Features Overview ................................................................................................................. 9
Features ..................................................................................................................................................... 9
User Friendly Fault Minimizing Interface ................................................................................................................................ 9
Supported File Systems .............................................................................................................................. 14
Supported Media ....................................................................................................................................... 14
Getting Started .................................................................................................................... 14
System Requirements ................................................................................................................................ 14
First Start ................................................................................................................................................... 16
Building Recovery Media ............................................................................................................................ 17
Booting from the Linux/DOS Recovery Media ............................................................................................. 19
Boot menu ............................................................................................................................................................................ 19
Booting from the WinPE Recovery Media ................................................................................................... 21
Paragon Hot Processing & Volume Shadow Copy Service ............................................................................ 28
Offline versus Online Data Processing .................................................................................................................................. 28
Paragon Hot Processing Technology .................................................................................................................................... 29
Volume Shadow Copy Service .............................................................................................................................................. 29
GPT versus MBR ......................................................................................................................................... 30
Apple Boot Camp ....................................................................................................................................... 31
64-bit Support ............................................................................................................................................ 31
Data Sanitization........................................................................................................................................ 33
Data Security Standards ............................................................................................................................. 33
General Layout ...................................................................................................................................................................... 35
Main Menu ........................................................................................................................................................................... 36
Tool Bar ................................................................................................................................................................................. 40
Virtual Operations Bar .......................................................................................................................................................... 40
Common Tasks Bar ............................................................................................................................................................... 41
Disk Map ............................................................................................................................................................................... 42
Explorer Bar .......................................................................................................................................................................... 43
Partition List .......................................................................................................................................................................... 44
Properties Bar ....................................................................................................................................................................... 45
Legend Bar ............................................................................................................................................................................ 46
Status Bar .............................................................................................................................................................................. 46
General Options .................................................................................................................................................................... 47
General Copy and Backup Options ....................................................................................................................................... 49
Hot Processing Options ......................................................................................................................................................... 51
Run during Backup Options .................................................................................................................................................. 52
File Backup Include Options.................................................................................................................................................. 60
Viewing Disk Properties ............................................................................................................................. 63
Using the Restore Wizard ..................................................................................................................................................... 64
Using the Archive Database .................................................................................................................................................. 68
Data Backup and Rescue ............................................................................................................................ 69
Restoring System and Data ................................................................................................................................................... 72
Cloning Hard Disks ................................................................................................................................................................ 76
Setting a Timetable ............................................................................................................................................................. 112
Creating a Scheduled Task .................................................................................................................................................. 115
Extra Functionality ................................................................................................................................... 115
View Partition/Hard Disk Properties ................................................................................................................................... 115
Volume Explorer ................................................................................................................................................................. 116
File Transfer Wizard ............................................................................................................................................................ 117
Mount Partition .................................................................................................................................................................. 119
Downgrade NTFS Version ................................................................................................................................................... 120
Mount Archive .................................................................................................................................................................... 121
Test Surface ........................................................................................................................................................................ 123
Check File System Integrity ................................................................................................................................................. 123
Creating the Backup Capsule .............................................................................................................................................. 129
Backing up a hard disk or partition to the Backup Capsule ................................................................................................ 131
Backing up a hard disk or partition to external media (CD/DVD) ....................................................................................... 133
Backing up a hard disk or partition to a network drive ...................................................................................................... 135
Backing up files to an FTP/SFTP server ............................................................................................................................... 138
Backing up a dual boot Mac to an external USB drive........................................................................................................ 140
Backing up files to a local mounted/unmounted (without drive letter assigned) partition .............................................. 142
Creating a differential to a full partition backup ................................................................................................................ 146
Creating a sector increment to a full partition backup ....................................................................................................... 148
Creating a file increment to a full partition backup ............................................................................................................ 151
Creating an increment to a full file backup ........................................................................................................................ 154
Creating a cyclic partition backup ....................................................................................................................................... 156
Merging a full partition backup with one of its differentials .............................................................................................. 158
Fixing Windows startup ability ........................................................................................................................................... 162
Restoring a hard disk from the bootable Backup Capsule .................................................................................................. 165
Restoring a system partition from external media (CD/DVD) ............................................................................................ 168
Restoring a system partition from a network drive ............................................................................................................ 170
Restoring a system partition from a local drive .................................................................................................................. 173
Restoring a dual boot Mac from an external USB drive ..................................................................................................... 176
Restoring a file increment................................................................................................................................................... 179
Restoring a file increment to a partition backup ................................................................................................................ 181
Copying of data from the corrupted system disk to another hard disk ............................................................................. 183
Burning of data from the corrupted system disk to CD/DVD ............................................................................................. 186
Copying of data from a backup to the corrupted system partition .................................................................................... 188
Restoring separate files and folders from a backup ........................................................................................................... 191
Creating a new partition to detach operating system from the rest of data ..................................................................... 195
Increasing size of a system partition by taking unused space of an adjacent partition ..................................................... 197
Increasing size of a system partition by taking unused space from any other ................................................................... 199
Increasing size of a system partition by taking unused space of an adjacent logical partition .......................................... 203
Separating OS from media data .......................................................................................................................................... 204
Merging a system partition with an adjacent logical partition........................................................................................... 206
Shrinking a system partition to increase size of a data partition ....................................................................................... 208
Resizing partitions of Apple Boot Camp ............................................................................................................................. 210
Creating Dual Boot Systems ..................................................................................................................... 212
For Windows computers ..................................................................................................................................................... 212
System Migration Scenarios ..................................................................................................................... 222
Migrating Windows OS to a solid state drive (Migrate OS to SSD) .................................................................................... 222
Migrating system to a new HDD (up to 2.2TB in size) ........................................................................................................ 225
Using 2.2TB+ HDD as internal data storage in Windows XP ............................................................................................... 227
Making system bootable on different hardware (P2P Adjust OS) ...................................................................................... 230
Hard Disk Utilization ................................................................................................................................ 237
Extra Scenarios for WinPE ........................................................................................................................ 239
Adding specific drivers ........................................................................................................................................................ 239
Our company is constantly releasing new versions and updates to its software, that's why
images shown in this manual may be different from what you see on your screen.
