Paragon Partition Manager - 10 Personal Instruction Manual

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PARAGON Technologie GmbH, Systemprogrammierung

Heinrich-von-Stephan-Str. 5c  79100 Freiburg, Germany

Tel. +49 (0) 761 59018201  Fax +49 (0) 761 59018130

Internet www.paragon-software.com  E-mail sales@paragon-software.com

PARTITION MANAGER™ 10 PERSONAL

USER MANUAL

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CONTENTS

Introduction ..................................................................................................................7

What’s New in Partition Manager 10 ................................................................................................ 7

Product Components ..................................................................................................8

Features Overview .......................................................................................................8

Key Features....................................................................................................................................... 8

User Friendly Fault Minimizing Interface............................................................................................................... 8

Backup Facilities ...................................................................................................................................................... 8

Restore Facilities ...................................................................................................................................................... 9

Copy Facilities .......................................................................................................................................................... 9

Boot Management Facilities ................................................................................................................................. 9

Partition/Hard Disk Management Facilities......................................................................................................... 9

File System Optimization Facilities....................................................................................................................... 10

Auxiliary Facilities ................................................................................................................................................... 10

Supported Technologies ................................................................................................................. 10

Supported File Systems.................................................................................................................... 11

Supported Media ............................................................................................................................. 11

Getting Started ...........................................................................................................12

Distribution ........................................................................................................................................ 12

Distributive CD........................................................................................................................................................ 12

Online Distribution .................................................................................................................................................12

Registration............................................................................................................................................................. 12

How to Download Updates/Upgrades .............................................................................................................13

Contacting Paragon Technology GmbH....................................................................................... 13

System Requirements ...................................................................................................................... 14

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Windows based set of utilities.............................................................................................................................. 14

Linux/DOS based Recovery CD.......................................................................................................................... 14

Installing the Program under Windows .......................................................................................... 15

Starting the Program under Windows............................................................................................. 16

Booting from the Linux/DOS Recovery CD .................................................................................... 17

Startup Procedure................................................................................................................................................. 17

Boot Menu .............................................................................................................................................................. 18

Basic Concepts ..........................................................................................................20

System and Data Protection ........................................................................................................... 20

File Backup versus Sector Backup ...................................................................................................................... 20

Backup Storage..................................................................................................................................................... 21

Paragon Hot Processing & Volume Shadow Copy Service ......................................................... 22

Offline versus Online Data Processing ............................................................................................................... 22

Paragon Hot Processing Technology................................................................................................................. 22

Volume Shadow Copy Service ........................................................................................................................... 22

GPT versus MBR ................................................................................................................................ 23

Apple Boot Camp ............................................................................................................................ 23

64-bit Support ................................................................................................................................... 23

Copy Operations ............................................................................................................................. 24

Drive Partitioning .............................................................................................................................. 24

Windows Components ..............................................................................................25

Interface Overview .......................................................................................................................... 25

General Layout...................................................................................................................................................... 25

Main Menu ............................................................................................................................................................. 27

Tool Bar .................................................................................................................................................................... 30

Virtual Operations Bar .......................................................................................................................................... 31

Common Tasks Bar ................................................................................................................................................ 32

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Disk Map ................................................................................................................................................................. 33

Explorer Bar............................................................................................................................................................. 34

Partition List ............................................................................................................................................................. 36

Legend Bar ............................................................................................................................................................. 38

Status Bar ................................................................................................................................................................ 38

Settings Overview ............................................................................................................................38

General Options .................................................................................................................................................... 38

General Copy and Backup Options.................................................................................................................. 39

Hot Processing Options ........................................................................................................................................ 40

Partitioning Options............................................................................................................................................... 41

Virtual Mode Options............................................................................................................................................ 42

File System Conversion Options .......................................................................................................................... 43

E-Mail Options ........................................................................................................................................................ 45

Defragmentation Options ................................................................................................................................... 45

Viewing Disk Properties ................................................................................................................... 46

Data Backup and Rescue ............................................................................................................... 48

Creating Backup Images..................................................................................................................................... 48

Building Recovery Media ..................................................................................................................................... 49

Copy Tasks ....................................................................................................................................... 51

Cloning Hard Disks................................................................................................................................................. 51

Cloning Partitions................................................................................................................................................... 53

Boot Management........................................................................................................................... 55

Partition Management..................................................................................................................... 56

Basic Partitioning Operations .............................................................................................................................. 56

Advanced Partitioning Operations.................................................................................................................... 67

Changing Partition Attributes.............................................................................................................................. 79

Hard Disk Management .................................................................................................................. 81

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Updating MBR ........................................................................................................................................................ 81

Extra Functionality............................................................................................................................ 82

View Partition/Hard Disk Properties .................................................................................................................... 82

Volume Explorer.....................................................................................................................................................83

Mount Partition ...................................................................................................................................................... 84

Defragment Partition ............................................................................................................................................ 85

Test Surface ............................................................................................................................................................86

Check File System Integrity.................................................................................................................................. 87

Send Log Files......................................................................................................................................................... 87

View Logs................................................................................................................................................................89

Typical Scenarios .......................................................................................................89

Backup Scenarios ............................................................................................................................ 89

Backing up a Hard Disk or Partition to a Network Drive ................................................................................. 90

Recovery Scenarios......................................................................................................................... 91

Fixing MBR after a Boot Virus Attack .................................................................................................................. 91

Fixing Windows Startup Ability............................................................................................................................. 93

Restoring a Dual Boot Mac from an External USB Drive .................................................................................97

Restoring Separate Files and Folders from a Backup ...................................................................................100

Resize Scenarios............................................................................................................................. 102

Creating a New Partition to Detach Operating System from the Rest of Data.......................................102

Increasing Size of a System Partition by Taking Unused Space of an Adjacent Partition ...................... 104

Increasing Size of a System Partition by Taking Unused Space from any Other ...................................... 106

Resizing Partitions of Apple Boot Camp.......................................................................................................... 111

Creating Dual Boot Systems.......................................................................................................... 113

For Windows Computers .................................................................................................................................... 113

For Mac Computers ............................................................................................................................................ 123

System Hard Disk Migration .......................................................................................................... 125

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Hard Disk Optimization.................................................................................................................. 127

Troubleshooter..........................................................................................................129

Glossary ....................................................................................................................131

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INTRODUCTION

Paragon Partition Manager™ 10 Personal is an integrated set of powerful tools that is specially designed to tackle most of the problems the user might face while using PC. A highly intelligent program engine together with built-in advanced recovery facilities make it possible to securely carry out partitioning operations of any complexity, optimize performance of NTFS and FAT file systems, migrate the system to another hard disk, etc. without fear to lose precious data.

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 PARTITION MANAGER 10

 Support of the Windows Installer MSI package. It is the latest engine for the installation, maintenance

and removal of software on Windows-based operating systems. With its help you can now install the product remotely or in the silent mode, make use of powerful deployment capabilities, etc.

 Improved 64-bit support. You don’t need to reboot your computer from the Recovery CD every time an

operation cannot be accomplished under 64-bit Windows any more. The program will automatically reboot to a special mode to complete the operation.

 Support of 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, Server 2008, Mac OS X and Linux.

 Support of the latest Linux kernel. It offers support of a wider range of hardware configurations, including

the brand new Intel ICH9 chipset.

 Express Create Partition Wizard. Create a new partition in the most appropriate place of your hard disk,

format it to NTFS and then make it available in the system by assigning a drive letter.

 Safe Defragmentation Mode. Guarantee data loss free defragmentation of any version of NTFS and FAT.

 Integration of the Linux/DOS recovery media directly to the installation package. You can now burn it

with the Recovery Media Builder any time you want. Besides it will also be used as a bootable part of any bootable backup image created with the program.

 Recovery environment on a USB flash drive. With the help of the Recovery Media Builder you can now

create Linux/DOS bootable media on a USB flash drive that may later be used for maintenance or recovery purposes.

 Support of the Apple Boot Camp Configuration. With the Boot Camp utility Apple Inc. offers a

technology to set up a dual boot system (Mac OS X and Windows XP/Vista) on Intel-based Macs. With the Linux/DOS recovery environment you can now easily backup/restore this kind of configurations as well as redistribute unused space between Mac OS X and Windows partitions.

 Install Windows OS Wizard. Get your Intel-based Mac ready to install Windows either as a sole operating

system with the option to back up your Mac partition, or as a second operating system, thus making a dual-boot system.

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 Express Resize Partitions Wizard. Increase free space on one partition by up-taking the unused space of

an adjacent partition of your hard disk (including partitions of Apple Boot Camp).

 Refined User Interface. Take advantage of an improved two-level user interface to satisfy the needs of

the most demanding customer.

 A context sensitive hint system for all functions of the program. You can now get a detailed description

to any setting, control, or field of the program just by clicking the hint button and then the object you need.

 Support of Blu-ray discs. You can now burn backup images to high capacity Blu-ray discs. A single layer

Blu-ray can store 25 GB, more than five times the capacity of a single layer DVD.

