Acronis DISKEDITOR 6.0 User Manual
User's Guide
DiskEditor 6.0
Compute with confidence
www.acronis.com
Copyright © Acronis, 2000-2002. All rights reserved.
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FOR ANY SPECIFIC PURPOSES, TO THE DEGREE OF SUCH LIMITED LIABILITY APPLICABLE BY LAW.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER 1. INSTALLING ACRONIS DISKEDITOR AND GETTING STARTED .6
1.1 ACRONIS DISKEDITOR SYSTEM PACKAGE...................................... 6
1.2 INSTALLATION................................................................................. 6
1.3 REPAIRING/UPGRADING ACRONIS DISKEDITOR .............................7
1.4 REMOVING THE SOFTWARE............................................................. 7
1.5 USER INTERFACE............................................................................. 7
CHAPTER 2. WORKING WITH ACRONIS DISKEDITOR ................................... 8
2.1 PARTITION OR DISK SELECTION...................................................... 8
2.2 MAIN WINDOW OF THE PROGRAM .................................................. 9
2.3 WORKING IN MULTI-WINDOWS MODE ......................................... 11
2.4 EDIT HARD DISKS.......................................................................... 13
2.5 WRITE BLOCK TO A FILE AND READ FROM A FILE........................ 14
2.6 VIEW.............................................................................................. 16
2.7 SEARCH ......................................................................................... 16
2.8 WORKING WITH DIFFERENT ENCODINGS ...................................... 18
CHAPTER 3. MAIN WINDOW VIEW MODES ................................................. 19
3.1 MASTER BOOT RECORD (MBR).................................................... 19
3.2 CREATING PRIMARY PARTITION ................................................... 20
3.3 FORMATTING A PARTITION ........................................................... 22
3.4 CREATING A LOGICAL PARTITION................................................. 25
3.5 FILE ALLOCATION TABLE (FAT) AND ROOT FOLDER (ROOT)...... 26
3.5.1 A FILE AS A CHAIN OF CLUSTERS .............................................................26
3.5.2 A FOLDER IN DISKEDITOR MAIN WINDOW ..............................................27
3.5.3 FILES WITH SHORT NAMES .......................................................................29
3.5.4 FILES WITH LONG NAMES.........................................................................30
3.6 FOLDERS AND SUBFOLDERS .......................................................... 31
Acronis DiskEditor 3
Introduction
Hard Disk
A hard disk is a very effective device for storing information. Modern hard
disks feature huge volumes of stored information, very high recording densities, and very high access speed to retrieve stored information.
A hard disk is usually an extremely reliable device. One of its parameters –
non-failure operating time – may reach 20,000 to 500,000 hours.
This does not mean, however, that storing information on hard disks is 100%
error-free. Information on hard disks maybe threatened by a number of factors every user should be aware of.
Hard Disks Utility Programs
There are program tools that allow a user to inspect various computer systems, including disk subsystem. Disk managers included in these tools, are
capable of defragmenting hard disks, finding and correcting files and folders
structure imperfections, as well as finding and marking bad sectors. Special
utilities are capable of finding and destroying computer viruses that threaten
your information integrity.
In some cases a user will require a much more powerful set of tools, known
as a disk editor, to repair their hard disk drive. The Acronis DiskEditor is exactly the software for this job.
Acronis DiskEditor is a professional-grade program that performs a variety of
actions on a hard disk: to restore boot records and files and folders structure, to find lost clusters, remove computer virus code from a disk, and much
more.
This program has much to offer a beginner as well. It can be used in an educational setting. It is one thing to read a few books about hard disk construction and data storage, and it’s quite another to observe it yourself with the
Acronis DiskEditor.
About this Guide
A hard disk is a rather complex information storage device. One should have
the base knowledge of hard disks and their interaction with the computer to
work effectively on them using the Acronis DiskEditor program. If you are
ready to work on a hard disk with a disk editor, it is necessary to remember
that mistakes can cause sever problems: you could violate the disk’s information integrity, not only making any data inaccessible, but also unservicable.
4 Introduction
It is impossible to offer complete information on organizing data storage on a
hard disk and on its interacting with operating system and applications in
such a short Guide. Thus we will inform you only about the most vital data
below skipping many complex technical details of information storage and
the internal construction of a hard disk. The general outline will be on the
capabilities of Acronis DiskEditor program.
For information on the basic features of the program and its functionality,
please see Chapter 2 «Working with Acronis DiskEditor».
Information about different view modes and the overall performance of
working with a disk see Chapter 3 «Main Window View Modes».
Software Usage Conditions
The conditions for Acronis DiskEditor software usage are described in the
«License agreement», included with this package. The supplied registration
card is the confirmation of your legal purchase and usage of Acronis
DiskEditor on your system. Each registration card has its own unique registration number.
Under current legislation the «License agreement» is considered a contract
between a user (you) and a software manufacturer (Acronis, Inc.). The contract has legal effect and its violation may entail a court examination.
Illegal use and/or distribution of this software will be prosecuted.
Technical Support
Users of legally purchased and registered copies of Acronis DiskEditor receive
free technical support from Acronis, Inc. In case you have problems with installation or use that cannot be solved with this guide or read-me file, please
visit our support web-site or e-mail our support department at the addresses
shown below. You must also send us the registration number of your Acronis
DiskEditor copy. This number is written on a registration card supplied with
this product.
Support URL: http://www.acronis.com/support/
E-mail: support@acronis.com
Acronis DiskEditor 5
Chapter 1. Installing Acronis DiskEditor
and Getting Started
1.1 Acronis DiskEditor System Package
Acronis DiskEditor system package includes:
• An installation CD,
• This guide,
• License agreement,
• Registration card,
• Advertising materials.
1.2 Installation
To install the Acronis DiskEditor:
1. Insert the Acronis DiskEditor installation CD into CD-ROM drive and
start the installation procedure.
2. Carefully follow the installation program instructions on the screen.
3. After making your installation choices and copying of Acronis
DiskEditor files onto your hard disk, you will be offered to create a
bootable rescue diskette or CD-R(W) (you may omit this step if you
have purchased the boxed product that contains a bootable CD).
While DiskEditor works in Windows, your computer may fail to boot.
So, it’s recommended to create a bootable rescue media.
6 Chapter 1 : Installing Acronis DiskEditor and Getting Started
After installation of Acronis DiskEditor is completed, you should restart your
computer.
1.3 Repairing/Upgrading Acronis DiskEditor
In order to upgrade or repair your software, start the Acronis DiskEditor installation program again. It will determine that DiskEditor was already installed on your computer and will ask you if you want to restore (update) the
program or completely remove it from disk.
1.4 Removing the Software
To remove the software select Acronis Æ DiskEditor Æ Uninstall Acronis
DiskEditor from the Programs menu. You will see a dialog box asking if you
really want to remove the software from your PC hard disk. Press
confirm removal. Acronis DiskEditor software will be completely removed.
1.5 User Interface
The Acronis DiskEditor program has a graphic user interface and is controlled
by mouse or
Escape keys.
Tab, Shift+Tab, Left , Right , Up , Down, Space, Enter and
Yes to
If you routinely work with applications under Windows, X-Windows, or OS/2, there
will be no problems understanding and using the Acronis DiskEditor interface.
Acronis DiskEditor 7
g
Chapter 2. Working with Acronis
DiskEditor
2.1 Partition or Disk Selection
Working with the Acronis DiskEditor program begins with the Open dialog
window that users see after clicking the Acronis DiskEditor line in the program group of Programs desktop start menu.
The window of partition or disk selection
By default the program automatically marks the first hard disk for working.
But you may select any other disk or individual partition – click the left
mouse button on a corresponding rectangle.
The difference between selecting the entire disk or a partition only is the following: if
you select the entire disk you will be able to view and edit data stora
the entire disk – Partition table, File Allocation Table of all disk partitions, the root
folder, data area. If you select a partition only, you will be able to view and edit only
data storage structures of this partition – File Allocation Table, the root folder and
data area of the selected partition.
e structures of
8 Chapter 2 : Working with Acronis DiskEditor
2.2 Main Window of the Program
The main window shows numbers of disk and sector where internal program
cursor is positioned usually contains information and the work of various
modes.
Below the main window of the program is the view as Partition table mode.
The main window in the view as Partition table mode
To make the information contained in this field sensible, the current sector
should be the MBR or the extended Partition table.
Acronis DiskEditor 9
The next figure shows the Partition table as a single dump (hexadecimal byte
values are on the left, and the corresponding characters are on the right).
The main window in the view as Hex mode
The current editing position is shown by the cursor that can be either in the
left, or right part of the window
In this section of the Guide all examples of DiskEditor’s main window view modes are
given for demonstration purposes.
The main menu of Acronis DiskEditor contains the following items:
• Disk – allows you to open the window of a hard disk partition or to se-
lect a hard disk for editing;
• Edit – allows you to operate with blocks of selected hard disk parti-
tions; also allows you to save contents of a disk sector after editing;
• View – allows you to select a view mode for more convenient presen-
tation of data;
• Search – allows you to search a partition (or a hard disk) for any line
(or any sequence of characters) and go to a certain disk sector according to its absolute offset;
• Help – allows you to get help concerning the editor window or about
the program’s developer and version.
10 Chapter 2 : Working with Acronis DiskEditor
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