Looking for Partitioning program

  • Thread starter Thread starter TKO
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TKO

Can anyone suggest a good partitioning program.
When it comes to partitioning a hard drive, I'm a total amateur.
So the easier the better.
Thanks
 
Can anyone suggest a good partitioning program.
When it comes to partitioning a hard drive, I'm a total amateur.
Click to expand...

Fred Langa (.com) has discussed several commercial products in his
newsletter. The reason I mention this is I have had mixed success with
Ranish and other freeware partition utilities. Although I'm an avid
freeware fan and supporter, I keep my Partition Magic license current and
use it exclusively. I'll try out the freeware products again in the future,
too.
 
If your drive is bigger than 60gig, then the Windows 9x
version of 'fdisk' would be needing the update - otherwise
fdisk on your 9x boot floppy is fine.

Western Digital and Seagate both have good utilities for
their drives (if you own one) that can be downloaded from
their respective sites. I am not sure about other brands.
 
TKO <[email protected]> wrote:
Click to expand...
Can anyone suggest a good partitioning program.
When it comes to partitioning a hard drive, I'm a total amateur.
So the easier the better.
Click to expand...

If partitioning for the first time you have a learning curve. This
requires reading on your part, but that's the fun of it, rising to the
challenge.

If you want to destructively partition I would think Fdisk, which
comes with MS operating systems is the simplest way to go. Here are a
couple of tutorials and many more can be found by googling "fdisk
tutorial" You might find one that makes more sense to you than the
others.

<http://www.pcabusers.net/fdisk.html>

<http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/q255/8/67.asp&NoWebContent=1>

Ranish Partition Manager is what I use. It is a bit more involved than
Fdisk IMO.

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

There are FAQ's, user forums and the documentation comes with the
program download also.

I don't partition often, so I tend to forget what I had previously
learned. I have used the Fdisk method a few times and went to Ranish
so that I could use a boot manager and partition Windows and Linux
partitions. I think it was my 5th try that I finally ran with when I
got everything as it should be. It doesn't take long to start over and
redo the partitions. It just wasn't what I would call intuitive or
easy in the first attemts at using the program. It is a very fine
program though after the curves!


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http://www.all4you.dk/FreewareWorld/links.php?id=1855
Click to expand...


This looks like a nice utility. It uses Fdisk to create or delete
partitions though and NTFS partitions cannot be resized. A DOS boot
disk is required for NT/2000/XP. On the bright side it handles HUGE
disks, up to 2TB (2048GB) of size.


"the Partition Resizer:

Q: Does Partition Resizer resize NTFS partitions?

A: No, NTFS partitions are currently not supported by the resizing
engine. They can only be moved but you cannot use Partition Resizer to
change their size.

Q: Can Partition Resizer create or delete partitions?

A: No. Use FDISK for this job."

Q: Is Partition Resizer compatible with Windows NT / Windows 2000 /
Windows XP?

A: Depends. It does not run under Windows NT/2000/XP, and it does not
resize NTFS partitions, but it can move Windows NT/2000/XP partitions
and it does not damage your Windows NT/2000/XP installation.

Q: How can I run Partition Resizer under Windows NT / Windows 2000 /
Windows XP?

A: You have to boot from a bootable DOS floppy disk to run Partition
Resizer under NT/2000/XP. In Windows XP you can create a bootable
floppy disk from Windows Explorer by inserting the floppy in the
drive, right-clicking the drive, selecting 'Format...' and checking
the 'Create an MS-DOS startup disk' option. Then copy Partition
Resizer in that disk and proceed as described in README.1ST. For other
NTOSs (NT/2000) there's no way to create an MSDOS system disk from
within the OS, thus you have to create a disk from a Win 95/98/Me
Installation (or borrow one from a friend)."
 
If your drive is bigger than 60gig, then the Windows 9x
version of 'fdisk' would be needing the update
Click to expand...

< snip >

Anyone know a download link please ?
 
Klein wrote in said:
Fred Langa (.com) has discussed several commercial products in his
newsletter. The reason I mention this is I have had mixed success with
Ranish and other freeware partition utilities. Although I'm an avid
freeware fan and supporter, I keep my Partition Magic license current and
use it exclusively. I'll try out the freeware products again in the future,
too.
Click to expand...

I'm going OT now, but only to insert some consumer advice for the
novice. Partition Magic by Powerquest is in my not so humble opinion
seriously overpriced (same goes for their other products) compared to
the alternatives.

Since you mentioned Fred Langa, see
<http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-07-03.htm>

From: <http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-07-03.htm#9>
<quote>
Sadly, I can see no reason at all to buy new copies of PowerQuest
Drive Image or PartitionMagic. Competing products are now just as
capable--- or even more capable, in some instances--- and much less
expensive.
</quote>

All the best,
Bjorn Simonsen
 
Can anyone suggest a good partitioning program.
When it comes to partitioning a hard drive, I'm a total amateur.
So the easier the better.
Thanks
Click to expand...

There is a small Linux-Rescue-CD, called Systemrescuecd on
http://www.systemrescuecd.org which inluded a tool called Qtparted 0.4
which can reseize fat, linux (ext2, ext3, ??) and also NTFS partions.

Jörg

JV
 
If partitioning for the first time you have a learning curve. This
requires reading on your part, but that's the fun of it, rising to the
challenge.

If you want to destructively partition I would think Fdisk, which
comes with MS operating systems is the simplest way to go. Here are a
couple of tutorials and many more can be found by googling "fdisk
tutorial" You might find one that makes more sense to you than the
others.

<http://www.pcabusers.net/fdisk.html>

<http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://support.microsof
t.com:80/support/kb/articles/q255/8/67.asp&NoWebContent=1>

Ranish Partition Manager is what I use. It is a bit more involved than
Fdisk IMO.

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

There are FAQ's, user forums and the documentation comes with the
program download also.

I don't partition often, so I tend to forget what I had previously
learned. I have used the Fdisk method a few times and went to Ranish
so that I could use a boot manager and partition Windows and Linux
partitions. I think it was my 5th try that I finally ran with when I
got everything as it should be. It doesn't take long to start over and
redo the partitions. It just wasn't what I would call intuitive or
easy in the first attemts at using the program. It is a very fine
program though after the curves!


------------ And now a word from our sponsor ---------------------
For a secure high performance FTP using SSL/TLS encryption
upgrade to SurgeFTP
---- See http://netwinsite.com/sponsor/sponsor_surgeftp.htm ----
Click to expand...

I concur, read first. You can start here: http://fdisk.radified.com/.
Also, all major manufacturers of hard drives offer partitioning software
for free. Get the name and model of your hard drive(s) and look on the
manufacturers site for supporting software.
 
Sadly, I can see no reason at all to buy new copies of PowerQuest
Drive Image or PartitionMagic.
Click to expand...

It may be time for me to go back and test some freeware products again if
they have improved. A year ago I fought too many mysterious NTFS problems
that started immediately after partitioning with two free products. Even
the documentation for the products was somewhat tentative on handling NTFS,
and included warnings. (Which turned out to all be true.) When I used PM to
repartition, the problems were immediately fixed and never came back.
Turning to commercial software was out of necessity, and cured the problems
immediately, making the software purchase seem cheap. Partition Magic was
only $40 at Half.com, and it probably saved me 15-20 hours of time. I use
it several times a month.

Commercial software needs good competition. Maybe it has now arrived.
 
X-No-Archive: yes

Ranish Partition Manager is what I use. It is a bit more involved than
Fdisk IMO.
Click to expand...

The OP has said he is an amateur in partitioning and for him it is
better to go for a disk utility available from the manufacturer of his
disk.

I love and play around a lot with Ranish's Partition Manager - it is a
too powerful a tool not to be tried by the uninitiated.

--
Sandy Archer
Reply to newsgroup only

For links to Harddisk management freeware
http:/members.tripod.com/~diligent/harddisk.htm
 
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