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 CD 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 devices. It enables to burn CD/DVD disks. 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 CD requires no installation and can be of great help when the system fails to boot. Besides it offers a Windows XP like environment.

FEATURES OVERVIEW

This chapter dwells upon key benefits and technical highlights of the product.

KEY FEATURES

Let us list some of the key features:

USER FRIENDLY FAULT MINIMIZING INTERFACE

 Graphical representation of the data to gain a better understanding.

 Two-level user interface to satisfy the needs of the most demanding customer.

 Comprehensive wizards to simplify even the most complex operations.

 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

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 Support of basic techniques to store backup images:

- Backup to local mounted partitions;

- Backup to a network drive to stand a better chance of success in case of a hard disk failure.

Sector backup to save not only all on-disk information but also the system service structures. It is ideal for



making a backup image of an entire hard disk or system partitions to guarantee the operating system’s working capability.

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.

COPY FACILITIES

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.

Copy functionality can also be used as an alternative way of data protection.

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 your hard



disk, format it to NTFS and then make it available in the system by assigning a drive letter.

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 your 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, Ext2/Ext3) without reformatting. 

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 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, volume label, etc.).

 Install New OS Wizard to make your system ready to install a new operating system.

 Install Windows OS Wizard to get your Intel-based Mac ready to install Windows either as a sole

operating system with the option to back up your Mac partition, or as a second operating system, thus making a dual-boot system.

 Undelete Partitions Wizard to recover an accidentally deleted partition.

FILE SYSTEM OPTIMIZATION FACILITIES

 27 defragmentation strategies available to defragment FAT and NTFS file systems.

 Safe Defragmentation Mode to guarantee data loss free defragmentation of any version of NTFS and

FAT.

 Low free space defragmentation (less than 1% of the free space required) to successfully defragment

almost full disks.

AUXILIARY FACILITIES

 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 Linux/DOS bootable media, 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 under Linux 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.

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 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.

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 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 in the Windows blue screen mode, 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.

 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

Paragon Partition Manager 10 provides support of major file systems presented on the market today:

 Full read/write access to FAT16/FAT32 partitions.

 Full read/write access to NTFS (Basic and all five types of Dynamic Disks) under Windows 95/98/ME, Linux

and PTS DOS. Compressed NTFS files are also supported.

 Full read/write access to Ext2FS/Ext3FS partitions under all versions of Windows, DOS 5.0 and later.

 Basic partitioning operations (create, format, delete) for Linux Swap.

 Limited read/write access to Apple HFS+ partitions.

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.

SUPPORTED MEDIA

 Support of both MBR and GPT hard disks (up to 1,5 TB tested)

 IDE, SCSI and SATA hard disks

 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 hard disks, ZIP® and Jazz® disks

 PC card storage devices (MBR and GPT flash memory, etc.)

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GETTING STARTED

In this chapter you will find all the information necessary to get the product ready to use.

DISTRIBUTION

Paragon Partition Manager 10 is distributed in two ways:

 Boxed package from Paragon Technology GmbH and resellers

 Downloadable package over the Internet at the company’s web-site

DISTRIBUTIVE CD

The boxed package includes a distributive CD that is in fact a bootable Linux/DOS Recovery CD with auto-run of the Windows installation, thus it can be used as a ready-made solution (see Booting from the Linux/DOS

Recovery CD). But if you’re going to run the Windows components, you need to install them first (see Installing the Program under Windows).

If you want to download an update/upgrade of the product, it will be in form of the downloadable installation package as described in Online Distribution

ONLINE DISTRIBUTION

Partition Manager 10 purchased over the Internet will be in form of an MSI package. After installing the product you can launch the Recovery Media Builder to burn the Linux/DOS Recovery CD.

REGISTRATION

Paragon Technology GmbH provides a wide range of online services through its web-portal - www.paragon-

software.com/support/:

 Registration of new users;

 Registration of purchased products for registered users;

 Available around-the-clock downloading center, where registered users can get product

updates/upgrades as well as all the necessary documentation;

 Downloadable free demo versions and open documentation for all users.

It is recommended to use Internet Explorer 5+ or any compatible browser.

TO REGISTER AS A NEW USER

To register as a new user, please do the following:

1. Run an Internet browser and visit the page: www.paragon-software.com/my-account/;

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2. Click Create of the Create a Paragon Account section;

3. Fill out a registration form;

4. Click Register.

The most important field in the form is an E-mail address, as it serves as a login to enter the system. Besides your access password will be sent to this address as well.

