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Introduction
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Having partitions in a hard disk works like, although not exactly the same as, having different hard disks. If your computer has unallocated space on a hard disk, you can create additional partitions from the unallocated space after logging on as an administrator. If a hard disk space is fully allocated, unallocated space can be generated if the size of a partition is reduced or a partition is deleted. One of the main objectives of having partitions in a hard disk is for separation of user files from operating system files. By keeping user files in a separate partition from another that hosts the operating system, user files can usually remain intact if the operating system needs to be reinstalled. If you need to prepare for a multi-booting setup from a single disk, it would be ideal to have a separate partition for each system. Other than these purposes, you might also want to refer to other benefits for disk partitioning as described here. Some users may prefer Windows’ built-in Disk Management utility to manage partitions, but most average users will like third party or standalone partition managers, which are usually equipped with more features and easier to use in general. |
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Discussion
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The program features an intuitive, user-friendly interface which makes disk partitioning an easier task, working straight from the Windows environment without the need to boot from a Live CD or a bootable disk. For ease of use, the relevant task icons are automatically enabled when a related partition is selected. EASEUS Partition Master works with different file systems and supports 2.0 TB hard disks. It can handle up to 32 hard disks with hardware RAID supports as well. The latest version supports Windows 7. The application is in all respects extremely similar to PowerQuest PartitionMagic, which was the benchmark in partition managers for many years, before the advent of Vista. Anyone familiar with PQ PartitionMagic can simply wade straight in as the GUI and all operations are essentially identical. However, a major drawback is that Easeus free edition has no boot manager, so it can probably only be used for data partitions. There is no way to dual-boot or select an alternative partition to boot from, unless the app is installed in each partition, which may not be possible, and is a bad choice in any case. The main downside to EASEUS Partition Master Free is that it doesn't allow you to create a recovery CD. That feature is only available in the commercial versions. |
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This program includes a wizard to create a new partition in the appropriate place of your hard disk, format it to NTFS and make it available in the system by assigning a drive letter. It also has a wizard to increase free space on one partition by up-taking the unused space of an adjacent partition of your hard disk. Backup an entire hard disk or separate partitions is supported. However, this free program does not offer to delete a partition, which is a basic task as well. Upon installation of the program, it requires you to register to get a free serial number. |
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The partition editor supports for the journaled file system including ext2, ext3 and ext4 commonly used on Linux, the ntfs file system used on Windows, and fat file system widely used on most computer systems, memory cards and portable devices. The required software to work with GParted and other file systems supported are listed here. GParted runs on the Linux system and can also be used on Windows by booting from media containing GParted Live. When running on the desktop environment, GParted requires partitions to be unmounted before editing. |
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To recover lost partitions: You might want to try TestDisk, which is a console application designed for data recovery. The free program can be used to fix partition table, recover deleted partitions or copy files from deleted partitions. Other features include recover or rebuild NTFS or FAT boot sector, fix FAT tables, undelete files from the file systems, etc. |
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Pending Review
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The following programs are currently being reviewed with full details to be posted once testing is complete. Please leave suggestions in the comments section below and I will research and add appropriate programs to the review queue.
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Other Partition Managers
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These are a number of other free partition managers which were brought up in comments here or noted from other sources. As they are not rated in this review, I am listing them here with brief descriptions and links to their sites for ease of reference.
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Notes
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Have Your Say
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4.1 
Free for home users 
Windows 2000 - Windows 7 (32 bit)
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Editor
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This software category is maintained by volunteer editor freedog96150 |
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Tags
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partition manager, free partition manager, freeware, free partition, disk partition, disc partition |
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Please rate this article
Great Tool! I recommend it!
tried win7 own 'shrink volume' in admin tools/computer management recently, and it worked well. no probs so far.
Hi crew! My name is Brian (freedog96150) and I am the new category editor. Feel free to drop comments here as well as in the forums. I will do my best to help and respond. I am looking forward to jumping in and contributing my time and knowledge to this category.