Introduction
Paragon Hard Disk Manager™ 12 Business is an integrated set of powerful tools that is specially designed to tackle most
of the problems you might face while using PC. Its functionality covers all aspects of a computer life cycle beginning
from carrying out all the necessary partitioning operations to install the system from scratch and providing its data
reliable protection to secure utilization of an outdated hard disk.
In this manual you will find the answers to many of the technical questions, which might arise while using the program.
What’s New in Hard Disk Manager 12
Support of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.
Support of GPT/uEFI configurations to successfully clone, migrate, or restore a 64-bit Windows configured to
the uEFI-based boot mode; to fix uEFI related boot problems.
Split Partition Wizard helps you separate OS and data or different types of data by splitting one partition to two
different partitions of the same type and file system.
Incremental backup to a sector image is a further way of optimizing the process of disk imaging. Unlike
differentials, it may not only contain data changed since the time of creating a full sector-based archive, but one
of its increments as well, thus allowing to save more time and the backup storage. Introduction of a special
index file that stores backup meta-information minimizes time and resources to create this type of archives.
Better performance for backup operations by employing asynchronous data transfer.
Automatic backup/restore of ACL (Access Control List) for file backups to inherit access permissions for backup
contents when restoring to a different location.
Password protection for file backups to prevent unauthorized access to your personal data.
WinPE traceroute/ping utility to get detailed information on particular routes and measure transit delays of
packets across an Internet Protocol (IP) network.
Convert NTFS <> HFS file systems without reformatting.
Support of the restart-free installation.
Product Components
In order to cope with different tasks, the product contains several components:
Windows based set of utilities is the crucial part of the product. With the help of an easy to use launcher you
may find and run tasks of any complexity in the field of data and system protection, hard disk partitioning and
cloning, etc.
Linux/DOS based recovery environment is a multi-platform bootable media that enables to run utilities under
Linux or PTS DOS, and that way to get access to your hard disk for maintenance or recovery purposes. Both
platforms have their strong sides, for instance Linux can boast support of FireWire (i.e. IEEE1394) or USB
This feature is only available for the Windows installation of the program.
devices. It enables to burn CD/DVD discs. However there can be some difficulties with detecting new hardware.
DOS in its turn has no problems of that kind but is limited in features. The Linux/DOS recovery environment
requires no installation and can be of great help when the system fails to boot. Besides it offers a Windows XP
like environment.
WinPE based recovery environment. Especially for keen followers of Windows, our product offers the option to
prepare a WinPE based bootable media. Unlike the Linux/DOS recovery environment it can boast an excellent
hardware support and the same interface as the Windows version can. However its system requirements are
much tougher.
Features Overview
This chapter dwells upon key benefits and technical highlights of the product.
Features
Let us list some of the features:
User Friendly Fault Minimizing Interface
Graphical representation of the data to gain a better understanding.
A handy Launcher to easily find and run the required tasks.
Comprehensive wizards to simplify even the most complex operations.
Resize partitions directly on the Disk Map with the drag-and-drop technique.
A context sensitive hint system for all functions of the program.
Previewing the resulting layout of hard disks before actually executing operations (so-called virtual
operations).
Backup Facilities
Archive Database to help the user easily manage backup images (get properties, add, delete, mount, etc.).
Available location for backup images:
- Backup to local mounted partitions.
- Backup to local unmounted (without drive letter assigned) partitions.
- Backup to an external mounted storage to provide for a higher level of data protection and system
independence.
- Backup to a special secured place on the hard disk called the Backup Capsule that has an independent system
layout (e.g. a separate partition) and will stay operable should the active file system be damaged. To avoid an
accidental removing or unauthorized access of the backup data, this partition is hidden and thus cannot be
mounted in the operating system.
- Backup to external media (CD/DVD) to guarantee a high level of data protection as long as the backup media is
kept secure.
This feature is only available for the Windows installation of the program.
- Backup to a network drive to stand a better chance of success in case of a hard disk failure.
- Backup to an FTP/SFTP server to provide a new level of system and data protection.
Smart Backup Wizard to secure system and data with the minimal efforts possible. With a unique intelligent
work algorithm and a highly intuitive user interface, you can easily back up exactly what you need - the whole
system, e-mail databases (MS Outlook, Express, Windows Mail) media files or office documents of the My
Documents folder, or any other files and folders.
Differential backup to a sector image to only archive changes since the last full sector-based image, thus
considerably saving the backup storage space. To restore this kind of backup you will require a full image and
one of its differentials.
Incremental backup to a sector image is a further way of optimizing the process of disk imaging. Unlike
differentials, it may not only contain data changed since the time of creating a full sector-based archive, but one
of its increments as well, thus allowing to save more time and the backup storage. Introduction of a special
index file that stores backup meta-information minimizes time and resources to create this type of archives.
Incremental backup to a file image to only archive changes since the last full or incremental file-based image.
An incremental image is smaller and takes less time to create, but you will require the initial full image and all of
its incrementals to restore the latest point of this kind of backup.
File backup to a sector image. It is a unique technology on the market so far that bridges two principally
different approaches of the data backup: the file-based backup and the disk imaging backup. With its help you
can now create a sector-based backup of your system to get it back on track in minutes in case of a virus attack
or a hardware malfunction and then just make file-based incremental images to the previously created sectorbased backup to keep updated only information that is critical for you. Thus you will considerably save your
system resources.
Cyclic backup to automate the backup of separate partitions. It is an ideal option if you want to establish a self-
acting data protection system.
Synthetic backup to change any property (merge a given differential image with its full image, split/un-split,
compress/de-compress, etc.) of an existing backup image without carrying out a physical backup operation.
Bootable Backup Capsule to get the choice to launch the Linux or PTS DOS recovery environment every time
you start up the computer. With its help you will be able to run utilities under Linux or PTS DOS, and that way to
get access to your hard disk for maintenance or recovery purposes.
Restore Facilities
Restore an entire disk, separate partitions or only files you need from the previously created backup image.
Restore with Shrink to restore a backup image to a free block of smaller size taking into account only the
amount of actual data of the image.
Adaptive Restore to successfully migrate a Windows physical system to a different hardware platform (P2P) by
allowing automatic injection of all required drivers and the other actions crucial for a migration of this kind.
This feature is only available for the bootable recovery environment.
Copy functionality can also be used as an alternative way of data protection.
Copy Facilities
Migrate OS to SSD to move any Windows OS since XP from a regular hard disk to a fast SSD (Solid State Drive)
even of a smaller capacity, thanks to advanced data exclusion capabilities.
Partition/hard disk copy to successfully transfer all on-disk information including standard bootstrap code and
other system service structures, thus maintaining the operating system’s working capability.
Boot Management Facilities
Boot Manager Setup Wizard to easily manage several operating systems on one computer.
Partition/Hard Disk Management Facilities
Basic functions for initializing, partitioning and formatting hard disks (create, format, delete). Instead of the
standard Windows disk tools, the program supports all popular file systems.
Express Create Partition Wizard to create a new partition in the most appropriate place of a hard disk, format it
to NTFS and then make it available in the system by assigning a drive letter.
Split Partition Wizard helps you separate OS and data or different types of data by splitting one partition to two
different partitions of the same type and file system.
Merge Partitions Wizard to consolidate the disk space, which originally belongs to two adjacent partitions
(NTFS, FAT16/FAT32), into a single, larger partition.
Redistribute Free Space Wizard to increase free space on one partition by up-taking the on-disk unallocated
space and the unused space of other partitions.
Express Resize Partitions Wizard to increase free space on one partition by up-taking the unused space of an
adjacent partition of a hard disk (including partitions of Apple Boot Camp).
NTFS hot resize upward to enlarge an NTFS partition (system, locked) without rebooting Windows and
interrupting its work.
Convert a file system (FAT16/32, NTFS, Apple HFS) without reformatting.
Mount a partition (assign a drive letter) of any file system type to make it available for your operating system.
Modify file system parameters (make active/inactive, hide/unhide, etc.).
Install New OS Wizard to make a system ready to install a new operating system.
Undelete Partitions Wizard to recover an accidentally deleted partition.
File System Optimization Facilities
MFT defragmentation and shrinking to improve performance of NTFS.
Scheduling is only available for the Windows installation of the program.
Boot Corrector is only available for the bootable recovery environment.
Wipe Facilities
Data wiping to successfully destroy all on-disk information including the standard bootstrap code and other
system service structures.
Free space clearing to destroy any remnants of deleted files/directories left on disk without affecting the used
data.
Automatization Facilities
Task scheduling to automate routine operations. It can be particularly effective when you have to repeat a
sequence of actions on a regular basis.
Auxiliary Facilities
GPT Loader is a special system driver to allow use of all space of modern ultra high capacity drives (larger than
2.2TB) on systems that don't support it.
Conversion of basic MBR disks to basic GPT to enjoy all benefits of the newest partitioning scheme with
minimal effort.
File Transfer Wizard to make such operations as transferring of files/directories or burning of them to CD/DVD
as easy and convenient as possible. Providing access to Paragon backups as regular folders, it may also help to
replace corrupted data from a previously created image in case of an operating system failure.
Volume Explorer is a handy tool when you have different file systems on the disk, whether they contain an
operating system or just data. Volume Explorer will let you explore a file system of any type and provide access
to the necessary files and directories regardless of their security attributes.
Recovery Media Builder to create a bootable recovery media on a CD, DVD disc, or flash memory, which can
later be used to boot and recover your computer in case of an operating system failure. Moreover, with its help
you can save data from partitions of your hard disk directly to compact discs or burn ISO-images. The utility
supports various formats of laser discs: CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R, DVD+R double layer, Blu-ray
and can handle multi-session burning.
Network Configuration Wizard to establish a network connection on a bootable recovery media either to save a
backup of a partition/hard disk or just several files on a network computer or retrieve a previously made backup
from a network computer for recovery purposes.
Boot Corrector to fix most of the system boot problems that can be a result of a human factor, program error or
To know more on the subject, please consult the Data Security Standards section.
British HMG Infosec Standard No.5
German VSItR Standard
Australian ASCI 33
Russian GOST R 50739-95
Peter Gutmann's algorithm
Bruce Schneier's algorithm
Paragon's algorithm
Custom algorithm
13
Supported Technologies
Along with using innovative technologies from outside, Paragon has developed a number of its own original
technologies that make its products unique and attractive for customers:
Paragon Hot Backup™ technology to back up locked partitions and hard disks under Windows NT+ family
operating systems providing both high operating efficiency as well as low hardware requirements.
Paragon Hot Copy™ technology to copy locked partitions and hard disks under Windows NT+ family operating
systems providing both high operating efficiency as well as low hardware requirements.
Paragon Adaptive Restore™ technology to successfully migrate a Windows physical system to a different
hardware platform (P2P).
Paragon Power Shield™ technology to provide data consistency in case of a hardware malfunction, power
outages or an operating system failure.
Paragon UFSD™ technology to browse partitions of any file system including hidden and unmounted, modify
and copy files and folders, etc.
Paragon Hot Resize™ technology to enlarge NTFS partitions (system, locked) without rebooting Windows and
interrupting its work.
Paragon Restore with Shrink™ technology to restore a backup image to a free block of smaller size taking into
account only the amount of actual data of the image.
Paragon Smart Partition™ technology to securely perform hard disk partitioning operations of any complexity.
Paragon BTE™ technology to set tasks for execution during the system restart, thus saving from the need to use
a bootable media when modifying system partitions.
Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to provide the copy/backup infrastructure for the Microsoft
Windows XP/Vista/7/Server 2003/2008 operating systems. It offers a reliable mechanism to create consistent
point-in-time copies of data known as shadow copies. Developed by Microsoft in close cooperation with the
leading copy/backup solution vendors on the market, it is based on a snapshot technology concept.
Unfortunately, support of non-Roman characters for the HFS+ file system is unavailable at
the moment. The company is about to implement it in the nearest future.
Microsoft Dynamic Disk (simple, spanned, striped, mirrored, RAID-5) to offer more management flexibility
without the partition limitation of basic disks. Dynamic storage can be particularly beneficial for large-scale
businesses when dealing with many physical hard disks involving complex setup.
GUID Partition Table (GPT). It is the next generation of a hard disk partitioning scheme developed to lift
restrictions of the old MBR. GPT disks are now supported by Windows Vista/7, Server 2008, Mac OS X and Linux.
Supported File Systems
Full read/write access to FAT16/FAT32 partitions.
Full read/write access to NTFS (Basic Disks) under Windows, Linux and PTS DOS. Compressed NTFS files are also
supported.
Full read/write access to Ext2FS/Ext3FS/Ext4FS partitions.
Limited read/write access to Apple HFS+ partitions.
Supported Media
Support of both MBR and GPT hard disks (2.2TB+ disks included)
IDE, SCSI and SATA hard disks
SSD (Solid State Drive)
AFD (Advanced Format Drive)
Non-512B sector size drives
CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD+R double layer and also Blu-ray discs
FireWire (i.e. IEEE1394), USB 1.0, USB 2.0, USB 3.0 hard disks
PC card storage devices (MBR and GPT flash memory, etc.)
Getting Started
In this chapter you will find all the information necessary to get the product ready to use.
During the installation additional free space (up to 1GB) will be required.
- Windows Server 2008 (32 and 64 bit)
- Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit)
- Windows 8 (32 and 64 bit)
- Windows Server 2008 R2 (64 bit only)
- Windows Small Business Server 2011
- Windows Server 2012
Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher
Intel Pentium CPU or its equivalent, with 300 MHz processor clock speed
128 MB of RAM (256+ recommended)
Hard disk drive with 250 MB of available space
SVGA video adapter and monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
For the Linux bootable environment
Intel Pentium CPU or its equivalent, with 300 MHz processor clock speed
256 MB of RAM
SVGA video adapter and monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
For the WinPE bootable environment
Intel Pentium III CPU or its equivalent, with 1000 MHz processor clock speed
At least 512 MB of RAM
SVGA video adapter and monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
Additional requirements
Network card to send/retrieve data to/from a network computer
Recordable CD/DVD drive to burn data to compact discs
External USB hard drive to store data.
In case there is some previous version of the program installed on the computer, the
program will offer the user to uninstall it first.
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.
Installation
To install Paragon Hard Disk Manager 12, please do the following:
1. Run Setup Application. Click on the *.MSI file. This application will guide you 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.
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 select the appropriate option to accept. If you do not agree with any conditions stated
there, the installation process will be interrupted. By clicking the Print button, the License Agreement may also
be printed out.
4. Provide Registration Information. On the Registration page you are to provide your product key and serial
number.
5. Provide Customer Information. On the Customer Information page you are to provide the standard
information, i.e. a user name and an organization. Besides you need to decide whether to make the program
available for all users of this computer (if several) or only for the current one.
6. Select an Installation Folder. The Destination Folder page allows you to choose a folder where the program will
be installed. By default, the installation folder will be created as:
C:\Program Files\Paragon\Paragon Hard Disk Manager 12. To select another folder, click the Change… button.
After you have selected the required folder, click the Next button to continue.
7. Confirm Installation. On the Ready to Install the Program page click the Install button to start the installation or
the Back button to return to any of the previous pages and modify the installation settings.
8. Copying Files. The Copying Files page shows the overall progress of the installation. Click the Cancel button to
abort the setup.
9. Finishing the Installation. The Final page reports the end of the setup process. Click the Finish button to
complete the wizard.
First Start
To start Paragon Hard Disk Manager 12 under Windows, please click the Windows Start button and then select
Programs > Paragon Hard Disk Manager™ 12 > Paragon Hard Disk Manager™.
The program provides wide opportunities in the field of hard disk structure modification, so
just to be on the safe side, please make a backup of your data before carrying out any
operation.
To know more on how to handle the product’s interface and accomplish typical operations,
please consult the Windows Components chapter.
The first component that will be displayed is called the Express Launcher. Thanks to a well thought-out categorization
and hint system, it provides quick and easy access to wizards and utilities that we consider worth using on a regular
basis. With its help you can also start up the traditional launcher, the help system or go to the program’s home page.
Building Recovery Media
Recovery Media Builder can help you accomplish the following operations:
Prepare the Linux/DOS recovery environment (included in the installation package) on external media (CD, DVD,
or flash memory) to boot and run utilities under Linux or PTS DOS, and that way to get access to your hard disk
for maintenance or recovery purposes (strongly recommended);
Prepare a custom Linux/DOS recovery environment by adding any data you like to the standard image;
Prepare a bootable recovery environment from any ISO image;
Create from the master CD the Linux/DOS recovery environment on a CD/DVD disc, or flash memory.
Recovery Media Builder can help you prepare our recovery environment either on a
CD/DVD disc or a thumb drive.
To automatically boot from the recovery media please make sure the on-board BIOS is set
up to boot from CD/USB first.
By default the Normal Mode will be automatically initiated after a 10 second idle period.
Booting from the Linux/DOS Recovery Media
The Linux/DOS recovery environment can be used to boot your computer into Linux or PTS DOS to get access to your
hard disk for maintenance or recovery purposes. It also has the PTS DOS safe mode, which may help in a number of nonstandard situations such as interfering hardware settings or serious problems on the hardware level. In this case, only
basic files and drivers (such as hard disk drivers, a monitor driver, and a keyboard driver) will be loaded.
Startup
To start working with the Linux/DOS recovery environment, please take the following steps:
1. Start up the computer from our Linux/DOS recovery media.
2. Launch a boot mode you need (Normal, Safe, Low-Graphics Safe) in the Boot menu.
3. Click on the required operation to start. Hints on the selected at the moment item will help you make the right
choice.
4. Consult the help system by pressing ALT+F1 to know more on the subject.
Boot menu
The Boot menu contains the following commands:
Normal Mode. Boot into the Linux normal mode. This mode uses the full set of drivers (recommended);
Safe Mode. Boot into the PTS DOS mode. This mode can be used as an alternative of the Linux normal mode if it
fails to work properly;
Low-Graphics Safe Mode. Boot into the PTS DOS safe mode. In this case, only the minimal set of drivers will be
included, like hard disk, monitor, and keyboard drivers. This mode has simple graphics and a simple menu;
Floppy Disk. Reboot the computer from a system floppy disk;
Hard Disk 0. Boot from the primary hard disk;
While working with the recovery environment you might experience some inconvenience
caused by possible video artifacts. It is just a result of changing video modes and in no way
will affect the program functionality. If this is the case, please wait a bit and everything will
be OK.
Find OS(s) on your hard disks. The program will scan hard disks of your computer to find any bootable operating
system.
To move within the menu, please use the arrow keys of the computer keyboard.
Normal Mode
When the Normal mode is selected, the Linux launch menu appears:
Hard Disk Manager (enables to run wizards and dialogs, to specify program settings, to visualize the operating
environment and the hard disk configuration);
Simple Restore Wizard (allows restoring hard disks and partitions);
Disk Copy Wizard (helps to clone a hard disk);
Undelete Partition (allows recovery of accidentally deleted partitions);
Wipe Wizard (enables to destroy all on-disk information or only remnants of deleted files/directories);
Express Resize Wizard (enables to increase free space on one partition by up-taking the unused space of an
adjacent partition);
File Transfer Wizard (allows coping files/folders to another disk or a partition as well as recording them to
CD/DVD);
Boot Corrector (helps to correct the Windows System Registry without Windows being loaded);
Network Configurator (enables to establish a network connection under Linux);
If you are going to use network resources, first launch the Network Configuration Wizard to
establish a network connection.
The Linux/DOS recovery environment assigns drive letters to partitions the way it is done in
DOS, i.e. one after another, primary partitions at first. Thus mounted partitions may have
different drive letters from Windows.
Log Saver (helps to collect and send the necessary log files to the Technical Support);
View the mounted partitions (the list of all mounted partitions will be displayed);
Eject CD/DVD;
Command Line (allows experienced users to execute any operation);
Reboot the computer;
Power off the computer.
To move within the menu, please use the arrow keys of the computer keyboard.
Safe Mode
When the Safe mode is selected, the PTS DOS launch menu appears. It has nearly the same functionality as for the
Normal mode except for the Network Configurator and Log Saver commands. Besides due to certain limitations of the
PTS DOS environment, there is no possibility to burn CD/DVD discs.
Low Graphics Safe Mode
When the Low Graphics mode is selected, the PTS DOS launch menu appears. It has the same functionality and looks
similar to the Safe mode but graphically simpler.
Booting from the WinPE Recovery Media
The WinPE recovery environment can be a real alternative to the Linux/DOS recovery environment. Providing nearly the
same level of functionality it offers an excellent hardware support and the same interface as the Windows version does.
Startup
To start working with the WinPE recovery environment, please take the following steps:
1. Start up the computer from the WinPE recovery media.
Please use Boot Media Builder to prepare the WinPE recovery environment, which you can
get here: www.paragon-software.com/my-account/.
To automatically boot from the recovery media please make sure the on-board BIOS is set
up to boot from CD/USB first.
The WinPE based recovery environment offers excellent hardware support. However in
case it doesn’t have a driver for your disk controller, your hard disks will be unavailable.
Please consult the Adding specific drivers scenario to know how to tackle this issue.
2. Once it has been loaded, you will see the Universal Application Launcher. In general it enables to run
components of the product, load drivers for undefined hardware or establish a network connection.
3. Click on the required operation to start. Hints on the selected at the moment item will help you make the right
choice.
4. Consult the help system by pressing ALT+F1 to know more on the subject.
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.
It does not dependent on a particular file system.
Thus it can successfully process system or
encrypted partitions of any file system type, no
matter what kind of information they contain.
Functioning on a file/folder level, it is ideal for
archiving separate files or folders.
It can create an exact image of a partition,
including its service data. Thus it is ideal for a
backup/restore of a system partition or a fast
deployment to a bunch of identical computers.
It enables to automatically build up contents of
the future backup image by using an advanced
system of filters.
It allows archiving data of the same volume with
different backup policies.
It is easy and efficient when creating backup
chains.
Demerits
Resulted backup images may contain a lot of
redundant data.
It depends on a file system structure, so you
won’t be able to process unknown file systems.
It is ineffective when trying to maintain a backup
chain, especially when little amount of data is
being changed.
It cannot be used to back up a system partition.
It is much slower when processing large amount
of data.
System and Data Protection
The data protection issue is a growing cause of worrying for more and more people today. Indeed, it is hardly to find a
person who will be particularly happy when all precious information on the hard disk is irreversible lost as a result of its
malfunction. So how this tragedy can be prevented?
File Backup versus Sector Backup
Since the advent of the computer age people were in the search of ways to guarantee data safety. As a result we’ve got
now two principal approaches: the file-based backup and the sector-based backup. The main difference between the
two lies in the way data is treated.
A sector-based backup operates with an image (or a snapshot) of the whole disk system or its separate partitions. It not
only includes the contents of all user-made files, but additionally contains the exact structure of directories, information
about file allocation, file attributes and other related data. Thus it enables to successfully process system or encrypted
partitions of any file system type, no matter what kind of information they contain.
In contrast, a file-based backup takes into account a file system structure and only functions on a file or folder level. So
it is very efficient when archiving separate files or folders, but in no way will help you back up a system partition.
You should understand pretty well that each of the two approaches is only good when properly chosen. In the
comparison table below you can see when this or that approach will suit you at most.
This function is only available for single primary and logical partitions.
Backup Types
At the present moment the market is offering various types of backup imaging to meet the needs of any user. Besides
supporting them all, our program offers a unique backup type, called File Increment to a Sector Backup.
Full, Differential, and Incremental Sector Backups
A full sector-based backup image includes all contents of a partition or a hard disk at the moment of its creation. If you
roll back your system to the initial state on a regular basis, that’s exactly what you’re looking for. But if you want to have
multiple backup archives of the same partition reflecting certain time stamps, unchanged data will inevitable be
duplicated in all archives and take additional space on backup media. To tackle this issue there has been developed a
supplementary technique called Differential Sector Backup.
A differential archive only contains data changed since the time of creating a full archive, which forms a base (or a
parental image) in this case, thus considerably saving your system resources. It is realized by the exact bit-wise
comparison of the previous partition's data (saved in the parental image) with the current data (that is actually the
partition itself). To restore this kind of backup you will require a full image and one of its differentials, what is very
convenient.
Incremental archive is a further way of optimizing the process of disk imaging. Unlike differentials, it may not only
contain data changed since the time of creating a full sector-based archive, but one of its increments as well, thus
allowing to save more time and the backup storage. The main principal here is the shorter the interval between
increments, the less data is backed up. In general this type of backup is great except for one thing – when you restore an
incremental archive there will be processed the initial full image and all increments between, which depending on the
size of your backup chain, may take plenty of time. Anyway unlike backups, the restore operation is an emergency,
which might not happen at all.
Paragon’s incremental sector-based archive employs an innovative technology that significantly improves the backup
performance. Its core is in introduction of a special index file (.pfi) that keeps meta-information on the corresponding
incremental image. It’s much smaller than the image itself and is used to calculate the difference between the current
and previous state of a backup object. Thus, when you’re going to do an increment to a full archive of your system
partition stored on the network, only its index file is processed over the net (a couple of megabytes at most), not the
entire image, which minimizes both, the network traffic and backup time. Another new thing is change of a backup
format – all increments are saved in .vhd (Virtual Hard Drive) containers.
Please note that the current version of the product has a number of limitations regarding sector-based increments:
Increments can only be created for full archives of the new type (with a .pfi index file). Any of our flagship
products since Hard Disk Manager 12 supports this functionality;
Increments can only be created for full archives stored on a local mounted drive or a network share;
Increments cannot be created for archives of entire GPT disks;
Increments can only be restored under Windows (if no restart is needed) or WinPE;
Increments cannot be processed with the Synthetic Backup Wizard;
Increments cannot be processed with the Check Archive Integrity Wizard;
Increments cannot be processed with the Create File Complement Wizard;
Increments cannot be browsed in Volume Explorer;
Increments can only be used with our software;
Increments cannot be compressed;
Increments cannot be encrypted;
Increments cannot be splitted.
Full and Incremental File Backups
A full file-based archive only contains files and folders. It is really efficient when backing up an e-mail database or
particular documents, as no redundant data is processed. But if you care about maintaining a files history, you can
benefit from one more supplementary technique called Incremental File Backup.
An incremental archive only contains data changed since the time of creating a full or incremental file-based archive. It
is smaller and takes less time to create, but you will require the initial full image and all of its increments to restore the
latest point of this kind of backup.
