Here’s an easy way to create a new partition on your disk.
1. Open the Disk Management console by typing diskmgmt.msc at an elevated command prompt.
2. In the Graphical view of Disk Management, follow these steps to create a new simple volume:
①Right-click on an unallocated or free area within the Disk Management interface.
②From the context menu, select "New Simple Volume." This action initiates the New Simple Volume Wizard.
(Note: If you need to create unallocated space, see the Tip Easily Shrink a Volume on a Windows 7 Disk for information on how to do this.)
3. Proceed through the following steps in the New Simple Volume Wizard:
①Read the information on the Welcome page.
②Click "Next" to move to the Specify Volume Size page.
③On the Specify Volume Size page, you'll find the minimum and maximum size limits for the volume in megabytes. Adjust the size of the partition within these limits using the Simple Volume Size field.
④After sizing the partition, click "Next" to proceed to the next step in the wizard.
4. On the Assign Drive Letter Or Path page, specify whether you want to assign a drive letter or path and then click Next. The available options are as follows:
5. In the Assign Drive Letter or Path step of the New Simple Volume Wizard:1. Select an available drive letter from the provided list.
2. Windows 7 will typically choose the lowest available drive letter by default. Reserved drive letters and those assigned to local disks or network drives will be excluded from the automatic selection.
Once you've chosen a drive letter, proceed by clicking "Next" to advance to the next stage of the wizard.
In the Mount In The Following Empty NTFS Folder step of the New Simple Volume Wizard:
1. Select the option that says "Mount in the following empty NTFS folder."
2. You will need to type the path to an existing folder or click "Browse" to search for or create a folder to use for mounting the partition.
After specifying the folder path, click "Next" to proceed to the next step in the wizard. This option allows you to mount the new volume within an existing empty NTFS folder, providing a hierarchical organization for your file system.
In the "Do Not Assign A Drive Letter or Drive Path" step of the New Simple Volume Wizard:
1. Choose this option if you prefer to create the partition without immediately assigning a drive letter or path.
2. This option allows you to configure the partition without making it directly accessible through a drive letter.
3. You can assign a drive letter or path later, as needed.
After making this selection, click "Next" to proceed to the next step in the wizard. This option is useful when you want to prepare a partition for storage without giving it a drive letter immediately.
6.Use the Format Partition page to determine whether and how the volume should be formatted. If you want to format the volume, choose Format This Volume With The Following Settings, and then configure the following options:
Explanation of options in the New Simple Volume Wizard:
1. File System:
- Sets the file system type as FAT, FAT32, or NTFS. NTFS is the default in most cases.
- If you choose FAT or FAT32, you can later convert it to NTFS using the Convert utility. However, NTFS partitions cannot be converted to FAT or FAT32.
2. Allocation Unit Size:
- Determines the cluster size for the file system, the basic unit in which disk space is allocated.
- The default allocation unit size is set dynamically based on the volume size. You can override it by specifying a specific value.
- For systems with many small files, a smaller cluster size (e.g., 512 or 1,024 bytes) might be more efficient.
3. Volume Label:
- Sets a text label (volume name) for the partition. The default is typically "New Volume."
- You can change the volume label later in Windows Explorer by right-clicking the volume, choosing Properties, and entering a new value in the Label field.
4. Perform A Quick Format:
- Instructs Windows 7 to format the partition without checking for errors.
- Quick format is faster, especially for large partitions, but it skips the error-checking process.
- Checking for errors allows Disk Management to mark bad sectors on the disk and lock them out.
5. Enable File And Folder Compression:
- Activates compression for the disk, available only for NTFS.
- Compression is transparent to users, and compressed files can be accessed like regular files.
- If selected, files and directories on this drive are compressed automatically.
7. Click Next, confirm your options, and then click Finish.
The Windows 7 Disk Management tool will now show the space configured as a new partition.
[Article from microsoft.com]
