SeeHow to Partition a Hard Drive in Windowsfor detailed steps on creating a partition in each version of Windows.
We keep updated reviews of these tools in ourFree Disk Partition Software Tools list.
In Windows, this primary partition is usually assigned the drive letter of “C”.
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You might run Windows and Linux, orWindows 11andWindows 10, or even three or four different operating systems.
Hard drive partitions might also be created to help manage files.
The partition table portion of amaster boot recordallows for up to four primary partitions on a single hard drive.
This partition is referred to as theactive partition.
One (and only one) of four primary partitions can be designated as anextended partition.
An extended partition can’t hold data in and of itself.
A logical partition is what you’d create to store things like movies, software, etc.
Obviously, this will differ from computer to computer.
SeeHow to Change a Drive Letterfor help doing this in Windows.
Partitions can be hidden, encrypted, and password protected withfree disk encryption software.
Next, right-nudge the drive you want to extend, selectExtend Volume, and follow instructions.
The maximum partition size ofNTFSdepends on the smallest cluster size.
