MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition 12.6

Overview

MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition is a compact yet full-featured disk management utility that lets you add/format new hard drives, configure USB drives, and copy partitions or entire hard drives over to different drives. This free partition manager software supports the NTFS, FAT, Linux Swap, and EXT file systems, as well as as all types of hard disks supported by Windows (including RAID arrays).

Installation

Installation is simple and only takes about 5 clicks to completion. The installer is very slim and you won't find any adware, malware, or third-party programs bundled in. After installation you'll have the option to launch the program for the first time. It supports 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems and most major versions of Windows (Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, 8, 10).

Interface

The design of the interface is intuitive yet sleek and self-explanatory. At launch you'll be given the opportunity to enter into one of two programs – the MiniTool Partition Wizard and the MiniTool Power Data Recovery (in this review we're covering the MiniTool Partition Wizard).

The top toolbar is neatly organized into 7 menus - General, View, Disk, Partition, Dynamic Disk, Wizard, and Help. All of the options and features are easily accessible via icons located along the left navigational bar. On the right, a window displays the properties of the partitions on your hard drive.

You can click on a partition and the left navigational bar will fill with tools you can use to manage the selected partition.

Pros

• Provides a convenient, user-friendly interface in which to manage and modify the partitions and drives.

• Modify and manage partitions with more than 21 options that let you perform a variety of functions, including but not limited to: formatting, deleting, moving/resizing, extending, merging, splitting, hiding, copying, labeling, aligning, wiping, and exploring the selected partition(s).

• Lets you change the properties of a partition or drive, including giving you the ability to change the serial number or set a partition as Logical or Active.

• Gives you the option to create a bootable CD (using the button in the top right corner) that would let you use the MiniTool Partition Wizard during a reboot to perform functions that can't be done within Windows

• Newest version supports hard drives up to 4TB

• Completely free – no need to pay for a full version of the Home Edition. However, you do have the option to upgrade to the Professional edition if you need more advanced features.

Cons

• It's difficult to find any cons for this program, but if there is one thing that is bad about using this software it is that there is a potential to lose your data if you don't know what you're doing. For this reason we strongly suggest that you utilize the Help menu within the MiniTool Partition Wizard interface to avoid the possibility of data loss.

• Additional language support would be helpful for foreign users.

• Not exactly a Con, but if you want support for Windows Dynamic Disks, or to convert GPT-style Dynamic Disks to Basic, or move Boot/System volumes for Dynamic Disk, or merge partitions, or change cluster size, then you'll want the Pro or Server editions of this software because the Free edition does not offer these features. Here's the full comparison table between MiniTool's Partition Wizard Editions.

Alternatives

There are numerous other free disk management utilities out there just in case this one doesn't work for you or is not up to your expectations. Some of the most notable alternatives include GParted (Linux), EaseUS Partition Master, Parted Magic, Acronis Disk Director, and the Paragon Partition Manager.

Conclusion

If you're looking for an easy way to manage the space and data on your hard drive, MiniTool Partition Wizard is a simplistic yet effective solution. The extensive help file and self-explanatory options ensure that even the most novice user can benefit from the software. However, don't ever format, delete, resize, wipe or otherwise edit a partition that contains important data if you have not yet backed that data up!