Segmenting a Hard Drive
Windows 7 can segment hard drives into separate partitions, or volumes. Partitions are independent from one another and function like individual disk drives. Businesses can partition a hard drive to separate applications and system files from personal files, allowing administrators to restore the operating system without affecting the company's data. You can partition a hard drive in Disk Management.
Click "Start," enter "disk" into the search field, and then select "Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions" from the results.
Right-click the disk and select "Shrink Volume" from the context menu.
Enter into the available field how large you want the partition to be, in MB. Click "Shrink" to resize the disk.
Right-click the portion of the drive labeled "Free Space," and then select "New Simple Volume" to open New Simple Volume Wizard. Click "Next."
Click "Next" again to accept the default value. Choose a letter from the drop-down menu or use the default assignment. Click "Next."
Select "Format This Volume With the Following Settings." Select "NTFS" to use the device with Windows XP, Vista and 7; select "FAT" or "FAT32" to use the device with older operating systems.
Enter a name for the partition into Volume Label. Click "Next," then "Finish" to segment the drive.
- To prevent possible data loss, back up your files before partitioning the drive.
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