EASEUS Partition Master Professional 4.1.1 free download, time limited until 1st Feb 2010
http://www.partition-tool.com/giveaways/epmpro/
Windows 7 32 bit and 64 bit compatible
Its already on the site here :
http://www.techsupportalert.com/easeus-partition-master-for-free.htm
Paragon Partition Manager Express Edition is no longer available at the Paragon website. Instead, Partition Manager Free Edition is now available. Amongst the differences from the Express Edition, the Free Edition allows you to delete partitions, and does not offer the creation of a bootable recovery environment.
Hi
Is there any (Free)software which would allow me to merge ntfs partions?
I need to increase the size of the "C" drive urgently !
And if I do, is there any chance of MBR corruption etc?
Please reply ASAP !
Thanks
I've use GParted in the past for tasks like this. If you have any empty partition on the same physical disk as your C: drive, then you can just extend the existing C: drive into that blank space to increase it's size. GParted is a bootable disk. Just apply the resize request as described, and reboot your pc, and all sorted..
IMO, MBR won't be affected, but MBR points to a bootloader in a partition. If that's the partition you're merging with another, MBR might point to a non-existent partition and resulting in a computer which cannot boot up.
Recently I just used a partition manager to merge and resize partitions. I needed to re-boot my PC using a Live CD, re-install Grub2 bootloader to dual boot Ubuntu with Windows.
Merging partitions can be achieved by means of removing a partition (which is empty or the data in there is not needed) to make unallocated space, then expand another partition by taking up the space. A safer move is to shrink a partition, then expand another, without merging them. In any move, proper backup of data is needed in case partition editing is unsuccessful.
Partition managers will perform partition merging too. The above listed softwares should be able to do the job.
Please post your query on the forum, and you will get proper responses, from TSA team, and/or users on the forum.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum
Armed with a shiny new PC with a 250Gb C: drive and a new XP install, I decided I'd repartition it before I did anything much else.
Now, I'd rather use a boot CD; it avoids having to install anything in the target machine, for one thing, and since most of us aren't likely to repartition our systems twice a week for the foreseeable future, it seems like a fair choice.
So I tried Parted Magic. Based on mature software, by the look of things, and those linux types are often real perfectionists, can't fail.
Can it?
Simple intention: I wanted 40Gb for C: and the rest for everything that doesn't need to be embedded directly in Windows.
In use, it was straightforward, seemed feature-rich, Parted worked much like the late, lamented Partition Magic.
Reboot at the end. Nope. Can't mount the C: drive. Reloaded Parted Magic, went looking, it reported great big errors that suggested that it'd rewritten the new size into the partition table but not actually resized the partition to match.
So I found a partition recovery tool I had lying around (partitionrecovery.iso, can't remember where I got it) blew it to a CD, booted from it and it sorted things out.
Despite some of the warnings I'd seen here about Easeus and my own prejudices relating to having to install it before use, I tried that next. Worked first time (although it failed to shut the machine down at the end of the process even though it said it would: it sat at "...in 1 second" for half an hour while I summoned up the courage to hit the off switch. For that reason, I can't give it full marks -- but definitely 4/5.
All of this stuff should be prefixed: fiddling with partitions should not be attempted without the tools you need to recover if things go horribly wrong. Backups, disk fixers you trust, anything else you can think of. I only nearly had to reinstall Windows from scratch; worse could happen to you.
Magic Partition Software - Easeus released upgraded version Easeus Partition Master Professional Edition with new features: Windows 7 Support. With its help, you can extend system partition, have better disk space management, settle low disk space problem. The most attractive feature is it can extend system partition or other partitions without reboot.No data loss in the extending process. You can resize, move, copy, create, convert, explore, delete and format partition quickly and safely. It works perfectly with hardware RAID and Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7 (32 bit and 64 bit) Operating Systems. Moreover, it also allows users to create bootable CD.
I don't think Easeus Partition Master Professional Edition is free; so doesn't quite fit in this website!
The version for 64-bit OS is not free, just the 32-bit.
the professional edition is certainly not free but the one in this article is definitely free, the home edition.
While preparing for a clean XP install I mistakenly wiped out my partition table, [SATA Drive], & lost 3 other drive partitions. Have not yet reinstalled XP on the drive. I know my C drive partition was 40 Meg in size. Would it be easier to reinstall XP first ? What is the easiest program to get my 3 other drive partitions back ?
Thanks in advance !
Thanks for valiable information. Kep up the good work.
NOTE: your tile says FREE !!!
EASEUS Partition Master is the best partition manager that i have used. It is not only free, but also operations are easy to complete. The 4.0 new features enlarge partition without reboot is quite useful. gold medal product
Partition Wizard Home Edition is a free partition manager designed by MT Solution Ltd. It supports 32/64 bit Windows Operating System including Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. Home users can perform complicated partition operations by using this powerful but free partition manager to manage their hard disk partition such as Resizing partitions, Copying partitions, Create partition, Delete partition, Format partition, Convert partition, Explore partition, Hide partition, Change drive letter, Set active partition and Partition Recovery.
http://www.partitionwizard.com
Nice program! Thanks for the tip. Ive downloaded their bootable CD from here:
http://www.partitionwizard.com/partition-wizard-bootable-cd.html
and created new partitions on my new PC. Everything works fine.
I have tried out it. I like one of the features, that is "set the partition to logical/primary". This feature which I didn't find in EASEUS Partition Master.
Thanks for this offer. Partition is danagerous. I do not want to try an unknown partition software and will insisit on easeus partition master.
it make me disk crashed!!, freak product! do not use it!!
Thanks for the info.
Yes partition wizard looks excellent - has partition recovery and wipe features as well & works with 64 bit amazing!
Does it support Linux partitions?
Or at least igmore them properly?
Forgive my newbiness here, but for which operating systems do you need 3rd party software in order to partition a drive? < XP? I know Vista allows you to manage partitions, I assume Windows 7 will..
Thanks for comments. I think the last paragraph in the Introduction provides some explanations. Hope this helps.
Sorry the link didn't come out right, here's the link:
www.ghacks.net/2009/05/02/free-paragon-software-special-editions/
I use Paragon Partition Manager Special Edition 2009.
Go here-http://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/02/free-paragon-software-special-editions/ Read the description, it explains everything...
easeus partition master 3.5 is showing my recovery partition but when i try to use my recovery tool it cant find it any help please.
There's a new version of Paragon's basic disk partition software now available from vnunet.com. It's Paragon Partition Manager 10 Express, and "is designed for home users who just want to create or re-size existing partitions. [It]doesn’t contain much more functionality, although it does ship with recovery disc builder, so you can fix your machine if you experience problems partitioning a drive."
You can read more about it and download it here: http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2240880/paragon-partition-manager
How come EASEUS Partition Master (Home Edition) and Paragon Partition Manager Express is not free for 64-bit users? I hate that as I am running on a 64-bit system at home, which most users with a new PC does. :-(
So... what is the best freeware partition manager for 64-bit users?
Partition Wizard Home Edition v4.0 could support 64-bit Windows. And it is also free.
www.partitionwizard.com
Good question. What is the best freeware partition manager for 64-bit users? Is there a freeware 64-bit partition manager at all? Maybe there isn't one!
64 bits is not going to improve the performance of a partition manager. so, you could use a standalone solution instead of your 64 bit OS. Some like cute are mentioned here. The UBCD for Windows (ultimate boot CD for Windows) includes the Easeus Partition Manager on their self booting CD. Its saved my jewels a few times.
Lets face it, this isn't one of those activities that benefits greatly from a GUI OS, except in the situations where the partitioning activity can run in the background. The results are the same regardless of how you partition the drive or what OS environment does the work.
Be careful with Paragon Hard Disk Manager 8.5. I have an Acer 3680 laptop with a restore partition. The Paragon software claimed my Vista Home Basic NTFS C partition was not formatted at all. EASEUS 3.5 had no problem reading the partition characteristics properly. EASEUS cased some angst on resizing partitions when Vista wouldn't boot after the resize was completed. You end up in the Vista recovery process. Run the recovery process. Do NOT restore to any previous restore point when it asks you to. Once the recovery process is completed you'll be able to boot back into Vista again, at which point Vista will install a generic driver of some type and tell you to reboot the system again. All is well after this final reboot. I resized both my C and D partitions and it happened with each one of them.
To Number #2,
You saved my HD. My 1TB WD HD suddenly lost it partition. All my academic papers and stuff were on that disk (No, I didn't have any backup). I thought I'm going to die. I've downloaded Test Disk and in seconds, my computer was like new.
Thanks a lot!
p.s – in order to do that, you have to connect your HD to another computer, download test disk and run it from that computer’s HD.
This freeware is great, but it can only be used on my old 32-bit machine, while can not support my new IBM, so I decide to purchase the Professional Edition, when I read their page, I found a discount 20% code page,
http://www.easeus.com/resource/easeus-discount.htm
and indeed it available, saving $8, I'm just puzzling why they discount directly for us?
Whatever, it's a great partition management software.
i just went to a new pc this week. made all the backups to an external hdd. when I thought to restore the backed-up documents and favorites, I plugged the USB 3.5 drive only to find all partition information was gone, so plugging it to the new notebook only resulted in a "do you want to format the HDD?" greeting.
none of the tools mentioned here really allow recovering the partition table easily, but i found this little gem: test disk. It's a command line program, but does the job perfectly. scan, verify, write partition table, reboot. Done. All four partitions on the external HDD appear to be back to normal.
How did you compile it to work on Windows? Thanks
Regarding the article notes: you can install Linux-based operating systems (i.e. my Xubuntu installation) to the extended partition - you just can't install Windows to the extended partition.
You CAN install Windows on a logical drive in an extended partition. Only windows boot files need to be on a primary partition.
Many thanks for the feedback.
Great site, very helpful information. Question: I got the free Paragon 8.5, but it is claiming that I have 2 TB present on an 80 GB disk...? I looked this up on the net and I am not the only one with the problem, see here: http://www.itreviews.co.uk/software/s506.htm. Have any of you guys found this, and can I use the program with confidence? Thanks.
Hey guys,
all the FREE partition managers mentioned above do NOT work with 64bit VISTA. Can someone please suggest a free program that works with vista 64bit edition?
Hi
Used Norton Ghost and Norton Partition Manager for years? but recently they are bugging me.
I try to clone an old hard disk to a new one, but the pal.dll file keeps coming out flawed. Maybe this is due to having to pull out the old hardddisk before booting, maybe not.
Do any of the recommended PM's permit to do this in a quick and dirty way, i.e.
(1) install the new disk
(2) click a button (possibly after having booted from the PM CD)
(3) follow instructions and boot up on the new hard disk
-> no problems whatsoever, I just get the new disk with the "c:" drive and it WORKS
Do any of these products allow for converting a NTFS formatted HD to FAT32 without data loss?
I've just put a NTFS formatted HD into an external Digimate-type enclosure and it won't read it, I assume because it only sees FAT32.
Regards
David
YES!
Paragon Hard Disk Manager 8.5 SE can do this with no problem!
This feature is rare even among partition managers you pay for, and unheard of in free offerings.
Yet the moderator of this category has for some reason chosen to not place this program in the QuickLink section, so you'll have to search through this page to find the information about it. Right now, it's post # 6.
- Bruce Fraser
This category has no editor at present.
chris.p
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