How to connect separated hard disk volumes. Merge hard drive partitions quickly! Merging partitions using AOMEI Partition Assistant

In the previous article, we discussed ways to create partitions in Windows. There are circumstances that some users, having divided their hard drive into two or more partitions, ask the question of how to return parts of the hard drive to their original state.

After reading this article, you can easily figure out how to put all your sections together without losing important data.

How to merge hard drive partitions in Windows

For this procedure, you can use built-in system tools " Disk Management" to merge partitions, however, in this case, you need to transfer all the information from partition E:, then delete partition "E:" and then merge both partitions into one. If there is a lot of information on the disk, it will take considerable time. We will discuss this method in end.

To connect the partitions, we will use a special disk management program - you can download it at. This program is available for commercial and home use and is absolutely free.

Attention!!!AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard refers to groups of programs for working with disk partitions. If you make a mistake when working with this program, you may lose important information on the disk, so we recommend that you do this before starting to work with the program. Backup all partitions of your disk to save all important information.

How to Merge Partitions Using AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard

Download and install the program on your computer, run it and follow the further instructions.

Right-click on the section. A menu will pop up, select "".

We mark the sections that we want to merge and click "OK".

Apply your changes by clicking “Apply”.

We confirm the changes.

Click " Yes".

The process of merging the partitions has begun, we are waiting for the download to complete.

Click "".

Sections are merged. All information that was on the second partition was automatically transferred to drive "C" in the folder " E-drive".

Merging hard disk partitions using built-in Windows tools

Open the "Start" panel and type "Computer Management".

Let's go to " Computer management". Right-click on the section, let's say "E:" - " Delete volume". I remind you!!! Don't forget to transfer your data from the partition you are deleting, otherwise you will lose it or Backup.

"YES".

An undistributed space has formed, indicated by a black stripe. We use this volume to expand the system partition; you may have another partition, the principle is the same.

Right-click on the section you are going to expand - "".

"Further".

The sections are connected.

1. What are disk partitions for?
2. Consolidating disks in different operating systems
3.Windows 7
4. Windows 10: features of unification
5. Additional software

The computer has become an object without which it is difficult to imagine everyday life. Each user tries to customize the right assistant to suit their needs, so you may be faced with the task of how to combine hard drive partitions into one.

To quickly resolve this issue, we have prepared detailed instructions for different operating systems and offer you the most effective solution to the problem.

What are disk partitions for?

In any operating system, the shared memory is divided into several sections. This solution makes it possible to control the amount of memory, regulate the division of all stored information and provide protection against virus penetration. As a rule, the entire amount of memory can be divided into several sections:

Main disk. This portion of physical memory is used to install the operating system.
Backup disk. With the help of special programs, a small part is allocated on a shared disk, which is used to store a backup copy.
Shared disk. Another piece of memory needed to store all other information.

Having backup memory will be useful in the event that there is a need to restore, and a backup copy is used for this.

Consolidating disks in different operating systems

Working with the physical memory of a computer leads to the complete destruction of all stored information, so before you start working with merging, you need to perform several important steps.

To get started and edit a volume, it is important to remember that all information will be completely destroyed. You need to create an exact copy of all the files on your computer and transfer it to an external drive. An alternative solution would be to use cloud storage. Different programs and services may offer different amounts of information storage, so you can choose the most convenient solution for any size of files.

To combine two partitions and create a single file storage, you need to decide on the type of operating system that is installed on the computer. The fact is that for different versions of Windows there is a different algorithm of actions, and only strict adherence to all entered parameters will help to complete the merger successfully.

Windows 7

In Windows 7, users now have the ability to merge drives without using additional software. For this purpose, a special team has been created that will quickly carry out all the work.

The algorithm of action is as follows:

Open command line. To open the command line window, go to the “START” menu and click “Run”. Otherwise, you can use the keyboard shortcut WIN+R or enter the word RUN in the search bar.
Command to call the control window. After a small dialog box has opened, you need to type the following command: diskmgmt.msc. This combination brings up the Disk Control Panel, after the command is entered, you can click OK.
Working with the control window. After the control window appears, you will see all the basic information about all disk partitions and will be able to determine hard the disk that needs to be merged. All digital information about the content and name of the disk, capacity and amount of occupied space is located in tabular form.
Removal and expansion. If you have already identified the drive you want to delete, all you need to do is hover over it and right-click. In the drop-down menu, find the “Delete volume” command. When you click the command, all data on the volume will be destroyed. After deletion, an empty volume appears in place of the removed disk, which can be attached to another disk. To do this, click on the partition that you want to expand and click “Extend volume”. The empty space will be attached to the partition you pointed to.

Windows 10: features of unification

In Windows 10, the merging process may be the same, since the operating system itself has built-in working tools for working with disk space.

The file space is also managed using the built-in Disk Management utility, and the algorithm of actions performed may differ only in some technical subtleties:

Calling the working utility. To start, you need to enter the search window and find the desired utility using the search for the main word. Type “Management”, and the system itself will give you the results you need. An alternative way is to use the WIN+X key combination.
Merging and deleting. To connect multiple drives, the remaining steps are the same as with the previous version of the operating system. Select the volume you want to delete and use the context menu to delete it. The empty volume can then be merged with another partition to create larger space.

It is quite possible to combine several disks into one without losing data; you do not need to use complex programs for this. If you have such instructions, you can do all the work yourself, and the unification process itself will not take much time.

Additional software

In some cases, work on merging disks may be difficult because the user does not have the ability to work on individual sectors. In this case, you can use a special program that will give access to the physical space and allow you to perform all the actions of connecting different volumes.

An excellent example of such a utility is Acronis Director. It can be easily installed on any operating system and will provide access to all system configuration settings. After installing the program and launching it, in the main window you can see all the necessary information for working with disks and volumes. Further actions are of the same nature as in the previous instructions. You need to highlight the volume that you want to clean up and merge in the future, and click the corresponding button to start the process.

Working with merging using a special utility will help you configure your computer in a way that suits you and makes it convenient and efficient to use.

Please note that when merging, data from the second partition will be completely deleted (photos, videos, documents, programs). Copy them to a removable USB drive or to the cloud so as not to lose them.

After that:

Launch the Run system utility using a keyword search or by simultaneously pressing the Windows + R keys on your keyboard. It can also be launched through the “Standard” menu.

Next, you need to open the classic application and enter the command “diskmgmt.msc” in the empty column, as shown in the screenshot. Then click “OK”.

The Disk Management utility will launch. It will be used to combine HDD or SSD partitions. In the first column you can see a list of available volumes. On the contrary, the file system type (NTFS, FAT32), state, capacity and free space (in GB, MB or percentage) are indicated.

In our example, we will merge the “New Volume W” with the “C” drive. Please note that merging multiple sections is done one at a time, that is, “C” with “D”, but not with “W” or “E”. If they are not nearby, the system will not allow you to do this. If you do not want to delete data from the volume that you plan to merge with the main one, then make sure that you copy it. After this, right-click on the partition you want to remove and select “Delete Volume” in the context menu that appears.

A notification will appear asking you to cancel the procedure if you have not yet created backup copies from the selected partition. Click "Yes" to continue.

After this, the section will disappear from the list, and the message “Not distributed” will appear at the bottom of the program.

Right-click on the disk you want to expand and select “Expand Volume” from the context menu.

Attention! If the “Extend volume” button is not active, then most likely you are trying to merge partitions that are not “consecutive”. For example, if there is another occupied (or vice versa free) disk space between them. You can only merge volumes that are in close proximity.

The Volume Expansion Wizard opens. Select the logical or local drive through which you want to increase space and click “Next”. If only one is available, it will be marked automatically.

Confirm your selection and click Finish to complete the process.

After this, the remaining partitions will appear in the list. You can close the utility and continue using your computer. If desired, here you can create a new volume, delete it, or hide the disk.

The computer will automatically flag any changes. Therefore, in case of problems, you can do a full system restore. In this case, user data will not be affected. However, if you deleted them when merging, you cannot get them back.

Through third party software

If you don't want to use Microsoft's built-in tools, you can merge drives using third-party software. Many of them are available for free download and allow you to:

save data from partitions automatically;
Merge disks and partitions that are out of order.

What is a dynamic disk? This is a technology that allows you to divide physical media into several volumes and sections. They can be created, deleted, expanded (at the expense of others).

The application is available for free download from the developer's official website. It is entirely in Russian, so you don’t have to download the localization language separately. Launch the downloaded program distribution and follow the wizard's instructions during installation. After this, run the program.

The operating procedure on a PC will be as follows:

Right-click on the disk (if it is not hidden) that you want to add to the main one. In the context menu that appears, select “Delete partition”. In our example, this is the “G” drive.

A notification will appear warning you that the information will be completely deleted. Agree to move on to the next step. To do this, we recommend selecting the first item and clicking “OK”. For more detailed information, click on the “Help” button.

The “G” drive will disappear from the list and “Unallocated Space” will appear in its place. We will “add” it to the main section “C”.

To do this, right-click on “C” and select “Merge Partitions” from the context menu.

The Merge Wizard will open. From the list, select the section that you want to add to the main one. Then click “OK”.

Click on the big green "Apply" check mark in the toolbar to connect "C" and "G".

The selected sections will be merged into one; no other changes need to be made. In a similar way, you can combine several partitions at once, which have the word “unallocated” written next to the space. To do this, they do not need to be in close proximity to each other, as required by the system utility from Microsoft.

A partitioned disk can be divided into partitions and merged into one an unlimited number of times. Please note that data loss in this case is inevitable. Therefore, do not forget to make backup copies or use third-party software.

The program is fully compatible with OS Windows 10 (home, premium or other version) and is available for free download from the official website. Please note that it does not support the Russian language, so you will have to work with the English interface. After installation, follow these steps on your PC:

Launch the program and select MiniTool Partition Wizard. The program for working with disks will open.

Please note that the process may take from a few minutes to hours. The exact time will depend on the size of the partition, the presence of files that will be copied to the main disk. They will remain in the root directory with the name you specified.

Unlike Aomei, MiniTool Partition allows you to immediately make a backup copy of all data stored on the partition. This is convenient if you do not want to save information manually (for example, if it is too large). But in this case, the operation will take much longer.

To speed up the merge and backup process, delete unnecessary files yourself or move at least some of them to removable media or the cloud.

Conclusion

Now you know how to merge disks in Windows 10 using standard system tools or third-party software. But keep in mind that it will not be possible to carry out the operation without data loss. Therefore, be sure to save all important information from the disk whose space you want to add to the main one. Because it will not be possible to restore them later.

If you plan to merge several sections, we recommend using free software. Additionally, it allows you to copy files to a new partition, so you don’t have to do it manually.

Video

Below you can watch a video on the topic of combining disks on Windows 10.

How to connect two drives into one without loss of information? I have a C: drive and the operating system is installed on it. There are two more drives E: and F:, these are the ones I want to combine into one drive, but both drives have information. This means that I cannot do this using the built-in tools of Windows 7. Or I can, but I need to transfer information from the F: drive and delete it, then attach the resulting unallocated space to the E: drive, as a result I will get one large E: drive.

In short, there is a lot of information on both disks and it is quite difficult to transfer it anywhere; I don’t have a portable hard drive. I found articles on your website about the free section manager "", these articles have almost everything: how to create a section, increase, decrease and most importantly, all this happens without losing information, that is, before working with the program, information does not need to be transferred anywhere. You just don’t have an article on the topic of how to connect two disks into one, I think the large audience of your resource will be grateful to you for such an article. Gleb.

How to connect two drives into one

Hello, friends! As our reader correctly noted, for these purposes you can use the free program "EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition". Using this program, you can combine two disks into one without losing information on these disks.

Our article is suitable for operating systems: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

Let's return to today's article. The content of the article:
1) Connect two disks into one using the "EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition" program quickly and easily, naturally without loss of information.

2) We connect two disks into one without resorting to any programs, that is, using the tools built into Windows 7. I think this part of the article will also be useful to someone. But we will have to transfer data from the disk that we want to delete, otherwise there is no other way.

3) Friends, we also have an article on how to connect two disks into one using the program. This program is the leader among hard drive managers, but unfortunately it is paid.

How to connect two disks into one using EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition

Let's go to the official website http://www.easeus.com/download.htm. Select " EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition" and click Download

Freeware Download

Download Now

The program installer is downloaded. Let's launch it. Installing the program is simple, but there are a few points you need to pay attention to.
If you don’t need the TuneUp Utilities 2013 optimizer, uncheck the box and click Next.

It is not necessary to indicate your email

Before starting the program, go to Disk Management. We will not touch drive C:, but we will connect drive E: (59 GB) and drive F: (59 GB), so we will end up with one drive E: (119 GB).

Let's launch the program.

In the main program window, left-click once on the E: drive and click on the Merge tool,

In the window that appears, indicate the drive with which we want to merge the E: drive, this is the F: drive, check the F: box and OK.

Our program works in deferred operation mode, click the Apply button and OK,

Yes.

The disk merging process has begun.

Go to Disk Management and look at the result. Instead of two drives E: and F:, we now have one drive E: (119 GB).

All the data that was on the F: drive moved to the E: drive, into the folder Local Disk F.

How to connect two disks into one using the Windows 7, Windows 8 operating system itself without resorting to any programs

Let's say that some users do not want to install additional software on their computer and will try to make do with the tools built into the operating system.

Let's go to Disk Management. To connect drives E: and F:, you must first transfer all the data from drive F: to a portable hard drive or flash drive, or to drive E:, then delete drive F:, right-click on it and select Delete volume, agree Yes.

Once again, right-click on the “Free” space and select Delete Partition.

Are you sure you want to delete the partition? We agree Yes.

Unallocated space of 59 GB appears. We attach this unallocated space to the E: drive. Right-click on drive E: and select Expand Volume.

Ready.

All. I would be very glad if I helped someone.

If you need to combine several hard drive partitions into one volume, then the first thing you need to do is save important data on another medium. Most likely, they will be irretrievably destroyed. If the logical drive you are removing contains an operating system paging file, move it to the primary partition in advance.

Merging partitions can be done correctly not only by OS tools, but also by external programs.

During the procedure for merging hard disk partitions, all programs must be closed. A program or process accessing the hard drive may block access to the system, and the procedure will not be able to start. Do not turn off or restart your computer during the disk change procedure.

The operating system deletes the logical volume you specified.
The partition on which the logical volume was functioning is deleted.
The system partition is expanded to fill the free disk space.

Merging partitions using external programs

You can merge hard disk partitions, for example, using the Acronis Disk Director Suit package with the Acronis Partition Expert utility or the AOMEI Partition Assistant program. There are other programs, but these have proven to be the best.

The Acronis package is convenient, has an intuitive interface, and is capable of merging disks without losing data, just like the free AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Merging partitions using AOMEI Partition Assistant

In the main screen of the program, right-click (RMB) on drive C and select “Merge partitions” in the context menu

You mark the disks for merging, confirm Ok and the program places the order you created in the delayed start queue.

To start the procedure, click the “Apply” button.

The program will ask you to confirm the operation several more times, then check the disks for errors and merge the volumes into one.

All folders of the former D drive will be placed in the D-drive folder on the C drive.

Merging partitions under Windows XP

To solve the problem of combining hard disk partitions running XP, there are several options.

1) Through the OS control panel.

“Start” - “Control Panel” - “Administrative Tools” - “Computer Management” - “Disk Management”

Having entered the “Disk Management” menu, right-click (RMB) and click on the name of the volume that you want to delete. In the context menu, select "Remove logical drive"
After removing the logical drive, delete the empty partition. Right-click on it and select “Delete partition”
Right-click on the name of the remaining volume and select “Extend Volume”. The extension wizard will launch, follow its instructions.

2) Using the DISKPART utility located C:\WINDOWS\system32\diskpart.exe.

To launch the DISKPART utility, select “Run” from the Start menu or press the key combination “Win + R” and manually enter the name of the utility: diskpart.

To work with this utility, you need to remember the principles of managing the operating system from the command line.

Merging partitions running Windows 7

The diskmgmt.msc utility allows you to merge hard disk partitions. The utility can be launched in two ways:

Through the control panel. “Start” - “Control Panel” - “Security and System” - “Administration” - “Computer Management” - “Disk Management”.
Through the “Start” menu - “Run” or the key combination “Win + R”, then enter the name of the utility diskmgmt

Step-by-step algorithm for merging sections:

In the “Disk Management” window that appears with a list of disks, right-click (RMB) on the name of the volume you want to delete. Select "Delete Volume" from the context menu

After deleting a volume, an unnamed partition will appear in its place. Right-click on it and select “Delete partition”

Select the volume to be expanded, and right-click on it, select “Extend volume” and then “Next”

Specify how much you want to expand the disk and click “Finish”.

Immediately after the process is completed, restart your computer.

Merging partitions running Windows 10

The algorithm for merging partitions running Windows 7, Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 is identical. The difference is in the method of entering the control section.

To enter Disk Utility under Windows 10, right-click on the “Start” button and select “Disk Management” from the context menu.

The window that appears is exactly the same as the window described above for the Windows 7 system.

Conclusion

Any changes made to the hard drive structure are critical and important. Incorrect actions can lead to inoperability of the hard drive, loss of data and the need to reinstall the operating system. The process of merging disk partitions is quite lengthy, and if the computer turns off during operation or an unexpected failure occurs, data may be lost. Therefore, before starting work, be sure to make backup copies of your data, make sure that you can restore the operating system if necessary, and only then start.