How to connect several partitions on a hard drive. How to partition a hard drive and merge them back together

Some computer manufacturers divide hard drives into multiple partitions. One for , and the rest for storing your personal files. If you wish, you can combine these sections into one. How to merge hard drive partitions without losing personal information, read the instructions below. .

This trick can also be used to delete recovery partitions and free up space that would otherwise be occupied by recovery data. Or, if you want to have a computer with multiple partitions, you can cancel everything.

Why are the hard drives of some computers pre-divided into several partitions?

Some PC manufacturers seem to believe that dedicating one partition for the operating system and a second for data provides a clear demarcation between the two, allowing you to wipe the first partition and reinstall the system without affecting the area containing personal data.

This is convenient for some users, but not at all necessary. will reset all system settings to standard without affecting your files, even if they are on the same partition. In addition, when you split your hard drive into two parts, you may run out of space for both programs on the system partition and personal files on the secondary partition.

Instead of working with the disk configuration chosen by the manufacturer, you can change it to suit your needs. It's fast, simple, relatively secure, and can be done right from Windows itself.

Keep in mind that some computers may have multiple hard drives installed. You will not be able to combine these disks into one partition without additional manipulations.

Delete one partition and expand another

We'll start by deleting one of the sections. If you purchased a new computer, the first partition contains system files, and the second is empty and called "DATA" or something like that, we will delete the empty partition.

If some of your files are already stored in this partition, move them to the system partition if you do not want to lose them. If there is not enough free space on the system partition, use an external hard drive or USB flash drive. Just remove these files from the partition, as they will be lost when it is deleted.

You can merge hard disk partitions using the Disk Management utility. On Windows 10 or 8.1, right-click the Start button and select Disk Management. On Windows 7, press Windows key + R, type “diskmgmt.msc” into the Run dialog text box and press Enter.

Find the two sections you want to merge. In the example below, we will merge the OS partition (C:) with the DATA partition (D:).

These two partitions must be on the same hard drive. If they are located on different drives, nothing will work. In addition, it is necessary that they are next to each other, otherwise you will have to work a little more.

Delete the second partition by right-clicking on it and selecting "Delete Volume". Don't forget that you will lose all the files stored on it!

To effectively allocate space on Windows- the computer may need to enlarge one particular partition at the expense of another partition, but non-adjacent - located relative to the first one, not before, not after, but somewhere in another part of the disk. Standard system tool - utility "Disk Management"- copes with this task only if the disk of a basic type is converted to a dynamic type.

In terms of operating basic disks, the utility's capabilities are very limited: it can increase the size of volumes only due to the unallocated space located after these volumes. And no more. The utility will not be able to increase the volume using the free space in front of it. Not to mention performing merge operations on non-contiguous volumes.

How to combine two non-adjacent hard drive partitions? To do this, you will have to resort to third-party software - the program. To solve the problem, a basic edition of the program will be enough, which, by the way, is supplied completely free of charge.

So, let's launch the program.

In our case, two non-adjacent sections that need to be combined into one are H And I. Wherein H is the original partition that we want to keep and enlarge, and I– an attached person who will subsequently disappear and give up his place H.

You can’t just go ahead and carry out the operation of merging them. Even if we select this operation in the context menu on any of the sections,

then we will only discover the possibility of their unification with adjacent ones.

Attached section I will have to be deleted to create unallocated space in its place. But first, of course, you need to take care of the data (if they are) . During the merge operation, the original partition H will not be harmed. It is on it that you can transfer data, right up to filling it to capacity. If there is not enough space on the latter, the remaining data will have to be temporarily scattered elsewhere on the computer. But it is undesirable for these to be intermediate sections located between the original and the attached one. To simplify the task of transferring data, you should always attach a smaller partition to a larger one. The letter, if it is specified in programs as a data path, can be changed at any time after the merger.

Well, let's get started. Call on the section I context menu and delete it.

As you can see in the screenshot below, now unallocated space has formed in its place. Let's go further: call the menu on the original section H and choose merge operation.

In the window that appears, check the box (this is the former section I) and press "OK".

That's it - the operations are planned. We can analyze the future picture of the disk and, if necessary, by clicking the button at the top "Reset", cancel everything in order to redistribute the space somehow differently. If you are satisfied with the future structure of the disk, we can begin to directly implement everything that is planned. Click "Apply".

Then - .

AND - "Reboot Now".

