors). In this case, the program does not make any corrections on the hard drive itself after analysis.

Conclusion

Of course, only the most basic programs were considered here. When choosing a program, you should be guided by the situation itself, that is, choose which operation should be used (recovering information or eliminating failures on the hard drive itself), and only then make a decision about using one or another utility.