Programs for the hard drive in Russian. An overview of the best programs to check the hard drive

If the HDD is making strange noises or there are problems writing and reading information, you should use one of the programs to check the hard disk for errors. Depending on the task (checking the disk surface for damage, searching for bad sectors, fixing errors, etc.), different software may come in handy.

You can quickly check the disk for errors using standard system tools, but to restore the hard drive, you will need special third-party programs. By learning how to check the health of a hard drive using various utilities, a user of any level will be able to cope with the problems that have arisen.

The CheckDisk system service is the simplest hard drive diagnostic program that is not able to find complex errors and fix bad sectors, but is useful for fixing basic problems. It is available on all versions of Windows and can be used to check drives of any type. All users need to know how to check hard drive for errors with this tool.

The GUI version of the utility is the most convenient for novice users. You can start it through the disk management menu, which can be accessed in two ways:

1. in Windows XP/Vista/7 - select the "Management" item in the "My Computer" context menu, then go to the desired menu;
2. in Windows 8/10 - press the Win + X combination and select the appropriate item.

In the window that opens, select the device that needs analysis, right-click on it and select "Properties" from the drop-down menu. Going to the "Service" tab, you need to run the hard drive diagnostic program.

The system will check and automatically correct errors if the disk is in this moment not busy with read or write processes. Otherwise, the program will offer to test after restarting the PC. If necessary, in the test results window, you can see detailed information about the status of the HDD.

The GUI version does not always save, since sometimes it is required to check the status of the hard drive from safe mode or without starting the operating system at all. In such cases, the console comes to the rescue, which can be started before the system starts using the boot disk.

After opening the recovery console, you need to run the chkdsk / f command, which will check all connected drives. In some cases, this will help fix the error. However, in most situations, if the failure of the HDD has led to the inability to start the system, a deeper check of the condition of the hard drive will be required.

To take advantage console command from inside the system:

• run command line(via Win+X or by typing cmd into the Run window);
• enter the chkdsk command with the letter of the section to be checked and additional flags;
• confirm the operation by pressing Y.

Checking the HDD via the command line will be a little faster than using the GUI version of the program, the results will be shown right here in the console.

The Linux system also has standard tools - hdparm and smartctl, launched from the console.

Simple programs for quick HDD check

If standard utilities are not suitable, hard drive diagnostics can be carried out using simple third-party programs. They allow you to get more information about the health of the HDD, but in case of serious problems they will not work, since you cannot fix the breakdowns with their help.

HDDScan is a free program that performs analysis in two modes:

• in terms of S.M.A.R.T.;
• linear processing.

The tool evaluates the speed of reading and writing in various sectors, marking "slow" cells. In the course of the analysis, the program makes sure that the tested hard drives do not overheat; at the end of processing, the user is presented with a complete report.

HDDScan good versatility. The utility allows you to check disks for errors regardless of the type of device: it can both check an external hard drive and analyze a RAID array, SSD drive or memory card.

Crystal Disk Mark has only one function - it evaluates the speed of reading and writing. Despite this, it is often used, since it is still possible to check the hard drive for serviceability with just two indicators.

For the test, different algorithms are used, one of which is the sequential recording mode. The program gradually fills all the space on the drive with blocks of the size specified by the user, after which it cleans the HDD. The same technique is used by hard drive manufacturers to check product quality. Its disadvantage is that it accelerates the wear of SSD drives.

CrystalDiskInfo and DiskCheckup similar in function set, differ only in interface. They check the state of the hard drive using S.M.A.R.T. algorithms and compile a history of checks, which allows you to track the dynamics of changes. CrystalDiskInfo has more options for visualizing history. For example, you can build a graph, not just get a written report.

Another feature of these programs is a convenient notification system. Hard drive deep tests usually take a long time. If the user needs to move away from the computer, he can turn on notifications of critical HDD errors by E-Mail.

Programs from hard drive manufacturers

Some HDD manufacturers have developed their own utilities for analyzing the state of the hard drive. They are intended for use with devices of the same name, it is possible to diagnose a hard drive from another company with their help, but this must be done carefully. Unlike more simple programs, these utilities have versions in different languages, including Russian. What program is better to analyze the state of the HDD?

Seagate's proprietary program exists in two versions: a standard version for running under Windows and a DOS version in iso-image format, from which you can make a bootable USB flash drive. It is recommended to use the second option, since the check in this case will be more accurate and efficient.

SeaTools uses part of the S.M.A.R.T. to test the hard drive without giving details about each item. Three tests can be done:

1. short HDD self-test;
2. short express test;
3. a long check in which all sectors are sequentially read.

During the check, the program automatically corrects the errors it finds.

Owners of hard drives from WD should be aware of how to check the performance of hard drives using proprietary software from this manufacturer. Its set of features is similar to that of the program from Seagate, but somewhat expanded and allows for deeper work with the affected device.

There are two additional functions:

1. deep disk formatting - the program writes zeros to all sectors, irretrievably destroying information;
2. blocking access to bad sectors - the program marks bad blocks, excluding write new information in them.

Unlike SeaTools, this HDD diagnostic program can be freely used with devices from any manufacturer to check the hard drive for errors - no problems have been identified with this.

Deep Testing Software

If you need not only to check the hard disk for errors, but also to fix bad sectors, you can not do without complex software that performs the most in-depth analysis of the state of the HDD.

Victoria HDD

According to many users, Victoria HDD is the best hard drive troubleshooting software. The program has received such a reputation due to its wide range of functions.

Victoria exists in two versions:

• with a graphical shell for use from within Windows;
• with a DOS shell to create a boot disk.

enjoy better than the second version. HDD diagnostics outside the system allows you to achieve best results, so it is always recommended to follow the principle - "if possible, I test the disk from the boot disk." As a last resort, you can use a LiveCD of another OS, such as a Linux distribution like Ubuntu.

Victoria HDD has a variety of functions:

• quick and complete disk check;
• reassignment of bad sectors and their recovery;
• checking the status of contacts in the IDE or SATA cable;
• equipment performance analysis;
• viewing S.M.A.R.T. indicators.

When checking, you need to pay attention to the access time to sectors. It should not exceed 200-600 ms. You can also see the temperature of the disk during operation, but this is not so important.

HDD Regenerator

HDD Regenerator is a software for professional hard recovery disk. She not only marks bad sectors as unused, but also tries to reanimate them. This does not use the standard deep formatting method, but a proprietary algorithm based on signaling to the sector different levels. In spite of professional level, inexperienced users can also use this software, since it is not difficult to test a hard drive with its help thanks to a convenient Russian-language interface.

Program features:

• ensuring the safety of data - it works only in read mode;
• support for different file systems;
• the ability to scan the surface of the disk;
• real time monitoring.

The program is not suitable for everyone, since you can check the hard drive for operability with it for free, but you will have to pay $90 for the sector recovery function.

If you do not want to pay, you can use TestDisk, a free program that can restore the partition table, boot sectors, and MFT. It also detects bad sectors, can recover deleted information and fix file system errors. The only drawback is the lack of a graphical interface, you have to work from the console.

If after checking the HDD and fixing all the problems, the computer does not stop working incorrectly, it is worth checking the registry. Perhaps the failures are not caused by hardware failure, but by internal system errors.

Programs for hard drives in Russian are collected in this section. All programs can be downloaded for free with activation keys.

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Hard Disk Sentinel is software designed to monitor and test your hard drive. The main purpose of this program is to diagnose, find and fix various problems on the disk. Users have the ability to view reports on the current state of the hard drive, its status, temperature and other characteristics. The Russian version of Hard Disk Sentinel allows you to use the functionality of the program without restrictions. On our website, Internet users can download the Hard Disk Sentinel activation keys absolutely free of charge. After…

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AOMEI Partition Assistant is a powerful program that is designed to fully manage your hard disk partitions. The following functions are available to users: hiding, formatting, copying, aligning, creating, activating, erasing. The program has several built-in wizards. They allow you to increase the size of partitions, move the OS to a new disk, copy disks, create bootable disks, and much more. Users of this application can divide sections into several parts, merge into one, and so on. Free Download AOMEI Partition Assistant…

HDClone is a functional utility that is needed in order to copy information from one disk (meaning hard) to another. On this page you can download this program for free in a couple of clicks. Download for free HDClone 8.0.8 in Russian Free + Basic Edition Download for free HDClone Professional Edition 9.0.3 ISO Password for all archives: 1progs Application: copies information sector by sector (thus, we get an exact copy of the hard disk); creates…

TestDisk is a functional program from the author Christophe Grenier, which is a multifunctional tool for resuscitation of hard disk parts. In addition, there is another application, Photorec, which revives lost or damaged information of HDD departments and works with digital type cameras. Program: includes the option of complete deletion and duplication of files; reanimates data after virus attacks; interacts with various file types; enriched with MBR rewrite function. Free download TestDisk 7.1 Russian version Password to all archives:…

Naturally, accidental and intentional deletion of files destroys information previously recorded on it, which can be restored using special utilities. But you can also find cases of quick or complete formatting of hard drives, when data is believed to be permanently deleted, not to mention damage to the hard drives themselves. What to do in this case? This is where programs for recovering hard drives come to the rescue. You can download mostly simple utilities for free. However, even they help, as they say, bring the disc to life. Consider the most popular, including both free and paid utilities.

How is the process of deleting files from a hard drive?

Before considering the main topic, let's make a small digression into the theoretical part and see how information is deleted. In Windows systems, there are two ways: deleting to the Recycle Bin and without it. In the first case, the files are simply moved to the area reserved on the hard drive, so restoring them from the Recycle Bin is as easy as shelling pears.

In the second case, it occurs when the first character in the name is changed to unreadable ($). If during the work in the clusters where such a file is located, the overwriting was not performed, it is also possible to restore the information.

The situation is worse with quick or full formatting of disks and partitions, as well as with situations when the hard drive begins to “crumble” or simply undergoes physical damage. Many users mistakenly believe that it is impossible to recover files in this case, they say, only professional experts can do it. Nothing like this! If you use, for example, the same programs for recovering Seagate Barracuda hard drives, with which many problems were observed at one time, any, even an unprepared user, can carry out such a process. And it is absolutely elementary.

Programs for recovering hard drives after formatting: can it be done?

In the case of a quick formatting of the hard drive, the partition tables are overwritten, and with a full format, the disk surface is also checked, followed by the correction of bad sectors. At the same time, we are not talking about factory low-level formatting at all.

This is what allows many developers to create programs for recovering hard drives, which, as it were, perform the reverse process. This gives the same recovery effect. But first things first.

The best hard drive recovery programs

As for the most famous utilities today, an approximate list might look like this:

• Victoria HDD;
• R.Saver and R-Studio;
• HDD Regenerator;
• Acronis Recovery Expert and Active Partition Recovery Pro;
• Hetman Partition Recovery;
• Zero Assumption Recovery.

Naturally bring complete list impossible, since today there are hundreds of such software products. But let's dwell on the above utilities in a little more detail.

Victoria HDD

If we consider the most popular programs for recovering hard drives and disk partitions, of course, the leadership belongs to one of the most powerful utilities of our time called Victoria HDD, developed by Sergey Kazansky.

The program has five levels of hard drive testing, is able to identify and display failed areas, fix errors, plot surface conditions, measure performance, etc. The operating modes also look interesting. The application can be run in a regular graphical shell, or you can use a somewhat unusual DOS mode. By the way, it is with such a check that the most powerful effect is achieved.

R.Saver and R-Studio

These two programs for recovering hard drives from a flash drive work just fine and are very similar to each other. They can even be used as portable versions.

The main advantage of these utilities is that they support almost all file systems known today and are able to recover data on any type of media, including even formatted or damaged memory cards.

HDD Regenerator

This utility among all programs is relatively new. It is designed specifically to restore bad sectors and, as the developers themselves say, even to resuscitate the surface of the hard drive.

Applied here latest technology the so-called magnetization reversal, which allows you to completely restore the hard drive and the information that was previously recorded on it. It works, however, only in DOS mode, which causes some bewilderment for many. In addition, the technology itself looks almost unrealistic, because some do not imagine how it is possible to programmatically remagnetize the surface. Nevertheless, everyone who has come across it expresses only admiration - the application is able to revive even completely “dead” disks.

Acronis Recovery Expert and Active Partition Recovery Pro

Before us are two representatives of the family of HDD recovery utilities. The peculiarity of these applications is that they support a large number of file systems and hard drives.

In addition, they provide a mode for creating bootable media, with which you can fix many problems if it is impossible to start the operating system from a problematic hard drive.

True, the first utility is paid, the second is not. But the second application is also interesting because it can be run from both DOS and Windows.

Hetman Partition Recovery

Another USB device or memory card and the information stored on them is interesting because it can work with all types of virtual partitions. It goes without saying that data can be recovered even after a full format.

But the most important thing is that the program can work both in manual mode and in the "Wizard" mode, which allows any user to use automation of the entire recovery process.

Zero Assumption Recovery

Finally, another small and fairly simple application, abbreviated as ZAR. This program is intended mainly for recovering FAT and NTFS file systems, although it can also be used for Linux. For users of Windows systems, it is the best fit.

But it is worth considering that in this case we are talking exclusively about the recovery of information (even from bad sectors). At the same time, the program does not make any corrections on the hard disk itself after the analysis.

Conclusion

Of course, only the most basic programs were considered here. When choosing a program, one should be guided by the situation itself, that is, choose which operation should be applied (information recovery or troubleshooting on the hard drive itself), and only then make a decision about using this or that utility.

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A hard drive in a computer and the drive icon in My Computer are two different things. For example, a computer may have one hard drive installed, while My Computer may have several. The reason for such a strange discrepancy is that the hard disk can be divided into so-called partitions. This is called logical disk partitioning.

I will talk about why such markup is needed, how to do it correctly (and whether it should be done at all), and also talk about free programs for such a delicate procedure.

Why you need to partition your hard drive

There are several reasons for dividing a hard drive into partitions:

1. Partitions on a hard drive are primarily needed for proper storage of information. For example, some users prefer the following division: operating system and programs on the same disk (usually C), documents - on the second ( D), photo archive on the third ( E) etc. In this case, the hard drive may well be one.
2. If you have one hard drive, but want to have two or more operating systems, you will have to divide the hard drive into partitions, since Windows and other operating systems can only be installed on different partitions or hard drives.
3. Notebook manufacturers (and some well-known computer manufacturers such as Acer) have their own reason for dividing hard disk partitions: on a partition that is visible as a disk c, Windows installed, second ( D) is completely empty, and the third one (which is not visible in the My Computer window at all) stores a compressed copy of the partition C. This hidden partition of the hard drive is called recovery partition. If something happened to operating system(“Windows has flown” - as some users like to say), then when you turn on the laptop, just press the key combination (which one - see the instructions for the laptop) and a special program will clean the disk C, then unpacks the contents of the hidden section there. As a result, the user will receive a laptop with the programs that were originally on it at the time of purchase in the store. Disk D it will not be changed. The conclusion suggests itself: if on a laptop with such a recovery system all documents are stored not on C drive, a only on D, it will be possible at any time to restore damaged Windows with a new one, while not losing important data for yourself. By the way, any advanced user can make such a recovery system for himself, but I will talk about it some other time.
4. Windows 7 and Windows 8 operating systems, when installed on a blank, "unpartitioned" hard drive, create a hidden partition of 100-350 megabytes in size. This small section stores the bootloader, which, oddly enough, is designed to boot Windows. This partition will not exist or its contents will be damaged - and the computer will not start the operating system, displaying the inscription on the black screen "Boot fail", "Cannot find boot device", "Boot error" or similar, the meaning of which is the same - not found boot disk with the operating system. In fact, the bootloader can be stored on disk C:, and / or in hidden sectors of the hard disk (outside partitions), but the developers decided to use a separate hidden partition in Windows 7/8 to somehow protect the bootloader from damage by other programs, viruses or the user.
5. There are other reasons for dividing a hard drive into partitions. For example, for GNU / Linux operating systems to work correctly, several partitions should be created, but this is a topic separate article, we will not consider them here.

So, The main reasons for dividing a hard drive into partitions are: for the convenience of storing information, for installing several operating systems, for the operation of the recovery system, for storing the Windows 7/8 bootloader.

A bit of theory: file systems, partition types

Information about partitions (i.e. logical drives) is stored in a "partition table". Each logical drive can have its own file system. You can read more about all this in the Wikipedia articles: Disk partition, Logical disk, File system. It is enough for a novice user to know the bare minimum:

1. If you divide the hard disk into logical disks (partitions), disk capacity will not increase- there is simply nowhere to take a free place! You can make partitions of any size, but in total they cannot be larger than the size of a real hard drive. Here is less - please. Then you will get unallocated free space, not visible in My Computer, from which you can get one or more new partitions. This is a question I often get from newbies, so I put it in the first place.
2. Exist primary (basic) and extended (optional) sections. One hard drive cannot have more than four main partitions (for some reason, follow the links above), so we came up with an extended partition - this is a primary partition that can include as many partitions as you like. As a result, thanks to the extended partition, the hard disk can have as many partitions as you like - tens, hundreds.
3. Each partition can have its own file system. At the moment for Windows installation Vista, 7 and 8 can only use NTFS, and the outdated Windows XP can be installed on drives with the FAT32 file system. However, I do not recommend doing this, as it imposes too many restrictions. Make all partitions in NTFS - everything will work as it should.
4. Any hard disk must be partitioned one way or another. To one or more logical drives - it's up to you. When buying a hard drive, it is usually already marked into one partition - the manufacturer decided so. If you are satisfied with this way of organizing information - do not touch.
5. It is very undesirable to partition a disk in laptops - most of them have hidden recovery partitions that can be damaged (see point 3 of the previous chapter).
6. If you bought a hard drive with a capacity of 2 terabytes, and in "My Computer" - "only" 1.86 terabytes (1860 gigabytes), then do not rush to run back to the store. It's all about how manufacturers and Windows consider volume. Read more about this in the Wikipedia article Hard drive. How larger size hard drive - the more clearly it is seen that there are fewer real gigabytes.
7. Sections can delete, create, move(change their physical position on the disk), resize, format, convert file systems on partitions from one to another. Moreover, many programs are able to do this while saving all the data. There are other operations, but novice users most often need the above.
8. In the event of an error during the process of changing partitions (see point 7), information is almost always lost. Yes, it can be restored (or part of it) with special programs with the participation of specialists, but it is best to save all important information in advance to other disks (not logical, but real disks) or flash drives, so as not to pay money for data recovery.

Windows Disk Management snap-in

Windows has standard remedy partition changes - " Disk Management". Depending on the version of Windows, the capabilities of this program change a little, but in general over the past years (if we talk about Windows Vista, 7, 8) there have been no major changes. Windows XP looks more modest in this regard - apart from formatting and changing the drive letter, there is little you can do there.

As an example, I will take " Disk Management» Windows 7. There are several ways to open this program:

1. The simplest - right-click on the line A computer on the menu Start- choose an item Control- select in a new window Disk Management.
2. We open Control Panel - Administration - Computer management - Disk Management.
3. Click Start - Run(or keyboard shortcut Win + R) - enter in the window that opens diskmgmt.msc- press OK.

Disk Management looks like that:

Here you can see both physical disks (including DVD drives, flash drives and other storage devices) and logical ones, i.e. virtual - hidden Windows 7 bootloader partition, disks C and D. Your computer may have a different number of disks.

The main actions are available by right-clicking on the desired section:

The list of actions is rather sparse:

• Items Open, Conductor allow you to see the contents of disks
• Make section active- indicate on which disk (partition) the bootloader is located. In Windows 7 and 8, this is a system reserved partition. You cannot make another partition active - the operating system will stop loading.
• Change Drive Letter or Drive Path- you can change the drive letter displayed in the "Computer" window or display it as a folder. Yes, partitions can be displayed not only as disks, but also as folders on a disk.
• Format- you can read about it in the article Formatting Wikipedia. The item opens a window with which you can start high-level formatting.
• Extend Volume- if there is a place on the hard disk that is not marked as a partition, then you can expand the size of the partition using this free space.
• Shrink Volume- this item allows you to reduce the partition size. The result will be the formation of unallocated space, which can be put into action - to expand the volume of another section (see the previous paragraph).
• Delete volume- delete section. Do not click on an item without thoroughly considering the consequences. If you delete a partition, then the information on it will be possible to save only with the help of special programs, and even then not always.
• Properties- a properties window will open with information about the selected disk (partition).

Of course, this is not a complete list of possibilities. Disk Management. One can create dynamic disks, for example. However, novice users do not need this, this article is designed just for them.

So, to create, delete, resize partitions through Disk Management, you only need three menu items: Extend Volume, Shrink Volume, Delete Volume.

All operations take place in real time, i.e. after pressing the desired item and an affirmative answer to the question - do we want to do this - the actual action takes place.

Do not forget that there is a risk of failure, due to which we can lose one partition or all. This applies primarily to computers with large quantity unnecessary programs - each of them may be the culprit in deleting all data. Moreover, the scenario when you need to change the partition from which Windows is started (usually this is a disk C), is the worst - most often, users have problems when they try to change the system partition.

To minimize the risk of failure, there are three methods:

1. Insert a hard drive into another computer and change partitions from it by running Disk Management or any other program for changing partitions. Due to the fact that Windows will be launched from another disk, no programs will climb onto a foreign disk, interfering with a responsible operation.
2. Boot from a Live CD - the operating system and programs will be launched not from a hard disk, but from a CD or DVD, flash drive - again, nothing will prevent partitions from being changed.
3. Use a program that can work in Native mode to change sections. For example, check disk C always works in this mode - a black window with white text until the Desktop loads. In this mode, a minimum of programs is launched, the risk of failure is minimal.

The third option is the easiest, because the user does not actually need to do anything - just restart the computer and wait a few minutes. The following two review programs can do this.

Free for home use program for changing hard disk partitions.

surface test- checking the surface of the disk (physical). Allows you to detect bad sectors (the so-called "bads", "bad blocks").

view properties- display information about the disk.

Yes, knowledge of English is clearly required here, especially considering that almost every item calls up a window with the settings for the action to be performed. After you make the necessary manipulations, you need to apply the changes by pressing the button apply(Apply):

Only then will partitioning begin. This process can take some time - from a couple of minutes to several hours.

Depending on whether the system partition is affected or not, operations are carried out either immediately in the window, or you will need to restart the computer and start changing the partition in Native mode:

The program has a lot of functions, it's impossible to list them all. I recommend that you read the help for EaseUS Partition Master. She is on English language, unfortunately, but you can use google translator. The translation is quite understandable.

Pros of EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition:

• Lots of features.
• All actions are "virtual" until the Apply button is pressed. So, you can cancel the operations up to this "point of no return" and try to do something else with the partitions. Or don't do it at all if you change your mind.
• Works stably and predictably. For example, in the process of testing during the change of partitions, I started copying files to the partition that needs to be changed. The result - a window appeared stating that the partition could not be locked, all operations were interrupted, the data did not disappear anywhere.
• The program is free for home use.

Cons of EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition:

• The interface is in English only.
• There are perhaps even too many possibilities - this can confuse beginners.
• A serious failure during the operation will lead to serious consequences.
• For example, if you turn off the computer while changing the partition, the data from the partition will disappear. However, this is a minus of absolutely all programs for changing partitions.

Conclusion: the program is good. You can and should use it, there are no alternatives among free programs.

Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free

Free partition changer from a company based in Russia. Unfortunately, the program is in English. What made the developers take such a step is unclear. Moreover, the paid version of the program is in Russian.

The main window of the program is no different from the window of the hero of the previous review, except that the buttons have changed their order:

Worthy of special mention Express Mode(Simplified mode). By clicking on this button, we will get a window with a list of the most frequent actions:

One could say that this is an ideal mode for beginners, if not for one "but": everything here is in English. Moreover, I had a suspicion that the English here was somehow wrong, as if it were not a person who translated, but a machine.

Pros of Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free:

• Many windows have enough clear view to understand the functions.
• Some operations are carried out immediately in the program window, some (if required) in Native mode. That is, the program does everything to reduce the chance of data loss.
• The program is free to use at home.

Cons of Paragon Partition Manager 11 Free:

• English, and because of the strange construction of phrases, it is quite difficult to perceive.
• The simplified Express Mode works exactly the opposite: firstly, the descriptions of operations and the operations themselves have more technical subtleties than is required; secondly, this mode is very capricious and does not really work, giving meaningless errors.
• The program is too slow. For example, it took me about 5 minutes to remove a 38 GB hard drive partition - long enough for such a simple operation.

Conclusion: The program works, but is somehow unpredictable. I do not recommend using this program, since there is an alternative in the form of EaseUS Partition Master Home.

Changing partitions during installation of Windows 7, 8, 10

This tool also deserves a mention.

We take any installation disk with Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8 or 10, start the installation of the disk, go to the partition selection and click Disk setup:

Everything seems to be simple: you need to click on the section in the list, then the action button. Unfortunately, there is little action here: delete, format, partition and expand.

You can, for example, delete a partition and use the freed space to increase the size of another partition or partitions (while selecting the necessary partitions, press the Delete and Extend buttons in turn).

Alas, a very popular operation - reducing the size of partitions - is not here. It is possible to delete a partition, then re-create a new one with a smaller partition, but, unfortunately, we will lose data in this case.

All operations take place in real time, i.e. after the button is pressed, an action occurs.

Outcome: editing partitions during Windows installation is an extremely primitive tool. It works, but performs only a limited list of actions, among which the only one that saves data is increasing (expanding) the size of the partition. If you need to install Windows and do not need to save data on partitions, then the tool will come in handy.

If suddenly you accidentally deleted a partition during Windows installation or through any program, do not despair - the partition recovery feature is included in EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition.

To recover a deleted hard drive partition, do not touch sections, immediately boot into Windows (or insert the hard drive into another computer if you have deleted the system partition and Windows boot impossible), then run the above program, click on the line with the word Unallocated("Unassigned"), then click the button Partition Recovery.

The rest, as they say, is a matter of technique - the action wizard will tell you where to click, where to check the boxes, then restore your deleted disk.

Tip #2: Installing two or more Windows operating systems on one hard drive

All that is needed for this - several sections. If the hard drive already has a second partition that is visible in the " A computer"- make sure that there is at least 20 GB of free space (more is better), then during the Windows installation, simply specify this second (third, fourth, etc.) drive. After installation, you will be able to select Windows using the menu that will appear when you turn on your computer.

If you have only one disk C), I propose the simplest option: Through Disk Management give section first With command Compress, reducing at least 20 gigabytes (or better, more, because in addition to Windows, you will also install programs):

Right click on drive C...

After pressing the button Compress disk size C decreases, unallocated (free) space appears in the partition map:

Specify unallocated space. The partition will be created by the installer itself.

After installation, you will have two operating systems. You can make more unallocated spaces or empty disks, specify them for installation.

Thanks to reader Vladimir for bringing this topic up.

You may have noticed that in the screenshots of the Disk Management window, all partitions are marked with a blue bar. You may have sections with green stripes. What is the difference between blue and green sections?

The green bar in Disk Management is a sign of an extended (additional) partition. As I wrote above, there may be "nested" sections inside, which from the user's point of view are no different from the main (primary). Nested partitions have one feature - if you reduce their size, then due to the free space that has appeared, it will not be possible to expand the main partition just like that. You must first compress the extended partition itself (which stores free place and a reduced partition) to create free space outside of any partitions, only then you can expand the disks.

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The hard drive stores all the files on your computer. The operation of each program and even the operating system itself depends largely on the operation of your hard drive. Therefore, it is important that he be in perfect condition and has been optimized.

Optimizing the hard drive in Windows 7

Disk optimization is difficult process, which includes several actions. These steps differ depending on whether you are using an SSD or HDD.

Advanced Disk Cleanup in Windows 7

The first step in optimizing disk performance should be to clean it up. Temporary files and other junk accumulate on the disk over time and slow it down. To remove them, we will use the Disk Cleanup system utility. We do the following:

In addition, you can delete additional files in the "Clean up system files" section. But that's not all. You can access Advanced Disk Cleanup by typing the command at the command prompt. For this:

Disk Defragmenter in Windows 7

Defragmenting a hard drive is the basis of its optimization. If, over time, your drive began to work slower than before, and the response when opening files and launching programs became significantly greater, then your HDD needs defragmentation. In itself, this process is to move fragments of files to each other for faster access to them. The need for defragmentation arises when these pieces, during active use of the disk, are written to different parts of this disk.

During the defragmentation process, all red areas will be nearby, providing quick access to the file

Disk defragmentation should be performed as needed. Before defragmenting, you should allow the utility to analyze the fragmentation of all partitions and issue a report. If the proportion of fragmented files is 10% or more, then it is worth defragmenting them, but if it is less than 10%, then you can wait a little with defragmentation.

By default, Windows 7 has automatic defragmentation enabled. It is set to Wednesday and turns on at night. However, depending on your computer schedule, this may not be enough, or the defragmentation process may be interrupted by you. In this case, you need to start it manually. This is done as follows:

It is worth mentioning that defragmentation is a rather long process. You may have to spend several hours waiting.

Video: how to defragment a disk on Windows 7

SSD disk optimization on Windows 7

If you have an SSD drive, the situation is somewhat different. It does not require defragmentation, and the system takes this into account. Automatic defragmentation will not be performed when using an SSD drive. But in the case of such a drive, there are a number of other actions that can help increase the speed of the disk. And instead of manually setting up an SSD drive, it will be easier to use a special program - SSD Mini Tweaker.

After downloading the program from the Internet and downloading it, do the following:

The complex setup of your SSD drive has been completed. Of course you can customize most these options on your own, but it will take much longer. And also you can get information about each option that this program changes by reading the help data.

In the help you will find information about all the settings of the SSD-disk

Video: How to set up a system for an SSD using SSD Mini Tweaker

Disk Management utility

You may need access to Disk Management to set up a drive. With its help, you can change the drive letter, divide the drive into virtual volumes, or, conversely, merge them together, which can be convenient to create a separate partition for the operating system. In the future, this can help avoid the loss of important data and provide the ability to format the partition without the risk of deleting necessary files.

To interact with the disk, use the context menu: it is called by pressing the right mouse button

To open the Disk Management Manager in Windows 7, just call the "Run" menu by pressing the Win + R key combination and enter the command "diskmgmt.msc" there.

Enter the command "diskmgmt.msc" and click "OK"

Actions in the dispatcher itself are performed mainly using the context menu. That is, it is enough to select the required disk and call up the menu by pressing the right mouse button.

Hard drive bug fixes

Let's figure out how to solve the most common errors that may occur with your hard drive.

The disk is detected as dynamic foreign (indeterminate)

If you find in the manager that the disk is not defined as basic, but as dynamic with the addition "indefinite" or "foreign", then most likely you will not be able to access the data on this disk.

Dynamic foreign disk won't work properly

You can fix this error with the help of special programs. To fix it, we need to convert the dynamic disk back to basic, and this can be done using the free TestDisk program or the paid Acronis Disk Director. The possibilities of a paid program, of course, are much wider, and we will analyze this process using its example. Do the following:

Of course, if a malfunction occurs on a disk with an installed operating system, you will not be able to access it. The solution here is simple - insert the disk into another computer as an additional one and perform all the actions you need, and then return it to its place when the disk is restored.

Video: Working with Acronis Disk Director

Windows 7 has detected a hard drive failure

If, during any check, the system issued a message about problems with the hard drive, the first thing you should do is back up the necessary files. While your disk is still functioning, copy all the necessary files from the disk to another drive or upload them to the cloud. This can help you salvage those files later on if problems get worse.

You can determine which drive you have a problem with by carefully examining the error message. The letter designation of the virtual disk partition will be indicated there.

At the bottom of the notification, you will see the drive letter

The error could occur for the following reasons:

• problems appeared directly with the drive itself. This may be due to physical damage or contamination. In this case, it is recommended that you take your drive to service center to diagnose and correct problems;
• operating system problems. If certain system files are damaged by viruses, an error may appear on its own without any reason from the disk. In this case, it is recommended to check the system antivirus programs, and then restore damaged files using the installation disk.

Regardless of the cause of the problem, the best thing you can do is to save your files in advance. If the error message continues to appear and you want to get rid of it, you can disable the disk diagnostics system. This is done as follows:

Formatting a disk to install the Windows 7 operating system

For more effective work disk when reinstalling Windows, it is recommended to format it, that is, completely clean the disk from the files on it. You can format the drive right during the installation of Windows 7. Be sure to back up all the necessary files, as they will be completely deleted during formatting. To start formatting:

Thus, formatting is carried out quickly and without any frills. In addition, it is possible to perform formatting using special programs. For example, this feature is available in the aforementioned Acronis Disk Director program. The program must be written to disk, and the disk itself must be selected as the boot device. This can be done in the Boot BIOS menu or by pressing the appropriate key when turning on the computer (depending on your BIOS version).

Set CD/DVD as first boot device

After the disk with the program is loaded, do the following:

Disk programs

There are many programs out there that can help you optimize, clean, or otherwise take care of your drives. Let's explore the possibilities of some of them.

Disk Cleaner CCleaner

Disk Cleanup includes removing temporary files and installed applications at the choice of the user. Good program cleaning tool can delete your browser's cache and temporary files of various programs, perform system diagnostics. And one of the best programs in this area is CCleaner. This program has the following features:

• automation of system cleaning;
• completely harmless and safe cleaning of temporary files, as well as analysis of registry damage and its correction;
• work with all popular browsers.

The interface of the program is simple and convenient, suitable for beginners who want to regularly clean their computer of debris. In addition, the free version of the program is not limited in functionality and has the same features as the paid one.

CCleaner will help you set up startup applications, which will also speed up your computer.

CCleaner is a popular disk cleaner.

Video: CCleaner program and its main functions

Hard disk cloning software EaseUS Disk Copy

Cloning in this case means transferring information from one disk to another. This can be extremely useful when reinstalling the system. EaseUS Disk Copy is a great free solution for this task. It differs:

• the ability to work with any operating system;
• support for disks up to a terabyte;
• high cloning speed;
• simple interface for novice users;
• support for dynamic disks.

In general, it does an excellent job with the task for which it was created, and its only serious drawback is the lack of the Russian language in the program.

EaseUS Disk Copy - disk cloning software

Restoring disk partitions using Starus Partition Recovery

In case of damage to a hard disk partition, one of the special recovery programs, Starus Partition Recovery, can help. She is good at this task. The main features of this program:

• deep scan of the disk for damage;
• recovery of partitions that have been damaged or deleted;
• data recovery on any type of media;
• comprehensive disk analysis.

The program is considered simple and effective among users.

Starus Partition Recovery can repair damaged partitions on your disk

Disk drive emulation software DAEMON Tools

If you are going to reinstall the system, you can not do without a flexible tool for creating virtual disks. DAEMON Tools Lite or another version of DAEMON Tools will help you create an installation disc or make virtual disks. The program also allows you to create multiple virtual drives immediately and their simultaneous use.

It is easy to use this program, and the limitations of the free version of the program are not too noticeable.

DAEMON Tools - a program for creating and using virtual disks

Video: DAEMON Tools Lite overview

It is important to know how to set up your hard drive for efficient operation. The disk optimization process is not a one-time process and actions to improve its performance should be carried out from time to time throughout the life of the device. Now you know how easy and simple it is to improve the performance of your operating system disk. Windows system 7.