Disk Portioning In Windows 10

Step-by-Step Tutorial On How To Portion A Disk In Windows 10.

Disk partitioning is the process of dividing a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD) into separate sections called partitions. Each partition acts as an independent unit, allowing you to organize data and optimize system performance.

Step-by-Step Guide: Partitioning Using Disk Management

Step 1: Open Disk Management

1. Press Windows + X and select Disk Management from the menu.
2. The Disk Management window will open, showing all connected drives and their current partitions.

Step 2: Select a Disk to Partition

1. In the Disk Management window, find the drive that you want to partition.
2. Right-click on the unallocated space or an existing partition you wish to shrink and select Shrink Volume or Create New Simple Volume.

Step 3: Shrink an Existing Partition (Optional)

1. If you want to shrink an existing partition to create space for the new partition, select Shrink Volume.
2. Enter the amount of space you want to allocate for the new partition (in MB or GB), then click Shrink.

Step 4: Create a New Partition

1. Once the new unallocated space appears, right-click on it and choose New Simple Volume.
2. Follow the wizard to:
   • Specify the volume size (it will default to the available space).
   • Assign a drive letter (e.g., D:, E:).
   • Format the partition with a file system (NTFS is the most common).
   • Choose whether to perform a quick format or a full format.
3. Click Finish, and the partition will be created.

Step 5: Verify the New Partition

After completing the steps, you will see the new partition listed in Disk Management with a drive letter and file system. You can now use it to store files or install programs.

Partitioning Using Command Prompt (CMD)

You can also partition your disk using the Command Prompt, which is ideal for more advanced users or when Disk Management fails to do the job.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt as Administrator

1. Press Windows + X and select Command Prompt (Admin) or Windows PowerShell (Admin) from the menu.

Step 2: Launch Diskpart Tool

1. Type diskpart and press Enter. This will launch the Diskpart utility, which is used for disk management in the Command Prompt.

Step 3: List Disks

1. Type list disk and press Enter. This command will display all the disks connected to your computer.

Step 4: Select the Disk

1. Type select disk X, replacing X with the number of the disk you want to partition (for example, select disk 1), and press Enter.

Step 5: Create a Partition

1. To create a new partition, type the following command and press Enter:

   create partition primary size=XXXXX
   

   Replace XXXXX with the size in MB for the partition (e.g., size=50000 for a 50GB partition)

2. You will see a message confirming that the partition has been created.

Step 6: Format the Partition

1. To format the new partition, type the following command and press Enter:

   format fs=ntfs quick

   This will quickly format the partition using the NTFS file system. You can also use exFAT or FAT32 depending on your needs

Step 7: Assign a Drive Letter

1. Type the following command to assign a drive letter (e.g., D:) to the partition:

   assign letter=D

2. You can choose any letter that is not already assigned to another drive.

Step 8: Verify the Partition

1. To verify that the partition was successfully created, type:

   list volume

   You should now see your new partition listed with the assigned letter.

Use this .bat script to automate process

This script will create a 20GB partition from C and assign it to disk letter F

@echo off

echo This will create a 20GB partition from your C: drive and assign it to F:

pause

:: Start Diskpart in batch mode

echo select disk 0 > diskpart.txt

echo list volume >> diskpart.txt

echo select volume 1 >> diskpart.txt

echo shrink desired=20480 >> diskpart.txt

echo create partition primary >> diskpart.txt

echo format fs=ntfs quick >> diskpart.txt

echo assign letter=F >> diskpart.txt

echo exit >> diskpart.txt

:: Execute Diskpart script

diskpart /s diskpart.txt

:: Clean up temporary Diskpart script file

del diskpart.txt

echo Partition created and formatted successfully with letter F:.

pause