How to merge 2 disks windows 10. How to merge hard disk partitions into one. Additional software

The question of how to combine two disks into one is one of the most frequently asked among computer users. This can be useful in many situations, including even moments associated with setting a single file system for all partitions, converting GPT or RAW format that the operating system may not accept, installing software that requires a lot of disk space, etc. the user can be offered two main methods of combining, which will be further discussed in as much detail as possible. The proposed solutions work equally well when performing such actions with logical partitions, and when working with RAID arrays, when two or more independent hard drives are installed on the computer.

Benefits of combining hard drives or partitions

It goes without saying that the first and main factor influencing the adoption of a positive decision in favor of merging partitions is increasing the available disk space on one disk, which is extremely necessary when installing some programs.

On the other hand, as already mentioned, if different types of file systems are installed on disks or partitions, it is quite common to observe problems with the installation of certain types of software. Bringing them, so to speak, to a common denominator, eliminates the problem entirely. Finally, if the system has unreadable RAW partitions or GPT format for hard drives larger than 2 TB, which the operating system may not accept, such a tool is simply irreplaceable.

Combining options

Now a few words about how to merge two disks into one in Windows 7 and above. First, you need to decide in what way the sections will be merged. First of all, we can highlight the ways of combining with the loss of information or with its preservation. Second, the use of standard system tools or third-party software.

It should be said right away that the solution to the question of how to combine two disks into one using the built-in Windows toolkit for the safety of data that was originally located in one of the partitions does not imply (this is not provided at all). Therefore, before doing such things, all the information from the partition to be deleted (and it will really be deleted, and only then attached to the main disk or partition) must first be transferred to another partition or removable media. As it is already clear, there is no need to talk about the performance of the installed programs. When solving the problem of how to combine two disks into one, but so that both the information is preserved and the applications work, it is necessary to use additional third-party tools. They will be discussed separately.

How to combine two disks into one in Windows 7 and higher versions by standard means?

To begin with, let's look at the system's own tools. This is the disk management section. It can be accessed through the administration menu, but it's easier to use the Run console, in which you need to write the diskmgmt.msc line.

Here you select the partition at the expense of which you want to merge, and through the RMB menu, the item for deleting the volume is called. The system will immediately warn you that all information on the selected disk will be deleted. We agree.

We repeat a similar operation, but for the section. After that, the so-called unallocated area will appear.

Now you need to use the RMB on the partition to which the attachment will be made, and select the volume expansion line.

At the stage of selecting disks, most likely, free attachable space will be immediately added to the list. If this does not happen, you should use the add button yourself. After that, the continue button is clicked, and in the next window - the end. If you look at the state of the disks and partitions at the end of the operation, you can see the increase in space on one of the partitions at the expense of the other.

How to combine two disks into one using third-party programs

To manage disks and partitions, when you need to perform a merge while saving data, you can use third-party utilities that look much more powerful than the system's own tools. This includes software packages like Partition Assistant from AOMEI, Disk Director from Acronis, Partition Master from EaseUS and many others.

Let's take a look at the merge process based on the last mentioned utility. For example, we need to merge drive E and drive F, but so that after that there is only one partition E. In the main window of the Partition Manager section, use the Merge button, check the indicated disks (partitions) and click the "OK" button. After checking the merge, the process will be in the pending status. Click the Apply button and confirm the action. After that, the merging process will begin.

When it finishes, only one section (E) will be visible in Disk Management. Explorer will display two hard drives in one hard drive or partition. Only the F drive in the E section will be shown as a local directory (Local Disk F) with all the information that was previously present on it.

Brief conclusions

As a result, it can be noted that if the user requires a quick merge, and there is no critical information on the attached disk or partition, you can use the system tools. If data storage is mandatory, you will need third-party programs. And further. Please note that if there is a second operating system on the combined disks in the attached partition, it will not be possible to start it.

Some computer manufacturers divide hard drives into multiple partitions. One for and the rest for storing your personal files. If you wish, you can combine these sections into one. How to merge hard disk partitions without losing personal information, read the instructions below. ...

This trick can also be used to delete recovery partitions and free up space that would otherwise be used by recovery data. Or, if you want to have a computer with multiple partitions, you can deselect everything.

Why are some computers' hard drives pre-partitioned into multiple partitions?

Some PC makers seem to believe that allocating one partition for the operating system and another for data provides an explicit demarcation of the two, allowing you to erase the first partition and reinstall the system without affecting your personal data area.

