Best Partition for 500GB Hard Disk

In most cases, a hard drive contains only one partition at the start. Partitioning a hard drive might be the most convenient way to manage your devices. Another benefit is that it can keep the data damage away from another drive if the system fails.

Using a 500GB hard drive (HDD or SSD) as an example, this post will show introduce the ideal partition size for a 500GB hard disk in Windows and how to partition a 500GB hard disk securely.

Best partition size for 500GB HDD & SSD

Now, 500GB capacity may not be large for a modern device. And the actual capacity of a 500GB disk you bought may only have around 465-468GB. Combining the size and the normal needs of Windows OS, we suggest you partition a 500GB HDD or SSD into C/D/E/F drives with about 130-150GB, 100GB, 90-100GB, 120GB sizes.

▶ C Drive: System and related files (about 150GB)
The C drive is the drive that stores the operating system, system files, and other associated information. This part is so important that we must make adequate room for it.

Besides the system files, there are registration files, partition data, hibernation files, page files… stored on the C drive. And all installed programs will have temporary files and cache files which are all stored on a C drive. Thus, 150GB would be sufficient.

▶ D Drive: For programs (about 100GB)
Generally, D drive is for your programs. If too many programs are placed on the C drive, the cache fragmentation files created by the programs will have an impact on the system's stability. 100GB is sufficient for games and other programs you need. If you’re a gamer, for disk health, we suggest you install games on a second hard disk.

▶ E drive: For private data (about 100GB)
If you have some quite private data or some business files or archives that are confidential, a BitLocker encrypted partition is necessary. BitLocker is an encryption tool that encrypts data on a hard drive to prevent unwanted access from those who do not have the key or credentials. It is really simple to use and secure because it is extremely hard to fracture.

▶ F drive: Entertainment & study (about 100GB)
The F drive is mostly used to store data such as office files, learning resources, and entertainment items such as music and movies. If you have a large number of personal files, you may want to consider another drive to make file management easier.

How to partition 500GB hard disk quickly & securely

To partition your disk, you can use Disk Management to set each drive one by one. If you want to do a quick partition, you can choose third-party software to do it. In this part, we’ll show you both methods.

1. Use Disk Management

Step 1. Right-click the “Start” menu and select "Disk Management".

Step 2. Select the hard drive you want to partition. Right-click a partition and select "Shrink Volume". And adjust the partition size and click “Shrink” to confirm.

Step 3. Now, you will get an unallocated space. Right-click it and select “New Simple Volume”.

Step 4. In the “New Simple Volume Wizard” interface, click "Next".

Step 5. Enter the size of the volume you want to create in MB or accept the default size, and then select "Next".

Step 6. You can use the default drive letter or choose a different letter for the partition, and then select "Next".

Step 7. Set the file system as NTFS and click "Next" to format the volume.

Step 8. Click "Finish" to complete the task.

2. Employ a partition tool to quick partition a new hard disk

If you’re tired of the cumbersome work of Disk Management and need to quickly partition your disk, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is the best alternative. It can support Windows 11/10/8/8.1/7/XP, you can quickly and securely partition the target disk.

Now, we’ll show how to partition for 500GB partition with 2 functions.

1. Split Partition

Step 1. Install and open AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. Right-click the C drive and select “Split Partition”.

Step 2. Specify the size of the location of the new partition, and click “OK”. You can refer to the advice on the partition size we offer you.

Step 3. Click “Apply” and “Proceed” to execute the pending operation.

If you wish for more partitions, you can repeat the operation.

2. Quick Partition

Step 1. Open the tool, right-click the disk you want to partition, and choose the “Quick Partition” function. Then you’ll see a pop window with all details about the disk you’re creating.

Step 2. In this part, you can choose the number of the partition that will be created on the selected disk. Please tick 4 partitions on your 500 GB disk.

Step 3. Under the partition number, you can choose the partition type. If you wish to make a bootable disk to install OS, you need to tick “Build ESP/MSR Parts”, and the EFI partition will occupy 200-500MB of space on your disk. If you just need a data disk, just choose a disk type.

Step 3. On the right, you can adjust all parameters of each partition.

Step 4. When all the settings are done, the partition layout of the disk after being partitioned will be presented in the preview window. Please click the "Start Partitioning" button to perform the task.

After that, your disk will be partitioned.

Ending

Do you satisfy the plan of the best partition for the 500GB hard disk we list? If you prefer your plan, AOMEI Partition Assistant can also offer you a hand to quickly and safely partition your disk. After partitioning a disk, if you want to adjust the size or other parameters, you can go to “Resize Partition” or other features to have a try.