Next work will continue in preboot mode. If we are talking about carrying out the task at hand HDD , you may have to wait a long time for its completion. After all, when merging non-adjacent partitions, other partitions located between the original and the one being joined are shifted. Accordingly, all data stored on these intermediate partitions will be overwritten to other areas of the media. A HDD According to the conditions, it will not be able to cope with such a load quickly. The more data is stored in the intermediate space, the longer the displacement process will take.

As for SSD , the operation of merging non-adjacent partitions will naturally proceed more quickly. However, as mentioned, the data will be overwritten. Therefore, to redistribute space to SSD -disk will be advisable only in conditions of real need.

How to connect two drives into one without loss of information? I have a C: drive and the operating system is installed on it. There are two more drives E: and F:, these are the ones I want to combine into one drive, but both drives have information. This means that I cannot do this using the built-in tools of Windows 7. Or I can, but I need to transfer information from the F: drive and delete it, then attach the resulting unallocated space to the E: drive, as a result I will get one large E: drive.

In short, there is a lot of information on both disks and it is quite difficult to transfer it anywhere; I don’t have a portable hard drive. I found articles on your website about the free section manager "", these articles have almost everything: how to create a section, increase, decrease and most importantly, all this happens without losing information, that is, before working with the program, information does not need to be transferred anywhere. You just don’t have an article on the topic of how to connect two disks into one, I think the large audience of your resource will be grateful to you for such an article. Gleb.

How to connect two drives into one

Our article is suitable for operating systems: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

Let's return to today's article. The content of the article:
1) Connect two disks into one using the "EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition" program quickly and easily, naturally without loss of information.

2) We connect two disks into one without resorting to any programs, that is, using the tools built into Windows 7. I think this part of the article will also be useful to someone. But we will have to transfer data from the disk that we want to delete, otherwise there is no other way.

3) Friends, we also have an article on how to connect two disks into one using the program. This program is the leader among hard drive managers, but unfortunately it is paid.

Let's go to the official website http://www.easeus.com/download.htm. Select " EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition" and click Download

Freeware Download

Download Now

The program installer is downloaded. Let's launch it. Installing the program is simple, but there are a few points you need to pay attention to.
If you don’t need the TuneUp Utilities 2013 optimizer, uncheck the box and click Next.

It is not necessary to indicate your email

Before starting the program, go to Disk Management. We will not touch drive C:, but we will connect drive E: (59 GB) and drive F: (59 GB), so we will end up with one drive E: (119 GB).

Let's launch the program.

In the main program window, left-click once on the E: drive and click on the Merge tool,

In the window that appears, indicate the drive with which we want to merge the E: drive, this is the F: drive, check the F: box and OK.

Our program works in deferred operation mode, click the Apply button and OK,

The disk merging process has begun.

Go to Disk Management and look at the result. Instead of two drives E: and F:, we now have one drive E: (119 GB).

All the data that was on the F: drive moved to the E: drive, into the folder Local Disk F.

How to connect two disks into one using the Windows 7, Windows 8 operating system itself without resorting to any programs

Let's say that some users do not want to install additional software on their computer and will try to make do with the tools built into the operating system.

Let's go to Disk Management. To connect drives E: and F:, you must first transfer all the data from drive F: to a portable hard drive or flash drive, or to drive E:, then delete drive F:, right-click on it and select Delete volume, agree Yes.

Once again, right-click on the “Free” space and select Delete Partition.

Are you sure you want to delete the partition? We agree Yes.

Unallocated space of 59 GB appears. We attach this unallocated space to the E: drive. Right-click on drive E: and select Expand Volume.

Ready.

All. I would be very glad if I helped someone.

Good afternoon! For those PC users who have partitioned their hard drive into sectors, let's talk about how to combine hard drive partitions. For example, I combined the partitions because I had very little space on the C drive. When I start watching movies online, the entire movie is loaded into the cache and the hard drive memory becomes smaller. Well, let me tell you what and why)

What is the advantage of dividing the disk into parts?

1. each partition can contain a separate file system or a distinctive cluster size;
2. each disk partition is separate and is not affected by operations performed on other disk sectors;
3. this is the ability to save data even after reinstalling the operating system by separating system files from user files;
4. Multiple hard drive partitions allow you to install more than one operating system.

What is a hard drive partition? This is a separate part of the drive that allows you to more conveniently and efficiently use the disk capacity. I won't lie, sometimes this creates some problems.

That's why today I'll show you how to merge hard drive partitions. To do this, we will need a special program, otherwise it will be impossible to merge the sections. One such program is EaseUS Partition Master Free. It is completely free and easy to understand.

