▷ How to use hard disk manager in windows 10

One of the most important and necessary tasks that we can do on our computer is to create, delete, and modify partitions on a hard disk. Windows 10 when with a tool it already implements natively to carry out these operations and other interesting ones that we will see. Your name as Hard Disk Administrator or Disk Management Tool.

Index of contents

In addition to the typical partitioning actions, this tool is necessary to format a new hard drive that we have purchased, for example. Or also to create virtual hard drives.

What can we do with the hard disk manager

Through this tool we can manage everything related to the hard drives and SSD solid state storage units of our team without the need to install an external application. We can do the following:

• Format hard drives in NTFS, FAT and FAT32 Change the letter of the storage drives or partitions Create virtual disks

In addition, in all the actions we carry out we will not have the need to restart the computer or use any command console. Everything is done through a very easy, intuitive and direct graphic environment.

How to open hard drive manager in Windows 10

As always, Windows gives us different options to open this tool. We will quote only the most direct and useful.

Using startup tools

Pressing the right button of the mouse on the start menu we will obtain a list of tools. We must select " Disk Management " and the tool will open

This menu can also be opened using the key combination " Windows + X"

Using commands

If we open the tool run using the keyboard shortcut " Windows + R ", we can open it by entering the command " diskmgmt.msc"

We can also do this by writing it directly to the start menu or within the PowerShell or at a command prompt.

Windows 10 hard disk manager graphical environment

In any of the cases, the result that we will obtain when opening the tool will be the following:

At the top we will have the toolbar from where we can do the corresponding actions. Among the most interesting we can highlight

Action:

• Create VHD: with this option we can create a virtual hard disk or VHD (Virtual Hard Disk). For practical purposes it will do the same functions as a normal hard drive like storing files or installing an operating system. Expose VHD: after creating it, we can also make it appear at the bottom of the tool to carry out the corresponding actions.

The other menu items are expendable as to actual utility.

The next thing we can see in this tool is a list of hard drives, as well as the partitions that are on our computer.

If we continue to the bottom, we will have the graphic representation of the storage units and their division of partitions. This is where we will spend most of our time configuring the parameters of our units.

• Open / Explore: With this option we will directly open the hard disk Mark partition as active: by means of this option we will be able to define a partition as active so that the equipment starts an operating system from it. We should not select partitions as active when they do not have an operating system inside them. Change drive letter and paths: with this option we can assign a new letter to our hard drive or partition Format: using this option we will format the drive's disk or volume. We will lose all the data it contains. Extend volume: with this option we can increase the size of a hard disk partition. By increasing one of them, another will decrease its volume. This option will not be available for the partition where the operating system is installed. Reduce volume: We will reduce the volume of the partition. It will be available for all partitions. Add reflection: with this option we can create a partition that will be the copy of another existing one. It will allow us to make a backup copy of the files of a partition. To create a mirror, it will be necessary to have an unallocated amount of space on a different hard disk equal to or greater than the one we want to mirror.

• Delete volume: with this option we delete a partition. It will be deleted from the partition table on the hard drive, but it will not format the files, making it possible to recover them with file recovery software.

Create VHD with hard disk manager

Let's for example create a virtual hard disk from this tool. To do this we must follow these quick steps:

• We go to " Action " and click on " create VHD ". A window will appear to introduce the parameters of the new unit. We will be able to select the directory where we are going to create this hard drive, the capacity and the format. We can also decide if the assigned capacity is fixed or dynamic

• We accept the changes so that our disk is created and appears in the graphic representation of the lower part of the tool. This will appear as a normal hard drive

• Right click on it and choose " Initialize disk ". This action will be exactly the same as when we do it with a physical hard disk.

Then we right-click on the hard disk space and choose " New Simple Volume..."

In this way we will have a virtual hard disk created in our system. If we go to the file explorer, in the main window, we will be able to see this created volume.

Operations with Hard Drive Manager

We already have a complete tutorial explaining how to use other options of this tool.

To see it, just click on the following link:

The Windows 10 Hard Drive Management Tool is essential for a computer administrator and for all types of users. Get the most out of your hard drives with it.

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Do you want to use this tool to create a partition on your hard drive? It is highly recommended to do this. If you have any problem with this tool, leave it to us in the comments