Partioning Hard Drive?

WestieFan

I bought an exernal hard drive so that I could back up my docs and stuff. I decided i would partition it so that my backups can be separate from other stuff I might want to save.

The only time I partitioned a hard drive before, it was a complete re-format and re-install of OS, so I am a bit stuck about how I should be doing it now. I have followed info in help files which says if I right-click on disk in Disk Management there is an option 'New Partition' but I can't find it.

Am I not seeing something obvious, or am I on the wrong track here?

Any help appreciated.

Chippy_Minton

Does the drive show in Disk Management and is it 'Unallocated'?

WestieFan

Hi Chippy yes it does show up in Disk Manager, but doesn't say anywhere that it's unallocated.

mart_80

Using the standard built-in Windows utilities you can only partition drives when they are empty. I believe you need to remove any data first, then re-create the partitions.

If you have data on there that can't be removed first, try a 3rd-party tool such as Partition Magic:
http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/overview.jsp?pcid=sp&pvid=pm80

I've used it in the past without any problems (though only on internal drives, not any in external enclosures).

Chippy_Minton

If you right-click on it, is there a 'Delete Partition' or 'Delete Logical Drive' option (not greyed out)? If so, you have already formatted it.

WestieFan

Yes there is a delete partition option. The guy in the shop where I bought it formatted it for me. Does this mean I can't partition it then?

Chippy_Minton

Yes, just click Delete Partition. A message appears warning that all data will be lost; click Yes to this.

Of course, if you have any data on it that you want to keep, move it to another drive before deleting the partition.

WestieFan

Jeez, how easy was that! I just couldn't see the wood for the trees there, thank heavens there are nice folk like you here to help us numpties out in times of brain shutdown

Now I have two nice partitions I will spend the afternoon getting my backups sorted.

Thanks again especially for super-fast replies.

:beer: