Acronis DISK DIRECTOR SERVER 10.0 User Manual

Acronis

Disk Director Server 10.0

User’s guide

www.acronis.com

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Acronis Disk Director Server (the software) is Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000–2005. All rights are reserved. The ORIGINAL PURCHASER is granted a LICENSE to use the software only, subject to the following restrictions and limitations.

1. The license is to the original purchaser only, and is not transferable without prior written permission from Acronis.

2. The original purchaser can use the software on a single computer. You cannot use the software on more than one machine, even if you own or lease all of them, without the written consent of Acronis.

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A. Providing or permitting use of by, or transferring the software to, third parties. B. Providing use of the software in a computer service business, network, timesharing or multiple

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ENTIRE RISK

THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS WITH YOU THE PURCHASER. ACRONIS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SOFTWARE OR ITS FUNCTIONS WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE OR THAT ANY DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED.

NO LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES

IN NO EVENT SHALL ACRONIS OR ITS VENDORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR THE LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, OR ANY OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ACRONIS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Table of contents

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 6

1.1 WHAT IS ACRONIS DISK DIRECTOR SERVER?...................................................................................... 6

1.2 WHAT’S NEW IN ACRONIS DISK DIRECTOR SERVER 10.0?................................................................... 6

1.3 SOFTWARE USE CONDITIONS................................................................................................................ 7

1.4 TECHNICAL SUPPORT ........................................................................................................................... 7

CHAPTER 2. INSTALLATION AND USE ............................................................................................. 8

2.1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS...................................................................................................................... 8

2.2 INSTALLATION PROCESS ...................................................................................................................... 8

2.3 UPGRADING ACRONIS DISK DIRECTOR SERVER .................................................................................. 9

2.4 REMOVING SOFTWARE ........................................................................................................................ 9

2.5 USER INTERFACE ................................................................................................................................. 9

2.6 BEFORE YOU RUN ACRONIS DISK DIRECTOR SERVER......................................................................... 9

2.7 RUNNING ACRONIS DISK DIRECTOR SERVER..................................................................................... 10

CHAPTER 3. BEGINNING THE WORK.............................................................................................. 12

3.1 ACRONIS DISK DIRECTOR SERVER LOGICAL ORGANIZATION............................................................ 12

3.2 ACRONIS DISK DIRECTOR SERVER MAIN WINDOW ...........................................................................13

3.3 CALLING PARTITION OPERATIONS..................................................................................................... 14

3.4 PARTITION OPERATION PROPERTIES ..................................................................................................15

3.5 PROTECTING ACRONIS DISK DIRECTOR SERVER WITH A PASSWORD................................................ 19

3.6 VIEWING LOGS................................................................................................................................... 20

CHAPTER 4. AUTOMATIC PARTITION OPERATIONS................................................................21

4.1 CREATING A NEW PARTITION............................................................................................................ 21

4.2 INCREASING PARTITION FREE SPACE................................................................................................. 30

4.3 COPYING PARTITIONS ........................................................................................................................32

CHAPTER 5. MANUAL PARTITION OPERATIONS........................................................................ 37

5.1 MAIN PARTITION OPERATIONS .......................................................................................................... 37

5.2 ADDITIONAL PARTITION OPERATIONS ............................................................................................... 56

CHAPTER 6. WORKING IN THE COMMAND-LINE MODE.......................................................... 66

6.1 SUPPORTED COMMANDS .................................................................................................................... 66

6.2 DISKDIRECTORCMD.EXE USAGE EXAMPLES ........................................................................................67

CHAPTER 7. WORKING WITH ACRONIS RECOVERY EXPERT...............................................68

7.1 AUTOMATIC RECOVERY .................................................................................................................... 69

7.2 MANUAL RECOVERY ......................................................................................................................... 72

CHAPTER 8. WORKING WITH ACRONIS DISK EDITOR............................................................. 75

8.1 GENERAL INFORMATION .................................................................................................................... 75

8.2 THE SELECTION OF THE PARTITION OR A DISK FOR EDITING ............................................................... 75

8.3 MAIN WINDOW OF THE PROGRAM ..................................................................................................... 76

8.4 EDIT HARD DISKS.............................................................................................................................. 77

8.5 WRITE BLOCK TO A FILE AND READ FROM A FILE .............................................................................78

8.6 VIEW.................................................................................................................................................. 79

8.7 SEARCH ............................................................................................................................................. 80

8.8 WORKING WITH DIFFERENT ENCODINGS ........................................................................................... 82

