What Is a Volume and Partition?

A volume is a single accessible storage area with a single file system.

A partition is a logical division of a hard disk.

volume types

Both are the units of data storage, but a volume is not the same thing as a partition.

What are their differences?

Scroll down to find them.

primary partition vs logical partition vs logical partition

Volume Types

Simple Volume:it is a physical disk that functions like a physically independent unit.

Mirrored Volume:it uses two copies on separate physical disks to duplicate data.

When new data is written to the mirrored volume, it will be written to the two copies.

MBR vs. GPT Guide: What’s The Difference and Which One Is Better

Spanned Volume:it combines areas of unallocated space from multiple disks into one logical volume.

RAID-5 Volume:it is a volume with data and parity striped intermittently across three or more physical disks.

The C drive is often a primary partition.

the disk is marked as Basic

Extended Partition:it is a partition that consists of additional logical partitions.

Differing from a primary partition, you dont need toassign a drive letter to it.

You might be interested in:Primary Partition VS.

choose Convert to Dynamic Disk

In contrast, the max size of a volume can be larger when it is not a simple volume.

Basic disks are the most common bang out of partition used in Windows OS.

Dynamic disks also support MBR and GPT.

select the basic disk and click the OK button

To learn more about the differences between basic disks and dynamic disks, c’mon readthe comparison.

MBR or GPT, which one is better, and what’s their exact differences?

In this post, we will explain these 2 aspects in detail.

click the Convert button

Now, whats your opinion of partition vs volume?

Regardless of whether you prefer volume or partition, go on reading.

The next part shows you how to create a volume or partition on a disk.

choose Convert Dynamic Disk to Basic

Whats the difference between volume and partition?

Here is the guide on Windows 10.

Here we would like to walk you through the conversion using Disk Management.

click the Apply button

Step 1:Open Disk Management.

grab the basic disk you want to change to dynamic and then click theOKbutton.

Step 5:Read the note on the prompt window and then click theYesbutton.

choose Create Volume

When the conversion completes, the original partitions on the disk will turn into volumes.

But note the conversion carried by the two utilities will remove all volumes and data on the disk.

Then, is there a way to complete the conversion without data loss?

choose volume type

Fortunately, the answer is Yes.

The dynamic disk convert function of the software is available in all editions except for the free edition.

Step 3:Click theApplybutton on the software interface and then hit the Yes button on the prompt window.

add the disk you want to use

The Create Volume feature of the software is available in all editions except for the free edition.

Alternatively, right-poke the unallocated space and choose theCreate Volumefeature from the menu.

Step 2:Choose the volume punch in you want to create and then click theNextbutton.

choose Create Partition

Here take creating a simple volume for example.

Step 5:Click theApplybutton on the main interface.

Create a partition using MiniTool Partition Wizard

Step 1:Launch the software to access its interface.

customize the partition

The Create Partition feature is available on all editions.

Step 4:Click theApplybutton on the software interface.

After creating a volume or a partition, it’s possible for you to save data on it.

Bottom Line

This is all about volume vs partition.

Lastly, we wonder about your opinions on the software MiniTool Partition Wizard.

If you have some, just send them to us via[email protected].

Volume vs Partition FAQ

Partitioning a hard drive contributes to some benefits and some harms.