How to Partition Hard Drive in Windows 7 Computer

The article is intended to describe the procedure of partitioning hard drive on a Windows 7 computer. The method explained here is fairly simple, reliable, and self-performable. It is still recommended that users follow and implement the instructions accurately. Doing so will save them from running into problems and eventually contacting Microsoft technical help to fix them.

Do you want to partition your Windows 7 hard drive? Do you need help doing so? If yes, then the article is for you. Windows 7 is truly an advanced operating system as it offers so many features and utilities that never existed in the previous versions. Disk partitioning is one among those features that allows users to resize, create, or delete hard drive partitions. The below mentioned guide will help you do the desired task on your own. This essentially means that you don't need to call up Microsoft tech support for help.

Instructions:

Click on the Start menu and navigate to the option Computer. Right click on Computer and select Manage from the dropdown menu. This will open up the Computer Management window. Scroll down to the option Storage, click on it and then click on Disk Management.

This will show you all the drives listed currently in your computer. Point your mouse to the drive that you want to partition, right click on it and choose Shrink Volume from the dropdown list of options.

This will open up a dialog box showing total size before shrink and available space etc. Type the desired amount that needs to be shrunk in the box next to Enter the amount of space to shrink in MB.

When done, click on the Shrink button. The shrinking process can take some time depending on the shrink amount and the disk size. Be patient until the process completes. When completed, you will be shown Unallocated space in a dialog box. This is the size of shrunk volume. Right click on Unallocated space and then select New Simple Volume from the dropdown menu.

This will open up the New Simple Volume Wizard window. If you don't want to format the newly create volume, you can choose the first option saying Do not format this volume. If you want to format, click on Format this volume with the following settings. Choose NTFS from the File System dropdown menu. Type a drive letter in the box next to Volume Label. Leave the Allocation unit size to Default. Click on the Next button and then the Finish button to close the window.

You can also download and run a free hard drive partitioning tool from a trusted website. Choose from an available range of free tools. Some of them include Ultimate Boot CD, System RescueCD, Ranish Partition Manager, and GParted Live among others.

Additional Tips:

You must have admin privileges to do the partitioning.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6557258