Paragon Drive Copy - 9.0 Instruction Manual

Drive Copy™ 9.0

User Manual

Paragon Drive Copy™ 9.0 2 User Manual

CONTENTS

1 Introduction................................................................................................................... 4

2 Key Features.................................................................................................................. 4

3 Drive Copy Editions...................................................................................................... 4

4 Installation ..................................................................................................................... 5

4.1 Package Contents................................................................................................................................. 5

4.2 Minimum System Requirements ........................................................................................................ 6

4.3 Installation Procedure ......................................................................................................................... 6

5 Basic Concepts............................................................................................................... 7

5.1 Copy Operations ..................................................................................................................................7

5.2 Drive Partitioning ................................................................................................................................8

5.3 64-bit Support.......................................................................................................................................8

5.4 Scheduling.............................................................................................................................................9

6 Interface Overview........................................................................................................ 9

6.1 General Layout.....................................................................................................................................9

6.2 Main Menu .........................................................................................................................................10

6.3 Tool Bar ..............................................................................................................................................12

6.4 Virtual Operations Bar......................................................................................................................12

6.5 Common Tasks Bar ...........................................................................................................................13

6.6 Disk Map............................................................................................................................................. 14

6.7 Explorer Bar.......................................................................................................................................14

6.8 Legend Bar .........................................................................................................................................15

6.9 Status Bar ...........................................................................................................................................16

7 Settings Overview........................................................................................................ 16

7.1 General Options ................................................................................................................................. 16

7.2 General Copy and Backup Options .................................................................................................17

7.3 E-Mail Options................................................................................................................................... 18

7.4 Operation Dependency Options........................................................................................................19

7.5 Hot Processing Options .....................................................................................................................20

7.6 Virtual Mode Options........................................................................................................................ 20

8 Getting Information about Disks............................................................................... 21

9 Copy Tasks................................................................................................................... 23

9.1 Copy Hard Disk..................................................................................................................................23

9.2 One Button Copy Wizard..................................................................................................................25

9.3 Copy Partition ....................................................................................................................................26

10 Scheduling Operations................................................................................................ 28

10.1 Save to Scheduler ...............................................................................................................................34

11 Partition Management................................................................................................ 35

11.1 Create Partition..................................................................................................................................35

11.2 Format Partition ................................................................................................................................37

11.3 Delete Partition...................................................................................................................................38

11.4 Undelete Partition ..............................................................................................................................39

11.5 Changing Partition Attributes.......................................................................................................... 40

12 Hard Disk Management ............................................................................................. 44

12.1 Update MBR.......................................................................................................................................44

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12.2

Change Primary Slot .........................................................................................................................44

12.3 Change SID.........................................................................................................................................45

13 Build Recovery Media ................................................................................................ 46

14 Extra Functionality ..................................................................................................... 48

14.1 View Partition/Hard Disk Properties............................................................................................... 48

14.2 Mount Partition..................................................................................................................................49

14.3 Test Surface ........................................................................................................................................50

14.4 Check File System Integrity.............................................................................................................. 50

14.5 Send Log Files ....................................................................................................................................51

15 Glossary........................................................................................................................51

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1 Introduction

Sooner or later any PC user faces the problem of modifying the hard disk structure. One day you realize that your hard drive cannot meet your requirements any more. Either its capacity is insufficient and it is time to think about a little upgrade, or you are to carry out some partitioning operations. Whatever the problem is, it requires solution.

Our program is a fast, convenient and reliable solution of disk copying, upgrading and configuring needs. It provides a wide-range functionality in the field of managing disk layout structures. The key features of the program are listed in the special chapter

Setting up any operation is accomplished by using practical wizards. Each step of the wizard includes indepth information in order to allow the user to make the right choice. Graphical representations of the data help the user to gain a better understanding.

In this manual you will find the answers to many of the technical questions which might arise while using the program.

2 Key Features

Let us list some of the key features:

 User friendly interface. Easily understood icons accompany all functions of the program.  Previewing the resulting layout of hard disks before actually executing operations (so-called virtual

operations).

