Partitioning a physical hard drive into multiple volumes is done for a good number of reasons.You may want to improve the overall performance of your PC, install more than one operating system, or manage computer maintenance tasks – activities that will effectively solve a number of computer-related problems.
Windows PCs come with a built in disk management tool that can take care of basic partitions for you but if you want a more robust, feature rich platform to get the job done, third party tools are the way to go. In today’s review, we take a look at a popular tool called MiniTool Partition Wizard 9.0 that has over 15 million users and promises lots of great functionality.
What You Can Do With MiniTool Partition Wizard 9.0 (Pro Edition)
- Perform basic partition management such as create, delete, format, and hide partitions, change drive letter, set partition label and convert FAT/FAT32 to NTFS.
- Perform advanced functions such as move, resize, extend, split, align, wipe, and explore partitions, set partition as primary or logical and migrate OS to SSD/HD or Windows Storage Spaces.
- Perform disk management tasks such as copy, delete, align, and recover partitions, rebuild MBR, wipe disk, convert MBR disk to GPT and vice versa.
- Perform additional functions such as change the cluster size, delete and format dynamic volume, change the dynamic volume letter and label, wipe volume and convert dynamic disk to basic among others.
The MiniTool Interface
The MiniTool Partition Wizard UI isn't the best looking one but you’ll instantly be on familiar ground. A Menu bar is displayed at the top followed by the tool bar that holds most of the popular functions.
The Disk map below the tool bar displays a preview of the partitions and unallocated space on disk. On the left pane is an Action panel containing the wizards and partition operations. The right pane shows all details about all the disks and partitions on your PC. Finally at the bottom of the window you’ll find different legends.
To manage a partition, just select the partition from the Disk map and select an action from the Action pane. If you are not sure how to perform the operation, you can quickly run through the tutorial link placed in the operation window. A detailed Help guide is also available should you need further guidance. The Disk map is a visual treat and you can even right-click the partition to perform various operations.
Overall, the UI is designed such that users with no prior experience as well as power users can easily execute the various wizards and operations.
Management Tasks
As far as the actual operations went, MiniTool Partition Wizard handled most of the common tasks effortlessly and quickly. The tool allowed activities such as creating, merging, deleting and wiping partitions to be queued, which was great as I did not have to be tied down to my computer to perform all the tasks. The tool could also recognize removable storage devices, which worked out great for me as I could wipe out my drive clean using one of 5 options.
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Here are some of the key factors that work for and against the software.
Pros
- User friendly interface with easy intuitive controls.
- Easy to use for newbies and those without much experience in partitioning.
- Contains advanced features for power users.
- Queues up commands and completes them simultaneously.
- Supports Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 10 (Windows Technical Preview) and Windows Server 2012 R2.
Cons
- The free Home edition only contains the basic features so if you want to resize/move dynamic volumes or merge partitions, you will have to upgrade to the Pro version.
Final Thoughts
If the free Windows disk management tool doesn’t do the job well enough for you, the free Home version of MiniTool Partition wizard is unlikely to add extra value. Instead, go for the $39 Pro version that has plenty of advanced functionality. MiniTool also has Server, Enterprise and Technician licenses for high end customers.
No tool is perfect and there are definitely areas where MiniTool Partition Wizard can improve. However, the 9.0 edition of MiniTool Partition Wizard makes the complicated and time consuming job of disk/drive partition effortless. If you wish to give MiniTool Partition Wizard 9.0 a try, hit the link below. And if you have used the tool before, please share your experience with us as it might help others who are making a purchase decision.
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