File Increment to a Sector Backup is a unique technology on the market so far that bridges two principally different
approaches of the data backup: the file-based backup and the sector-based backup. With its help you can now create a
sector-based backup of your system to get it back on track in minutes in case of a virus attack or a hardware malfunction
and then just make file-based incremental images to the previously created sector-based backup to keep updated only
information that is critical for you. Thus you will considerably save your system resources.
Backup Storage
Our program supports several techniques of storing backup images. Let’s take a closer look at them all to understand
what kind of storage is able to provide better security:
You can place a backup image to a local partition. Despite the fact that it is the most convenient way, try not to
use it. You can delete your backup just by accident or lose it as a result of a hardware malfunction, or a virus
attack;
You can place a backup image to an external mounted storage to provide for a higher level of data protection
and system independence;
You can place a backup image to a special secured place on the hard disk called the Backup Capsule that has an
independent system layout (e.g. a separate partition) and will stay operable should the active file system be
damaged. To avoid an accidental removing or unauthorized access of the backup data, this partition is hidden
and thus cannot be mounted in the operating system. However it won’t help you in case of a hardware
malfunction;
You can place a backup image to external media (CD/DVD) to guarantee a high level of data protection as long
as the backup media is kept secure;
You can place a backup image to a network drive to stand a better chance of success in case of a hard disk
failure. Moreover, by storing it on a special-purpose server you may be pretty sure nothing will happen to it;
Finally you can place a backup image to an FTP server to provide a new level of system and data protection.
Known Issues on FTP/SFTP
1. You need to check out yourself Windows Firewall or programs of this kind let our program work with the
required port (21 by default).
2. You cannot restore data selectively (with Restore Wizard) from an FTP/SFTP server.
3. You can browse an FTP server in the passive mode only.
4. Parallel access to several FTP/SFTP servers is limited - only one password for all servers is available.
Adaptive Restore
Technology Background
Windows family operating systems are notorious for their excessive sensibility to hardware, especially when it turns to
replacement of such a crucial device as HDD controller or motherboard – actually Windows will most likely fail to boot
as a result of this operation.
In 2008 our company came with an exclusive technology called Paragon Adaptive Restore™. Initially aimed at restore of
Windows Vista or Server 2008 from a backup to a different hardware configuration, its current realization, available in
the P2P Adjust OS Wizard, enables to make any Windows OS since XP bootable on dissimilar hardware by allowing
automatic injection of all required drivers and the other actions crucial for this type of migration.
Technology Concept
Let’s take a closer look at how Paragon Adaptive Restore works.
As you see, successful migration of a Windows system to a different hardware platform involves several actions:
1. Change of the Windows kernel settings according to the new configuration. The program detects the given
hardware profile and automatically installs the appropriate Windows HAL and kernel.
2. Installation of drivers for boot critical devices. The program detects those without drivers and automatically
tries to install lacking drivers from the built-in Windows repository. If there’s no driver in the repository, it
prompts the user to set a path to an additional driver repository, strongly recommending not to proceed until all
drivers for the found boot critical devices are installed. In case drivers for these devices are installed, but
disabled, they will be enabled.
3. Installation of drivers for a PS/2 mouse and keyboard. This action will only be accomplished for Windows
Though all Windows systems have built-in driver repositories, please be prepared to have
additional drivers when dealing with Windows XP/Server 2003, because for these systems
they are very modest.
4. Installation of drivers for network cards. The program detects those without drivers and automatically tries to
install lacking drivers from the built-in Windows repository. If there’s no driver in the repository, it prompts the
user to set a path to an additional driver repository.
These actions guarantee a Windows system will start up on dissimilar hardware. After the startup, Windows will initiate
reconfiguration of all Plug'n'Play devices. It’s a standard procedure, so please don’t worry and prepare the latest drivers
at this step to get the most out of the system.
Technology Application
Let’s consider a number of situations when the Adaptive Restore technology can help you out:
If you need to migrate to a different hardware platform with minimal effort
If you need to upgrade hardware while keeping all programs and settings intact
If you need to replace failed hardware and cannot find an exact match for original system specifications
Known Issues
1. After transferring Microsoft Vista and later versions to different hardware, you will need to re-activate license of
the system. It’s normal behavior as these systems keep tracking any change of hardware. Re-activation is legally
justified in this case, as you transfer your system to another PC.
2. If you’ve installed several operating systems on one partition, we can only add drivers to the latest version of
OS. Microsoft highly recommends that you install an operating system on a separate partition.
3. Please note drivers are not cached during selection. That’s why if you select a driver to add to the system, but
it’s already unavailable during the operation, the program will end the operation with an error.
Paragon Hot Processing & Volume Shadow Copy Service
Offline versus Online Data Processing
In the course of time there have been developed various methods of data processing. Despite different work concept,
all of them can be divided into two principal groups: offline (cold) and online (hot) data processing techniques.
As the name infers, offline data processing can only be accomplished when the data is in consistent state (the operating
system and all the applications are completely shut down). Actually it is the most preferable way of image creation or
data cloning, since software can obtain an exclusive right to process data that guaranties high level of operating
efficiency. However, the offline data processing is absolutely out of question when dealing with 24/7 production
environments.
In contrast, online data processing enables to create a consistent snapshot even as the data is currently modified. It is
particularly useful for systems with high availability requirements, but it won’t be accomplished until all active
transactions are complete. The point is to provide a coherent state of all open files and databases involved in a process,
taking into account that applications may still keep writing to disks. As a result an online data processing cannot boast
high operating speed.
It is not recommended to use Paragon Hot Processing with active SQL Server, Exchange or
Oracle databases since the backup image contents may be corrupted.
To use VSS it is necessary to have a mounted 300 MB+ NTFS partition.
Our program supports both offline and online methods of data processing. As far as online method is concerned it offers
its own hot processing algorithm together with the possibility to use snapshot technologies provided by the Microsoft
VSS framework.
Paragon Hot Processing Technology
Paragon Hot Processing is an online copy/backup technology for Windows NT+ family operating systems. Developed
back in 2001, nowadays it is integrated with all copy/backup solutions offered by the company.
Paragon Hot Processing is not exactly a snapshot technology, though it has much in common with it. During an online
copy/backup, the program uses the kernel mode driver HOTCORE.SYS to intercept and control disk write activity of
applications and the operating system. The hotcore driver as an integral part of the program is installed during the setup
procedure (that’s why the system reboot is required to complete the setup procedure). For the most part the driver is in
the idle mode until it is activated with the program. While in this mode it bypasses any calls having no effect on the
overall system performance, but a few kilobytes of the system memory.
Paragon Hot Processing technology offers copy/backup of locked partitions and hard disks under Windows NT+ family
operating systems providing both high operating efficiency as well as low hardware requirements.
Volume Shadow Copy Service
Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is designed to provide the copy/backup infrastructure for the Microsoft
Windows XP/Vista/Server 2003/2008 operating systems. It offers a reliable mechanism to create consistent point-intime copies of data known as shadow copies. Developed by Microsoft in close cooperation with the leading
copy/backup solution vendors on the market, it is based on a snapshot technology concept.
Initiated by a VSS aware copy/backup utility, VSS creates snapshots for the selected volumes and represents them as
virtual read-only devices, called volume shadow copies. Once the shadow copies are created, the copy/backup utility
starts processing the data while applications keep writing to original volumes.
Unlike Paragon Hot Processing the VSS technology provides a unique possibility to make a synchronous snapshot of
multiple volumes. This very feature can be particularly beneficial when backing up active SQL Server 2003, Exchange
2003 or Oracle databases located on multiple volumes the way it is recommended by Microsoft to improve the level of
database performance and reliability, thus providing 100-percent data consistency.
Dynamic Disks
As you probably know, MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista/Server 2003/2008 support four
primary partitions per physical hard disk, one of which can be extended. Certainly there is the possibility to create
logical drives within the extended partition. Such types of disks are called basic. Windows XP Professional, Windows
2000, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003/2008 follow the same strategy: You can have a maximum of four
primary partitions, one of which can be an extended partition with logical drives. However, these operating systems also
introduce a new disk configuration type - dynamic disk - which must be understood to effectively configure and manage
hard disks.
Dynamic disk is a physical disk that doesn't use partitions or logical drives. Instead, it contains only dynamic volumes.
Regardless of what format you use for the file system, only Win2K computers can access dynamic volumes directly.
However, computers that aren't running Win2K can access the dynamic volumes remotely when connected to the
shared folders over the network.
Dynamic disks can co-exist on a system with basic disks. The only limitation is that you cannot mix Basic and Dynamic
disks on the same hard drive.
There are five types of dynamic volumes: simple (uses free space from a single disk), spanned (created from free disk
space that is linked together from multiple disks), striped (a volume the data of which is interleaved across two or more
physical disks), mirrored (a fault-tolerant volume the data of which is duplicated on two physical disks, and RAID-5
volumes (a fault-tolerant volume the data of which is striped across an array of three or more disks).
With dynamic storage, you can perform disk and volume management without the need to restart Windows.
Limitations:
Dynamic disks are not supported on portable computers.
Dynamic disks are not supported on Windows XP Home Edition-based computers.
You cannot create mirrored volumes or RAID-5 volumes on Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP
Professional, or Windows XP 64-Bit Edition-based computers.
Thus, the dynamic disk is a new way of looking at hard disk configuration. Dynamic disks offer you more management
flexibility without the partition limitation of basic disks. Dynamic disks can contain an unlimited number of volumes, but
they cannot contain partitions or logical drives. Dynamic storage can be particularly beneficial for large-scale businesses
when dealing with many physical hard disks involving complex setup.
GPT versus MBR
GUID Partition Table (GPT) is the next generation of a hard disk partitioning scheme developed to lift restrictions of the
old MBR. Being a part of the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) standard proposed by Intel to replace the outdated PC
BIOS, it offers a number of crucial benefits:
Up to 128 primary partitions for the Windows implementation (only 4 in MBR);
The maximum allowed partition size is 18 exabytes (only 2 terabytes in MBR);
More reliable thanks to replication and cyclic redundancy check (CRC) protection of the partition table;
A well defined and fully self-identifying partition format (data critical to the platform operation is located in
partitions, but not in un-partitioned or hidden sectors as this is the case with MBR)
uEFI Boot Challenges
Introduced back in 2005 by Intel to lift restrictions of the old MBR (Master Boot Record) and PC BIOS (Basic
Input/Output System), uEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is now a recommended platform for new 64-bit
Windows 8 computers. And the reason is easy to catch – besides other unique features impossible for the traditional
tandem of BIOS+MBR, only a uEFI-based platform enables to accommodate Windows OS on a partition larger than
2.2TB.
Despite all uEFI advantages however, it has one quite naughty issue: A pretty standard operation with a bootable device
for instance involving its connection to another SATA port results in unbootable Windows. You’ll get the same result if