Updated on May 14th, 2021
Overview of external hard drive
Every computer user needs at least one hard drive in computer or laptop to install operating system and store important data. As the increasing of data and system updating, hard drive on computer is usually running out of free space. Most laptop can only place one hard drive, so an external hard drive will be useful to provide extra disk space for data storage.
External hard drive works the same as those internal hard drives. It enables users to store files and folders permanently separated from the internal hard drive. Moreover, external hard drive is placed in HDD enclosure, so that it can be connected to computer through USB port. External hard drive is well known as its high portability and plug-and-play manner, which provides numerous convenience for its users.
Why do we need to partition external hard drive?
Some people may ask “Do I need to partition external hard drive just like what I have done to common hard drive?” The answer is yes. It is highly recommended external hard drive should be partitioned to several partitions. If external hard disk have only one partition, then users have to store all files into the same one volume. In that case, once this partition gets corrupted or formatted, then you will lose all files. Therefore, if the external disk has several volumes, then you don’t have to recover the entire drive if there is only one partition that faces data loss problem.
What’s more, multiple partitions on one drive makes it easier and sufficient to manage data. Different kind of files can be stored into separated partitions whose volume name can be modified as “Software, Documents, Working, Entertainments, etc.” Such kind of classification enables you to find desired files quickly and easily. Moreover, the partition of great importance can be encrypted, which can protect sensitive and critical data. And the encryption doesn’t affect the performance of computer and other partitions.
How to partition external hard drive?
Free partition manager DiskGenius (old name PartitionGuru) is able to partition external hard drive, and resize/ split/ format/ delete/ create partitions without any charge. It is safe and simple to use even though you do not have related experience. If the external hard disk is a new one and there is no data on it, you can use the “Quick Partition” function which can be found on the main interface of this free partition manager. You are allowed to select partition number, set partition size, drive letter, volume name, partition type, partition table style, etc.
While, if the external has partition and files stored already, you need to use the function “Split Partition” to get one partition divided into two. This feature won’t cause data loss of current files, so it is quite safe.