 Copy Partition/Hard Disk Wizards that enable to successfully transfer all on-disk information

including standard bootstrap code and other system service structures, thus maintaining the operating system’s working capability, and that even beginners may understand.

 Basic functions for initializing, partitioning and formatting hard disks. Instead of the standard

Windows disk tools, the program supports all file systems.

 Recovering of any accidentally deleted partition by using the Undelete Partitions Wizard.  Schedule the operation. The user can set a convenient time for the program to perform the operation

automatically.

 Shutdown After Apply function enables to set the computer to automatically switch off on the

successful accomplishment of any scheduled operation.

 Build external recovery media that help the user to restore the system even when the current

operating system cannot boot anymore.

3 Drive Copy Editions

The product is being released in several editions, Personal and Professional, which vary in price and provided functionality. Additional to the features supported by the Personal version, the Professional version of the program provides the following advanced functionality:

 Windows Server support. It can be installed on and run under Windows 2000/2003/2008 Server

Family, providing the ability to work in Terminal Sessions.

 Possibility to send notifications by e-mail on the carried out operations.

Supported Operating Systems

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Windows Me

Windows NT

Windows NT Server Family

Windows 2000 Professional

Windows XP Home Edition

Windows XP Professional

Windows XP Professional 64-bit

Windows 2000 Server Family

Windows Storage Server 2003

Windows Server 2003 Web

Windows Server 2003 Standard/ 64-bit

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise/ 64-bit

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Itanium

Windows Server 2003 Datacenter/ 64-bit

Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Itanium

Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard/ Premium

Windows Server 2008 Web/ 64-bit

Windows Server 2008 Standard/ 64-bit

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise/ 64-bit

Windows Server 2008 Datacenter/ 64-bit

Windows Server 2008 for IA64

Windows 2008 HPC Server Edition

Windows 2008 Essential Business Server Edition

Windows Small Business Server 2008 64-bit

Windows Vista/ 64-bit

Personal Professional

No No

Yes Yes

No Yes

No No

No Yes

No No

No Yes

No No

No Yes

Yes Yes

Please take into consideration the mentioned above peculiarities of the certain versions when working with the program.

4 Installation

This chapter provides information which is needed to perform the correct installation of the program, and in addition, checks if the current installation is working correctly.

4.1 Package Contents

The installation package includes the following components:

 Launcher (with an embedded HTML browser)  Partition Management  Hard Disk Management  Copy Partition/Hard Disk Facilities

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 Scheduler with Task Editor  Extra Functionality  Recovery Media Builder

4.2 Minimum System Requirements

To use the program on a computer satisfactorily, ensure that it meets the following minimum system requirements:

 Operating systems: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Server 2003/2008 and XP SP2/Vista/Server2003/2008

64-bit

 Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher  Intel Pentium CPU or its equivalent, with 300 MHz processor clock speed  128 MB of RAM  Hard disk drive with 40 MB of available space  SVGA video adapter and monitor  Mouse

4.3 Installation Procedure

The installation process consists of the following steps:

1. Run Setup Application From the folder, where the setup files are kept, run the SETUP.EXE file. This application will guide the user through the process of the program installation. The setup utility is compiled with the InstallShield SDK, hence it contains the standard user interface and set of installation steps.

In case there is some previous version of the program installed on the computer, the program will offer the user to uninstall it first.

2. Starting Setup The Welcome page informs that the application is being installed. Click the Next button to continue.

3. Confirm License Agreement The License Agreement page displays the Paragon License Agreement. Read the agreement and then click the Yes button to accept. If the user does not agree with any conditions stated there, the installation process will be interrupted.

4. Select an Installation Folder The Destination Location page allows the user to choose the folder where the program will be installed. By default, the installation folder will be created as:

C:\Program Files\Paragon Software\Paragon Drive Copy. To select another folder, click the Browse button.

After you have selected the required folder, click the Next button to continue.

Do not install the program on network drives. Do not use Terminal Server sessions to install and run the program. In both cases, the program functionality will be limited

5. Select a Program Group

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The Program Folder page enables the user to select the application's program group for the Start Menu. By default, it will be the program group:

Start > Programs > Paragon Drive Copy.

Click the Next button to continue.

6. Verify Setup Settings

The Start Copying page allows the user to verify settings, which have already been made and correct them if necessary. Press the Back button to return to the previous page and modify the installation settings. Click the Next button to complete the installation process.

7. Copying Files

The Setup Status page shows the overall progress of the installation. Click the Cancel button to abort the setup.

8. Finishing the Installation

The Final page reports the end of the setup process.

To accomplish online backup/copy of locked partitions/hard disks the program uses a kernel mode hotcore driver, thus the system reboot is required to complete the installation procedure.

5 Basic Concepts

This chapter explains terms and ideas that show how the program works. To understand these helps to obtain a general notion of the operation performance and makes it easier for the user to operate the program.

5.1 Copy Operations

Hard drive duplication nowadays is becoming highly popular among PC users. That is due to some definite advantages it can offer. First of all, many people clone hard disks just to back up data for security reasons. The present day copy utilities enable to successfully transfer all on-disk information including standard bootstrap code and other system service structures, thus maintaining the operating system’s working capability. In case of a system malfunction, the user can get the system back on track in minutes. No additional configuration is required, what is very convenient.

The second possible application is the upgrade of a hard disk to a new one. The capacity of a modern hard drive doubles every two years, thus opening up new possibilities for software developers. As a result programs become more complicated and require considerable amount of free space. One day the user realizes that there is no more free space left on the hard disk and the only way out is to upgrade. Usually that means that besides purchasing a new hard disk, the user is to face a large re-installation procedure spanning several days of tedious work. But all of this can be avoided just by copying the contents of the old hard disk to a new one proportionally resizing the partitions.

And the last but not least is the copying of hard disks for cloning purposes. It may be of great use when setting up similar computers. There is no need for a system administrator to install an operating system from scratch on every one of them. It is enough just to configure one and then clone it to the others.

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5.2 Drive Partitioning

As you probably know a hard drive is to be split into one or more partitions, since it cannot hold data until it is carved up and space is set aside for the operating system. Until recently most PCs used to have just one partition, which filled the entire hard disk and contained the OS. The situation has changed however, thanks to new cost-effective high capacity hard drives, thus opening up numerous possibilities for PC users, such as editing video, archiving music, backing up CD images, etc. Huge increase in space is great, but it poses a number of problems, most important of which are effective data organization and speed.

Large drives are always going to take longer to search than smaller volumes, and an operating system is going to have its work cut out both finding and organizing files. It is for this reason that many people decide to invest in multiple hard drives, but there is an easy solution – drive partitioning. Partitioning lets you divide a single physical drive into a number of logical drives, each of which servers as a container with its own drive letter and volume label, thus enabling the operating system to process data more efficiently. Besides partitioning makes it possible to organize data so that it is easy to find and manage. You can set aside, for instance, 40 GB of a 160 GB hard drive for the OS, 70 GB for storing video and another 50 GB for your favorite music collections to provide transparent data storage.

It is also worth mentioning to that with a hard drive properly partitioned, such routine operations as files defragmentation or consistency check will not be that annoying and time-consuming any more.

By detaching the OS from the rest of the data you can tackle one more crucial issue – in case of a system malfunction, you can get the system back on track in minutes by recovering it from a backup image located on the other partition of the hard drive.

But that is not all drive partitioning may be used for. If you are willing to play games in Windows while browsing the Internet in Linux, 100-percent sure that no virus will attack your PC, drive partitioning is a necessity. In order to run several OSs on a single hard drive you are to create a corresponding number of partitions to effectively delineate the boundaries of each OS.

All of the above-mentioned partitioning applications are implemented in the program. And all the necessary actions are performed by using the system of convenient wizards. This means that the user simply has to follow easy step-by-step instructions to make the appropriate settings.

5.3 64-bit Support

The bulk of software today is written for a 32-bit processor. It can meet the requirements of almost any end user. However that is not the case when dealing with servers processing large amounts of data with complex calculations of very large numbers. That is where 64-bit architecture comes into play.

It can boast improved scalability for business applications that enables to support more customer databases and more simultaneous users on each server. Besides a 64-bit kernel can access more system resources, such as memory allocation per user. A 64-bit processor can handle over 4 billion times more memory addresses than a 32-bit processor. With these resources, even a very large database can be cached in memory.

Although many business applications run without problems on 32-bit systems, others have grown so complex that they use up the 4 GB memory limitation of a 32-bit address space. With this large amount of data, fewer memory resources are available to meet memory needs. On a 64-bit server, most queries are able to perform in the buffers available to the database.

Some 32-bit applications make the transition to the 64-bit environment seamlessly others do not. For instance, system-level utilities and programs that provide direct hardware access are likely to fail. Our

Paragon Drive Copy™ 9.0 9 User Manual

program offers a full-fledged support of the 64-bit architecture providing fault-tolerant work for such system dependent modules as Hot Processing.

5.4 Scheduling

The automation of the program’s operations is particularly effective when the user has to repeat a sequence of actions on a regular basis. For example, when a hard disk copying is made every evening so as not to lose valuable data, it should be possible to simplify certain routine operations.

Another aspect of any automation process is that it runs automatically without the user having to be present. The program is able to execute operations without the user being involved. In addition, it allows an optimization of your computer’s work-load. This is especially important when operations require a considerable amount of computer resources – processor time, memory and more. A number of operations, which can decrease the performance, can be run during the night or whenever the computer has the least work-load to perform.

The program has a special tool for scheduling For example, some operations may be performed daily, others - weekly and so on. The scheduled operation starts at a specified time without interrupting the user's current activity (due to using Hot Processing

technology).

. The user can set out a timetable for various copy operations.

6 Interface Overview

This chapter introduces the graphical interface of the program to the user. The design of the interface precludes any mistake being made on the part of the user. Most operations are performed through the system of wizards. Buttons and menus are accompanied by easy understandable icons. Nevertheless, any problems that might occur while managing the program can be tackled by reading this very chapter.

6.1 General Layout

When the user starts the program, the first component that is displayed is called the Launcher. It enables the user to run wizards and utilities, to specify program settings, to visualize the operating environment and the hard disk configuration.

The Launcher’s window can be conditionally subdivided into several sections that differ in their purpose and functionality:

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1. Main Menu

2. Tool Bar

3. Virtual Operations Bar

4. Common Tasks Bar

5. Explorer Bar

6. Disk Map

7. Legend Bar

8. Status Bar

Some of the panels have similar functionality with a synchronized layout. The program enables the user to conceal some of the panels to simplify the interface management.

All panels are separated by vertical and horizontal expandable sliders, allowing the user to customize the screen layout.

6.2 Main Menu

The Main Menu provides access to the entire functionality of the program. The available functions are as listed below:

MENU ITEM FUNCTIONALITY

Tools

Save to Scheduler… Schedule pending operations

Send Log Files Compress and send the log to the Paragon Support Team

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Settings... Edit the general settings of the program

Recovery Media Builder…

Restore the system even when the current operating system cannot boot anymore

Exit Exit the program

Changes

Undo "the last virtual operation"

Redo "the last virtual operation"

Cancel the last virtual operation on the List of Pending Operations

Cancel the last undo virtual operation on the List of Pending Operations

View Changes… Display the List of Pending Operations

Apply Changes Launch the real execution of virtual operations

Discard All Changes Cancel all virtual operations on the List of Pending Operations

Reload Disk Info Refresh the current information about disks

Wizards

One Button Copy Wizard Create a hard disk copy just by pressing one button

Copy Hard Disk… Create a hard disk copy

Schedule Hard Disk Copy…

Schedule a hard disk copy

Copy Partition… Create a partition copy

Schedule Partition Copy… Schedule a partition copy

Undelete Partitions… Recover any of accidentally deleted partition

Hard Disk

Update MBR Update MBR (Master Boot Record) of the selected hard disk

Change Primary Slots… Modify the primary partitions enumeration for the selected hard disk

Change SID… Change SID (Security Identifier) value of any found Windows installation

Properties… Get in-depth information on the properties of selected hard disk

Partition

Create Partition… Create a partition of any file system with the Create Partition dialog

Format Partition… Format a partition of any file system Format Partition dialog

Delete Partition… Delete a partition of any file system Delete Partition dialog

Assign Drive Letter… Assign drive letter to the selected partition

Remove Drive Letter… Remove drive letter for the selected partition

Hide Partition… Make the selected partition unavailable for the operating system

Unhide Partition… Make the selected partition available for the operating system

Mark Partition as Active Make the selected partition bootable by default

Mark Partition as Inactive Make the selected partition non-bootable by default

Change Volume Label… Change volume label of the selected partition

Change Serial Number… Change serial number of the selected partition

Change Partition ID… Change identifier of the selected partition

Test Surface… Test surface of the selected partition/block of free space

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Check File System Integrity…

Properties… Get in-depth information on the properties of selected partition

View

Toolbar

Status Bar Display the Status bar

Common Tasks Bar Display the Common tasks bar

Disk Map Legend Display the Disk map legend

Disk Map Location

Help

Help Open the Help system

About Open the dialog with information about the program

The Main Menu contents available at the moment may vary depending on the selected object.

Check the selected partition for possible file system errors

Manage the Tool Bar representation: show / hide standard and navigation buttons, text labels and large icons.

Select whether the Disk map will be located on the top of the main window or at the bottom

6.3 Tool Bar

The Toolbar provides fast access to the most frequently used operations:

BUTTON FUNCTIONALITY

Copy a hard disk

Copy a partition

Schedule a hard disk copy

Schedule a partition copy

Open the Help system

6.4 Virtual Operations Bar

The program supports previewing the resulting layout of hard disks before actually executing operations (socalled virtual mode of execution). In fact, when the virtual mode is enabled accomplish operations immediately, but places them on the List of Pending Operations for later accomplishment.

The Virtual Operations Bar enables to manage pending operations.

, the program does not

BUTTON FUNCTIONALITY

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Cancel the last virtual operation on the List of Pending Operations

Cancel the last undo virtual operation on the List of Pending Operations

Display the List of Pending Operations

Launch the real execution of virtual operations

Cancel all virtual operations on the List of Pending Operations

Virtual mode is an effective way of protection from any troubles, since no operations will be executed until clicking the Apply button for confirmation, thus giving a second chance to weigh all pros and cons of this or that particular operation. The program politely reminds the user that there are unsaved changes by showing the following window:

In the process of making virtual operations, you might notice at some moment, that drive letters stop displaying on the Disk Map. Please don’t worry, that is just a program issue and everything will be ok after applying.

6.5 Common Tasks Bar

The Common Tasks Bar is located on the left side of the main window. It is intended for easy access to the program's wizards that provide all the functionality needed to manage copy operations.

The bar contains two tabs named Copy Tasks and News and Documentation. Each of these contains a separate button bar which can be folded by clicking it.

Copy Tasks

Starting the One Button Copy Wizard. The One Button Copy Wizard assists the user with cloning of hard disks just by pressing one button.

Starting the Copy Hard Disk Wizard that helps to make an exact copy of a hard disk.

Starting the Schedule Hard Disk Copy Wizard with the preset scheduling option.

Starting the Copy Partition Wizard that helps to make an exact copy of a partition.

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Starting the Schedule Partition Copy Wizard with the preset scheduling option.

News and Documentation

Opening the page which contains information about the program. This page will be displayed in the Explorer bar.

Launching the Help system.

6.6 Disk Map

The Disk Map is displayed in the Explorer bar when the Disk View tab is selected. It is located either at the top or at the bottom of the window, depending on the state of the Disk Map Location option (Main menu: View > Disk Map Location). The user can change the current location of the map with this option.

As the name infers, the Disk Map displays the layout of physical and logical disks. Physical disks are represented with rectangle bars that contain small-sized bars. These small-sized bars represent logical disks. Their color depends on the file system of the appropriate partition.

Large-sized bars display the following information about physical disks:

 Manufacturer,  Model.

Small-sized bars display the following information about logical disks:

 Serial number,  Drive letter,  Total size,  File system.

Furthermore, it is possible to estimate the used disk space by looking at the size of the bar’s shaded area.

Disk Map is synchronized with the Explorer bar

. When the user selects a disk on the Disk Map the Explorer

bar displays detailed information of the selected disk.

The user can click a large-sized bar to display information about the appropriate physical disk in the Explorer bar. A click on a small-sized bar will lead to displaying information about the appropriate logical disk.

6.7 Explorer Bar

The Explorer Bar is located in the center of the main window which emphasizes its importance. The bar displays reference information including:

 User Manual,

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 Information about the program consisting of the product's name, the version of the program and a list

of helpful links,

 Detailed information about disks selected on the Disk Map,  List of scheduled operations.

According to these categories the Explorer bar has three tabs:

 Disk View, which allows the user to view detailed information about any of the disks.  Scheduled Tasks, which gives the user the possibility of browsing and editing scheduled operations.  Help System, which contains the User Manual and information about the program.

The user is able to access the desired information by clicking on the appropriate tab.

The Explorer Bar is a fully-functional embedded HTML browser, which enables the user to address, for example, our company's website to look through important technical notes or download the latest updates without having to close the program. The Help System of the program is HTML-oriented. The user can read the user manual and follow external links from to get additional information.

To easily navigate through browsed pages, the program provides the following functionality:

BUTTON FUNCTIONALITY

Return to the previously browsed page

Open the next browsed page

Stop loading the current page

Refresh the contents of the current page

6.8 Legend Bar

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The Legend Bar explains the color scheme used for disk and partition presentation. The user can hide (or show) the bar with the appropriate Main menu item: View > Disk Map Legend. When it is activated it can be found at the bottom of the Explorer bar

The program distinguishes between the following types of known file systems:

- FAT16/32,

- NTFS,

- Linux Ext2/3,

- Linux ReiserFS.

6.9 Status Bar

This is the bottom part of the main window. The status bar displays menu hints, for each item the cursor points to.

The user can hide (or show) the bar with the appropriate Main menu item: View > Status bar.

7 Settings Overview

The Settings dialog is available from the Main menu: Tools > Settings. All the settings are grouped into several sections of which the functions are described in the following paragraphs. The list of sections is placed on the left side of the dialog. By selecting a section from the list, the user opens a set of options.

7.1 General Options

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This section contains a set of general options that will be taken into account during all the operations carried out with the program. The user can switch between the following modes:

 Verify data written. If this option is marked, every write-to-disk action is followed by the

read-and-compare action. This feature may be helpful in case of running an unstable hard disk, however it will negatively affect the overall performance.

 Enable data loss protection. Activate the option to force the program to work in the fail-safe

mode (also referred to as data-loss protection mode), which ensures more safety for

operations by maintaining the special journal of operations’ progress. In case of hardware malfunction, power outages or operating system failure, the modified partition may become corrupted and non-operable. However, the program will be able to complete the interrupted operation, thus "reviving" the partition.

If the system has crashed during the operation in the fail-safe mode, insert the bootable Recovery CD and restart the computer. The program will automatically detect the journal of the interrupted operation and complete the operation.

It is strongly recommended to enable this option.

 Try to access non-BIOS disk cylinders. The option works only under Windows 95, 98, ME.

When activated, the program performs a special procedure to define the disk capacity and does not use the value that is returned by BIOS.

7.2 General Copy and Backup Options

+ 37 hidden pages

Paragon Drive Copy - 9.0 Instruction Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

1. Main Menu

Toolbar

Disk Map is synchronized with the Explorer bar