CHAPTER 9. BOOTABLE MEDIA BUILDER....................................................................................83

9.1 GENERAL INFORMATION .................................................................................................................... 83

9.2 CREATING BOOTABLE MEDIA............................................................................................................. 83

CHAPTER 7. HARD DISK AND FILE SYSTEMS.............................................................................. 86

A.1 HARD DISK ORGANIZATION............................................................................................................... 86

A.2 HARD DISK PARTITION ...................................................................................................................... 87

A.3 PARTITION TYPES .............................................................................................................................. 87

A.4 PRIMARY PARTITIONS........................................................................................................................ 89

A.5 EXTENDED PARTITIONS ..................................................................................................................... 89

A.6 LOGICAL PARTITIONS ........................................................................................................................ 89

Table of contents

A.7 FORMATTING HARD DISKS ................................................................................................................ 90

A.8 FILE SYSTEMS.................................................................................................................................... 90

A.9 FILE SYSTEM MAIN SPECIFICATIONS................................................................................................. 91

APPENDIX B. GLOSSARY..................................................................................................................... 95

Introduction

Chapter 1. Introduction

1.1 What is Acronis Disk Director Server?

Acronis Disk Director Server is a complex program that includes partition manager and hard disk data editing tools. With it, you can:

• Create hard disk partitions

• Resize, move, split and merge partitions without data loss or destruction

• Convert partitions to other file systems without data loss

• Copy (move) partition contents

• Delete partitions

• Create, delete and resize hard disk partitions using the command-line mode

• Recover hard disk partitions that were accidentally deleted or damaged due to a

hardware or software error

• Format, label, assign letters, hide and unhide partitions, set active partitions and

perform additional disk management operations

• Recover boot records, files and folders structure, find lost clusters, remove viruses,

etc.

Some terms of this guide might be unfamiliar. Chapter 7 «Hard Disk And File Systems» and Appendix B «Glossary» provide descriptions of some hard disk data storage components and used terms.

1.2 What’s new in Acronis Disk Director Server 10.0?

• Splitting/merging partitions

You can split a partition in two, moving the selected folders to the new partition and leaving the rest of the data on the old one. This operation can also be used for creating an empty partition from another partition’s free space. You can merge two partitions, as well, even if their file systems are different. All data will stay intact and reside on the resulting partition.

• Exploring and managing partitions contents

You can explore or manage partition contents before configuring operations on that partition directly from Acronis Disk Director Server. It enables you to copy, paste, rename and delete files and folders, create folders on the selected partition, and even edit text files.\

• Working in the command-line mode

An administrator might need a console interface to create, delete and resize the partitions. Acronis Disk Director Server supports this mode with

Introduction

diskdirectorcmd.exe utility. The file is located in a folder where Acronis Disk Director Server has been installed, by default it is C:\Program Files\Acronis\DiskDirector.

• Viewing logs

Acronis Disk Director Server now keeps working logs. They store information about implemented partition operations, including reasons for failure, if any.

• The new Bootable Media Builder, common for all Acronis products

The new Bootable Media Builder is able to create bootable media for every Acronis product installed on the computer, or one bootable disk for several products. It also supports creating a bootable disk ISO image on the hard disk and storing the bootable programs versions on PXE server.

1.3 Software use conditions

The conditions of use are listed in the supplied «License Agreement». The unique serial number is the confirmation of your legal purchase and usage of Acronis Disk Director Server on your system.

Under current legislation, the «License Agreement» is considered a contract between you and Acronis Inc. The contract is a legal document and its violation may result in legal action.

Illegal use and/or distribution of this software will be prosecuted.

1.4 Technical support

Users who have legally purchased and registered their copy of Acro nis Di sk Dir ect or Ser ver will receive free technical support from Acronis. If you have installation or working problems that you can’t solve by yourself using this manual and the readme.txt file, e-mail the technical support team. You will need to provide the serial number of your Acronis Disk Director Server copy bundled with the program.

Before you do this, you will have to register your copy at

http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/my/products/registration/ .

Support URL:

http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/my/support/

Installation And Use

Chapter 2. Installation And Use

2.1 System Requirements

To take full advantage of Acronis Disk Director Server you should have:

• A PC-compatible computer with a Pentium or similar CPU

• 128 MB RAM

• A floppy or a CD-RW/DVD-RW drive

• A mouse (recommended)

2.2 Supported operating systems

• Windows NT Server

• Windows 2000 Server

• Windows 2000 Advanced Server

• Windows 2003 Server.

2.3 Installation Process

2.3.1 Acronis Disk Director Server installation

To install Acronis Disk Director Server:

1. Run the installation program.

2. Follow the setup program instructions.

3. You will be prompted to choose Typical, Custom or Complete installation. If you

pick Custom, you can choose not to install the Bootable Media Builder, a tool for creating bootable media (see this tool if you purchased a boxed product that contains a bootable CD.

Chapter 9 “Bootable Media Builder”). You might not need

If you have another Acronis product with its own Bootable Media Builder, such as Acronis True Image, installed on your computer, the installation pro it and will not install another Bootable Media Builder re create bootable media for all Acronis products using either product.

ram will automatically detect

ardless of your setting. You can

Installation And Use

4. After installation, reboot your PC.

2.4 Upgrading Acronis Disk Director Server

If you already have Acronis Disk Director Server installed on your PC, the installation program will automatically find it and prompt you on its replacement with the new version.

Software upgrades (with certain bug fixes) may be downloaded free from the Acronis Web site: http://www.acronis.com/support/updates/.

2.5 Removing Software

To remove Acronis Disk Director Server, select Start → Settings → Control Panel → Add or Remove Programs → Acronis Disk Director Server → Remove. You will

see a dialog to confirm removal. Click Yes to confirm and Acronis Disk Director Server will be completely removed.

2.6 User Interface

When Acronis Disk Director Server software is installed, it has a graphical user interface that is controlled by the mouse or by Tab, Shift+Tab,

Left, Right, Up, Down, Space,

Enter and Escape keys.

If you regularly work with Windows or X Window applications, you should not encounter any problems with the Acronis Disk Director Server interface.

Acronis Disk Director Server uses a series of dialogs requiring the user to choose among several actions or to mark partitions or disks to be manipulated.

2.7 Before You Run Acronis Disk Director Server

PLEASE NOTE: Operations on system, application or data partitions must be done very carefully to avoid potential hard disk booting or data sto rage p rob le ms.

Acronis Disk Director Server has been thoroughly tested to work with numerous hard disks, so if problems arise, they are likely caused by improper use, not the software.

A power loss, turning off the PC or pressing the Reset button on your PC during the repartitioning procedure could result in partition damage and data loss.

Installation And Use

Please take all necessary precautions and following these simple rules:

1. Create a disk image of the disk on which partitions are to be reconfigured. This will

ensure that your data will not be lost under any circumstances. Almost all current PCs feature CD-RW drives. Having your most important data backed up

to a hard disk or CD will enable you to work on the disk partitions with full confidence that your data is safe.

Acronis offers extremely effective hard disk and partition disk imaging software — Acronis True Image (visit in a compressed archive file whose conte nts can be resto red at any time .

http://www.acronis.com/produc ts/truei mage/). It creates a backup stored

2. Test your disk to make sure it’s full y functional and does n ot contain ba d sectors or file

system errors.

You can invoke system hard disk checking tools directly from Acronis Disk Director Server by selecting Disk Æ Check or clicking Check the selected partition for button.

errors toolbar

3. Do not perform any partition operations while running other software that has low-

level disk access, such as antivirus or backup tools. Close such programs before running Acronis Disk Director Server.

If you follow these simple rules, you will protect yourself against data loss.

2.8 Running Acronis Disk Director Server

2.7.1 Running under Windows

Under Windows, select Start Æ Programs Æ Acronis Æ DiskDirector Æ Acronis Disk Director Server.

Under Windows, Acronis Disk Director Server can perform operations on any partitions, including primary, logical, system or data

without

2.7.2 Running Acronis Disk Director Server for the first time

When you run the program for the first time, you will be prompted to choose whether you want to work in Automatic Mode or Manual Mode.

Automatic Mode provides enough functionality to create almost any partition configur ation on your PC hard disks.

If you need a detailed partition structure representation with a com plete set of partition operations and controls, select Manual Mode.

rebooting your PC.

You can switch between modes at any time (see

3.1.3 «Switching modes»).

2.7.3 Running from bootable diskettes or CD

Installation And Use

Previously, we explained how to create bootable diskettes or a CD (see

2.2 «Supporte d

operating systems

• Windows NT Server

• Windows 2000 Server

• Windows 2000 Advanced Server

• Windows 2003 Server.

Installation Process»). While working with Acronis Disk Director Server, you may need to use the bootable media: (1) after a serious Windows failure or (2) to work on a Linuxbased PC. (See also

Chapter 9 «Bootable Media Builder».)

Your PC BIOS must be set correctly to boot and run the software from bootable diskettes or CD.

Beginning The Work

Chapter 3. Beginning The Work

3.1 Acronis Disk Director Server Logical Organization

Acronis Disk Director Server provides two operation modes (see 2.8 «Running Acronis Disk Director Server»):

• «Automatic partition operations» mode is designed for the most frequent

operations suitable for the majority of users

• «Manual partition operations» mode for any partition operations. This mode is

intended for experienced users with some knowledge of disk data storage organization; it provides full operational control

3.1.1 Automatic partition operations

In this mode, all actions are performed through task-based wizards.

• Create partiti on wizard — enab les you to create a partition from unallocated disk space

or other partitions

• Increase free sp ace wizard — enables you to enlarge a partition at the expense of

unallocated disk space or other partitions

• Copy partition wizard — enables you to copy a partition

• Recover partitions wizard – enables you to recover any deleted or damaged partitions.

Working with Recover partitions wizard is described in deta il in a separate chapter of this guide. See the section

Chapter 6 «Working with Acronis Recovery Expert». With these

wizards, even an inexperienced user will be able to perform the recovery operations using step-by-step instructions.

3.1.2 Manual partition operations

In this mode, experienced users have access to all Acronis Disk Director Server features. Partition operations are performed by entering necessary parameters into dialog boxes.

The main difference between the automatic and manual modes is that wizards perform operations series in the automatic mode and only single disk/partition operations in the

manual mode.

3.1.3 Switching modes

Having selected an operation mode during installation (see systems

• Windows NT Server

• Windows 2000 Server

• Windows 2000 Advanced Server

• Windows 2003 Server.

2.2 «Supported operating

Beginning The Work

Installation Process»), you can switch to another mode at any time. Select View Æ Automatic Mode for the automatic mode or View

Æ Manual Mode for the manual.

3.2 Acronis Disk Director Server Main Window

The program is controlled through the main window . It includes the menu, toolbar, and disk and partition tree (shown/hidden through the View menu). This represents the computer disk and partition list.

The main window appearance differs depending on the selected operation mode (see

3.1

«Acronis Disk Director Server Logical Organization»). The difference applies to the available operation list in the main menu, partition context menus, sidebar and toolbar, and the amount of partition structure details represented.

Acronis Disk Director Server main window, Automatic Mode

In the manual partition operations mode, the main window also includes all unallocated disk space, while only partitions are shown in the automatic mode. Partition creation, free space and copy wizards automatically recognize unallocated disk space in this mode.

Beginning The Work

Acronis Disk Director Server main window, Manual Mode

1. Disk and partition information

The main window shows the partition’s disk number, assigned letter, label, type, status, size, free space size and file system. Disk and partition information is also provided in the partition and disk tree.

The bottom part of the main window graphically indicates the selected disk and its partitions as rectangles with basic data on them (label, letter, size, type, file system).

3.3 Calling Partition Operations

All partition operations in both modes are called and executed similarly.

3.3.1 Calling the main operations

Any operation can be launched:

• By selecting it from the Disk submenu

• From customizable toolbars

• From the partition context menu (both in the main window and the graphical panel)

• From Operations and Advanced sidebar lists

Note that the list of available operations in the Disk submenu and the Operations sidebar depends on the selected partition type. This holds true for unallocated space as well.

3.3.2 Advanced operations

Advanced operations are:

• Convert — convert the FAT16 partition file system to FAT32, Ext2 to Ext3, and vice

versa

• Hide/Unhide — hide/unhide a partition

• Set Active — set an active partition

• Resize Root — resize FAT16 partition root

• Change Bytes per i-node — resize i-node table (Linux Ext2/Ext3)

• Change Cluster Si ze — change FAT16/FAT32 partition cluster size

• Change Type — change partition type

• Recover — recover deleted or damaged partitions (see Chapter 6 Chapter 7 «Working

Beginning The Work

with Acronis Recovery Expert»).

• Edit — edit hard disk data (see Chapter 8 «Working with Acronis Disk Editor»).

Advanced partition operations are called from the Advanced sidebar list, the same pa rtition context menu item or toolbar button.

Note that the additional operations list of the partition context menu or toolbar depends on the selection of a partition type. For example, the FAT16 partition menu contains Advanced Æ Resize Root; this is absent in the FAT32 partition menu. The Linux Ext2/Ext3 partition context menu contains Advanced Æ Change By tes per i-n ode, which is not found on the FAT menus.

3.3.3 Invoking Acronis Disk Director Server wizards

Wizards are invoked from the Wizards submenu and the corresponding sidebar list. For example, select Wizards Æ Create Partition for the partition creation wizard.

3.4 Partition Operation Properties

3.4.1 Displaying operation results

Results of any disk partition operation are immediately displayed in the Acronis Disk Director Server main window.

If you create a partition, it will be immediately shown in the hard disk partition list in the main window, as well as in graphical form on the bottom of the main windows.

Any partition changes, including resizing, relocating and labeling are also immediately displayed in the main window.

3.4.2 Pending operations

All operations are pending until the user issues the command for the changes to be made permanent. Until then, Acronis Disk Director Server will only show the new partition

structure that is provided by operations to be performed. Therefore, you can view the graphical rep resentation of the new partition structure first

and then decide whether to perform or cancel specific operations.

Beginning The Work

3.4.3 Viewing delayed operations

All pending operations are added to the pending operations list. You can view it in the

Pending Operations window by clicking Operations Æ Show:

Pending operations list

This organization enables you to control all planned operations, double-check your intended work, and undo operations fully or partially, if needed.

3.4.4 Performing pending operations

To execute planned hard disk operations, the user has to select one of the two f ollowing commands:

• Select Operations Æ Commit in the main menu

• Click Commit Pending Operations toolbar button

To prevent you from performing any unintentional change on your disk, the program will first display the list of all pending operations. Clicking Proceed will launch their execution. You will not be able to undo any actions or operations after you Proceed the operation.

3.4.5 Modifying pending operations

All of your actions result in the creation of pending operations. For example, you can create a new partition by providing its type, file system, size, location and label. You can easily view the pending operation for the partition you are working on (see

3.4.3

«Viewing delayed operations»).

Beginning The Work

You can always change any operation parameter, including type, file system, size, location, etc. before performing the operation. Using Change type, Convert, Move, Resize, and similar operations, you will also see that your actions

do not

result in creating new pending operations. These actions will only change the existing pending operation parameters.

If you decide to change the label of a different, existing partition, Acronis Disk Director Server will immediately create a new pending operation. Thus the same actions sometimes result in the creation of a new pending operation or modification of existing operations.

3.4.6 Undoing user actions

Calling wizards or dialog boxes for planning disk partition operations are user actions. User entries are necessary operation parameters on the wizard or dialog box pages.

One user action in Acronis Disk Director Server enables you to plan a list of partition operations, for example, calling a wizard for partition creation or resizing. (You can easily verify your actions by looking at the Pending Operations when the wizard finishes its work.)

You can also create a partition by selecting Disk Æ Create Partition. This requires a list of actions to be performed (enter a label, select partition type, file system, size and location), resulting in the creation of a single partition create operati on on ly.

The difference between user actions and partition operations should be kept in mind if you wish to undo user actions.

Any user action in Acronis Disk Director Server can be undone or redone before committing the operation. To undo a user action:

• Select Operations Æ Undo from the main menu (or press Ctrl+Z)

• Click the Undo Last Action toolbar button

To redo a user action:

• Select Operations Æ Redo from the main menu (or press Ctrl+Y)

• Click the Redo Last Action toolbar button

As user actions result in creating pending partition operations, as mentioned above, undoing them results in canceling one or more partition operations. And conversely, redoing a user action results in the addition of one or more pending operations.

Depending on the situation, undoing an action may cancel a pending operation or undo changes of an existing operation (see

3.4.5 «Modifying pending oper ations»).

Similarly, redoing an action might add a pending operation to the list again or redo a change of a pending operation parameter.

You can undo user actions one at a time or all at once by selecting Operations Æ Undo All. Similarly, you can redo user actions (alon representation of partition reconfiguration) one-by-one or all at once by selectin

Operations Æ Redo All.

with the corresponding graphical

Beginning The Work

3.4.7 Wizard operations

Pending partition operations created by Acro nis Di sk Di rec to r S erv er wizards differ in that a user must provide a list of operation parameters to perform them. Each parameter is entered on a separate wizard page.

Entering operation parameters, you change wizard pa ges using Back and Next buttons until you reach the Preview page with the Finish button.

On the Preview wizard page, you can click Back to return and change any operation parameter.

After clicking Finish on the last wizard page:

• The new partition structure is graphically represented in the Acronis Disk Director

Server main window

• The wizard creates a list of pending operations; you can see it by selecting Operations

Æ Show

Remember that no actions are performed on your disks when the wizard finishes working! If you are sure that the new structure is suitable, select Operations Æ Commit or click

Commit Pending operations. Wizard-created pending operations will then be performed at this time.

Before you select Operations Æ Commit or click Commit Pending operations, you can undo your actions (calling a wizard) and wizard-created pending operations in the usual

way (selecting Operations Æ Undo or pressing

Ctrl+Z) or clicking Undo Last Action.