This is convenient for some users, but not at all necessary. will reset all system settings to default without touching your files, even if they are in the same partition. In addition, when dividing the hard drive into two parts, you may run out of space both for programs in the system partition and for personal files in the additional one.

Instead of working with the disk configuration chosen by the manufacturer, you can change it to suit your needs. It's fast, simple, relatively secure, and is done right from within Windows itself.

Please be aware that some computers may have multiple hard drives installed. You will not be able to combine these disks into one section without additional manipulation.

Delete one section and expand another

We'll start by deleting one of the sections. If you have purchased a new computer, the first section of which contains system files, and the second is empty and called "DATA" or something like that, we will delete the empty section.

If any of your files are already stored in this section, move them to the system section if you do not want to lose them. If there is not enough free space on the system partition, use an external hard drive or USB flash drive. Just remove these files from the partition, as they will be lost when you delete it.

You can merge hard disk partitions using the Disk Management utility. On Windows 10 or 8.1, right-click on the Start button and select "Disk Management." On Windows 7, press Windows Key + R, type "diskmgmt.msc" in the text box of the Run dialog and press Enter.

Find the two sections you want to merge. In the example below, we will be merging the OS section (C :) with the DATA section (D :).

These two partitions must be on the same hard drive. If they are located on different disks, nothing will work. In addition, it is necessary that they are next to each other, otherwise you will have to work a little more.

Delete the second partition by right-clicking on it and choosing Delete Volume. Do not forget that you will lose all the files stored on it!

In this article we will consider the question, how to connect drives in Windows 10... Strictly speaking, not disks at all will be combined into one volume (so, they are not quite correctly named in the operating system), but partitions of one physical hard drive... The times when it was believed that the HDD must be divided into several volumes are a thing of the past. Today, most experts agree that there should be one main partition on one hard disk, not counting the small system ones. It is permissible to leave additional volumes if there are files for restoring or reinstalling the Windows 10 operating system. However, if the "ten" is installed on your computer cleanly, then we recommend leaving only one volume on the hard disk. If you want to speed up the system, it is best not to create additional HDD partitions, but to purchase another hard drive or solid-state drive (SSD). The latter provides a speed many times higher than a traditional disc. Ideal: use SSD for the system and programs, and HDD for storing personal files.

So, let's get down to considering the question of whether How to merge partitions (in other words, volumes) of a hard disk into one in Windows 10... First of all, let's say that this can be done at the stage of a clean installation of the operating system. You just need to delete all existing partitions and place the top ten on the vacated unallocated space.

If you do not plan to reinstall the operating system from scratch, but you still want to combine the volumes into one, then we can use the built-in utility “ Disk management". To start it, you need to right-click on the Start menu (1) and select the appropriate item (2).

Volume F, which we will attach to C, will first need to be removed and turned into free space. Only then can we add it to drive C. Therefore, before starting to merge two hard disk partitions in Windows 10, we need to transfer all the necessary information from the attached volume to the main partition (flash drive, external hard drive). The data on the deleted partition is not saved!

After nothing is left on the additional partition of the hard disk, you need to:

And select the item " Delete volume ...»

Instead of partition F, we now have free space labeled "Not Allocated". To add it to the C drive, you need to:

Click on it with the RIGHT mouse button.
And select the item " Expand volume».

After that, “ Volume Expansion Wizard". In it, double-click "Next" and then "Finish". As a result, we get one partition of the hard disk with a volume of 297.60 GB instead of the two that existed at the beginning (197.60 and 100.00 GB).

Sometimes there are problems with combining partitions of the hard disk of the computer that cannot be solved with the Windows 10 built-in Disk Management utility. In this case, it makes sense to use third-party tools. There are a great many programs working with HDD partitions, but among them it is very difficult to find a truly effective and safe one. We recommend using the free version of the tool AOMEI Partition Assistant(Be careful! you need to download a file called AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Freeware). We argue why we offer this particular program. Firstly, its extended version is paid - already this fact inspires some confidence in it. Secondly, there is a separate and rather detailed article about this product of the technology company AOMEI in the English-language Wikipedia. This is also a kind of sign of software quality. Well, and finally, thirdly, we check the installation file of this free program on the site VirusTotal.com (we recommend checking all files downloaded from the Internet there) showed the absence of any viruses and other threats. So, definitely the AOMEI Partition Assistant program deserves attention. Moreover, its free version Standart Freeware quite enough to solve the vast majority of emerging tasks of dividing or merging hard disk partitions.

