SATA Hard Drive Partitioning Without Losing Data

[wii.live07]

Ok folks, here is my dilemma. I have this desktop PC I purchased about four years ago and it was going well until sometime in the middle of 2013, around July. It started acting slowly and I think it's because I formatted it so many times wearing down the drive and causing bad sectors or poor functioning.

it happened with my PCs before so I kinda understood why. Since then I formatted about three more times because the machine was clogged with viruses and junk files and because i installed lots of software it slowed down the machine. It's still cutting edge and I want to start using it again.

I'll buy a new SATA hard drive in two weeks when I get my pay. But I want to know what software to use to partition the drive so that when Windows 10 comes out I'll be able to use my current Windows 7 OS and Windows 10 on another partition without formatting and losing my existing files when I would have started using this new hard drive.

I don't want to lose my files just create another partition for another OS to be installed. I have done it before in 2009 with Vista and Windows 7 but that took forever and I don't remember what software I used to do the partitioning. Can anyone recommend any software that can create a new partition a hard drive without formatting it and losing existing data?

I just want to install the software, tell it how much space I want on both partitions and then let it do its work and when I get Windows 10 install that software on it. Please help me out.

[semitop]

easy to find with google but I would backup first. think I used paragon partition software before. Remember partition magic as well

[NOKIA 3650]

I formatted it so many times wearing down the drive and causing bad sectors or poor functioning

That's a myth. Formatting your hard drive (literally) a million times will not any effect on the drive. It is just using up another WRITE cycle.

[khat17]

Tools that can do what you want may not necessarily be free. Personally I've purchased Paragon and have no issues with it. Let me list for you possible solutions.

1. Paragon Hard Disk Manager
2. Paragon Partition Manager <- THIS IS FREE
3. Acronis Disk Director
4. GParted <- THIS IS FREE
5. PartedMagic <- THIS IS FREE

Others exist and you can find them on sites like ALTERNATIVETO.NET. Hope this helps.

[Cloud]

Doesn't the windows os come with the option of partitioning as well or will that cause data loss?

[khat17]

Windows will partition your drive but not live or on the fly or while you have data on it. The utilities I mentioned have options to do so to your disk with existing data.