Home -> Chapters from Class Text > Partition Sizes Investigation

For this assignment, you will investigate the number and sizes of the partitions on any PC device you have, be it Windows or MacOS.  You will record the partitioning scheme being used (MBR or GPT) and the number and size of each partition.

The quiz form is here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScBk2_kG9fyNrq4_CeE8mPO4sWZazGW-xyEFGZBiLIJh57Evg/viewform?usp=dialog

MacOS

To find partition numbers and sizes on a Mac, use Disk Utility (View > Show All Devices) for a graphical overview or the Terminal command diskutil list for a text-based list, both showing devices, containers, volumes, formats, and capacities, while System Settings > Storage offers high-level space usage. 

Using Disk Utility (GUI)

1. Open Disk Utility: Press Cmd + Space, type "Disk Utility," and press Enter, or find it in Applications > Utilities.

2. Show All Devices: In the Disk Utility window, click the View menu and select Show All Devices to see physical disks, containers, and volumes.

3. Select a Disk/Container: In the sidebar, click on the physical disk (e.g., "Apple SSD") or the container (e.g., "Container disk1").

4. View Details: The right pane shows capacity, format, used/available space, and structure. 

Using Terminal (Command Line)

1. Open Terminal: Find it in Applications > Utilities or use Spotlight.

2. Run the Command: Type diskutil list and press Enter.

3. Interpret Output: The output lists all disks (disk0, disk1) and their partitions (e.g., disk0s1, disk1s2) with details like size, format (APFS, HFS+), and mount points. 

Using System Settings (High-Level View)

1. Open Settings: Click the Apple menu > System Settings (or System Preferences).

2. Navigate: Click General > Storage.

3. View Volumes: Click All Volumes to see a breakdown of space used by different volumes/partitions. 

Windows 10 or 11

To find the number and size of partitions in Windows 10, the best method is using Disk Management (Windows Key + X > Disk Management) for a graphical view showing all drives, partitions, sizes, and free space, or using the command-line tools like diskpart (list disk, list partition) or wmic (wmic logicaldisk get name, size, freespace) for detailed text-based lists in Command Prompt or PowerShell. 

Disk Management (Graphical)

1. Press Windows Key + X and select Disk Management from the menu (or press the letter K).

2. In the Computer Management window, you'll see a graphical representation of your disks (Disk 0, Disk 1, etc.).

3. Each box below the disk number represents a partition (e.g., C:, Recovery, System).

4. You can see the partition's Drive Letter, Label, File System, Capacity (Size), and Free Space directly. 

5. To find out if the partitioning is MBR or GPT, right-click on the box labeled Disk 0, Disk 1, etc. (indicated by a red arrow below) and select Properties.

6. When the Properties window opens, select the Volumes tab, and the partitioning method is displayed under Partition Style.