An example of such a task, which the "Disk Management" utility built into the operating system cannot solve, but successfully solves the above-mentioned third-party program, is shown in the image below. Here we have two hard disk volumes (C and F), as well as 50 gigabytes of space already freed up to attach to the C partition. We see that when trying to expand volume C by the size of this unallocated space, the system does not allow us to do this - the item "Expand volume ..." remains inactive (all because the space we need is located through another volume - between C and unallocated space there is also volume F).

But the AOMEI program will easily solve this issue. For this:

On the expandable volume C, click the RIGHT mouse button.
We select the item " Merging Sections».
In the newly appeared window, put a checkmark in front of those volumes or unallocated space that you want to connect.
Push OK... After that, in the program window, the free space will be joined to volume C, but you should not delude yourself with this.

In order for the changes to be made in practice, it is necessary in the upper left part of the program window click on the green checkmark “Apply».
Then, in the newly opened window, confirm the action by clicking on the button " Go to", Wait for the operation to complete and press OK.

We add that in some cases, when working with hard disk partitions, the program warns that it can perform the tasks assigned to it only in the mode PreOS... This means that it will merge or divide volumes after restarting the computer, before starting Windows 10. PreOS means "before the OS", that is, work before loading the operating system. Merging or dividing hard disk partitions in this pre-boot mode can take some time and you shouldn't be afraid of it.

If you have additional questions on this topic, ask them in the comments below.

You may have such a question if your system partition "Local drive C" is too small and you want to combine it with another drive. If you have several disks, then it will be possible to combine only neighboring local partitions, and this is only if they are not combined into one dynamic partition.

Then you have to remove everything and everything, re-partition the hard drive as you need and reinstall Windows. So, let's look at an example when our hard drive is divided into two logical partitions: "drive C" and "drive D".

Note that combining the two drives will destroy all data on the second, in this case "drive D". Therefore, first copy all important information somewhere on an external medium. Right-click on the "This computer" icon and go to the "Management" menu and then to "Disk Management".

You will have an unallocated area.

After that, on the "C drive" area, we also right-click and select "Expand volume".

The Volume Expansion Wizard will open.

If you want to completely expand "C" drive to cover all of "D" drive space, then let's leave it as it is.

Multiple volumes on a Windows 10 PC. This time we offer you ways to combine partitions and make one large volume. This instruction is useful in the case when, as the local disk C is full, there is not enough space for installing programs and running Windows 10 itself. Adding free space to the C drive will solve this problem and return the system to its former performance. In this case, we will consider a method with the deletion of data from the second hard drive and with the preservation of information.

Merging volumes through the Disk Management section

In order to combine two volumes, or rather to bite off one and attach free space to the other, you need to perform the following steps.

Right-click on the "Start" icon and select "Disk Management".

A new window will open. We determine the free space of which drive we will attach to drive C or another drive. Click "Delete volume".

IMPORTANT! In order to attach free space, the volume will need to be removed. Therefore, back up your data. DO NOT use this method to join space from drive C to another drive. Windows will be removed and the PC will not start.

A warning will appear stating that all data will be deleted. Click "Yes".

The data will be deleted and a free partition will appear. It also needs to be removed. For this we use the options of the right mouse button.

Now that the unallocated disk partition has appeared in Windows 10, we will be attaching the free space to the local disk D (you choose any other disk you need).

Right-click on drive D and select Expand Volume.

The "Volume Expansion Wizard" starts. Click on the "Next" button. A new window will appear. Here we indicate what space we give for the disk D. Click "Next".

Place added. However, you need to create a new volume from the remaining space (if you have it and you have not allocated all the space of the previous disk for the disk). To do this, right-click on the unallocated partition and select "Create Simple Volume".

The Create Simple Volume Wizard will start again. We follow the instructions.

In this way, you can add free space to any disk, however, donating data from another disk.

Merging disks without deleting data

Unfortunately, the previous method of how to merge disks in Windows 10 does not allow you to save the user's personal files, that is, to carry out the operation without losing data. To do this, you will have to resort to the programmatic method of merging volumes. For this we need the MiniTool Partition Wizard Free program. It is on her example that we will consider a way to combine two disks into one.

Select disk D or the one that you want to connect to the selected volume. Click on the "Move / Resize Partition" button.

A small window will open. Here you need to indicate how much space you want to combine with 2 discs (drag the slider on the left).

Further, in the same way, indicate the change in the size of the C drive (pull the slider to the right side).

By clicking "OK", the computer will restart. The data will be automatically moved, the place added, and the information will not be lost.

To learn how to combine two disks into one using this program, see the video: