What is cluster size and how to change cluster size?

When using computer, we may ignore many problems. Most of the time we don’t realize these problems, because these key parameters are fixed or default. To manage our computers better, we must know about the specific meaning of these parameters and know their influences on our computers. Today, I tell you an important noun which we always easily ignore – cluster.  

A track on hard disk disc is divided into several arcs with equal size. The arc is called “sector”. Since the unit of “sector” is too small, sectors are tied together to form a bigger unit to facilitate our management. This unit is named “cluster”, which is the smallest unit for disk file storage management in Microsoft operating system.

In Microsoft operating system, a file is usually stored in one or multiple “clusters”. However, there is limitation that one file at least occupies one “cluster”. That is to say, two or more files can’t occupy one “cluster” at the same time. For instance, there is a file of 3KB, if the size of one cluster is 1 KB, this file needs to occupy 3 “clusters”. If the cluster is 2 KB, this file just need to occupy two clusters. But two clusters are 4KB while the file size is 3 KB. According to the principle that two files can not share one same “cluster”, even if there is a file with 1KB, the file just have to be stored in next cluster. Therefore, 1 KB storage space is wasted. Through the example above we can see that the bigger the cluster is, less cluster the file will occupy. However, the bigger the cluster is, the more disk storage space will be wasted.

If the cluster is smaller, will the storage situation be better? No. It is undisputed that the smaller the cluster is, the higher the computer disk utilization rate will be. But if the cluster is smaller, the computer needs to manage more clusters and plenty of computing resources will be consumed. Besides, if cluster is smaller, computer will produce more disk fragments. All these problems will have grate influence on computer performance. So, a reasonable “cluster” size is the best way to improve computer performance.

How to set reasonable “cluster”? In Windows, there are two kinds of existing file systems FAT32 and NTFS. In FAT 32 file system under Windows 2000, if the partition is 2GB ~8GB, the smallest cluster is 4KB; if the partition is 8GB~16GB, the smallest cluster is 8KB; and if the partition is 16GB~32GB, the smallest cluster reaches 16KB. In Windows 2000 NTFS file system, when partition size is within 2GB, cluster size is smaller than the corresponding FAT32 cluster size; when partition size is beyond 2GB (2GB~2TB), the default cluster size is 4KB. By contrast, we can see that NTFS can more efficiently manage disk space than FAT 32 does, and avoid wasting disk space to a large extent. Therefore, when choosing file system, we’d better choose NTFS file system. And the 4 KB cluster size maybe the most reasonable size. If you store large file such as movie in one partition separately, you can choose to adjust cluster size to bigger one.  

If we are not satisfied with cluster size, how can we adjust the cluster size？ We can turn to system disk management tool to re-choose cluster size through formatting partition. However, this method will cause all data to be lost. Therefore, we’d better use the excellent partition magic alternative MiniTool Partition Wizardto adjust partition cluster size. By this way, we can easily and fast perform operation without causing data loss. Besides, we can convert FAT 32 to NTFS without damaging data with this software, which facilitates performing optimization management for cluster. We’d better keep such a piece of excellent disk management software in our computer. 

A professional free Windows partition magic

MiniTool Partition Wizard is a free disk manager for all Windows operating systems including WIndows 2000 Server, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003/2008, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

As we all know built-in Disk Management in Windows OS always fails users in managing hard disk and partitions. In Windows 2000 Server, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, Disk Management is only able to delete partition, format partition, change drive letter, finishing some basic partition management operations. Although Shrink Volume and Extend Volume funtion are added to Windows Server 2008, WIndows 7 and Windows 8, we still can not use them to manage partition well. Take Windows 7 for example. If we are going to extend a partition with Disk management tool in Windows, there must be free space behind the partition that will be extended. Otherwise, this operation can not be realized. Even if we can shrink a partition, the shrunk can only be used to create a new partition. It can not be used to extend other partitions.Having this kind of limitation, Disk Management always fails users.

However, MiniTool Partition Wizard is a powerful disk manager. We can use it to carry out many partition and disk management operations. For example, we can resize partition, move partition, copy partition, convert FAT to NTFS, merge partitions and so on. It possesses all functions of the Disk Management and dozens of functions that are not in the possession of it. All operations are very simple, so we can use it to manage partitions and disks easily.

MiniTool Partition Wizard is divided into five editions: Free (Home) edition, Professional, Server, Enterprise and Technician. For common users, Free(Home) edition is enough. Many disk management problems can be solved easily. For detailed information, please visit the official website http://partitionwizard.com/

a partition magic for Server 2008

Windows Server 2008 is the latest server operating system of Microsoft, which not only inherits excellent performance of Windows Server 2003, but also has many improvements and new functions on the basis of Windows Server 2003. For example, Windows Server 2008 has improved security by enhancing operating system and protecting internet environment, and by accelerating deployment and maintenance of IT system to simplify combination and virtualization of server and application, managing tool intuitively. Windows Server 2008 has many features, but as those who have used Windows Server series operating systems know, there are certain function flaws in partition managements of Windows Server series operating system developed by Microsoft. Although they can perform partitioning disk and other operations, these operations not only complicate, but also risk high danger. Once accidental operations occur when we perform partition management on disk, it will cause data loss. Even operation pause caused by power off or dead halt may give rise to data loss. To prevent these situations from happening, many server administrators will use disk partition manager to perform partition management operations.              

As for disk partition management software, we can find many different types of software, but most of them are single in performance, and they may have flaws, which can lead to data loss when we manage partition. So when we choose disk management software, we must choose a piece of perfect disk management software. And when we make choice, we should pay attention to following problems:

The software is released by a professional software development company.

1. Multiple operating systems and file systems are supported by the software.

2. Complete disk management functions.

3. Perform partitioning without data damage.

To sum up requirements above, I choose MiniTool Partition Wizard, the disk partition management software developed by MiniTool Solution Ltd. The software runs well under many operating systems of personal computers and server computers such as Windows XP. Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows Sever 2008 and other operating systems. And it can also perform operations on file system partitions such as FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, and EXT series. At the same time, MiniTool Partition Wizard has very perfect disk management functions, mainly including create partition, delete partition, format partition, merge partition, delete all partitions, convert FAT to NTFS, convert Dynamic disk to Basic disk, Partition Recovery Wizard and so on.

I find the disk management function of MiniTool Partition Wizard is very powerful, and it can help me solve all partition management problems. So I usually visit the official website of MiniTool Partition Wizard. One of my purposes is to pay close attention to newer information of MiniTool Partition Wizard; the other is to learn more knowledge about disk partition management on the official website of MiniTool Partition Wizard. Now it has been updated to 7.5 edition which has further enhanced its original functions. To my surprise, its Wipe Partition (it is said that American important department use this technology to wipe data) can thoroughly wipe the whole disk, and even the data recovery software can’t recover the wiped data, thereby ensuring our data security to a large extent. What’s more exciting, when we use MiniTool Partition Wizard partition manager, we can gain technology support from its development company MiniTool Solutions Ltd. So when we encounter disk partition management operations problems, it can provide us with help.   

How to merge partitions in Windows 7?

It is a common operation for users of Windows 7 to merge partitions in Windows 7, which make the allocation of disk space more reasonable. But this operation is not very simple. Although partition magic of Windows 7 is much better than that of any other Windows operating systems, it has no function of merging partitions. Therefore, a professional partition magic must be employed to merge partitions. There is different partition magic software with different functions. Considering data security in Windows 7, MiniTool Partition Wizard is recommended for this partition magic is of high data security.

The Advantages of Using MiniTool Partition Wizard to Merge Partitions in Windows 7
There are many advantages to use MiniTool Partition Wizard to merge partitions in Windows7:
  1. The operation is simple and convenient. It is easy to use MiniTool Partition Wizard to merge partitions in Windows 7. Users just need to click the mouse by following the instructions and will be familiar with it soon.
  2. MiniTool Partition Wizard can support Windows 7 of 32 bits and 64 bits.
  3. MiniTool Partition Wizard is of high data security. Merging partitions in Windows 7, users concerns about data security most. And MiniTool Partition Wizard has solved this problem. In the process of merging partitions, MiniTool Partition Wizard will put the data of partitions into a folder, and when the merging process is finished, it will put the folder into the new partition and users can name it to avoid data cover caused by repetition of file name. MiniTool Partition Wizard is a professional partition magic with powerful function of merging partitions. And its disk management function is also excellent.

Specialist of Disk Management-----MiniTool Partition Wizard
MiniTool Partition Wizard is very powerful. Adopting the advantages of peer software and developing independently and creatively, MiniTool Solution Ltd. released MiniTool Partition Wizard. And it has got a lot of attention from users since its publish. MiniTool Partition Wizard has perfect functions of managing disk. For example, it can create, delete, merge, format, copy, wipe, recover partitions and convert file systems and test surface. It makes disk management simple and convenient and reduces the probability of misoperation. If users desire more information about, please visit the official website:http://www.partitionwizard.com/

Considerations of using MiniTool Partition Wizard to Merge Partitions in Windows 7
MiniTool Partition Wizard can be employed to merge partitions in Windows 7 under the condition that both partitions are NTFS and adjacent. If the condition is not satisfied, merging partitions in Windows 7 will not be accomplished. But MiniTool Partition Wizard can create the conditions for merging partitions. If users want to merge partitions of FAT12/16/32, the function of "Convert FAT to NTFS" can change file system. And if the two partitions are not adjacent, the function of "Move/Resize" can change the locations of partitions as the following picture shows:



When the two NTFS partitions are adjacent, merging partitions can be executed. Just as the following picture shows:



Follow the instructions to click the mouse, and merging partitions in Windows 7 will be accomplished.

MiniTool Partition Wizard is an excellent and professional partition magic and it can meet all demands of partition management in Windows 7. And the home edition is totally free for personal and family users.

what does Famous persons' privacy leak remind us of?

The famous person, such as political leaders, business elites and super stars who are active in entertainment field or sports field, are always the center of people’s attention. However, while the high attention brings great splendor and glory to them, it also brings them much trouble. That is because all their words and behaviors are concerned by people, so many people with malicious thoughts try their best to expose the super stars’ privacy to make exorbitant profits or raise awareness. This can be found from constant exposure events of super stars privacy photos or privacy words. In fact, not only super stars encounter such a situation, our common person also may encounter such things, because stealing others’ privacy has been a kind of bad society atmosphere.        

Seeing this, maybe some people will criticize the ugly human nature, but nobody can stop such things. Just like every country is seriously fight against criminals, but various kinds of criminals still frequently happen. Actually, our evaluation and improvement on human nature just consider about long-time human development, but can’t efficiently improve the current bad atmosphere of stealing privacy. Maybe it can’t be changed during a long time. In order to efficiently improve the bad atmosphere of stealing privacy, we should keep our privacy data in safe first, avoiding giving malicious person chances. Let the time improves the human nature.   

Actually, the security work of personal privacy data is always a problem needing to be thought. With the constant science technology improvement and constant birth of high technology products, we not only gain material and spiritual enjoyment, but also face many potential risks. For example, the birth of digital camera, DV, computer and other high-technology products facilitate us to record our privacy lives that includes many touching things. However, the common privacy data leak events are usually caused by the security problems of the high technology products. Maybe many of the computer users have encountered such situations – the hard disk with privacy data and important data was damaged, or the important data got lost. At this time, we usually thought of turning to professional to recover the lost important data. However, it usually included personal privacy problems, so we felt it was a headache. Finally, many users still chose to pay high fees to professional to recover lost important data, and this action made it possible to leak privacy data.      

So is there any method that can help us find the lost important data and prevent our privacy data from leaking? Yes. As people pay more and more attention to privacy data security, currently there are two popular data recovery methods. The first one is to use professional data recovery software (like MiniTool Power Data Recovery) by yourselves to recover lost important data. By this way, we can prevent others from contacting the privacy data and avoid privacy data leak. The second, after thoroughly smashing the privacy data in hard disk, we pay high fees to data recovery company to recovery important data. Thus we can protect the privacy data from being leaked to large extent.    

In fact, when we use computer, it is very common to encounter privacy data security and recovery of lost important data. Once encountering such a situation, we should be calm. According to the real situation, we choose the data recovery method above, because timely recovering lost important data to large extent is the most significant. 

How to convert FAT 32 to NTFS without damaging data?

Both FAT file system and NTFS file system are released by Microsoft, and they are used under Windows operating system. We can see many file systems on the market, but Windows operating systems occupy the largest market share, so the FAT and NTFS certainly become the most widely used file systems at present. FAT is the earliest file system used under MS-DOS. With our demands for computer storage devices constantly improving, FAT has also derived different versions such as FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, etc. NTFS is a standard file system released by Microsoft for Windows NT and subsequent operating systems. By now, NTFS has taken place of FAT and becomes the most common file system. So, compared with FAT, what advantages does NTFS have? Why do so many computer users convert FAT to NTFS?       

AS a matter of fact, compared with FAT, NTFS has very obvious improvement no matter in performance or data security. Among these advantages, NTFS has faster file-reading speed than FAT. And NTFS uses smaller cluster than FAT, thus it efficiently improve the hard disk space utilization ratio. At the same time, NTFS can support single file which is as large as 64 GB, so it’s more practical than FAT32 which has the best performance among FAT series but can only support files within 4GB. Because the sizes of many files have exceeded 4GB, FAT can’t store such kind of files. Our best choice for storing these large files is to convert FAT to NTFS. As for data security we concern most, NTFS also has very great improvement. Firstly, we can share resources and folders and set files access permission on NTFS partition, which greatly enhancing privacy data security of NTFS partition. What’s more, NTFS has disk self–healing function and error warning functions, which ensure NTFS partition data security to a highest degree when fault occurs on disk. To sum up above points, NTFS file system is superior to FAT file system. And compared with FAT, the advantages of NTFS are far beyond these, and I don’t introduce them one by one.      

        

How to convert FAT to NTFS perfectly? There are two ways. Firstly, re-format the partition to NTFS file system. By this way, we will lose all the file data on the partition, so it is not recommended. The second way is to download third-party disk management software like MiniTool Partition Wizard. The “Convert FAT to NTFS” of MiniTool Partition Wizard can be used to convert FAT32 to NTFS directly without any effects on partition data. This method is so perfect that I strongly suggest that you use the second way to convert FAT to NTFS. Besides, MiniTool Partition Wizard is powerful I and easy to operate. It’s just the main reason why I choose MiniTool Partition Wizard.

We are not required to learn much computer knowledge when using MiniTool Partition Wizard. Just click mouse and the software can perfectly help us complete converting FAT file system to NTFS file system. What’s more, MiniTool Partition Wizard has many other disk management functions. Once you own it, you can do well in disk management with very simple operations. Don’t you want such powerful software? Hurry to download MiniTool Partition Wizard to manage your hard disk like I do.

How to safely merge partitions on Vista?

The key to merging partition in Vista is to select some suitable partition magic. Similar to Windows operating systems, Vista provides users with multiple editions like Home Basic edition, Home Premium edition, Enterprise edition, Ultimate edition, etc. Judging from the edition names, we can know that different editions are used in different environments. What's more, every edition consists of 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems and there are differences between 32-bit Vista and 64-bit Vista. Is it necessary to select suitable partition magic according to different Vista editions in order to merge partition? For some partition magic, it is. However, we can ignore it if we use MiniTool Partition Wizard which supports all Vista editions.

What if partition magic is not compatible with Vista?
Microsoft has announced that Vista operating system is of excellent compatibility. But many users have encountered the situation where some software is not compatible with Vista.
1. When we use partition magic to merge partition in Vista, some can enter the operation window normally. But in the operating process, Vista may show error prompt, which stops merging partition.
2. Some partition magic is said to run perfectly in Vista. But after users update or change Vista operating system edition, the partition magic can not operate in Vista, let alone merging partition in Vista.
3. Some unprofessional partition magic is not compatible with Vista at all. When we launch it, the system reminds us of compatibility failure and merging partition in Vista can not be carried out.
Whether the partition magic is compatible with Vista must be considered when Vista users choose partition magic. No matter how powerful the partition magic is, it is useless if it can not run normally in Vista. However, MiniTool Partition Wizard gets rid of our worries about compatibility. According to Vista users' feedbacks, MiniTool Partition Wizard is highly compatible with all Vista editions, so we can use it to merge partition in Vista.

How to merge partition in Vista with MiniTool Partition Wizard?
It is not difficult to merge partition in Vista. Only if we follow the prompts of MiniTool Partition Wizard in every step can merging partition be finished easily.



Select any partition in the main interface and click "Merge" on tool bar.



Select the disk where merging partition are to be performed and select the partition that will be merged and click "Next>".



Select another partition that will be merged to the previous selected partition and all files in this partition will be stored in a folder in the new partition (we can set folder name by ourselves). Then click "Finish" to return to the main interface.



In the preview, we can see that the two partitions have been merged to a new partition and partition capacity is changed correspondingly. Last, click "Apply" to execute all operations contained in "Operations Pending". Until now, we have finished merging partition in Vista.

Tips on merging partition in Vista
1. The two partitions that will be merged must be adjacent. If not, we can explore "Move/Resize Partition" to make it.
2. Both of the partitions that will be merged must be NTFS file system. If we want to merge FAT partitions, we must change file system into NTFS by employing the function "Convert FAT to NTFS".

In daily disk management, Vista users not only need to merge partition, but also need to create partition, copy partition, delete partition, recover partition and so on. MiniTool Partition Wizard has all those functions as well as some other partition management functions which are rarely used but practical. More information can be obtained on the official website http://www.partitionwizard.com.

How to make computer run faster?

During the computer use process, many computer users may have encountered the situation where computer runs slow. Undeniably, it is a very painful problem, because low computer speed will decrease the computer work efficiency and make users unable to normally use computer to work and study. However, since most of the common computer users know little about computer knowledge, they can’t put forward very efficient solutions. Here, I share my long-term experience with you, hoping to help the computer users who are annoyed by slow computer operating speed.

As everybody knows, when we find a problem, to solve it well, it is important for us to learn the reasons which cause computer to run slow firstly. There are the most common reasons:     

1. Too slow CPU processing speed.

2. Too small computer memory.

3. Hard disk aging.

4. Excess junk files in system.

5. Operating system faults.

6. Insufficient partition space.

These are most common reasons for slow computer operating speed. After knowing the reasons, we must search for the best solutions.

Certainly, since the reasons causing problems are different, we must use different solutions. The first three problems are hardware problems, so we have to replace corresponding hardware devices to improve computer operating speed. However, the last three problems belong to software problems, and they are very easy to solve. When encountering the situation where computer runs slow, you should firstly open the explorer to view whether the system partition space is insufficient. If slow computer operating speed is caused by insufficient system partition space, we can easily enlarge system partition capacity with professional the disk management software MiniTool Partition Wizard to solve slow computer operating speed problems. If the computer operating speed is not slowed by insufficient system partition space, we can think of excess junk files. Because when operating system works, it will produce lots of junk files. And excess junk files will cause computer to run slow. At this time, you can download a piece of professional system management tool and use it to find and wipe the junk files in system. These two points is relatively slight software problems, and if the solutions above can’t solve your problems, it is maybe operating system fault. At this time, you have to reinstall operating system to solve the problems. However, before installing operating system, you must transfer the useful data from system partition to other partitions, or the data will get lost and can hardly be recovered after reinstallation.        

My analysis of reasons which slow the computer is gained from my long-time computer use, so are my solutions. They are for your reference only. If you have encountered other reasons which slow computer operating speed, or if your opinions are different from mine, you can bring them up to discuss with us. 

How to shrink partition and expand partition on XP?

Are you using Windows XP? Do you want to resize partition for XP? If your answers are yes, MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition, a free partition manager can help you. 

Resizing partition includes extending a partition and shrinking a partition. Then will show how to shrink and extend a partition respectively, resizing partition free. 

Of course, before resizing a partition, we have to install Partition Wizard. Please don't install it to the partition will operate on, or we have to restart the computer later.

Shrink a partition

1.Take Shrinking Drive F:. launch Partition Wizard. 

2. Please select F: and click "Move/Resize Partition" on the left. We'll see the following interface.

Please drag the left arrow rightward or drag the right arrow leftward to shrink F;. the former will make the shrunk free space in front of F; the the latter behind.here, we just select the first one, dragging the left arrow rightward. and  then click "OK" to go back to the main interface again. 

We can see that there is an unallocated space in front of F:. We can use it to create a new partition or extend other partition. 

Extend partition

If we want to extend a partition, there must be * (stand for unallocated space) adjacent to the partition that will be extended. If there is not, we have to get some by shrinking partition. but * is not adjacent to G:, what should we do? Don;t worry, we can move F with * to make * adjacent to G. 

Please select F: and clcik "Move/Resize" again. 

Drag F: (the right part) leftward to move its location and then click "OK" to go back to the main interface. 

Now we can see * is adjacent to G:. Please select G and click Move/Resize to see the following interface. 

Please drag the left arrow leftward to extend G:. and click "OK" to go back to the main interface and you'll find G: is extended. at last, remember to click "Apply" on the left-up corner to perform all operations.  

How to prevent confidential files data from being stolen?

I believe every computer users store some privacy data in their computers, such as personal photos and company data files. How can we store the data and ensure the privacy security to the largest extent? I believe most people don’t know the answer. I personally think the good way to protect the privacy is to hide the file with privacy data. Here, two ways can help us hide data file.

Firstly, we can modify file properties and set it as hidden property (here, take the common Windows XP operating system as example). Detailed operation progress is to right click the file which is to be hidden and choose property menu option. Then we can set file property in “General” column. Check the “Hide” option, and then click “OK” to successfully hide this file. When we need to view the hidden file, we can enter “Control Panel” through clicking “Start” menu, and click and enter “Folder Options”. Then find “Display all files and folders” option in “View” column, and check it. After that, all hidden files are displayed, and can be normally used. Although this kind of method can keep privacy files confidential, it can only prevent people from occasionally viewing the confidential file information. If some malicious people aim at gaining the data, this method is useless. So here I provide another way which can hide the confidential file – hide the whole partition.      

Maybe many friends can’t understand the method of hiding the whole partition. Actually, this method is very simple. We just need to store all needed confidential files in one partition, and then set it as hidden state through some partition management software. By this way, confidential files are successfully hidden. As partition management software is constantly developed, lots of partition management software with “hide partition” function exists. But we still should pay attention to the software security when choosing software, and avoid downloading the software with potential risk. If we unknowingly use such a kind of software, we can cause damage to the whole partition or cause data loss. At that time, we will suffer serious disaster. Therefore, we must pay attention to software security. If you can’t make choice among various kinds of software, you can try MiniTool Partition Wizard, the partition magic alternative with very high reputation. I had used its “Hide Partition” function to store my privacy file in computer, and gained satisfying effects.  

The friends who know about partition knowledge may think hiding partition with software is to remove the partition letter so that the partition will not be displayed. Actually, this opinion is wrong. If we just remove partition letter, the partition file system still exists, and it will be displayed through assigning drive letter with system built-in disk management tool. However, after we use MiniTool Partition Wizard to hide partition, both the partition letter and partition file system disappear, so it doesn’t simply remove partition letter. However, you can feel free to use it, because the Hide Partition setting will not cause data damage or data loss in partition.

I share my privacy file protection measure with you above, so if you have better solutions, you can leave a message to discuss with us.

How to expand partition on Windows 7?

This picture is the logo of Windows operating system by Microsoft. With the development of computer hardware and software technology, Windows operating system has developed from the first Windows 1.0 to Windows 95, NT, 97, 98, 2000, Me, XP, Vista, and Windows 7 as well as various server editions. Microsoft is trying its best to improve and promote Windows OS. However, even though Windows is so developed, it has a weakness that its built-in disk management tool often disappoints users a lot. Windows 7 built-in disk management tool does have the function to expand partition, but actually this function is rather unpractical.

With Windows 7 built-in disk management tool, users can only expand partition backwards. If unallocated space is in front target partition, this tool will be unable to realize expanding partition. We have to resort to third-party partition magic. It is suggested to use the free partition magic developed by MiniTool Solution Ltd. – MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Use MiniTool Partition Wizard to expand partition in Windows 7
Firstly, we should visit official website http://www.partitionwizard.com/ for free download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard. After launching, we will see the following interface:



This is the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard. Select the target partition, and then click "Move/Resize" button:



In this interface, we can drag partition handle border or input detailed value in textbox to expand partition. Here we should drag the left partition handle border leftwards to expand partition (This can't be done by Windows 7 built-in disk management tool). After setting, click "OK" button to return to main interface.



In main interface, we can find that the target partition in "Disk 1" area has been expanded. And in "Operations Pending" area, there is one pending operation. After making sure about the setting, click "Apply" button to execute. Then we have successfully finished expanding partition in Windows 7.

Through this demonstration, we can find how powerful MiniTool Partition Wizard can be. Actually, expand partition in Windows 7 is only one small part of MiniTool Partition Wizard. This software also has many other partition management functions including create partition, format partition, merge partition, delete partition, and copy partition, etc. It can be the best choice for server users to manage disk and partition efficiently.

How to convert dynamic disk to basic disk?

For most friends, computer has only one hard disk, and the disk form used by us is basic disk. Therefore, many friends know little about another disk form – dynamic disk. So what is dynamic disk? Now there is detailed introduction. 

The conception of Dynamic disk was introduced by Microsoft since Windows 2000, and it is added into Disk Management Tool. Compared with our common basic disk form, it has many advantages. For example, we all know partition amount id limited in basic disk – partitions can only be labeled with drive latter C-Z. But it is not like this in dynamic disk, because we can create more “partitions” (it is called as “volume” in dynamic disk) in dynamic disk, but get rid of the limitation. In addition, on dynamic disk, we can create multiple kinds of volumes, such as simple volume which is familiar with basic volume; spanned volume which can be created through spanning the disk, mirror volume which can be used as mirror; stripped volume and RAID-5. These different volumes have different features, so dynamic disk is more superior than basic disk. And the most obviously is that dynamic disk allows us to store mass data. We all know that we must perform partitioning operations before storing data, but the data amount is limited by partition size or the whole disk size. If we use dynamic disk form, we can create partition with capacity which is greater than the single disk capacity. And then store data to store mass data in single partition.    

After hearing these advantages, maybe many friends want to know how we can convert basic disk to dynamic disk. The method is very simple, as long as our operating system supports dynamic disk, we can perform operations below. Right click “My computer”-“Management”-“Disk Management” to enter disk management interface, and then right click disk to choose “convert to dynamic disk”. By these steps, we can convert basic disk to dynamic disk without damaging data.

Maybe many friends have tried to convert the basic disk to dynamic disk. But after the operation, some friends begin to be confused that why I can’t create various kinds of volumes? Maybe you don’t notice the premise that “under multiple disks”. Various advantages of dynamic disk are reflected when there are multiple disks in computer. If there is only one disk, we can only create the basic simple volume, which is not quite different from basic disk. And if we convert the only disk to dynamic disk, it doesn’t facilitate us to manage disk. So if there is only one computer disk, I suggest you not converting it. 

Some friends may have converted the only disk to dynamic disk, but now you can’t convert dynamic disk to basic disk. This is because that the system built-in Disk Management Tool can’t convert dynamic disk to basic disk when there are partitions in disk. If we want to use the system built-in Disk Management Tool to convert dynamic disk to basic disk, we have to delete disk partitions before converting. But if we delete disk partitions, we may suffer mass data loss. As for the system partition, the operating system doesn’t allow us to delete it. Many friends are trapped in this situation.  

Now, if we want to convert dynamic disk to basic disk, we need to turn to the third-party disk management software, because only the third-party disk management software can convert dynamic disk to basic disk without damaging disk data. However, when choosing the third-party disk management software, we should notice the software security to avoid unnecessary trouble. If you don’t know which third-party disk management software is suitable, you can try to use the partition management software MiniTool Partition Wizard 7.5. I use it to perform many kinds of partition management, and one of its functions can convert dynamic disk to basic disk. It is very useful, so you can have a try.

How to Resize Windows 8 Partition?

When Windows operating systems are influenced by some problems like security and operating speed, the appearance of Windows 8 brings new lightspot to the majority of computer users and gives Microsoft the opportunity to return to mobile platform field. On the day when Windows 8 Consumer Preview was released, the download amount was more than 1 million, which made Microsoft proud and its competitors jealous. However, in the using process, Windows 8 takes much more disk space. Although Microsoft has noticed and controlled it well, many users have still encountered the situation of lack of system partition space. As known to all, system partition being lacking in space will impinge on the operating efficiency of Windows 8 and is possible to cause computer shutdown. At this time, resizing Windows 8 partition is feasible. However, Windows operating systems have never provided perfect solutions to resizing partition without damaging data and Windows 8 is not an exception. Despite the Extend Volume function and Shrink Volume function in Windows, they are not satisfying. Their limitations cause that users fail to resize Windows 8 partition freely. So many users choose the third-party partition manager to resize partition in Windows 8 without influencing data, just like what they operate on Windows 7.

Resizing Windows 8 partition safely with MiniTool Partition Wizard
Speaking of resizing Windows 8 partition, especially resizing Windows 8 system partition, what most users are concerned about is partition data security. There are many important system files stored in Windows 8 system partition. If they are damaged or lost, there will be much unnecessary annoyance and loss. However, if users possess the professional and powerful partition manager MiniTool Partition Wizard, there is no need to worry about important data in partition. This partition manager has simple operations and powerful functions and security unmatched by other software of this kind. Users can use it to resize Windows 8 partition trustingly. In the process of resizing partition in Windows 8, partition data security can be protected to the largest extent because the professional partition manager offers protection measures for data security. For example,
1. Operation preview function: After users perform some operations, the partition manager will not execute them immediately and users can preview the effect. It reduces mistaken operations greatly.
2. Power-off protection: When users are resizing partition in Windows 8, if accidental power outage occurs, the partition manager will automatically protect data in the partition that is being operated and partition data will not be lost due to sudden power-off.
3. Enhanced data protecting mode: When this mode is booted during the process of resizing Windows 8 partition, the partition manager will prevent operations on partition data as much as possible, thereby decreasing the possibility of data loss and it is also able to avoid data loss caused by hardware failures to a certain extent.

Therefore, we need not worry about data security when resizing partition in Windows 8 with MiniTool Partition Wizard.

How to resize Windows 8 partition with MiniTool Partition Wizard?
We have mentioned that MiniTool Partition Wizard is of simple operations and powerful functions. Through simple operations, users could resize partition in Windows 8 easily. The main procedures are following.
1. Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard under Windows 8.
2. Select the partition that will be resized and click Move/Resize Partition in action panel.
3. Resize partition according to practical needs.
4. Click "Apply" to perform all operations.



Through so simple steps, we have finished resizing partition in Windows 8 without causing any influence on partition data. Beyond the question, MiniTool Partition Wizard is the best partition manager for users to resize Windows 8 partition. More information about this partition manager can be got from the official website http://www.partitionwizard.com/.

How to speed computer, making Windows 7 run faster?

If you is a Windows operating system, and want to speed up Windows 7, you can learn several methods of speeding up Windows 7. These methods are very simple and can obviously improve the Windows 7 responding speed in every aspect. 

1.  Change Windows at faster speed: Windows gorgeous interface is really very artistic, but this gorgeous effect is exchanged with operating speed. So if you want to faster change each of Windows 7 Windows, you can cancel animating Windows when minimizing and maximizing. Thus, you will find windows can be changed at faster speed.

Operation method: Input “System Protection Performance” in “Search Programs and files” of Windows 7 start menu. And then find Visual Effects to cancel “Animate Windows when minimizing and maximizing” optional, and then click to confirm.

2.  Decrease Windows 7 system booting time: Actually many users may feel its booting speed is much faster, but if you think it still doesn’t display the advantages of your multicore CPU computer, we can try to make it faster.

 Operation method: Firstly, find “Search Programs and files” in start menu, and then enter “msconfig”. Find “Boot” label in the pop-up setting windows, and then choose “Advanced options…”. Here, another setting window will pop up, so we check “Number of processors” in the pull-down menu, and make choice according to the computer configuration. After that, confirm and reboot computer.          

3.  Decrease the Windows shut-down time: I have introduced how to decrease Windows 7 booting time. Now that booting time can be decrease, the corresponding shut-down time can also be decreased. This modification should be performed in registry table.

Operation method: In the “Search Programs and files” in start menu, we enter “Regedit”, and then find “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEM” IN “Registry Editor”. After that, find “Control” under “CurrentControlSet” and right click “Wait to Kill Service Timeout” to decrease the value. By this way, we can decrease shut-down time.

4.  Close searching list feature: if you are not a forgettable man, and you are clear about where your files are, the searching list feature is almost no use for you and it occupies your precious system resource. Therefore, it is a good choice to close it.

Operation method: Find “Search Programs and files” in start menu, and then enter “services.msc” to find “Windows Search” function, and right click the mouse. After that, choose “Disable” to close the function.

5.     Reasonably partition Windows 7 disk: This point is very important. As everybody knows, if you want to speed up a computer, we must ensure enough space for system partition. Since Windows 7 is a piece of new operating system, when we install it, we can’t perfectly make partition distribution. Therefore, we can reasonably adjust system partition according to the real situation.

Operation method: It is not impossible to use Windows 7 built-in tool to reasonably adjust system partition space, so we need to download a piece of excellent disk management software such as MiniTool Partition Wizard. And then optimize the system partition space to speed up Windows 7.     

According to the introduction above, I believe most people have known how to speed up Windows 7 operating system. I hope all your Windows 7 operating systems will have a fly speed. 

How to expand NTFS partition?

There are three types of hard drive partition: primary partition, extended partition, and logical partition. They often work together to form a common hard drive partition mode. The active primary partition is independent, and it is usually in the front part of one disk. One disk can only be divided into four primary partitions, but it is far from satisfying for users. Then the concept of extended partition and logical partition is created.
After creating primary partition, the rest part of one disk can be used to create extended partition, and there can only be one extended partition at the most. Extended partition can't be directly used, and it is used to create multiple logical partitions. When creating logical partition, system will allocate a drive letter to every logical partition. It is suggested to use partition management software like MiniTool Partition Wizard to create extended NTFS partition.

Partition management software
Speaking of partition management software, we will probably think about the classical Partition Magic. This software has really great performance but now it is no longer compatible with new operating systems such as Windows Vista or Windows 7. Hence, the excellent Partition Magic alternative MiniTool Partition Wizard developed by MiniTool Solution Ltd. is released.
MiniTool Partition Wizard runs perfectly in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, as well as Windows 7. Its powerful functions include create partition, merge partition, move partition, resize partition, convert partition format, and partition recovery, etc. In addition, security and availability of MiniTool Partition Wizard are also rather high. The following is a brief demonstration of using MiniTool Partition Wizard to create extended NTFS partition.

Use MiniTool Partition Wizard to create logical partition
Before using MiniTool Partition Wizard to create extended NTFS partition, we should firstly visit http://www.partitionwizard.com/ to download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard. Do not install it to the partition that needs operation, avoiding rebooting computer.
After installation, launch MiniTool Partition Wizard to enter main interface:



This is main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard. We can check disk and partition basic information here. Right click the unallocated space in the list and select "Create" to enter the next interface:



In this interface, we can set partition information including partition file system. After setting this partition as NTFS, we can drag the little triangles at the partition handle borders to set partition size, or we can input exact value in textbox. At last, click on "OK" button to return to main interface.



After checking every operation, click on "Apply" button at top left corner to execute all settings. Then the new extended NTFS partition is created.

If there is no partition in one disk, this disk can't be used. Create partition is the most basic operation of partition management. It is suggested to use third-party partition management software MiniTool Partition Wizard to create partition. Its user-friendly interface and powerful function are worthy of your trust!

How to increase partition size in Windows 7?

The latest Windows 7 operating system released by Microsoft is pretty excellent. This operating system has more luxuriant interface and many new functions. However, although Windows 7 operating system has so many advantages, it still have flaws – it can't help Windows 7 operating system perfectly increase partition size. Maybe some users feel strange: "Now that Windows 7 operating system has built-in disk management tool which helps users increase partition size, why it can't increase partition size for Windows 7?" Actually, although Windows 7 built-in disk management software can help users increase partition size, it can only increase partition size backward.



On the main interface of Windows 7 built-in disk management tool, you can see that this partition software is unable to increase partition size when allocated space exists in front of partition. To increase partition size for Windows 7, users have to delete the rear partition and then recreate partition. This operation can increase partition size, but it makes the partition data to get lost. Therefore, in order to protect partition data, user need to employ third-party partition software to increase partition size. As for the choice of the third-party software, the partition software MiniTool Partition Wizard is highly recommended.

Use the partition software MiniTool Partition Wizard to increase partition size frontward
The partition software released by famous software developing company MiniTool Solution Ltd. is pretty excellent. It not only helps backward increase partition size for Windows 7, but also can increases partition size frontward. Now, the demo of using partition software MiniTool Partition Wizard to frontward increase partition size for Windows 7 is given below.
To use the partition software MiniTool Partition Wizard to frontward increase partition size for Windows 7, users should free download and install this partition software via the office website http://www.partitionwizard.com/. After that, start this partition software to see next interface.



Choose the partition to extend, and then click "Move/Resize" to enter next operating interface.



After entering this interface, drag the left border of the partition handle left to increase the length of partition handle thereby frontward increasing partition size for Windows 7.



Here, click "OK" to turn back to the main interface.



On the main interface, the partition capacity of "Disk 2" area has already been increased, and an undo option appears in "Operations Pending" area. Users just need to click "Apply" and wait until software finishes the operations. Then use partition software MiniTool Partition Wizard to thoroughly frontward increase partition size for Windows 7.

All operations of using partition software MiniTool Partition Wizard to frontward increase partition size for Windows 7 are listed above. You can also use this partition software to solve almost all partition management problems such as Create Partition, Delete Partition, Format Partition, Wipe Partition and Merge Partition.

How to increase partition size on Vista?

Windows Vista may be familiar to many users. As the transition product between the two classic operating systems Windows XP and Windows 7, Windows Vista is only a flash in the pan. It has a high demands for hardware configuration and many ordinary users can not use it well, so Windows Vista is replaced by Widows 7 in no time. But some users who have high hardware configuration are still using Vista that is of great importance in Windows development history. However, in the process of using Vista, many users may have come across the problem of insufficient space. Although Microsoft has introduced expanding partition function to the built-in disk management tool in Windows Vista, the new function has multiple defects. There are many limitations when Windows Vista users use the tool to expand partition in Vista, so it can not satisfy the demands for expanding partition freely.

The limitations on expanding partition in Vista with the built-in disk management tool
Users who are familiar with Windows Vista built-in disk management tool know that if we want to expand Vista partition with the tool, an important condition should be met: there must be unallocated space closely next to the partition to be expanded. But when users use hard disk, seldom does the situation where there is reserved unallocated space occur, so the condition is hard to meet directly. Since the shrinking partition function in Vista can only shrink partition forwards and function of moving partition is not possessed, users can not manually build the environment for expanding Vista partition. However, it is unnecessary for users to be worried. Although the built-in utility in Vista fails to expand partition flexibly, the third-party partition manager can make it. MiniTool Partition Wizard is a pretty good choice.

Expand partition in Vista with MiniTool Partition Wizard
MiniTool Partition Wizard is a partition manager of powerful functions, simple operations, security and reliability. With it, users can finish almost all partition management operations in Windows Vista, including expanding partition.

Before expanding Vista partition with MiniTool Partition Wizard, we should firstly visit the official website http://www.partitionwizard.com/ to download the partition manager and install it. After launching it, the following interface will be shown.



This is the main interface and we can see the detailed disk management functions of MiniTool Partition Wizard. If there is no unallocated space, we should create it. Select the partition adjacent to the partition that will be expanded (here, take expanding Partition C: for example, so we select Partition I:) and click "Move/Resize". The following interface will be shown.



Drag the left triangle rightwards to shrink Partition I: to get the unallocated space and then click "OK" to go back to the main interface.

Note: if there is no special need, please keep the option that is marked with red box checked. Enhanced Data Protecting Mode is able to protect partition data perfectly.



We can see an unallocated space appears behind Partition C: and we can expand Partition C: now. Select Partition C: and click "Move/Resize". Drag the right triangle rightwards to expand Partition C: and click "OK" to go back to the main interface.



We can preview that Partition C: has been expanded successfully. Please click "Apply" to perform all previous operations.

If you also have encountered the situation where Windows Vista is lacking in partition space and you want to expand Vista partition with partition manager, please visit the official website and download MiniTool Partition Wizard.