Windows 7 Free Software Recommendations for Partitioning and Formatting HDD on Windows 7

[Santasan]

What programm can i use to format and partition my harddisk. i tried a few but they say "cant execute action on this version of windows 64bit" or something similair. if somebody knows a programm that works under win7 (and is freeware ) please post a link!

 

[hammydown]

Use Gparted which boots to its own os and does the changes from there.

 

[erythro42]

Use Gparted which boots to its own os and does the changes from there.

I second Gparted. I've used it twice to create Windows 7 partitions on two different computers.

However, be prepared to wait a long time, especially on large drives. Like, go to sleep, go to work, and come back and it's done long if the drive is 500gb or larger.

Also, backup any data you don't want to lose pre-partition. If anything goes wrong, you'll be kind of screwed otherwise. Sometimes stuff can get shifted around, and maybe your installation of Windows or whatever on the other partition will start acting funky. Or maybe I had that problem for a completely unrelated reason right after the partition, but it sure can't hurt to back up your data.

 

[Santasan]

thanks! i tried GParted and it worked fine!
Just one minor issue: is it normal that i can only make 4 partitions per drive? or is this just with GParted?

 

[jimbo45]

If you don't like GPARTED then read on.

Quickest way is to create a Bartpe disk then just use control panel==>admin tools==storage management

delete the junk partitions, re-size, re-format and install your OS again and you are in business. The advantage of using a Bartpe disk is you can use the Windows Quick format -- believe me on a 750 GB / 1TB disk this makes a HUGE time difference.

If you can find a copy of Powerquest's partition image this will run on XP or the BartPE disk. (Powerquest has since long been taken over by someone else but use the Powerquest version of the program) --when installing you can enter ANY serial number -- it will just say Invalid serial number --do you want to continue --of course say yes.

BTW som Linux distro disks also give you an option to create partitions before installing the OS -- you can use one of these - just exit after creating the partitions - don't install the OS.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[loathe]

Acronis Disk Director worked really well for me. It lets you do multiple changes and shows you before and afters before you commit to the partitioning.