Cancel hard disk partition. Working with Acronis Director

To make two local disks one or increase the disk space of one of the volumes, you need to merge partitions. For this purpose, one of the additional partitions into which the drive was previously divided is used. This procedure can be carried out both with the preservation of information and with its removal.

You can merge logical drives in one of two ways: using special programs for working with drive partitions or using the built-in Windows tool. The first method is more preferable, since such utilities usually transfer information from disk to disk when merging, but standard program Windows deletes everything. However, if the files are unimportant or missing, then you can do without using third-party software. The process of how to merge local drives in one on Windows 7 and more modern versions of this OS will be the same.

Method 1: AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard

This free disk partition manager helps you merge partitions without losing data. All information will be transferred to a separate folder on one of the disks (usually a system one). The convenience of the program lies in the simplicity of the actions performed and the intuitive interface in Russian.

After the merging is completed, you will find all the data from the disk that was attached to the main one in the root folder. She will be called X drive, where X- letter of the drive that was attached.

Method 2: MiniTool Partition Wizard

The program is also free, but it has a set of all the necessary functions. The principle of working with it is slightly different from the previous program, and the main differences are the interface and language - MiniTool Partition Wizard does not have Russification. However, basic knowledge is enough to work with it. of English language. All files in the merging process will be transferred.

Look for the transferred files in the root folder of the drive with which the merger has taken place.

Method 3: Acronis Disk Director

is another program that can merge partitions, even if they have different file systems. By the way, the above-mentioned free analogues. In this case, user data will also be transferred to the main volume, but on the condition that there are no encrypted files among them, in this case the merging will be impossible.

Acronis Disk Director is a paid, but convenient and multifunctional program, so if you have it in your arsenal, then you can connect volumes through it.

After reboot, look for files in the root folder of the drive that you designated as the main

Method 4: Built-in Windows Utility

Windows has a built-in tool called "Disk Management". He knows how to perform basic actions with hard drives, in particular, in this way you can merge volumes.

The main disadvantage of this method is that all information will be deleted. Therefore, it makes sense to use it only when the data on the disk that you are going to attach to the main one is missing or not needed. In rare cases, carry out this operation through "Disk Management" fails, and then you have to use other programs, but such a nuisance is rather an exception to the rule.

1. Press key combination Win+R, type diskmgmt.msc and open this utility by clicking "OK".

   

2. Find the section you want to attach to another. Right click on it and select "Delete Volume".

   

3. In the confirmation window, click "Yes".

   

4. The volume of the deleted partition will turn into unallocated area. Now it can be added to another disk.

   

   Find the disk you want to increase the size of, right-click on it and select "Expand Volume".

   

5. Will open . Click "Further".

   

6. In the next step, you can choose how many free GB you want to add to the disk. If you need to add all the freed space, just click "Further".

   

   To add a fixed size to a disk in the field "Choose the amount of space to allocate" indicate how much you want to add. The number is specified in megabytes, taking into account the fact that 1 GB = 1024 MB.

7. In the confirmation window, click "Ready".

   

Result:

Merging partitions in Windows is a very simple procedure that allows you to effectively manage disk space. Despite the fact that the use of programs promises to merge disks into one without losing files, do not forget to back up important data - this precaution is not superfluous.

In this short article, I step by step I'll tell you with pictures how to merge hard disk partitions on windows 10 into one volume. It is not difficult to find programs on the Internet that can do this. However, in my opinion, there is no need to use often dubious third party programs when the Windows 10 operating system itself has a built-in ability to merge hard disk partitions. That is, we will consider how to merge a hard drive using the built-in tools of Windows 10 itself.

This method is suitable not only for Windows 10, but also for the "seven" and "eight".

Step 1. Open the built-in Disk Management utility

In order to merge hard disk partitions into one, first you need to open the built-in Disk Management utility.

You can start it in a new way, which appeared in the top ten - right-click on the start menu and select "Disk Management". (if the utility has started, go straight to step 2 - ↓ down through two pictures)

For earlier Windows versions We are looking for this tool through the search or Control Panel. To do this, we type "Control Panel" (Figure 1), and then open it with a mouse click (Figure 2).

In the window that opens, select and click on the "System and Security" item.

A new window opens. In it we go down and in the item "Administration" click on the sub-item "Create and format a hard disk".

Before us appears the actual utility "Disk Management".

Step 2: Remove volume and partition to merge with another partition in Windows 10

Now we need to select the partition that we are going to attach to another partition. In my case, this is partition F. Right-click on it and select "Delete Volume".

We press "yes".

We have 50 gigabytes of free space. But they still cannot be added to another section. Now on these 50 GB you need to delete the partition. Also, as in the previous step, right-click on the already freed space of the partition and select "Delete Partition".

The appearance of 50 GB with the inscription "Unallocated" tells us that now we can add this free and unallocated space to any other section of our hard disk.

Step 3: Add Free Unallocated Space to an Existing Hard Drive Partition

I will add them to partition D. To do this, right-click on the appropriate partition and select "Extend Volume".

The Extend Volume Wizard starts. We press "Next".

To transfer all the free space to the partition of our choice, simply click "Next".

If you want part of the space to come to one partition (for example, C), and part to another (for example, D), then in this case you can choose how much free space you add to a specific hard disk partition in your Windows 10 OS

We click "Finish".

The last picture shows that the 50 GB partition F that originally existed for me has disappeared. Instead, there are 50 additional gigabytes of free space on the D drive.

P.S.: In some, rather rare cases, the Disk Management utility built into the OS may not allow you to merge some partitions of one hard disk. Figured it out after reading the comments below. Looks like Microsoft is playing it safe here. It was to solve this and other problems with managing the hard drive space that I began to look for another option that allows me to manage hard drive in Windows 10 using third-party, but the most secure and free development. For those who are faced with such problems, I wrote an article "

Let's take a closer look at how to merge sections hard drive. If your HDD divided into several sections, you can easily combine them using standard Windows tools or third party software.

In earlier versions of Windows, dividing a hard disk into partitions made it possible to structure the amount of information that users stored on their computers. Also, some system administrators create a division to system files and the rest of the data was stored in different places.

This reduces the risk of their damage by virus software or careless user actions.

In modern OS models, as a rule, only two divisions are used - the main disk and the backup space. Thus, if a serious failure occurs in Windows, everything stops working, your data will not be damaged, because it will always be possible to restore using the second partition of the disk.

If your PC has too many unused partitions and you want to remove them, use the following instructions from the article.

Preparing to remove a disk volume

Before you merge multiple volumes, you need to take steps to help save your files. Any editing of a partition in Windows leads to permanent deletion files and folders in this volume.

We recommend that you create a backup copy of all files and move it to a removable USB drive. If the amount of information is too large, create a separate profile for it in cloud storage. In most of them, you can use up to 20 GB of space for free (Yandex.Disk, DropBox, OneDrive, and others).

Fig. 1 - a schematic example of dividing a hard disk

Merging Partitions in Windows 7

In Windows 7, users can merge disk partitions without downloading additional programs to their computer. All necessary settings can be changed as follows:

• Go to the Start menu and open the Run window. Windows 7 Home Edition may not have this key. In this case, just press Win + R to bring up the desired window or edit appearance Start menu in home screen settings;
• In the window that appears, type diskmgmt.msc - a command to open the computer's disk management window. Confirm the action by clicking on "OK".

Fig. 2 - command input

• The following window will open. The lower part of the window displays all connected to the system hard drives and their conditional division. Each division section is a separate volume. It is designated by a letter, has its own file system type and space;

Rice. 3 - display sections in the settings

• You need to select the section you want to delete (merge with the main volume of drive C). Then right-click on it and click on "Delete Volume". Next, a window will appear with a system message stating that all data on the volume will be deleted and you will not be able to restore it. Confirm the uninstall. Essentially, you are not deleting anything, but simply erasing the section. All space goes to drive C;

Rice. 4 - delete volume

After deleting one volume, you can do the same with the rest, thus creating free partitions. An "Empty Volume" will appear in place of the previous object. Don't forget to attach it to the desired section. Click on the section in which all objects will be combined and in context menu click on "Expand Volume".

In the window that opens, select an available empty section and add it to the main one. Do this until there is no unreserved part of the hard disk left on the computer.

Rice. 5 - volume expansion in Windows 7

After completing the procedure, you must restart Windows work, otherwise further work may lead to errors and deletion of data.

Instructions for Windows 10

The instructions described in this section of the article are suitable for both Windows 10 and all versions of Windows 8. You can merge partitions using the built-in OS tools. As in the previous description of the settings, we need the Disk Management utility. Follow instructions:

• Go to the search box and type in the word "management". The desired option will appear in the results. And also, you can press the combination of the Win and X keys, calling up the quick access menu. It has a link to access Disk Management;

Fig. 6 - hard disk settings window in Windows 10

• Decide which sections you no longer use. For better orientation, they are marked with letters that correspond to the names of the drives in the "This PC" window;
• If you want to keep only one volume, choose which one you will attach the rest of the elements to;
• Then right click on the object to be deleted. And uninstall it;

Fig. 7 - deleting a partition in Windows 10

• Confirm the action by agreeing to the loss of data;
• Delete partition space;

Fig. 8 - freeing up space

• Now you will see that the section has become empty, but its division remains. Since it is no longer used in the system, its name and other attributes are removed. The object can be combined with the main disk;
• As a result of the correct execution of all actions, you will see that the inscription appeared in place of the disk section: “Not allocated”. Now you can start merging sections.

Click on the main section - in most cases this is drive C. From the menu, select the item expand volume.

Rice. 9 - attaching an element

The setup wizard window will open. With it, you can easily divide the free space or merge it into one system carrier information.

Fig. 10 - merging sections

Working with Acronis Director

Often in the standard Disk Management window, users are faced with the fact that the Delete Volume button is not available or other functions cannot be performed. This is due to the limitation group policies. Maybe, System Administrator forbidden to perform such actions or your OS version does not imply setting up disk partitions and other system parameters.

Using third-party utilities will help solve the problem. Acronis Director is one of the best programs, which allows you to configure the disk and bypasses all prohibitions on changing your computer settings.

We recommend that you work only with the bootable version of the program, because it will help you avoid errors that may appear during system settings. The main window of the utility contains all the necessary data about the hard drive. Partitioning information is also provided in this window.

Rice. 11 - main window in Acronis Director

To create one disk instead of several sections, simply select all the partitions that you no longer want to use and click on "Merge" on the left side of the window. In a new window, a detailed setting of the elements will appear. You must select the volume that will be the main one and attach other objects to it one by one.

After completing all the steps, you must apply the settings. To do this, click on the "Apply" button, which is located at the top of the utility (on the toolbar).

Thematic videos:

How to merge hard disk partitions in Windows.

Simple Solutions to Complex Errors

Merge hard drive partitions FAST!

I will show you how to merge hard disk partitions using a simple program Acronis Disk Manager. If you still don't know how it's done, then watch my short video tutorial, where I explained everything in detail. You will need a few minutes of your time to merge disks and Acronis Disk Director.

To merge two disks, or rather to merge two volumes, means the same thing. Information can be recorded on two discs. When combined, we get one volume of a larger size. Just like volume division, merging can be made regular Windows tools, or install special programs. By using software tools it will be possible to connect two volumes without losing information.

Method 1. You can merge two disks into one quickly and without losing information using the EaseUS program. Partition Master free edition". Download it from the official website for free using the link. Download and run the program installer. When installing mail, you can not specify and uncheck the TuneUp Utilities optimizer, it is not needed. Run the program. In the main window, specify "Disk1" for the merge and the command "Merge (merge). For example, there are drives E: and F:, you want to get drive E:, the size of which is equal to the sum of the volumes of two drives E: and F:.

In the next window, check "Disk2" to merge, click "Ok". The program will work in the pending operation mode, so in the new window select the “Apply” tool and click “OK”. Then answer "Yes" to the notification. The disk merging process has begun. Enter the Disk Management section and check the result - instead of two drives E: and F: you will see only E: with an increased size. The data from volume F: is not lost, it is copied to the "Local Disk F" folder on drive E:.

Method 2: Merge hard disk partitions using Acronis Disk Director Suite. Download from the Internet and install the indicated software. Close all windows with files and running programs. Launch Acronis, select the disk to be removed and right-click on it to open the context menu. In it, select the Merge "Combine" command.

AT open window select another disk partition to merge and click next. In the window that opens, specify the disk partition where you want to write information from the disk being merged. You can create a new folder and save all data into it - "Create a new folder" - set the name of the folder - "Ok".

Select "Operations" - "Run" in the main window of the program. In the next window, click the "Proceed" button. The section can be deleted without merging the information.

The process of merging disk partitions that has begun will take place under the control of MS-DOS. Therefore, the operating system will be rebooted. Select "Reboot" in the "Warning" window. The process of merging partitions and overwriting information takes place during OS boot and can take hours, you can leave your computer unattended for this time.

At the end of the program, a message will appear on the screen about the merging of the two sections. You can merge disk partitions using Acronis even if they have different file system(FAT32 and NTFS).

If you need to combine several hard disk partitions into one volume, then the first thing to do is save important data on another medium. Most likely, they will be irretrievably destroyed. If the paging file of the operating system is stored on the logical drive to be removed, transfer it to the main partition in advance.

Partitions can be merged correctly not only by means of the OS, but also by external programs.

During the process of merging hard disk partitions, all programs must be closed. A program or process accessing the hard drive may block access to the system, and the procedure will not be able to start. Do not turn off or restart your computer while changing disks.

1. The operating system removes the logical volume you specified.
2. The partition on which the logical volume functioned is removed.
3. The system partition expands to the freed disk space.

Combining partitions using external programs

You can merge hard disk partitions, for example, using the Acronis Disk Director Suit package with the Acronis Partition Expert utility or the AOMEI Partition assistant. There are other programs, but these have proven to be optimal.

The Acronis package is user-friendly, has an intuitive interface, and is able to merge disks without data loss, just like the free AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Merge partitions with AOMEI Partition Assistant

In the main screen of the program, right-click (RMB) on drive C and select "Merge Partitions" in the context menu

Mark the disks for merging, confirm with Ok, and the program places the order you generated into the delayed start queue.

To start the procedure, click the "Apply" button.

The program will ask you to confirm the operation a few more times, then it will check the disks for errors and merge the volumes into one.

All folders on the former D drive will be placed in the D-drive folder on the C drive.

Merging partitions under Windows XP

To solve the problem of merging hard disk partitions under XP, there are several options.

1) Through the OS control panel.

"Start" - "Control Panel" - "Administrative Tools" - "Computer Management" - "Disk Management"

• After entering the "Disk Management" menu, right-click (RMB) click on the name of the volume you want to delete. In the context menu, select "Delete logical drive"
• After removing the logical drive, delete the empty partition. Right-click on it and select "Delete Partition"
• Right-click on the name of the remaining volume and select Extend Volume. The extension wizard will start, follow its instructions.

2) Using the DISKPART utility located in C:\WINDOWS\system32\diskpart.exe.

To launch the DISKPART utility, select Run from the Start menu or press the Win+R key combination and manually enter the name of the utility: diskpart.

To work with this utility, you need to remember the principles of managing the operating system from the command line.

Merging partitions under Windows 7

The diskmgmt.msc utility allows you to merge hard disk partitions. The utility can be launched in two ways:

1. Through the control panel. "Start" - "Control Panel" - "Security and System" - "Administrative Tools" - "Computer Management" - "Disk Management".
2. Through the "Start" menu - "Run" or the key combination "Win + R", then enter the name of the utility diskmgmt

Step-by-step algorithm for merging sections:

In the Disk Management window that appears with a list of disks, right-click (RMB) click on the name of the volume you want to delete. From the context menu, select "Delete Volume"

After deleting a volume, an unnamed partition will appear in its place. Right-click on it and select "Delete Partition"

Select the volume you want to expand, and right-click on it, select "Extend Volume" and then "Next"

Specify how much you expand the disk and click "Finish".

Restart your computer immediately after the process is complete.

Merging partitions under Windows 10

The algorithm for merging partitions under Windows 7, Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 is identical. The difference is in the way you enter the control section.

To enter the disk utility under Windows 10, right-click on the "Start" button, and select "Disk Management" in the context menu

The window that appears fully described above window for Windows systems 7.

Conclusion

Any changes made to the hard disk structure are critical and important. Incorrect actions can lead to the inoperability of the hard drive, data loss and the need to reinstall operating system. The process of merging disk partitions is quite lengthy, and if the computer turns off during operation, or an unexpected failure occurs, data may be lost. Therefore, before starting work, be sure to do backups data, make sure that you can restore the operating system if necessary, and only then start.