As soon as the merging process is completed, you will see the main program window in front of you, where the sections you have selected have already been merged. But this is still a long way off.

In time it ranges from several minutes to several hours. It all depends on the number of sections and their volume. The program will display a message in the form of a pop-up window when the merger is complete.

A new section will appear in the “My Computer” window, which will combine all previous sections, as well as the files and folders created in them. Its volume will be equal to the total volume of all combined sections. Here is a list of alternative programs for merging hard drive partitions:

• Acronis Disk Director,
• Paragon Hard Disk Manager,
• Norton Partition Magic,
• Active@ Partition Manager, etc. The only “but” is that most of them are paid programs.

Lastly, I invite you to subscribe to new blog articles. To do this, enter your email at the end of the article and I will send new articles to your email.

So, now you know how to combine hard drive partitions into one. I would be glad if I helped you understand this issue, and if something didn’t work out, ask your questions in the comments. I wish everyone health and goodness!

With UV. Evgeny Kryzhanovsky

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: 12 comments

1. Badrudi

   Hello Evgeniy. Thank you for the article. We'll try to combine them if necessary. although I have a different problem now. How to thoroughly clean your hard drive.

2. Oleg

   Hello, Evgeniy! I have a question: how to divide a hard drive into several parts. Initially, only the C: drive is installed, on which the operating system sits. I am not strong (yet) in computer matters, but I think I can solve this issue on my own with your help. All the best!

3. Oleg

   Good afternoon, Evgeniy! Unfortunately, I did not find an article on your blog that was interesting to me. Could you please indicate a more precise title of the topic that reveals the answer. I'm currently working from a tablet, perhaps for this reason I can't find what I need. Thank you in advance!

4. Oleg

   Hello, Evgeniy! Yes, I had a question about how to split a hard drive into two or more. But I already managed it on my own. By the way, the same program is used as the one you suggest for merging the disk. Good luck! And good luck!

5. Peter Firsov

For several volumes on a PC with Windows 10. This time we suggest you familiarize yourself with ways to combine partitions and make one large volume. These instructions will come in handy when, as the local disk fills up, there is not enough space to install programs and run Windows 10 itself. Adding free space to drive C will solve this problem and return the system to its former functionality. At the same time, we will consider a method for deleting data from the second hard drive and saving the information.

Merging volumes through Disk Management

In order to combine two volumes, or rather, bite off one and attach free space to the other, you need to perform the following steps.

• Right-click on the Start icon and select Disk Management.

• A new window will open. We determine the free space of which disk we will attach to drive C or another drive. Click “Delete Volume”.

IMPORTANT! In order to attach free space, the volume will need to be deleted. Therefore, back up your data. DO NOT use this method to attach space from drive C to another drive. Windows will be uninstalled and the PC will not start.

• A warning will appear indicating that all data will be deleted. Click “Yes”.

• The data will be deleted and a free partition will appear. It also needs to be removed. To do this, we use the right mouse button options.

• Now that there is an unallocated disk partition in Windows 10, we will attach the free space to the local drive D (you select any other drive you need).

• Right-click on drive D and select “Extend Volume”.

• The “Volume Expansion Wizard” will launch. Click on the “Next” button. A new window will appear. Here we indicate what space we are allocating for drive D. Click “Next”.

• Place added. However, you need to create a new volume from the remaining space (if you have it and you did not give up all the space on the previous disk for the disk). To do this, right-click on the unallocated partition and select “Create simple volume.”

• The Create Simple Volume Wizard will start again. We follow the instructions.

In this way, you can add free space to any disk, but at the same time sacrificing data from another disk.

Merge disks without deleting data

Unfortunately, the previous method of merging disks in Windows 10 does not allow you to save the user’s personal files, that is, to carry out the operation without losing data. To do this, you will have to resort to a software method for merging volumes. To do this we need the MiniTool Partition Wizard Free program. It is with her example that we will consider a way to combine two disks into one.

• Select drive D or the one that needs to be connected to the selected volume. Click on the “Move/Resize Partition” button.

• A small window will open. Here you need to indicate how much space you want to combine with 2 disks (drag the slider on the left).

• Next, we indicate the change in the size of drive C in the same way (pull the slider to the right).

Clicking "OK" will reboot your computer. Data will be automatically moved, space will be added, and information will not be lost.

To learn how to combine two disks into one using this program, watch the video: