DiskGenius Guides

Author, testing method and sources

Written and reviewed by the diskgenius.app Editorial Team. Storage procedures are checked against first-party documentation and a separate test-disk workflow. Destructive operations require a backup, confirmed source and destination, and post-operation verification. Last reviewed September 22, 2026.

• Official DiskGenius manual
• Microsoft Windows storage documentation

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Data Recovery

• Recover Files From a Formatted Drive — Plan a read-first recovery workflow for an accidentally formatted Windows drive.
• Recover Files From a RAW Partition — Protect the source drive and scan a RAW partition without formatting it again.
• Recover Deleted Photos From an SD Card — Reduce writes, image the card when necessary, preview results, and save elsewhere.
• Recover Deleted Files From a USB Drive — Handle deletion, formatting, and unreadable USB file systems with a controlled scan.
• Recover Data From a Failing Hard Drive — Recognize physical warning signs and prioritize imaging before repeated recovery scans.
• Recovered Files Will Not Open — Diagnose overwriting, fragmentation, wrong file signatures, encryption, and incomplete recovery.
• Create a Disk Image Before Recovery — Capture a source disk to an image so later scans do not repeatedly stress the original.

Partitions

• Extend the C Drive With DiskGenius — Plan free-space placement, backup, resize, and post-operation verification.
• Shrink a Partition Safely — Check movable data, file-system health, free space, and the target layout before shrinking.
• Merge Partitions Without Losing Data — Understand adjacency, backup requirements, destination choice, and verification.
• Move Unallocated Space Next to C Drive — Read the disk map correctly before moving partitions or extending the Windows volume.
• Convert MBR to GPT With DiskGenius — Check firmware, boot mode, partition count, backup, and rollback before conversion.
• GPT vs MBR for Windows Drives — Compare boot compatibility, capacity, partition limits, redundancy, and migration risk.
• Change a Drive Letter Safely — Avoid breaking applications and paths when assigning a new Windows drive letter.

Cloning

• Clone an SSD to a Larger SSD — Prepare the destination, choose the correct direction, expand space, and verify bootability.
• Clone Only the Windows Partition — Understand why system boot may require EFI, recovery, and other supporting partitions.
• Clone a Disk With Bad Sectors — Minimize retries and source stress while creating the safest available copy.
• Cloned SSD Will Not Boot — Check firmware boot order, EFI files, partition style, active flags, and Windows repair options.
• Clone an HDD to a Smaller SSD — Compare used space with destination capacity and shrink safely before cloning.
• Verify a Disk Clone Before Reuse — Confirm partitions, files, boot behavior, capacity, and source retention before cleanup.

Disk Health

• Check SSD SMART Health With DiskGenius — Interpret health indicators without treating one normalized number as a diagnosis.
• Interpret DiskGenius Bad Sector Results — Separate slow reads, unreadable sectors, interface errors, and physical failure risk.
• What to Do When a Hard Drive Clicks — Stop software tests when mechanical symptoms suggest professional recovery is safer.
• DiskGenius Does Not Detect an SSD — Check firmware, Windows, controller mode, cabling, enclosure, and device health.
• External Drive Keeps Disconnecting — Test power, cable, port, enclosure, USB controller, sleep settings, and disk health.
• Windows Disk Health Checklist — Combine SMART data, file-system checks, backups, temperature, and symptom history.

USB and SD Cards

• Format a Large USB Drive as FAT32 — Check device compatibility, cluster size, limits, and destructive formatting risk.
• Repair a RAW USB Drive — Recover important data before recreating the damaged file system.
• SD Card Not Recognized in Windows — Separate reader, lock switch, adapter, partition, file-system, and card failures.
• USB Drive Shows the Wrong Capacity — Inspect partitions and unallocated space before repartitioning the device.
• Create a WinPE Recovery USB — Prepare bootable recovery media and confirm firmware boot compatibility.

File Systems

• NTFS vs FAT32 vs exFAT — Choose a Windows file system by file-size limits, compatibility, permissions, and recovery needs.
• Read an EXT4 Drive in Windows — Access Linux data carefully without allowing Windows to format the unfamiliar volume.
• Repair an NTFS File System Safely — Back up or image important data before attempting file-system repair.
• FAT32 File Size Limit Explained — Understand the 4 GB single-file limit and choose a compatible alternative.
• BitLocker Drive Recovery Planning — Preserve recovery keys and distinguish encryption access from file-system recovery.

Backup and Images

• Create a Partition Image With DiskGenius — Define image scope, destination, verification, retention, and restore testing.
• Restore a Partition Image Safely — Confirm source image, destination disk, size, overwrite scope, and boot implications.
• Disk Clone vs Disk Image — Choose between an immediately usable copy and a restorable archive.
• Backup Before Resizing a Partition — Create recoverable protection before changing partition boundaries.

Troubleshooting

• DiskGenius Scan Appears Stuck — Check device errors, connection stability, scan scope, and read activity before cancelling.
• DiskGenius Access Denied — Review elevation, ownership, encryption, volume state, and active applications.
• DiskGenius Clone Failed — Isolate source read errors, destination capacity, connection, permissions, and layout conflicts.
• DiskGenius Does Not Open — Check file origin, Windows blocking, security history, dependencies, and user profile conditions.
• Partition Recovery Finds Duplicate Partitions — Compare boundaries, file systems, dates, and file previews before writing a partition table.