[Lisandro]

Where can I get a Tutorial or explanation on partitions in Hard Disks

[Elvandil]

Basically, they are large divisions on a drive that appear to the computer to be individual "drives". So if you have a drive with 2 partitions, you may see C: and D: in Explorer.

Sometimes there is an advantage to having partitions since you can install different operating systems in each.

I'm sure you will find detailed explanations of anything you want to know in any search engine.

[pyritechips]

It also depends on what operating system you are dealing with. There are different file systems to consider (FAT32, NTFS), different drive configurations (IDE, SATA) and different tools to partition with, including the old MSDOS boot floppy.

Along with what Elvandil said, some of the advantages of partitioning includes:

1) Easier management of large drives. It's easier and faster to format or defrag a smaller drive than a large one.

2) No need to back up personal files. Imagine everything you your computer saved on C: then Windows crashes. You have to reinstall Windows but you haven't backed up your files. Bye bye files. If you have all your files saved on, let's say, F: drive, Windows can crash all it wants on C:. Your files are safe and isolated on F:

3) If you have more than one hard drive you have the extra advantage of saving files on it. If one drive physically fails, your files are safe on the other drive.

[Lisandro]

Tanks very much for your help.

So, if I understand correctly, the partition can be formatted individually?

My HD is not partitioned, how can I partition it?

Is possible to do that without format the disk?

I will also follow Elvandil’s advice and look for information with Google.

Thanks again Lisandro

[Elvandil]

There are a lot of free partitioning tools. You can create partitions without losing data. But partitioning is also dangerous and can lose data. So backups are essential. The best would be a disk image that would restore the entire drive in the event of a disaster.

Macrium Reflect
Paragon Drive Backup Express


If you give us the details of what you would like to do, we can give more detailed responses.

In the meantime:

Partitioning Tools-->

Free:

EASEUS Partition Master (Says it is Vista-compatible)
Paragon Partition Manager 8.5-- PPM Special Edition serial and free registration
CloneZilla GParted LiveCD (Complete partitioning and drive imaging/restoration tools)
SystemRescueCD
Gparted LiveCD
Parted Magic
Vista Recovery Disk (Shrink, expand, create, delete partitions)
XP Recovery Console CD image (Create and delete partitions with diskpart.exe)


Commercial:

O&O Partition Manager 2 (Vista-compatible)
Paragon Partition Manager
Paragon Hard Disk Manager
Terabyte BootIt NG
Acronis Disk Director
V-Com (Avanquest) Partition Commander
EASEUS Partition Manager

[Lisandro]

Thanks Evandil.

What I want to do is to make a partition in my HD to save my files, without formatting it.

I have a Maxtor 2F020L0, 20 Giga, hard disk with NTFS file system.

I have already downloaded the “Paragon” backup tool. Now I need a recommendation for a tool to make the partition. I have herd about the “Magic” tool, but I will prefer your kind advice.

Thanks again Lisandro

[Elvandil]

EASEUS has been used by a lot of people here. But Paragon and Gparted are good, too. The point is that partitioning is always better done from a bootable CD than from within Windows. There is less likelihood of error and Windows is not interfering with the process. Your files should be backed up if at all possible.

It is important to prepare before doing any partitioning job. Run chkdsk /f on all drives and make sure they have no errors. Defrag the drives.

When running the partitioner, remember that drive letters are meaningless. They can change at the drop of a hat. Make sure you identify drives by position or size so you don't erase what you are trying to save.

You can make a partition near the end of the drive, if you like, and copy files into that. Then install Windows to the other partition (always the first partition of the first drive to avoid problems) and move your files back. You can then either keep the partition as another "drive" for storage, or delete it and expand your main partition to fill the space.

[Lisandro]

Thanks you very much

You have being very helpful

Lisandro