TO REGISTER A NEW PRODUCT

If you are a registered user and would like to register Partition Manager 10, please do the following:

1. Run an Internet browser and visit the page: www.paragon-software.com/my-account/

2. In the Email field of the Authorization section, enter an E-mail used for registration;

3. In the Password field enter a password received after registration;

4. Click Sign in;

5. If the user name and password are valid, you will get to your account;

6. Click Register new product of the Products section;

7. Enter your product serial number in the Serial Number field. You can find it in the product box or obtain from your reseller. Click Next;

8. On the next page you will be asked to provide some additional data. Also you will need to decide whether you want to get confirmation on registering the product by E-mail or not. Click Next, and then click Finish.

That is all. The product is now registered.

;

HOW TO DOWNLOAD UPDATES/UPGRADES

Downloading of updates/upgrades can be fulfilled in the following way:

1. Run an Internet browser and visit the page: www.paragon-software.com/my-account/

2. In the Email field of the Authorization section, enter an E-mail used for registration;

3. In the Password field enter a password received after registration;

4. Click Sign in;

5. If the user name and password are valid, you will get to your account;

6. Select My Downloads of the Products section to see what updates are available for you;

7. Select the desired update and click Download.

CONTACTING PARAGON TECHNOLOGY GMBH

;

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If you have any questions about the company products, please do not hesitate to contact Paragon Technology GmbH.

Service Contact

Visit Paragon GmbH web site www.paragon-software.com

Registration & updates web-service

www.paragonsoftware.com/support

Knowledge Base & Technical Support kb.paragon-software.com

Pre-sale information sales@paragon-software.com

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

WINDOWS BASED SET OF UTILITIES

To use the Windows utilities, you should install them first. But before that, make sure your computer meets the following minimum system requirements:

 Operating systems: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 and XP SP2/Vista/7 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 100 MB of available space

 SVGA video adapter and monitor

 Mouse

LINUX/DOS BASED RECOVERY CD

To use the Paragon Linux/DOS Recovery CD on your computer (it doesn’t matter what operating system is installed), make sure that it meets the following minimum system requirements:

 IBM AT compatible computer with i486 or higher CPU

 256 MB of RAM

 SVGA-compatible monitor

 Mouse (recommended)

 On-board BIOS supports booting from CD first

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There may be additional requirements if you want to use advanced features:

 Network card is required to send partition/hard disk backups to a network computer or to retrieve

previously made backups

 Recordable CD/DVD drive is needed to burn data to compact disks

 To save copy or backup of a hard disk or partition, removable USB disks can be used. The program

supports USB Drives 1.0, 2.0.

INSTALLING THE PROGRAM UNDER WINDOWS

As we have already mentioned only Windows components of the product require installation. So to install Paragon Partition Manager 10 under Windows, please do the following:

1. Run Setup Application. Click on the PartitionManager.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.

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 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 Software\Paragon Partition Manager 10. To select another folder, click the Change… 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.

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.

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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.

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.

STARTING THE PROGRAM UNDER WINDOWS

To start Paragon Partition Manager 10 under Windows, please click the Windows Start button and then select

Programs > Paragon Software > Paragon Software Partition 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.

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.

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To start up the traditional launcher, please select the Switch to Full Scale Launcher menu item. To know more on the subject, please consult the Windows Components chapter.

BOOTING FROM THE LINUX/DOS RECOVERY CD

The Linux/DOS Recovery CD can be used to boot your computer into Linux or PTS DOS to get access to your hard disk for maintenance or recovery purposes. On the disk you can also find the PTS DOS safe mode, which may help in a number of non-standard 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 PROCEDURE

To start working with the Linux/DOS Recovery CD, please take the following steps:

1. Insert the Linux/DOS Recovery CD into a CD/DVD drive;

2. Reboot the computer;

3. Launch a boot mode you need (Normal, Safe, Low-Graphics Safe) in the Boot menu.

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By default the Normal Mode will be automatically initiated after a 10 second idle period.

4. Click on the required operation to start. Hints on the selected at the moment item will help you make the right choice;

5. Consult the help system by pressing ALT+F1 to know more on the subject.

To automatically boot from the Recovery CD make sure the on-board BIOS is set up to boot from CD first.

BOOT MENU

After you have inserted the Recovery CD into a CD/DVD drive and restarted the computer, the Boot menu appears.

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.

 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.

To automatically boot from the Recovery CD make sure the on-board BIOS is set up to boot from CD first.

While working with the Recovery CD you might experience some inconvenience

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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.

NORMAL MODE

When the Normal mode is selected, the Linux launch menu appears:

 Restore Wizard (allows restoring hard disks and partitions);

 Express Resize Wizard (enables to increase free space on one partition by up-taking the unused space

of an adjacent partition);

 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.

 Log Saver (helps to collect and send the necessary log files to the Technical Support);

 Install Windows OS Wizard (helps to get an Intel-based Mac ready to install Windows);

 Reboot the computer;

 Power off the computer.

To move within the menu, please use the arrow keys of the computer keyboard.

SAFE MODE

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When the Safe mode is selected, the PTS DOS launch menu appears. It has nearly the same functionality as for the Normal mode except 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 disks.

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.

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.

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.

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Sector-Based Backup File-Based Backup

Merits

It does not dependent on a particular file system. Thus it can successfully process

Functioning on a file/folder level, it is ideal for archiving separate files or folders.

system or encrypted partitions of any file system type, no matter what kind of information they contain.

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

It enables to automatically build up contents of the future backup image by using an advanced system of filters.

deployment to a bunch of identical computers.

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

It cannot be used to back up a system partition.

of data is being changed.

It is much slower when processing large

amount of data.

BACKUP STORAGE

Our program supports two techniques of storing backup images. Let’s take a closer look at them to understand what kind of storage is able to provide better security:

 You can place a backup image to a local mounted 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;

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 Finally 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.

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.

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.

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.

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VOLUME SHADOW COPY SERVICE

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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-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.

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.

To use VSS it is necessary to have a mounted 300 MB+ NTFS partition.

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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).

APPLE BOOT CAMP

Boot Camp is a special utility to help you set up a dual boot system (Mac OS X and 32-bit Windows XP/Vista) on Intel-based Macs. It enables to securely re-partition your hard disk (resize an existing HFS+ partition to create a separate partition for Windows) and then launch the installation process. With Boot Camp all the necessary drivers will be at your disposal. Moreover after Windows has been installed it will serve as a boot manager to choose what operating system to start up.

Our program provides the ability to successfully backup/restore this kind of configurations as well as redistribute unused space between Mac OS X and Windows partitions.

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.

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

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.

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 an operating system. Until recently most PCs used to have just one partition, which filled the entire hard disk and contained an 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

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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.

WINDOWS COMPONENTS

In the given section you can find all the information necessary to successfully work with the Windows version of the product.

INTERFACE OVERVIEW

This chapter introduces the graphical interface of the program. 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.

GENERAL LAYOUT

The main component of the program is called the Launcher. It enables to run wizards and dialogs, 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. Partition List

8. Legend Bar

9. Status Bar

A number of panels offer similar functionality with a synchronized layout. The program enables to conceal some of them to simplify the interface management.

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

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

Send Log Files

View Logs…

BM Setup Wizard…

Recovery Media Builder…

Settings...

Exit

Changes

Undo `the last virtual

operation`

Compress and send the log to the Paragon Support Team

View logs on the carried out operations

Manage several operating systems on one computer

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

Edit the general settings of the program

Exit the program

Cancel the last virtual operation on the List of Pending Operations

Redo `the last virtual

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

operation`

View Changes…

Apply Changes

Discard All Changes

Display the List of Pending Operations

Launch the real execution of virtual operations

Cancel all virtual operations on the List of Pending Operations

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Reload Disk Info

Wizards

Express Create Partition…

Create Partition…

Format Partition…

Delete Partition…

Express Resize Partitions…

Undelete Partitions…

Refresh the current information about disks

Create an NTFS partition and make it ready for work

Create a partition of any file system

Format a partition of any file system

Delete a partition of any file system

Increase free space on one partition by up-taking the unused space of an adjacent partition

Recover an accidentally deleted partition

Merge Partitions…

Redistribute Free Space…

Install New OS…

Simple Backup…

Copy Hard Disk…

Copy Partition…

Hard Disk

Update MBR

Merge adjacent partitions of NTFS, FAT or FAT32 file systems

Redistribute available disk space of existed partitions

Make your system ready to install a new operating system

Create a sector-based archive of an entire hard disk or separate partitions

Create a hard disk copy

Create a partition copy

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

Properties…

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

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Partition

Create Partition…

Format Partition…

Delete Partition…

Move/Resize…

Convert File System…

Assign Drive Letter…

Remove Drive Letter…

Hide Partition…

Create a partition

Format a partition

Delete a partition

Move/Resize the selected partition

Convert file system of the selected partition

Assign drive letter to the selected partition

Remove drive letter for the selected partition

Make the selected partition unavailable for the operating system

Unhide Partition…

Mark Partition as Active

Mark Partition as Inactive

Change Volume Label…

Make Partition Primary…

Make Partition Logical…

Defragment Partition…

Test Surface…

Make the selected partition available for the operating system

Make the selected partition bootable by default

Make the selected partition non-bootable by default

Change volume label of the selected partition

Make the selected partition Primary

Make the selected partition Logical

Defragment data on the selected FAT or NTFS partition

Test surface of the selected partition/block of free space

Check File System Integrity…

Check the selected partition for possible file system errors

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Properties…

View

Layouts

Toolbar

Status Bar

Common Tasks Bar

Disk Map Legend

Properties and Commands

Get in-depth information on the properties of selected partition

Manage the Launcher layout with several predefined profiles

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

Display the Status Bar

Display the Common Tasks Bar

Display the Disk Map legend

Display the Explorer Bar

Disk Map Location

Help

About

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

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selected object.

TOOL BAR

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

Open the Help system (you can also do it by pressing F1)

Open the dialog with information about the program

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

BUTTON FUNCTIONALITY

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Back up a hard disk or partition

Redistribute free space between two adjacent partitions

Copy a hard disk

Defragment the selected FAT or NTFS partition

Open the Help system

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, the program does not accomplish operations immediately, but places them on the List of Pending Operations for later execution.

The Virtual Operations Bar enables to manage pending operations.

BUTTON FUNCTIONALITY

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

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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:

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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.

The bar contains several tabs named Basic Partitioning Tasks, Advanced Partitioning Tasks, Copy Tasks, Backup Tasks, Tools and News and Documentation. Each of these contains a separate button bar which can be folded by clicking it.

Basic Partitioning Tasks

Starting the Express Create Partition Wizard to create an NTFS partition and make it ready for work.

Advanced Partitioning Tasks

Starting the Create Partition Wizard to create a partition of any file system.

Starting the Format Partition Wizard to format an existing partition to one of the file systems supported by the program.

Starting the Delete Partition Wizard to delete a partition of any file system.

Starting the Express Resize Partitions Wizard to redistribute free space between two adjacent partitions.

Starting the Merge Partitions Wizard to merge adjacent partitions of NTFS, FAT, FAT32 file systems.

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Backup Tasks

Copy Tasks

Starting the Redistribute Free Space Wizard to redistribute available disk space of existing partitions.

Starting the Undelete Partitions Wizard to recover accidentally deleted partitions.

Starting the Sector Backup Wizard to create an archive of a hard disk or separate partitions.

Starting the Copy Hard Disk Wizard to copy a hard disk.

Tools

News and Documentation

Starting the Copy Partition Wizard to copy a partition.

Starting the Boot Manager Setup Wizard to easily manage several operating systems on one computer.

Starting the Install New OS Wizard to install a new operating system.

Launching the help system (you can also do it by pressing F1).

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

DISK MAP

You can find the Disk Map in the Explorer Bar if it’s not disabled in the Partition List. It can be located either above the Partition List or under it, depending on the state of the Disk Map Location option (Main Menu: View > Disk Map Location).

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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. The program offers to choose from several types of the disk layout scaling. It’s done especially to increase the program usability. For instance, if you’ve got a high capacity hard drive containing both very large (more than 100 GB) and rather small (less than 10 GB) partitions, you can select the logarithmic type to make all partitions readable, otherwise (selecting the linear type) you won’t be able to see small partitions at all, but thing strips. On the other hand, if the proportional disk layout is critical for you, the linear type is exactly what you need.

Nevertheless there’s a compromise solution – linear scaling with the minimal limit to small partitions. So if a partition is too small it will remain readable.

Just click on the arrow icon on the top right side of the Disk Map to select the desired scaling type.

Disk Map is synchronized with the Explorer Bar. Thus by selecting a disk on the Disk Map, the Explorer Bar will automatically display detailed information on it.

EXPLORER BAR

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

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 The help system;

 General information on the product including its name, version and a list of helpful links;

 Detailed information about disks selected on the Disk Map;

 Volume Explorer utility.

According to these categories the Explorer Bar has several tabs:

 Disk View, which offers the user the following options:

- Partition List

- Volume Explorer

to get a clear-cut picture of the current state of the system hard disks/partitions;

to browse and export contents of the selected partition/hard disk;

- Properties to view detailed information on the selected partition/hard disk in the bright graphical form.

You can switch between these components by clicking tabs on the left side of the

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 Help, which contains the program help and general information on the product.

Explorer Bar.

You can access the desired information by clicking on the appropriate tab.

The Explorer Bar is a fully-functional embedded HTML browser, which offers the possibility to address, for example, the company's website to look through important technical notes or download the latest updates without having to close the program.

The program help is also HTML-oriented. You can read it and follow external links from to get additional information.

