Hi Folks
This text was originally used on 17/08/11 - ( Including Replies ) - for v9.0 . . . BUT is fully relevant today ! There may be many who never saw it first time.
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This first section is aimed at helping those who do NOT understand Partitioning - NOT to patronise those who do !
For those wondering what this software is for - whether they need it or not . . . - The first thing I have to say to you is - since you have no idea what this software is for - YOU SHOULD NOT USE IT on a main Hard Drive containing valuable Data !
First try it out on an old HDD on an old PC or Laptop to prevent accidents ! Practice makes perfect & all that !!!
Right - onto what it Is / Does . . .
Imagine you have a sheet of A4 paper - you fold it in half & then in half again . . . You STILL have ONE piece of paper BUT with FOUR separate sections ! This software does EXACTLY that to Hard Drives - only it doesn't have to be halves - it can be any size from about 5Mb upwards - ( smaller would be unable to contain relevant data & Format etc. ) - although the smallest I use is 100 Mb for my Boot Data Drive !
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I've personally been building PC's / Hard Drives etc. for around 16 years now & a method I developed early on & has served me perfectly ever since is that I typically set ALL PC Hard Drives up as C: / D: / E: / F: / G: & H:

C: Boot Data - ( 100mb )

D: Environment - XP / Seven

E: FallBack - Usually XP BUT in the past I've used 2000 - whatever the customer owns. Even Win 98 would work BUT it would need updating with add-ons in order to read larger drives & those with NTFS File systems etc.

F: Programs - This is where Office & AutoRoute / Encarta / Games etc. & ALL the GAOTD Software Downloads are installed to . . . NOT Windows Drive / Program Files !!!!

G: Media Drive - All scans / photos / Films / Music etc - NOT in Windows / Documents !

H: Virtual DVD - Stores setups / drivers & Backups etc. Also Downloads saved here in most cases - where an External Drive is not available !

I: & if the Hard Disk is BIG enough - purely for Backup !

( My NETWORKED Drives typically are Mapped in from O: & P: onwards - leaving space for local External Drives. )

WHY bother going to all this trouble ? Well - having learned from WAY to Many instances where a Windows crash has left everything LOST ! - yes there are softwares to get stuff back - BUT this way - if Windows crashes - load up the FallBack Windows - MOVE everything you need off the Main Windows Drive & Restore it - NO DRAMA !
PLUS - the only way to lose absolutely everything as with a single Drive C: is if the MBR ( Master Boot Record ) - the Index for the entire Hard Disk is damaged - & even then - There are 2 MBRs ( 1 as backup ).

This also DRAMATICALLY cuts the time of Defrags etc.& you can backup the stuff you need to - individually & quicker - AWAY from the Windows Drive.

I appreciate that this system is not for everyone - companies would NEVER do this - 'cos it's way to much work for them to bother with ! I've set up more than 200 systems this way & NOT ONE complaint - in fact in a few cases of Virus or system crash - it's proved a God-Send !
IF Poss - I do try to put the FallBack Windows on a second HDD even if it's only 3Gig in size - it's only there as a last resort !
Obviously SYSTEM Backups etc. are made onto Secondary Drives AND DVD / External Network Drives. I typically TRY to use 2 Drives in a system - 1 Primary with MAIN Windows / Programs / Media & Virtual DVD & then 1 Secondary with FallBack & Backups.
IF this is NOT possible they DO all go on the same drive BUT you usually find that IF the MAIN Windows goes down - it's eaier to go in through Fallback Windows & then ccopy all Documents / valuable data etc. onto the Backups Drive ( OR Virtual DVD if no Backups Drive is available ) then Format & Re-Install Environment Drive. Then Transfer Data BACK !
It's purely an extension of FallBack - NOT a COMPLETE System BACKUP !
FallBack drive itself is usually around 2.5 Gig - enough for XP & it's PageFile etc. a seperate AntiVirus & FireWall & NOT MUCH ELSE ! A Backup Drive just extends this forshort-term data transfer storeage etc.

Normally when a partition fails - the others are safe & even when they all fail - THEY CAN BE RECOVERED !

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I've been using this system since the '90s . . . WITHOUT PROBLEMS - IT WORKS ! Usually with Multiple drives except in Laptops etc. I've used a mixture of Fat32 & NTFS & on some older MotherBoards I've had to use FAT for the Boot partition as the BIOS didn't see the Boot Data ot the others. Even THEN - the system was completely stable & ran without issue !!!

Even though Windos System Restore is NOT the most relyable in my experience ( even on SINGLE PARTITION Drives ) - IT DOES work on a Multi Drive system although I usually remove E: / G: / H: / I: from Restore as these too would be rolled back. Leaving ONLY Environment Drive AND Programs Drive.

I've stated on many occasions on this site that Fubar, Ashraf, Mike & Bubby are streets ahead in their Microsft Technology knowledge compared to me BUT I go by what I learned from EXPERIENCE - I try stuff - if it works for me - I stick with it - if not - I TRY ANOTHER WAY !!!

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As for Easeus PM - I used to use PowerQuest / Symantec Partition Magic - it was brilliant BUT as soon as I tried Easeus PM when it was given away here the year before last - I swapped to it FOR GOOD -- it is excellent. I wish I'd had it years ago. I've found it streets ahead of others I've tried including Partition Magic. Paragon is good BUT I prefer Easeus - it's much more No-Nonsense. It does what it's supposed to - WELL !

Easeus PM can be Installed & Run within Windows BUT I just make the CD version & use it to boot up the target machine - even then it's like looking at the Windows version - it's really well laid out ! ALL operations can can be carried out at this point including - Create a NEW 'Drive Structure' from scratch / Stretch & Shrink existing 'Drive Structures' / move a Partition from place to place on the drive - ( NOT to be done TO or BEFORE the Vista / 7 Partition ) - & tons more. It's a seriously POWERFUL & RELIABLE bit of kit . . . BUT It's laid out well enough that Learners can trial it too !

While Partitioning from within Windows - a re-boot is required to complete the process as Windows locks the hard Drive while it's in use ! Running from the CD @ Boot up completes ALL functions there & then because the Drive is not in use by anything else !!!

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Just last week I had a 360 Gig External drive lose BOTH of it's partitions - out of the blue ! I was 3/4 through copying files from it - across my network when I got the error - File Not Found !
I LOST EVERYTHING - My most up-to-date documents & Downloads ( 150+ Gig ) . The drive had been solid for as long as I can remember - it really wasn't expected !!!
I re-booted my laptop - into EaseUS Partition Master 7.0.1 Pro CD ( Linux version ) & ran the Partition Recovery - It managed to recover BOTH partiotions & ALL Files also. It's worth it's price for that function alone !
I hope this has been helpful for some of you :o)
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Apologies for any Typos

Cheers for now & HAVE A GREAT DAY FOLKS !!

- - Mike - -
- Macs-PC -

<The Return of the Macs ! :o)

Macs-PC  –  12 years ago  –  Βρήκατε αυτό το σχόλιο χρήσιμο? ναι | όχι (+226)

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@four

Windows XP cannot convert a Disk Type from Dynamic to Basic. This can.

This tool can also copy a partition from disk to disk.

It has many other features that I have not used as of yet, but
have found this tool invaluable.

Steve  –  12 years ago  –  Βρήκατε αυτό το σχόλιο χρήσιμο? ναι | όχι (+78)

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@4 You have no idea the true power of this program if you think all it does is what XP already does.

Windows comes with Internet Explorer. I use Opera or Chrome. Many also use Firefox.
Windows comes with built-in zip file capabilities. I use 7zip. Many also use Winrar.
Windows comes with built-in iso burning support. I use Ashampoo Burning Studio. Many also use Roxio.

You seeing the point yet? Just because it does some things the same, do not decide not to use it. I use other programs because they do more, and in general are faster and more stable.

@5 Comments are not posted instantly. They have to be reviewed by a moderator before posting. Sometimes that is very quickly, sometimes that is several hours later, all depends on the amount of comments and whether the moderator is available to spend time moderating ;)

Robert  –  12 years ago  –  Βρήκατε αυτό το σχόλιο χρήσιμο? ναι | όχι (+67)

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I got Easus Partition Master the last time it was offered, or the time before. It's very good as long as you want to keep it. I found that it leaves behind a system file (probably by necessity) that prevented access to safe mode on my PC.

Gareth  –  12 years ago  –  Βρήκατε αυτό το σχόλιο χρήσιμο? ναι | όχι (+53)

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Great FREEBIE today!!

This is probably the BEST partition software available on the market right now along with PARAGON PARTITION MANAGER and ACRONIS DISK DIRECTOR.

The new version of EaseUS Partition Master Professional now supports 2TB partitions on MBR and even up to 4TB on GPT.

The best feature of EaseUS Partition Master Professional 9.1 is of course that allowing you to resize and/or move your partitions, by using the free spaces, and above all the one enabling users to merge neighboring partitions, which as far as I know cannot be found in any other similar freeware program.

So TWO huge THUMBS UP from me!!

As best FREEWARE ALTERNATIVE, especially for those who won't be able to download this GEM before the end of this startling offer, I suggest an amazing HD partition app called "PARTITION WIZARD", which is as far as I know one of the few free partition software out there supporting 64 bit OS right now.

The FREE HOME version of this nice tool provides the same features as today's giveaway except the conversion of FAT disks to NTFS and the merge partitions capabilities, but it supports disk and partition size larger than 2 TB: no bad, isn't it??

And of course, unlike this GAOTD, it's always FREE, meaning you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!!!!

So it's definitely worth a try and not just because it's FREE of charges and of couse it can be a great tool to add on your arsenal should you lose the key license of today's giveaway:

http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html

Screenshots:
http://www.softpedia.com/progScreenshots/Partition-Wizard-Home-Edition-Screenshot-133833.html

Bootable CD/DVD & Bootable Flash Drive Version:

http://www.partitionwizard.com/partition-wizard-bootable-cd.html
http://www.partitionwizard.com/bootable-flash-drive.html


Enjoy & Prosper!!

Ciao

Your Italian friend geek
Giovanni

Giovanni  –  12 years ago  –  Βρήκατε αυτό το σχόλιο χρήσιμο? ναι | όχι (+50)

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