AOMEI Partition Assistant 10.12.2

AOMEI Partition Assistant is a disk and partition manager for Windows PCs and Windows Server. It changes partition layouts, copies drives, converts disk and file system types, and repairs boot problems. All these tasks run from one window that shows every disk as a bar of partitions. The Standard edition is free for personal and home use; the Professional, Server, Unlimited and Technician editions are paid and add system-level operations and business licensing.

Queued changes and the Apply step

AOMEI Partition Assistant does not write most edits to the disk immediately. It adds each edit to a Pending Operations list. The disk map shows the planned result so you can review the new layout first. Nothing changes until you click Apply and then Proceed.

Some jobs cannot run while Windows is using the partition, such as shrinking the system partition. For these, Partition Assistant restarts into PreOS mode and completes the work before Windows loads.

Resizing, moving and redistributing space

Resize/Move opens a dialog where you drag the partition’s borders. Shrinking can go down to the amount of space actually in use. Extending needs unallocated space directly before or after the partition on the same disk. When the free space sits elsewhere, Move Partition shifts a neighbour first so the gap ends up adjacent. A partition cannot borrow space from a different physical disk.

Other tools in the free edition build on the same idea. Merge combines two adjacent partitions, or adds unallocated space to one. Create, Delete and Format work with NTFS, FAT32, exFAT and the Linux ext2, ext3 and ext4 formats. You can change drive letters and hide partitions.

The paid editions add Allocate Free Space, which takes a set amount of unused space from one partition and gives it to another on the same disk. Professional also includes Split Partition, which divides one partition into several. Its 1-Click Adjust Space shows every partition on a disk so you can resize several at once by dragging.

Disk cloning and OS migration

The clone wizard copies a whole disk or a single partition to another drive. The quick mode copies only used space, so a larger source fits on a smaller target as long as the data fits. A sector-by-sector mode copies everything. Everything on the destination is erased.

The free edition clones data disks only. Cloning the running system disk, and Migrate OS, need a paid edition. Migrate OS copies only the system partitions to an SSD or HDD, leaving data partitions behind, and can move between MBR and GPT disks. Migrate OS leaves the original drive untouched. The new one boots once you set it first in the BIOS boot order.

MBR/GPT and other conversions

AOMEI Partition Assistant converts disks between MBR and GPT and between basic and dynamic, partitions between primary and logical, and file systems between NTFS and FAT32, without deleting data. Converting the system disk to GPT is often required before a Windows 11 upgrade. The free edition converts data disks; converting the system disk, basic/dynamic conversion and dynamic volume management belong to the paid editions.

Recovery, repair and boot tools

Partition Recovery, a paid feature, scans a disk for deleted or lost partitions that have not been overwritten. Fast Search reads the first sector of each partition; Full Search goes through every sector when the quick scan finds nothing.

Rebuild MBR is in the free edition and rewrites a damaged Master Boot Record so the disk can start again. The paid editions add Boot Repair for missing or corrupted BCD files. They also add bootable USB, CD or ISO media for working on a PC that will not start, and a Windows password reset.

Disk health, wiping and encryption

Check Partition runs Windows’ chkdsk to find and fix errors and bad sectors. Separate tools read disk health status, test read and write speeds, and defragment disks or partitions.

For data that must not come back, Shred destroys selected files and folders, and Wipe erases a whole partition or disk so recovery software cannot read it. Professional also offers SSD secure erase and BitLocker encryption and decryption of whole volumes, including on Windows Home.

Cleanup and other utilities

A set of space tools sits alongside the partition functions: a junk file cleaner, a large file finder, a duplicate file finder, and a disk space analyzer. These tools also include App Mover, which moves installed programs and folders such as Downloads to another drive. Other utilities create VHD and VHDX virtual disks and build Windows To Go drives that run a portable Windows from USB.

Editions and licensing