Disk Partitioner

  • Thread starter Thread starter Just Nice
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J

Just Nice

Is there any freeware disk partitioner utility which is "novice-friendly"
which does the same job as say; MSDOS Fdisk or Partition Magic?
 
"Just Nice" <[email protected]> wrote:
Click to expand...
Is there any freeware disk partitioner utility which is "novice-friendly"
which does the same job as say; MSDOS Fdisk or Partition Magic?
Click to expand...

I have used Ranish and it works fine. I have several bootable
partitions at present.

I'm not certain I would call it "novice-friendly" though. I ran it
several times, figuring out what did what, until I arrived at the
point I had the partitions I wanted. It's not a huge learning curve,
but there is a curve. And since you have partitioned, repartitioning
doesn't lose anything except the few minutes spent on previous
attempts.

http://www.ranish.com/part/

I also recommend XOSL boot manager (link from above)
and xxcopy to create bootable clones if you need these.

http://www.xxcopy.com/
 
I have used Ranish and it works fine. I have several bootable
partitions at present.

I'm not certain I would call it "novice-friendly" though. I ran it
several times, figuring out what did what, until I arrived at the
point I had the partitions I wanted. It's not a huge learning curve,
but there is a curve. And since you have partitioned, repartitioning
doesn't lose anything except the few minutes spent on previous
attempts.

http://www.ranish.com/part/

I also recommend XOSL boot manager (link from above)
and xxcopy to create bootable clones if you need these.

http://www.xxcopy.com/
Click to expand...

BTW, there are several version. Which one would you recommend?
 
BTW, there are several version. Which one would you recommend?
Click to expand...

I'd suggest the latest (or a later) version.

There are added functionalities as the program progresses.
 
JC said:
http://www.partition-manager.com/home/personal/demo.htm

Does all I need, run from windows only for free !
Click to expand...

What I found on their website:
"Demo Restrictions:
You can create, format, delete, hide/unhide, mount/unmount, view sectors
(read/write access to any sector).
Other functions (convert, resize, any operations with active partitions)
aren't working in demo version.
Demo version includes only Windows part without DOS one and without NT
Startup service."

So I didn't find the FREE portion!

BTW the program is ok, but not free.

regards, henry
 
You be blind then ? )

You can create, format, delete, hide/unhide, mount/unmount, view sectors
(read/write access to any sector).

If you need more than that backup and reinstall, easy as can be for me !

James

Henry wrote in message ...
 
(clipped)
http://www.ranish.com/part/

I also recommend XOSL boot manager (link from above)
and xxcopy to create bootable clones if you need these.

http://www.xxcopy.com/
Click to expand...

I'm wondering if the cloned disc copy that I made on my backup hard
drive (it has an MBR) using xxcopy will boot without those
C:\_RESTORE\* files since my OS is ME. In particular, I wonder if they
will be created on that hard drive if I screw up the C: drive and
switch over to the D: drive. If not, I wonder if that will hurt
anything. I use the following command to clone C: to D: -

C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\XXCOPY.EXE c:\ d:\ /clone /YY
/xC:\WINDOWS\WIN386.SWP /xC:\_RESTORE\*

I know that a new swap file will get created.

Wondering if you or anybody else has any experience with this.

TIA
 
Rob said:
(clipped)
"Version 2.37: can help you have 30 primary partitions but does not
work with disks having a capacity greater than 8GB.

Version 2.40: can work with disks > 8GB but does not support more than
4 primary partitions (this is same as version 2.38 but just the version
number
got changed)

Version 2.43: can work with disks > 8GB; also, it can support upto
30 primary partitions."

I would go with either v2.40 or v2.43 since most poeple use disks > 8 GB
these days.
Click to expand...

Since version 2.43 is a beta, I have to ask is it very stable? I
notice it dates back to April 10, 2002.
 
John Corliss <[email protected]> wrote:
Click to expand...
I'm wondering if the cloned disc copy that I made on my backup hard
drive (it has an MBR) using xxcopy will boot without those
C:\_RESTORE\* files since my OS is ME. In particular, I wonder if they
will be created on that hard drive if I screw up the C: drive and
switch over to the D: drive. If not, I wonder if that will hurt
anything. I use the following command to clone C: to D: -
Click to expand...
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\XXCOPY.EXE c:\ d:\ /clone /YY
/xC:\WINDOWS\WIN386.SWP /xC:\_RESTORE\*
Click to expand...
I know that a new swap file will get created.
Click to expand...
Wondering if you or anybody else has any experience with this.
Click to expand...

Ken might answer with more authority, but I think you're fine. I'm
'pretty' sure the restore directory is unnecessary and Windows will
create the swap file.

I used three partitions, one on another disk for a backup and two on
my main drive to boot from.

With this, I can boot from either partition on the main drive and
format, xxcopy to the other partition on the main drive. The slave
drive holds the clean backup.

In your case, you might have to pop the top and change jumpers in
the worst case scenario to boot from the backup if you want to format
your present drive before xxcopying back to your regular boot disk.
Or, you can leave them as they are, format the primary, reinstall
Windows minimally and then xxcopy D to C.

One problem might occur a boot manager is used. I haven't tried it,
but changing disks (master & slave) will probably mess up the boot
manager. This could be a bad problem. I hadn't considered this until
now.
 
I'm wondering if you even made the backup drive bootable before you
cloned it using xxcopy?
Click to expand...

Art,
Yes, I did. It has an MBR like the main drive. It's just in the
BIOS that I have the drive designated (and maybe the cable arrangement
as well.)
 
Ken might answer with more authority, but I think you're fine. I'm
'pretty' sure the restore directory is unnecessary and Windows will
create the swap file.
Click to expand...

Forgot to mention that only portions of the _RESTORE folder were
originally getting copied, so I added that /xC switch to prevent
having to see the error messages. In any event, I really like your
"minimal Windows install" suggestion below, which seems to overcome
the _RESTORE folder concern.
I used three partitions, one on another disk for a backup and two on
my main drive to boot from.
With this, I can boot from either partition on the main drive and
format, xxcopy to the other partition on the main drive. The slave
drive holds the clean backup.
Click to expand...

Very cool. I had for some reason thought that a format would get rid
of all the partitions on a hard drive. I haven't done enough
formatting of hard drives to remember for sure.
In your case, you might have to pop the top and change jumpers in
the worst case scenario to boot from the backup if you want to format
your present drive before xxcopying back to your regular boot disk.
Or, you can leave them as they are, format the primary, reinstall
Windows minimally and then xxcopy D to C.
Click to expand...

I might be able to simply change the BIOS settings. In any event, I
like the latter idea much better. I could even configure XXCopy to
leave the new _RESTORE folder completely alone.
One problem might occur a boot manager is used. I haven't tried it,
but changing disks (master & slave) will probably mess up the boot
manager. This could be a bad problem. I hadn't considered this until
now.
Click to expand...

Good point and another reason to go with your latter suggestion.
However, my main use for Ranish will be to make separate partitions on
the main drive for use with a boot manager.
I want to also run a copy of W98 in order to run some DOS games
that ME won't allow (no DOS sound card support in ME.) I'm not that
attached to the games, but it just pisses me off that M$ pulled this
stunt (no DOS sound card support in ME) and I *always* find a solution
to such problems (with the help of others like yourself.)

My thanks for your reply! 80)>
 
Since version 2.43 is a beta, I have to ask is it very stable? I
notice it dates back to April 10, 2002.
Click to expand...

From the 2.37 readme:

" At the time of writing this text I am working on the new version of
the Partition Manager. The new version (v2.38) works with disks larger
than 8G and does everything that does this version, plus much more. It
will be the FULLY FUNCTIONAL shareware. Even if you don't pay a cent
you still get the whole thing."

It looks like he might have allowed someone else to continue
development, as I don't see v2.38.

From 2.43:

"[Though I suggested to call this version as RPM 2.41 Beta 2.0,
Mikhail chose to call this RPM 2.42 Beta to avoid any possible
confusion. So he added "2.42 (beta) by Muthu" in Partition manager.
Please note that Mikhail was not involved with these new changes. So
please avoid contacting him if you find any bugs with these new
features].

To be fair to Mikhail Ranish, the basic things necessary to support
more than 4 primary partitions were already present in Beta 1.0 code
(for that matter from 2.38 onwards). All I need to do is to build on
these to get the support for > 4 primary partitions working. My thanks

to him for making the source code available and also for getting the
code compiled for this beta release to the public)"

I did not see freeware or shareware in the 2.43 document.

I haven't checked v2.40 yet.
 
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