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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

PARTITION LIST

The Partition List is another helpful tool that enables you to get a clear-cut picture of the current state of the system hard disks/partitions. Partitions are sorted according to their starting position. For every item of the list there is the possibility to call the context-sensitive popup menu with available operations. Besides, the program provides detailed information on all hard disks/partitions found in the system including the following properties:

- Name,

- Volume label (if exists),

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- Partition type (Primary/Extended /Logical),

- File system type,

- Size,

- Amount of used and unused (free) space,

- Start/End cylinder,

- Start/End head,

- Start/End sector

- Free size in sectors/bytes

- Active/Inactive attribute

- Hidden/Unhidden attribute

You may customize outlook of the Partition List by clicking on the arrow icon on the top right side of the panel.

By marking a checkbox opposite the required item you can choose whether to display it or not. Besides, you can change its order by pressing the Move up or Move down buttons.

If you don’t need the Disk Map, please click the shown below icon to disable it:

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LEGEND BAR

The Legend Bar explains the color scheme used for disk and partition presentation. You 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.

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.

SETTINGS OVERVIEW

The Settings dialog is available from the Main Menu: Tools > Settings. All the settings are grouped into several sections, which 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, you can open a set of options.

To get a detailed description to any setting, control, or field of the program just click the hint button and then the object you need.

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GENERAL OPTIONS

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This section contains a set of general options that will be taken into account during any operation carried out with the program:

 Enable data loss protection. Mark the checkbox to make the program work in the fail-safe mode (also

referred to as the data-loss protection mode), which ensures reliability for operations by maintaining a special journal. In case of a hardware malfunction, power outage or an OS failure happened in the middle of a data-sensitive operation (resize, move, merge, redistribute, change cluster size, etc.), the program will ask to insert the bootable Recovery CD and automatically complete the interrupted operation, thus reviving the corrupted partition.

It is strongly recommended to enable this option.

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 Enable Initial Backup reminders. If this option is marked, the program will automatically offer to make a

backup before accomplishing any critical partitioning operation, thus minimizing the risk of data loss.

GENERAL COPY AND BACKUP OPTIONS

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This section contains a set of options that will be taken into account during copy and backup operations:

 HDD raw processing. Mark the checkbox to copy/back up a hard disk in the sector-by-sector mode,

thus ignoring its information structure (e.g. unallocated space or unused sectors of existing partitions will be processed as well). This can help to avoid problems with hidden data created by certain applications or the system administrator. However, it will take more time to accomplish the operation.

 Partition raw processing. Mark the checkbox to copy/back up a partition in the sector-by-sector mode

to process unused space of that partition as well. This can help to avoid problems with hidden data created by certain applications or the system administrator. However, it will take more time to accomplish the operation.

 Skip OS auxiliary files. Mark the checkbox to skip OS auxiliary files (like pagefile.sys, hiberfil.sys, etc.), thus

reducing the operation time and the resulted size of the backup image.

HOT PROCESSING OPTIONS

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In this section you may configure the hot processing mode:

 Enable hot processing. Mark the checkbox to enable the so called hot data processing mode that is

specially designed to process data without restarting your operating system.

 Hot processing technology. From the pull-down list you can select the required hot processing

technology.

 Always use hot processing. Select the option to process partitions without making them locked. Thus

you will be able to keep working with them as usual.

 Use hot processing only when partition is locked. Select the option to use the hot processing only when

partitions are locked and cannot be processed without restarting the computer. Please keep in mind, that once you start any operation on a partition in this mode, it will automatically be locked by the program, thus you won't be able to keep working with it as usual.

 Hot processing temporary drive. Here you can select a disk drive that will be used to store the

temporary hot backup data (by default – C:).

PARTITIONING OPTIONS

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This section contains a set of options that will be taken into account during partitioning operations:

 Enable 64 KB cluster size for FAT16. Mark the checkbox to enable 64KB clusters for FAT16 partitions. Thus

you will be able to create FAT16 partitions up to 4GB in size

Due to the maximum cluster size of 32KB for Windows 95/98/ME or MS DOS, FAT16

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 Request confirmation before partition deletion. Mark the checkbox to activate an additional security

partitions larger than 2GB are not reliably accessible under these operating systems.

mechanism. Thus when going to delete a partition you will be automatically requested to enter its label.

 Request confirmation when converting FAT16 to FAT32. Mark the checkbox to automatically request

confirmation before converting FAT16 to FAT32. There are a number of situations when this kind of conversion is the only way out to accomplish the operation. For instance, you are going to migrate your system to a larger hard disk with the proportional resize of existing partitions, what is very convenient. As a result you can get original FAT16 partitions go beyond the 4GB limit. Thus without conversion to FAT32, this operation will in no way be possible to accomplish. The same goes for any copy hard disk/partition or restore hard disk/partition operation involving an extra upsizing.

