A disk partition is necessary if you have a hard drive with a large capacity. It is always ideal to split the hard drive into partitions (such as the C and D drive) so you can assign the operating system and other software in a particular drive while you can keep the other documents into the other. This will help protect your important files in case the OS fails or gets infected by a virus. On top of the safety and secure feature, you will also be able to resize, create, format, split, copy and delete partitions as well as convert to several file systems. Since you won’t be using partition software frequently, it would be wise to go with the free partition programs. Hence, we have reviewed some free partition programs and came up with the Top 5 Disk Partition Software for Windows.
1. Minitool Partition Wizard Home Edition
Minitool Partition Wizard Home Edition is an excellent resource of a powerful partition management disk utility that will allow you to resize, create, delete, format, convert and hide partitions. It can has a wide array of functionalities that are absent in many paid programs. It also supports most disk types which include removable storage devices. It is also similar to the recent Windows editions with a blue-toned navigation pane.
- Our Rating:
- Download Minitool Partition Wizard Home Edition
- Home Page
- Pros: Easy to navigate interface with quick performance; protects data while resizing partitions; can download bootable recovery CD; advanced functionalities
- Cons: need to have a separate download for media recovery; computer password protection would be ideal if the computer is shared by more than one person.
- OS: 64-bit and 32-bit Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP
2. EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition
EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition is another great freeware which is designed to be as an all-in-one partition disk management solution. It provides the user to extend partition, manage disk space conveniently, among other things. It has a simple and user-friendly interface that is easy for navigation.
- Our Rating:
- Download EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition
- Home Page
- Pros: user-friendly and appealing to beginners; great functionalities; constantly being upgraded and improved with each new release
- Cons: no available recovery cd
- OS: 64-bit and 32-bit Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP. Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Home Server 2011.
3. Parted Magic
Parted Magic is a free software that does more than just partitioning. This is an operating system that has several disk functionalities and also includes other programs such as TestDisk, Partimage, Clonezilla and many others. It is great for partitioning as it can format external and internal hard drives, create, delete,move, copy, expand, and shrink hard drive partitions.
- Our Rating:
- Download Parted Magic
- Home Page
- Pros: A flexible and versatile utility; has a huge collection of disk and partition test and repair programs; also contains other useful programs that are not found in most other partition utilities
- Cons: documentation for the program is quite scarce
- OS: Windows 7, Windows 3.x/95/98/Me/2000/XP/Vista/NT
4. GParted
GParted is a heavy-weight partition utility that is especially appealing to the tech savvy people. It is consist of a suite of applications that you burn to disk and use to boot your system. As this software is quite advanced in its functionality, it also demands meticulous attention to its documentation so you can fully experience its powerful features.
- Our Rating:
- Download GParted
- Home Page
- Pros: Great user interface; excellent disk setup software; can be used to make a dual boot machine with Win XP and Win 7; powerful features;
- Cons: platform is more suited to knowledgeable users; new users might not be able to utilize its full potential
- OS: Windows 2000, Windows XP
5. Paragon Partition Manager
Paragon Partition Manager Free Edition is another great disk partitioning utility that will offer the basic tasks of creating a partition, resizing, copying, and deleting. It also provides a wizard for most of its functionalities.
- Our Rating:
- Download Paragon Partition Manager
- Home Page
- Pros: user-friendly interface; easily creates and adjusts sizes of partitions; allows you to make a boot disk with the program; overall great tool for computer management
- Cons: requires online registration to get a free serial number before program can be installed; more advanced features can only be availed in the paid version
- OS: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP. Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Home Server 2011.
Comments on this entry are closed.
thank you for the top 5 best
Thanks for the list, helped me a lot.
Thanks for the comparison it made my decision easy to select a malware free software.
Parted magic is not free. At least I could not find such on their site.
GParted download procedure is littered with add-ons, toolbars, and other unecessary baggage. I moved away without bothering.
Did use Paragon. Used it to delete an (XP) partition on a disk whose primary partition held Windows 7. It did delete the partition, but screwed up my Windows 7 boot process so that I had to reinstall 7. Not best pleased.
Wanted MERGE. Minitool told me this facility not available in free edition.
EaseUS also offers much baggage, all pre-ticked. MUST CHOOSE CUSTOM INSTALL or all the baggage will be installed by default, want it or not. Shameful. Beware after deselecting baggage on the first page, it sends you back to Express installation, with the dodgy Recommended alongside(!), and there is another piece of baggage, box ticked, which you might not notice. After unticking all the boxes, it did not install anything I did not ask for.Did allow MERGE.
Very, very useful comment, dude! Thanks a lot! I’m absolutely agree with all your statements.
Cheers! ^_^
Beware of EASEUS!!!
Lots of baggage you don’t want and a very good chance you will end up with programs like emails , anti virus programs and Explorer and Fire fox not opening.
Trust me It happened to me!
EaseUS is trouble.
Once started there is no way to halt, abort, or cancel.
I tried EaseUS Partition Master home Edition to install a 400GB partition in the unused space of a A 1TB Seagate Expansion external drive that was half full.
When EaseUS started the the partition process, it indicated 32 hours would be required!!!
Impossible to cancel/abort.
A forced shutdown totally corrupted the external and cause the host Win7 PC to not boot.
Even after thinking I deselected all the baggage that comes with EaseUS it still installed a toolbar and advertisement program on my browser. I immediately removed the program.
I’m not sure why this program would rank on a ‘top five’ list if it comes with so much baggage. It should be avoided for this reason alone.
Parted Magic isn’t free any more, but reliable.
EaseUS destroyed a hard drive I had that was full of important files, DO NOT USE IT FOLKS
Your blog needs an update. Parted magic is now a premium only resource.