In the days of my youth, it was almost the most appealing function to it - disks of 7 - 20 GB could not contain all the necessary information. And that's what compression is for: freeing up space on your hard drive. When you compress a file or folder, the data is overwritten using a special Windows algorithm and takes up fewer clusters after the operation. When you access the file in the next session, the system reverses the process before you can see even a bit of the information you need. And this, as you know, takes time and resources of the system.
The file compression feature has been part of Windows since the advent of Windows. disk cleanup utilities. But since the time of Windows 7, it has migrated into a separate stream: the developers considered that there were fewer problems with the lack of computer space, and compressing a huge number of files greatly slows down the functionality of Windows: when this function was activated, the system compressed all the files in a row, which means there could be vital parameters that are immediately accessed during the current session ... Now freeing up space is easy with the help of other utilities that work in the other direction, and / or by swiping. In the end, any archiver program can do much more than the described function. However, it is, let's get to know it.
By the way
The function and approach to compression in Windows 10 has seriously changed and, it seems (so far, at least) in a much better way. But about this in a separate article.
A couple of paragraphs of theory ...
The NTFS file system uses the “ compression unit” to determine the degree of splitting, granularity of the byte range stream, as well as their alignment or grouping into blocks. The size of this very unit depends only on the size of the cluster in the NTFS system. Until the last moment, the following table is used to calculate the cluster size:
As you can see, starting from a certain moment exceptions start: “native” NTFS compression stops working on volumes and partitions, the cluster size of which is selected more than 4 KB. For sizes over 8 KB, compression is used to sparse files. Such files are another strong point of the NTFS file system, which allows applications to create files of very large sizes, which, oddly enough, can exceed the size of the parent directory. This is because the lion's share of the contents of such files (and sometimes completely) is filled with zeros or null strings. At the same time, the file system does not provide logical clusters for such chains. And NTFS only creates a “pointer to where to fill the virtual number of clusters”. And what about the compression? NTFS, working on compressing a file or folder, separates the data stream in the same way. In this case, the compression process for each file is individual; the degree of compression and subsequent operations with the file are very dependent on its actual size.
Compressing files and folders
The function is available from the context menu by right-clicking on the desired file/folder. She is here:
We activate the function, the compression has begun. After that, it will be possible to force Windows to highlight compressed files. It's easy to do the same with a whole disk. We will find in windows explorer list of volumes and also call the context menu with the right mouse:
Compress disks and files. What do you need to know?
- Compression is ONLY available for the NTFS file system
- If the file is moved from ordinary folders in compressed OTHER DISK folder, it also goes through the compression procedure
- If the file is moved from ordinary folders in compressed folder on the SAME DISK, compression is canceled and the file/folder returns to its original size
- Files compressed using NTFS compression cannot be encrypted: duplication of procedures in any form in Windows is excluded, and therefore ...
- Compressing an already compressed file will not work either)))
- Do not confuse with archiving (in zip, rar, etc.)
Compression. What can not be done.
As you have already understood, Windows compression is not a feature to play around with. However, understanding the compression function (at least within the paragraphs at the top of the article) can help you determine the root of the errors that have appeared. The most typical of them, and this may be the fault compression functions:
- Not enough disk space. This error can lie in wait for you exactly at the moment of copying a file / folder or at the stage of creating a backup
- Error copying large files to a compressed folder
- Compressed VHD virtual disk files slow down virtual machine performance
Do not compress the disk with the operating system installed on it! System disk FROM: cannot be subjected to this procedure. Most often, device drivers suffer from this, refusing to start a whole set of devices that just seemed to work. After the end of the compression procedure operating system in a new session, most likely, it will no longer be loaded. But if - I don't know what made you - you decide to do it, do not touch at least root directories.
After compression, the system does not boot ...
If I am late with advice, and you have already encountered a failure to start the system after compression, you should know that those few, but archival files for booting the system, turned out to be compressed. And during system startup, the “de-compression” procedure is not provided. As a result: the system does not start or Windows is constantly restarting. Possible type errors
“Some kind of file” is compressed
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart
In such cases, I always use the universal option - this is an external box with a hard drive installed inside, on which a whole bunch of boot disk images are always ready Windows any models and bitness: from Windows XP to Win10 32 and 64. And I'm not worried about countless disks and flash drives.
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The hard drive is partitioned during the installation of the operating system. But the separation applied is not always optimal. For example, under the main drive C, on which the operating system is installed, not enough space is usually allocated. Fortunately, Windows 7 makes it possible to change the free space allocated between partitions.
Drive expansion
There are three ways to expand and edit the space allotted for a particular section hard drive: through built-in utilities, third-party programs or during system reinstallation.
Through built-in utilities
In Windows 7, a program is installed by default that allows you to make all the necessary settings:
Run the command to open Computer Management
Learn about the main partitions and disks of your PC
Do not delete system reserved drives
Unallocated space is marked in black
Click the Delete Volume button
Click the "Yes" button
Click the Shrink Volume button
Set parameters for volume compression
Click the "Compress" button
Find the "Unallocated" block
Click the "Expand Volume" button
Press "Next"
Set volume extension options
Click the Done button
Restart your computerVideo: how to extend a volume through Computer Management in Windows 7
During Windows Setup
If you are in the process Windows installation 7 and want to change the volume of disks, follow these steps:
Select "Full Install"
Do not delete the partition allocated to the system
Click the Configure Disk button
Find unallocated disk space
Click the "Delete" button
Click the "Expand" buttonVideo: how to repartition a hard drive when installing Windows 7
Using third party software
There are several free programs replacing Windows utility to work with disks and their partitions. For example, Aomei Partition Assistant. This handy program in Russian, featuring a simple and understandable design.
Click the "Resize Partition" button
Override the slider or change the numbers in the windows
Click the "Apply" button
Click the restart buttonVideo: How to use Aomei Partition Assistant
"Extend Volume" feature is not available
Some users encounter the fact that the "Expand Volume" item in the built-in utility or during the installation of Windows 7 is inactive, that is, it is highlighted in a neutral color.
A similar problem appears if you do not have space that can be given to one of the disks. That is, you do not have unallocated memory.
Keep in mind that free disk space and unallocated space are two different things. To achieve the presence of the second one, it is necessary to delete one of the volumes or compress it, overtaking the free space into unallocated space. How to do this is described in the paragraphs of the section "Through the built-in utility" above in the article.
Starting with Vista and 7, the Windows operating system has a feature that allows you to shrink (or expand) the size of your primary partition and logical drives. This feature can be useful if you find yourself in a situation where you need an extra partition and don't have enough extra disks. Shrinking a volume will free up disk space; this unallocated space can then be used to create other necessary partitions. Today we will learn how to shrink a basic volume or partition using a graphical Windows interface, and for more advanced users, we will also describe the method using the command line.
Before starting, make sure you have done backup all important data.
Shrinking a Volume or Partition Using the Disk Management Tool
If you have Windows 7, go to the Start menu, type "disk management" in the search field and press Enter. If you are a Windows 8.x user, right-click on the bottom left corner of the screen (or press the Win+X keyboard shortcut) and select Disk Management.
Disk Management is where you will find all the drives connected to your computer ( hard drives, USB sticks, CD/DVD, etc.)
Select the primary partition you want to shrink, right-click on it, and select Shrink.
As a result, the operating system will begin the process of determining the available space for compression.
Specify the amount of space you would like to reclaim and click Compress. Remember that the amount of space is entered in megabytes: for example, 1 GB equals 1024 MB.
You can use the freed (or unallocated) space in this way to create a new partition.
Shrinking a volume or partition using the command line
To open a command prompt in Windows 7, go to the start menu, type "cmd", in the search results, right-click on cmd.exe and select "Run as administrator". In Windows 8.x, right click on the bottom left corner of the screen and select " Command line(administrator)".
Enter diskpart and press Enter.
IN DISKPART line enter list volume. This command will display a list of all drives on the computer.
Now enter the select volume command and the number of the volume you want to compress. For example, enter select volume 1 and press Enter.
Enter shrink querymax and press Enter. This command will allow Windows to determine the maximum amount of space that can be compressed.
You now have two options: first, you can simply type shrink, and then Windows will compress all available space; secondly, you can specify the desired volume for compression. In the second case, you need to enter the command shrink desired=volume_in_megabytes (for example, shrink desired=2048). You can enter any number that does not exceed the value specified in the "Maximum reused bytes" line. So with this command, you can specify the exact amount of space to compress.
If you do everything correctly, then after the operation is completed you will see a message:
DiskPart has successfully reduced the volume by: number_in_megabytes
That's all! To shut down DISKPART properly, type exit and press Enter.
What to consider:
- When you try to shrink a primary partition or a logical drive, you will not be able to shrink the partition beyond the location of non-movable files (for example, shadow copy storage, hibernation, swap files, etc.) Let's assume if there is a "first" empty space on the Windows drive , followed by non-removable files followed by a "second" blank space, you can only shrink the partition to the end of the second blank space, since the non-removable files are in the middle.
- If a large number of bad clusters are found, the compression will fail.
- You can use compression for primary partitions and logical drives or partitions with file system NTFS.
Have a great day!
Most users are accustomed to using two partitions on one hard drive, usually a drive called C and D. Many have become interested in the question of how to change the disk size in Windows 10 using the built-in system tools (with Windows installation or after) and third-party freeware.
Use the Disk Management utility
- Open the utility by right-clicking on the "Start" menu, select "Disk Management".
- In the Start menu search bar, type "Control Panel" and open it.
Select "System and Security".
In the window that opens, in the "Administration" item, click on the "Create and format a hard disk" sub-item.
Shrink volume, free up space to create a new partition in Windows 10
In order to create a new volume in the utility, you first need to take free space somewhere for this, you can get it by compressing space on an existing volume. In the Windows operating system, no more than 4 partitions can exist on one physical HDD, including system partitions (for example, the Recovery Partition). Usually there are two local drives C and D.
To create a third volume, you need to right-click on a partition with more free space, in our case it is drive D. An explorer window will appear, click on the “Compress volume” item to free up free space, change it to unallocated.
Section D to create a new volume.
After that, the message “The volume is being polled to determine the available space for compression. Wait…". The process can last from a few seconds to several tens of minutes.
When the system finishes polling the volume, a window will appear, in the "Size of the volume to be compressed" column, you need to specify how much space must be separated from the donor disk to create free space for now. It will not work to allocate more space for the new partition than specified. In the example in the screenshot, the limit is 78880 MB, a little more than 77 GB.
You can specify any other number less than the above, for example, setting the value to 51200 MB will allocate exactly 50 gigabytes for the new volume. After selecting the “Compress” item, no result will be noticeable for some time. To check if the compression process is in progress, you need to hover over the utility window, a spinning blue circle should appear. When a black bar with unallocated space appears at the bottom of the window, this will indicate that compression has occurred.
This freed up space to create a new volume on the HDD in Windows 10. Now the unallocated space must be turned into a full-fledged hard disk partition.
- Create a hard disk partition from unallocated space
You must right-click on the area labeled "Unallocated", select "Create a simple volume".
The "New Simple Volume Wizard" will open, click "Next", in the next window you will need to specify the size of the new volume. You can leave the value unchanged or, if you want to create two partitions or more, specify a value less. Click "Next".
After that, select the Latin letter that will denote the disk, for example, F. Select the letter, click "Next".
You will then be able to format the new partition if necessary.
Continue by clicking "Finish".
After a few seconds or minutes, the partition is formatted and the new hard disk partition Windows disk 10 will be created. When choosing the amount of memory that you want to allocate for the formation of a new one, you must take into account that a small amount of compressed space will be taken by Windows for system needs.
So when choosing 50 GB of memory, we got a volume of 49.9 GB.
Create Partitions When Installing Windows 10
When installing Windows 10 on a computer from a USB flash drive or disk, you can divide disks into volumes. For those who reinstall the operating system, be aware that this will delete data from the system partition.
During the installation of Windows, after entering (or skipping entering) the activation key, select the "Custom installation" item, after which it will be possible to select a partition for installation, tools for configuring partitions are available.
In our case, drive C is partition 4.
To make two partitions from one HDD, you need to use the "Delete" button to partition, as a result it will be converted to "Unallocated disk space" (point 4).
Then select an unallocated space, click the "Create" button, set the size of the future "Disk C". After its creation, free unallocated space will remain, which will need to be converted into the second disk partition in the same way.
After creating the second partition, it is recommended to select it, click "Format" (otherwise it may not appear in Explorer after installing Windows 10 and you will have to format it and assign a letter through "Disk Management"). Then select the volume that was created first, click the "Next" button to continue installing the operating system on drive C.
Programs for partitioning disks into partitions
In addition to the built-in Windows tools, there are many programs for working with partitions on disks. Some of the best free programs are Aomei Partition Assistant Free and Minitool Partition Wizard Free.
First you need to download the Aomei Partition Assistant program from the official website, install it on your PC and run it. The application has a Russian language, choose not system disk, in our case it is "E".
Right-click on it, click "Resize Partition".
The selected amount of memory will appear, in our case - 15 GB.
Right-click on the system local drive C, select "Resize partition" from the context menu.
Again, drag the slider to the right to the desired size, or set the desired space for expansion in the "Unallocated space after" field. You will be prompted to make a recovery image. Windows systems 10 or a backup copy by third-party means, press "OK". To save the changes, click "Apply" in the upper left corner.
A message will appear that there will be several reboots, during which drive C will merge with unallocated space, select "Go". A message will appear that the program will work in PreOs mode, click "Yes".
Windows 10 will restart.
The first boot will launch AOMEI Partition Assistant PreOS Mode.
The task execution process will start.
Most users working with hard drives and logical partitions in Windows systems, using Explorer or the corresponding disk management section for this, probably paid attention to the presence of the somewhat incomprehensible item “Compress this disk to save space” in the context menu. This innovation was placed in a separate category starting with Windows 7, although it was also in lower rank systems. Let's see what it is, what it can be used for, whether it is worth doing such things, and what should be considered if such an operation is still supposed to be performed.
Settings item "Compress this disk to save space": what is it?
As you know, before, when hard drives did not have sufficient storage capacity, and some files, most often related to multimedia formats (mainly video and music), were very large, saving hard drive space was a real problem for all users without exception. . That is why at one time the specialists of Microsoft Corporation decided to somehow eliminate it. To save free space when choosing a partition, it was suggested (and is still being proposed) to compress this disk to save space. This, in theory, should mean a reduction in the size of the files, due to which the necessary additional volume is released. As it is already clear, if there is such a function in the system, it is a sin not to use it. And, according to most users, there is nothing critical in this. However, despite the appearance of such a function in Windows, some do not understand the essence of the issue well enough and, without understanding what's what, they immediately try to apply compression to disks and partitions. But this is not worth doing without understanding the essence of what is happening.
How it works?
Yes, indeed, volume compression can be performed. The technology for carrying out such actions is in some ways very much like working with the built-in latest versions Windows Zip archiver, when it is possible to simply go into the packed archive and view its contents or open the desired file.
Exactly the same here. All files are simply compressed when compression is selected, but only in the percentage that is provided for each specific format. However, in Explorer, all compressed objects are visible in their normal form, and compression itself in no way affects the ability to open files, edit them, save them, or perform copy or move operations. On the one hand, it is very convenient. But not always, because in some cases you can not only encounter unforeseen difficulties, but also get an inoperable operating system.
What disks or partitions can be compressed?
What does it mean to "shrink a disk to save space", figured it out a bit. Now let's see to which partitions such operations can be applied. If we are talking about logical partitions, you can perform compression.
But the main condition is that they must be initially formatted exclusively in NTFS. Otherwise, nothing will work. Another nuance is that when copying compressed file from one section to another, the compression is preserved, but when such an object is moved inside the section, it returns to its original form, in which there was no compression. Thus, if you often perform operations related to copying or moving large files in one partition, the meaning of compression, in general, is completely lost (especially since it will not be possible to re-compress the moved file using means to compress the entire partition).
Now a few words about whether to compress the disk to save space if it acts as a system partition (the one in which the operating system is installed). Most experts are inclined to believe that in this case, despite the presence of such an item in the disk properties, it is not worth using compression under any circumstances, if only for the reason that after its execution, Windows may stop loading at all.
How to perform compression in the simplest way?
As for the compression procedure, there are usually no difficulties even for the most unprepared users. In the "Explorer" it is enough to simply go to the properties section of the section for which the compression operation is supposed to be performed through the RMB menu, then mark the corresponding item on the general tab, confirm your actions and restart the system.
How to decompress a system partition?
But what if the user decided to use such a tool and unknowingly or mistakenly compressed the system partition, after which Windows stopped loading normally?
Immediately note that the rollback of the system, which can sometimes start automatically, will not give any result.
In this situation, you will have to boot from some removable media, then at the very beginning of the installation select the restore point, and at the stage of selecting the location of the drivers (after determining the installed OS) in the window that appears, again select the properties of the system partition through the context menu and uncheck unfortunate point.
Should I compress a drive to save space?
In general terms, as can be seen from the foregoing, there is nothing wrong with compression. The last question remains about using the "Compress this disk to save space" option. This decision, of course, remains with the user, but as the most practical solution, it can be advised to compress only logical partitions, and only those in which frequent internal movement of files and folders is not provided. FROM system partition better not to experiment.
