Excellent Partition Software

[Lone Star]

I had purchased a laptop about 3 years ago with 16GB of RAM and 1TB hard drive to be able to accommodate all my graphics and video software. Well, after I picked up the laptop and got home, I realized that the shop had partitioned the hard drive without my telling them to do so. Didn't want that. However, I made it work for as long as I could.

There was only 155GB allocated for Drive C and the rest (way too much was on the other side of the partition in Drive D).

Well, this week I needed to do something. Contacted Advice here in Udon and explained my issue with them. I wanted to reallocate free space from Drive D to Drive C. They never really did address my questions. They were talking as if I was stuck with it unless I wanted to run Win 10, which I did not want to do. They also never answered my question as to their ability to do what I wanted done.

So I started searching the Internet for information. After about a day or two search -- on and off for about 5 hours or so -- I found an excellent program that would do EXACTLY what I needed.

AOMEI Partition Assistant v7.1

It does a multitude of tasks. Not just reallocating drive space.

It was as simple as selecting the reallocation task from Drive D to Drive C, selecting the amount of GB to reallocate, and approve the operation. The computer shut itself down, restarted, and a progress window appeared that showed the progress of the reallocation. After about 3 hours, the reallocation was complete.

Everything carried out without a hitch. Impressive.

[tamada]

Good find.

I have been using EaseUS Partition Master Free for partition management and it sounds similar to your product in that you select the sequence of shrinking D first, re-allocate the free space to C, hit the go-button and it's all automatic with self-reboots, etc.. AOMEI Partition Assistant does seem to have some additional, handy features though.

[Lone Star]

Actually, I found EaseUS in the very beginning. Even downloaded it and went through some of the functions, but I wasn't sure that what I wanted to do is what I had selected. I also wasn't sure where the freed up space from Drive D would go initially. It looked like there were two steps involved -- shrinking D and move the freed up space someplace. Then in an additional step moving the freed up space into C. I really wasn't sure. When in doubt, don't.

EaseUS looks like a very reputable operation. Lots of different useful software.

Luckily, I found the AOMEI software. For me, it seemed a bit more straightforward. The process was easier to understand and their terminology was more familiar.

[Bouph]

[Lone Star]

I was impressed as well. Thank you for posting this, it was just what I was looking for to resize my drive partitions.

Always welcome, Bouph.

[arjay]

The two Acer laptops I bought and used in Thailand both had partitioned hard drives (and caused me no issues in relation to that).

A newer laptop (Toshiba) I bought in the UK a couple of years ago, did not have a partitioned drive. Are the any issues or should I have any concerns about that? I had previously understood that by having the D partition it enabled one to keep more storage related stuff on the D partition, out of the way of the operating system and application files on the C drive.

[Lone Star]

The two Acer laptops I bought and used in Thailand both had partitioned hard drives (and caused me no issues in relation to that).

A newer laptop (Toshiba) I bought in the UK a couple of years ago, did not have a partitioned drive. Are the any issues or should I have any concerns about that? I had previously understood that by having the D partition it enabled one to keep more storage related stuff on the D partition, out of the way of the operating system and application files on the C drive.

My issue was that they allocated less than 200GB for the OS/Program side of the partition and almost 800GB on the data side, which was pretty much wasted based on how I use disk space. Since I don't store any data on the computer drive(s) and use cloud and/or external hard drives for data, I didn't need the partition at all.

I have found that my graphics programs run much better when they have lots of room. That was the issue that I was trying to resolve. Get the bulk of the free space from D onto C. It worked excellently. Everything is running smoother.

[arjay]

Without meaning to highjack your thread and point, I was hoping that someone might comment on whether it would be advisable to partition my currently unpartioned hard drive, assuming that it can even be done on a system that is already up and running.

[Lone Star]

Without meaning to highjack your thread and point, I was hoping that someone might comment on whether it would be advisable to partition my currently unpartioned hard drive, assuming that it can even be done on a system that is already up and running.

I view your question as part of the discussion. Not a highjacking.

If you have a large hard drive and like to store data on it, having a partition is a nice way to keep the OS and program files separate from your data.

It's still one drive, but shows up as two. If there is any failure of the drive, it usually affects both sides of the partition.

The software I mentioned in the OP will create partitions in existing drives. You only need to make certain that you allocate enough space to accommodate the files that you want to store on each side. I would backup my files before creating the partition.

[arjay]

OK. Thanks Lone Star.

Does the software determine what should go on what partition, or does it require prompting/instructing what to put on which drive?

Or I suppose I could put everything onto 'C' drive first and then move files such as music, photos etc across manually to 'D' afterwards?

[Lone Star]

OK. Thanks Lone Star.

Does the software determine what should go on what partition, or does it require prompting/instructing what to put on which drive?

Or I suppose I could put everything onto 'C' drive first and then move files such as music, photos etc across manually to 'D' afterwards?

In my case, I didn't create a partition. I reallocated space between the partitions, and in that task, the software prompted me to select the amount of MBs/GBs that I wanted to move. I ran the software up to that point a couple of times before actually pulling the trigger and activating the reallocation -- just to be sure that I was doing what I wanted done. 555

I would bet that it will do the same when creating a new partition -- prompt you to select how much you wish to allocate to each side of the partition.

Yes, you could create the partition on the existing Drive C and once the partition is created, move the files you wish to move to Drive D after the partition is in place.

I was very surprised at how easy this program was to use, and the terminology was easily understood.

[tamada]

Partitioning a hard drive that has already been used after being configured with a single C partition will not be as easy and efficient as doing it when the HD or machine is new. Partitioning is best done on a new HD installation or when doing a clean, factory re-install of the operating system. In this way, the operating system and the users software files will all be handily installed on the C partition.

If one has been careful about where stuff gets installed, downloaded or saved on the single partition machine, it is possible that all the 'operating' directories could be flagged for retention on the C partition with the rest flagged for punting onto the new D partition. However, most casual users don't rigorously control this and rather let the operating system and/or programs save stuff in their 'default' directories. Nothing can get lost unless it's actually deleted but stuff can get 'lost' because you don't know where to find it or where a program or utility has ratholed it.

I am not saying it cannot be done after-the-fact but needs the user to maybe sit down and make a list of what he wants to go where BEFORE starting the partitioning and moving exercise. Oh yes, and backup the whole lot first.

AFAIK, the partitioning and resizing software that is the subject of this thread doesn't make any efforts to help a user sort what should go where.

[arjay]

Thanks Lone Star and Tamada. I will ponder the points arising. I'm thinking that in my case perhaps it may be safer to follow the old adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it".