 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group PartitionMagic v3.02 Stan Johnstone stanj@melbpc.org.au |
 |
Just 18 months ago I saw PartitionMagic for the first time. We reviewed version 2.02 in PC Update, August 1996. Version 3.0 was released in November and now, version 3.02 is available!
There have been a lot of changes and improvements in that short time. Version 1 was for OS/2 and DOS only, and ran from diskettes. The latest version runs on OS/2, DOS, or any Windows system, and it handles FAT, HPFS, FAT32 and NTFS partitions. It also includes a Boot Manager, for running multiple operating systems, a cluster analyser, and a DriveMapper that remaps drive letters when new drives are introduced. What's more, you can also convert a file system from FAT32 to FAT16, and back again, without having to reinstall your programs or data files.
Why partition?
Most computers come from the builder with everything installed on a hard disk prepared with a single large partition. So what? You've got a big drive. Who cares if a file containing a single character can take up an entire 32 KB cluster? You've got plenty of space. You can afford to waste some. Or can you? Partition size influences how much slack or wasted space you have on your drive. It also influences how efficiently you work. It can even effect data security.
I have two computers, both of them have two hard disks, and each of these is partitioned in the same manner. I store data in comparatively small drives. I keep these drives at 127 KB or less, so I can take advantage of the 2 KB cluster size. This minimises slack (or wasted) space and helps me work more efficiently. I don't have to spend time searching for that elusive document. All my documents are on the data drive.
Separating data from programs is also more efficient for backups. It's easy to backup a whole drive at one time rather than doing a series of incremental backups. This is an important feature for me as I commonly backup between computers hard drives.
All my software and system files are stored in drives appropriate to their requirements. By keeping data and programs separate, I minimise the chance of my data being corrupted by a buggy or crash-prone application.
Setting up different partitions is a good thing, so how do you do it? If you wanted to set up a system in a similar manner to mine, you could do it fairly readily using FDISK - at the time of the initial configuration (before you install software or create data files.) If you want to make changes later, that's another story entirely.
Although FDISK has been around for a long time, and works well, you are not likely to find it on a list of favourite utilities. People don't like using FDISK because, if you want to change partitions, you usually have to reinstall your operating system, and your applications, and copy your data files back on to your hard drive, no simple task when dealing with the likes of Windows 95. That's why before PartitionMagic many people just lived with their large and inefficient, partitions. It was too much trouble to change.
PartitionMagic provides the means to create and resize partitions easily. You are not locked into the drive's original partitions. And if you upgrade to a new, larger drive, PartitionMagic enables you to prepare the new drive in any manner you wish, then transfer your existing material to the new drive.
This feature came in handy when I helped a friend - who had bought a new machine - quickly copy all his old material to a new hard drive. While we were at it, we determined the ideal partition sizes for the new drive and suddenly discovered more than 50 MB of disk space had been recovered. Perhaps he hadn't needed a new hard drive after all, maybe he just needed PartitionMagic.
Multiple operating systems
Not everyone wants to run different operating systems on a single machine, but sometimes it is necessary. If for example, you need to run Windows NT on a machine on which you normally run Windows 95, you can create a NTFS (New Technology File System) partition for Windows NT, and eliminate the shortcomings of the FAT file system.
And with the Boot Manager - from IBM - that comes with PartitionMagic you can easily choose which operating system you want, anytime you start your computer. There's a menu system for choosing which mode you wish to use, a lot easier than switching to another computer anytime you need to use another operating system.
Using PartitionMagic
Although installed under Windows, when you run it, PartitionMagic actually closes down Windows and runs at the DOS level automatically.
Figure 1 shows my D drive, a 405 MB hard disk with 179.4 MB used (it had just been defragmented). To resize the partition I clicked on "Resize" and dragged the right-hand limit back to the chosen value of 200 MB. PartitionMagic went to work, checking the integrity and sectors as it did.
Then I highlighted free space, clicked on "Create" and selected "Extended" from a drop-down menu of partition types. Again, clicking on "Create" it was a simple matter to define the partition type as FAT, name it FLIGHT SIM, select a size of 150 MB, and as if by magic, my one disk was now made up of two drives.
|
|
|
Repeating the exercise I finished with partitions of 200, 150 and 55 MB, on
my original 405 MB hard disk.
When I clicked on "Exit" the computer rebooted and my drives came up as D, E and F, while my CD-ROM drive had
been renamed G. This could have been a problem with Windows and all its pointers, which had been aimed at E
the former designation for my CD-ROM, but PartitionMagic's DriveMapper utility easily converted all the
Windows pointers from E to G. Magic!
This is one of the simpler scenarios for which you might use PartitionMagic. But it illustrates just how
effective the program is and how simple it is to use. You can do additional tuning, specifying optimum or
special cluster sizes for specific purposes, or you can accept the recommend cluster size parameters.
The package
As with most products, PowerQuest recommends backing up all your files before you use PartitionMagic. The
program comes with a 220 page manual that covers use of the program comprehensively. The manual also includes
appendices with troubleshooting tips and importantly, a glossary of terms to help you with an area only the
more daring of us would have ventured without PartitionMagic.
I found no mention of the need to run DEFRAG before starting. But initially I was unable to reduce the first
partition to the size I wanted. I was able to do so easily after running DEFRAG. Maybe I was being too
demanding!
During the course of this review, I visited PowerQuest's home page at
http://www.powerquest.com, downloaded the latest PartitionMagic patch and incorporated it into the
software I was reviewing.
Conclusion
Given the size of modern hard drives, PartitionMagic is a worthwhile tool enabling users to optimise their
drives easily, and make many day-to-day operations a lot easier. It's is certainly worth the $110 street
price currently advertised.
Reprinted from the April 1997 issue of PC Update, the
magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