Acronis Disk Director Server shows the wizard and its results as a user action by creating the list of operations. Any pending actions can be fully undone by any of the mentioned methods, i.e. pressing Undo Last Action will undo a user action and all operations planned by the wizard.

Beginning The Work

3.5 Protecting Acronis Disk Director Server With A Password

You should always be aware of possible unauthorized access to your data. To protect your hard disk, partition, applications and data, Acronis Disk Director Server provides password protection.

If you need to protect Acronis Disk Director Server with a password:

1. Select Disk

Æ Set Password.

2. Enter a password in the New Password and Confirm New Password fields in the Set Password window.

3. Click OK to enable password protection. After you run the program, you’ll be prompted to enter a password in the Password

Protected window:

If you enter a wrong password, you'll be asked to re-enter it. Clicking Cancel will close the program.

If you need to change the password:

1. Select Disk Æ Set Password.

2. Enter the old password in the Old Password field and the new password in the New

Password and Confirm New Password fields in the Set Password window.

3. Click OK to enable password protection.

If you protect Acronis Disk Director Server with a password and forget it, you will have to uninstall Acronis Disk Director Server (see 2.5 Removing Software), and install it again.

Beginning The Work

3.6 Viewing logs

Acronis Disk Director Server allows users to view its working logs. They provide information about partition operations, including reasons for failure, if any.

To invoke the log window, select Show log on the toolbar or from the Tools menu. The log browsing window contains two panes: the left one features the log list, while the

right one shows selected log contents. The left panel can contain up to 50 logs. If there are more, you can browse the list using

the More and Less buttons with the left and right arrows. To delete a log, select it and click Delete. If any step was terminated by an error, the corresponding log will be marked with a red

circle with a white cross inside. The right window features the list of steps contained in the selected log. The three

buttons to the right control message filters: the white cross in the red circle filters error messages, the exclamation sign in a yellow triangle filters warnings, and the “i” in the blue circle filters information messages.

To select columns (step parameters) to display, right-click the headers line or left-click the Choose Details button. Then check the desired parameters.

To sort messages by a particular parameter, click its header (click again to reverse order) or the Arrange Icons by button (the second from the right) and select the desired parameter.

You can also change column width by dragging the borders with a mouse.

Automatic Partition Operations

Chapter 4. Automatic Partition Operations

The «Automatic partition operations» mode enables you to perform the following typical operations:

• Create a new partition

• Increase partition free space

• Copy a partition

• Recover partitions

These operations are performed with wizards, enabling you to enter operation parameters step-by-step and return to any step as needed. Each parameter is provided with detaile d instructions.

For a detailed description of the Recover Partitions Wizard see section «Working with Acronis Recovery Expert»

4.1 Creating A New Partition

You might need a new hard disk partitio n to:

• Store several same-type files — for example, an MP3 collection or video files on a

partition

• Store backups (images) of other partitions/disks on a partition

• Install a new operating sy stem (or swap file) on a partition

Create partition wizard lets you create a partition of any type (Active, Primary or Logical), select a file system, label, assign a letter, and other disk management functions.

1. If you need to create a partition:

1. Run the create partition wizard by selecting Wizards Æ Create partition or a similar Wizards list item on the sidebar, or by clicking

Create partition on the toolbar.

2. T he wi zard will analyze computer disks and partitions. If the wizard finds unallocated space, you will see the Action Selection wizard page.

It will ask you to select how to create a new partition: (1) using disk unallocated space. (2) using existing partitions free space

Unallocated space is the space not used by any existing partitions. In contrast, partition free space is the space free from any data.

Automatic Partition Operations

Partition creation method selection window

2. If you want to create a partition using unallocated disk space:

1. Set the switch to Unallocated space.

2. The wizard will offer to create a partition on the largest unallocated area.

For example, if you have 5 GB and 12 GB unallocated areas, the wizard will offer to create a partition on the 12 GB area.

If you want to create a partition on the 5 GB unallocated space, you will have to reject the wizard’s suggestion and simply select this area and click Create a new partition. You can do this in the «Manual partition operations» mode.

On the Partition Size wizard page, set the partition size.

New partition size window

Automatic Partition Operations

4. On the next wizard page, select partition type — Active (Active Primary), Primary or

Logical.

5. Typically Primary is selected to install an operating system to a partition. If the

partition is for data storage, select Logical.

6. Select Active if you want to install an operating system on this partition to boot at

startup.

Note that if you enter a size of more than 2 GB, you will not be able to use the FAT16 file system on this partition. It will be disabled in the File System wizard page.

Partition type selection window

A hard disk can contain up to four primary partitions. If they already exist, Active and Primary options will be disabled and you will be able to select only the Lo

ical partition

type.

On the next File System wizard page, select a file system. The wizard will offer you one of the Windows file systems — FAT16, FAT32 or NTFS, — or Linux file systems — EXT2, EXT3, ReiserFS, Swap — or to leave the partition Unformatted.

More details about the properties of main file systems, the operating systems, and disks are provided in the A.9 «File System Main Specifications» appendix.

Automatic Partition Operations

Partition file system selection window

Selecting a partition file system results in partition formatting, i.e. creating partition

data storage structures

On the next wizard page, you will be asked to select a partition letter.

– boot record, file allocation table, etc.

Partition Logical Drive Letter selection window

At startup, an operating system assigns letters (C:, D:,…) to partitions. These letters are used by applications and the operating system to locate files on partitions. For example, C:\Program Files\Acronis\Disk Director\DiskDirector.exe. See also Appendix B «Glossary» — «Letter (of a drive, partition)».

Hard disk partitions are not only assigned letters, but are also numbered . That me ans some operating system partitions are assig ned letter s and numbers, in others, only nu mbers.

Automatic Partition Operations

Create-, delete- and move-partition operations, as well as hiding/unhiding a partition and direct letter change may result in problems running applications, opening files (as some shortcuts become unusable) or booting an operating system.

Therefore, when performing partition operations, you must be careful and remember that each operating system works differently with partition letters. Each OS has its own partition letter assignment rules.

Windows 98/Me

Windows 98/Me assign partition letters automatically in fixed order, according to these rules:

• Partition letters start from C: and continue until Z:. The C: partition is considered

system, i.e. used for OS startup.

Note that these OS canno t recognize all pa rtitions, but o nly 1 (FAT12), 4 and 6 (FAT16), 11 (FAT32), 12 (FAT32 LBA) and 13 (FAT16 LBA) types. File system type is determ ined not by partition type, but by its contents. Partitions of other types are passed (no letters are assigned to them).

The first primary active partition found on the first hard disk is assigned C:. If there’s

•

no such partition, C: is assigned to the first suitable primary partition

• Similarly and consecutively, one of the primary partitions from other hard disks is

considered. They are assigned D:, E:, etc. (If there is no suitable partition found on the first disk, then C:, D:, etc. are assigned.)

• Next, all suitable logical partitions are considered in the sequence order on the first,

second, third, etc. hard disks. They are assigned E:, F:, G:, for example

• Finally, in order, letters are assigned to all remaining suitable primary partitions of the

first, second, third, etc. disks.

Partition operations in the mentioned operating systems may result in problems running applications, opening files and other problems if letter assignments change.

Windows NT/2000/XP

Windows NT/2000/XP operating systems' initial letter assignment is done automatically: similar to Windows 98. Windows NT 4.0 does not support FAT32, but assigns letters to such partitions.

Please note that letter order in these operating systems can differ depending on the number of hard disks and other disk drives recognized by the BIOS.

All these operating systems enable you to change initially assigned letters. Partition create, delete and move operations do not affect letters assigned to other partitions.

Automatic Partition Operations

Assigning a partition a new letter or hiding it will prevent only its applications and files from running or opening. Other partitions will not be affected by these operations.

OS startup problems may appear if you directly cha nge the letter assigned to the system partition or a partition with PAGEFILE.SYS swap file.

Hard disk partition lett er assignme nt i n var ious ope rating syst ems is fu rth er ex pla ined in all guide chapters where the partition oper ations migh t affect PC oper ation or booting .

On the next page, you can enter an optional partition label that will enable you to distinguish one created partition from another.

In Windows, a partition label is shown in the Explorer disk and folder tree; for example, WIN98(C:), WINXP(D:), DATA(E:), etc. WIN98, WINXP and DATA are partition labels. See also Appendix B «Glossary» — «

10.

The last wizard page graphically shows you the new disk partition structure, including

Label».

those just created.

Created partition in the disk partition structure

Clicking Finish on this page will make Acronis Disk Director Server create a pending operation for new partition creation, (your actions may only modify an existing operation. See

3.4.5 «Modifyi ng pending operations»). The new partition structure will be

graphically represented in the Acronis Disk Director Server main window.

More details about the Finish command results are provided in 3.4.7. «Wizard operations».

3. If you want to create a new partition using other partition free space:

1. On the Action Selection wizard page, set the switch to Free space of the existing

partitions.

Automatic Partition Operations

2. On the Select Hard Disk Drive wizard page, select a disk on which to create a

partition.

Partition disk selection page

Note that this wizard page represents physical disks actually connected to your PC. The next page shows logical

Appendix B «Glossary» — «Physical disk», «Logical disk».

disks (or partitions) on the selected physical disk. See also

3. On the next Select Partitions wizard page, select the disk partition(s) whose space

you want to use to create a new partition.

This means that if these partitions have free space, their size can be reduced. As a result, the freed space will be automatically considered as unallocated (not used by any partitions). A new partition can be created in this space.

Automatic Partition Operations

The window of existing partition selection to create a new partition

By creating a partition using the free space of other partitions, Acronis Disk Director Server can collect it in such a way that the final partition size is not smaller than 110% of data-occupied space.

When creating a partition with the switch set to Free space of the existing partitions, you provide a small partition size. If it is possible to create it using unallocated disk space, the partition will be created this way; the existing partitions will not be resized. If a partition cannot be created using unallocated space only, then the deficit will be taken from existing partitions.

If you do not select a partition to take space from on the Select Partitions wizard page and there is no unallocated disk space, you will see an error message:

Error message of deficient disk space for partition creation

Automatic Partition Operations

In this case, you will have to return to the previous wizard page and select a different partition from which to take the necessary space.

4 On the Partition Size wizard page, enter th e size of the created partition (the wizard

automatically determines minimum and maximum partition sizes).

Created partition size window

5 The next wizard pages provide partition type, file system, letter (if you work in

Windows NT/2000/XP), and optional labeling.

Further actions for partition creation are the same as described in

4.1 «Creating A New

Partition» section. Clicking Finish on the last wizard page allows Acronis Disk Director Server to create a

pending operation list for ne w pa r ti ti o n c r ea t io n (these actions may only modify an existing operation. See

3.4.5 «Modifying pending oper ations»).

The list will include not only the operation of partition creation itself, but also operations of partition resizing for creating a new partition.

If you want to create a new partition and there is no free space on disks:

Run the create partition wizard, by clicking

Create a new partition.

You will immediately see the Select Hard Disk Drive wizard page, passing the Action Selection page.

Further actions for partition creation are the same as described in

4.1 «Creating A New

Partition» section.

Automatic Partition Operations

Click Finish on the last wizard page to allow Acronis Disk Director Server to create a pending operation list for ne w pa r ti ti o n c r ea t io n (these actions may only modify an existing operation. See

3.4.5 «Modifying pending oper ations»).

4.2 Increasing Partition Free Space

You might need to increase partition free space in some cases:

• There is no free space to install new applications or store data

• Some programs, like defragmenters, could stop working correctly if partition

free space is smaller than a certain value

Reducing system partition free space below a certain value might cause operating system problems. The Increase free space wizard will enable you to enlarge a partition using other partitions' free space. If there is not enough fr ee space in other partitions, it can use unallocated disk space.

If you need to increase partition free space:

1. Run the Increase free space wizard by selecting Wizards Æ Increase free space or a

similar item in the Wizards sidebar list or by clicking

Increase free space on a

partition on the toolbar.

2. On the Select Partition To Increase wizard page, select a partition that you want to

enlarge.

Selecting a partition to increase free space

3. On the Select Partitions wizard page, select a disk partition whose space will be used

to increase the selected partition.

+ 68 hidden pages

Acronis DISK DIRECTOR SERVER 10.0 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

Introduction

1.1 What is Acronis Disk Director Server?

1.2 What’s new in Acronis Disk Director Server 10.0?

1.3 Software use conditions

Installation And Use

2.2 Supported operating systems

2.3.1 Acronis Disk Director Server installation

2.4 Upgrading Acronis Disk Director Server

2.7 Before You Run Acronis Disk Director Server

2.8 Running Acronis Disk Director Server

2.7.1 Running under Windows

2.7.2 Running Acronis Disk Director Server for the first time

2.7.3 Running from bootable diskettes or CD

Beginning The Work

3.1.1 Automatic partition operations

3.1.2 Manual partition operations

3.3 Calling Partition Operations

3.3.1 Calling the main operations

3.3.3 Invoking Acronis Disk Director Server wizards

3.4.3 Viewing delayed operations

3.4.4 Performing pending operations

3.4.5 Modifying pending operations

3.4.6 Undoing user actions

3.5 Protecting Acronis Disk Director Server With A Password

Automatic Partition Operations

4.1 Creating A New Partition

4.2 Increasing Partition Free Space