VIRTUAL MODE OPTIONS

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In this section you may configure the virtual mode:

 Allow virtual mode. Mark the checkbox to enable the virtual mode. It is an effective way of protection

from any troubles, since no operation will be executed until confirmation, thus giving you a second chance to weigh all pros and cons of this or that particular operation.

We strongly recommend you to enable this mode.

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 Close progress dialog automatically. Mark the checkbox to automatically close the progress dialog

after accomplishing operations.

FILE SYSTEM CONVERSION OPTIONS

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This section contains a set of options that will be taken into account when converting FAT and NTFS file systems. By default, the program takes locale (regional) settings from the system. Problems might occur however because of different standards for file names and file time stamps (Created, Modified and Last Access Time) of NTFS and FATxx file systems.

To tackle problems of that kind you can manually set:

 Time zone to use during the convert operation. NTFS keeps file timestamps in GMT (Greenwich Mean

Time) while FAT uses a fixed local date and time. The program takes proper account of these differences and enables to adjust timestamp values.

An incorrectly chosen time zone might lead to inability to launch certain software.

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 Language for file names to use during the convert operation. NTFS stores file names in Unicode while

FAT/FAT32 uses ANSI to save short file names (also called the DOS aliases). The codepage information is required for the correct conversion of non-English file names from Unicode to ANSI and vice versa.

An incorrectly chosen codepage will certainly result in corruption of non-English file

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names.

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 Request confirmation of settings before NTFS < - > FAT/FAT32 conversion. Mark the checkbox to

automatically display the local settings dialog to check and modify (if necessary) the default parameters before launching the convert file system operation.

E-MAIL OPTIONS

This section contains a set of options that will be taken into account during the Send log files and Send e-mail notification operations:

 Outgoing mail server (SMTP). To send messages by using the built-in mail client, it is necessary to have

access to a computer running an SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server. All outgoing messages are first sent to the SMTP server, which in its turn delivers them to the required recipients. The address may be represented as a traditional Internet host name (e.g.: mail.com) or as an IP numeric address (e.g. xxx.xxx.xxx.xx).

 User e-mail address. Specify an e-mail address that has been assigned by the Internet Service Provider

or organization's e-mail administrator.

 My outgoing server requires authentication. Activate the option to allow the program to make

authentication on the server before sending messages.

- User name. Enter the name that will be used to log in to the e-mail account.

- Password. Enter the password that will be used to access the mail server.

DEFRAGMENTATION OPTIONS

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In this section you may set the preferable defragmentation mode:

 Fast mode. Partitions will be defragmented rather fast (a 10-30% gain depending on the fragmentation

level), but a power outage, hardware malfunction or a system failure during the operation might lead to the data loss.

 Safe mode. To guarantee protection of your data during the operation, the program will allocate some

free space (not less than the on-disk largest file) on the defragmented at the moment partition to make a duplicate of every processed file. Thus we strongly recommend you to use this very mode.

VIEWING DISK PROPERTIES

The main tool to view in-depth information on the properties of hard disks is the Disk Map. It represents the actual state of the computer’s hard disks.

Generally the hard disks are represented on the map by rectangular bars, which also contain small-sized bars. The small-sized bars represent logical disks (partitions). When you select a large-sized bar, the Explorer Bar displays information about the disk in a bright, graphical form (available if the Properties tab is selected).

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The model and serial number of the disk serve as the title of the browsed page. The disk layout is shown in form of a circular graph, where the color of a sector corresponds to a file system of an appropriate partition. On the right you may see a table, which contains the following information:

 Type of hard disk (basic or dynamic),

 Total size (in GB),

 Information on geometry of the disk (amount of sectors per track, heads and cylinders).

Below there is a list of available wizards. If you click a corresponding record the appropriate wizard will be started. All default values for the operation parameters will correspond to the disk’s settings. The list of wizards contains a detailed description of tasks that can be performed by the wizard. This nullifies the possibility of selecting the wrong wizard.

When you select a small-sized bar (i.e. corresponding to a logical disk) the Explorer Bar will display information on it as well. The page title will contain a drive letter, which is assigned to the disk. The disk layout graph will be colored in accordance with the volume ratio of the used space to the free space (the light colored sector). The table on the right will contain the following information:

 Volume label (if available),

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 Type of the logical disk,

 File system (represented by the color of the graph and the selected bar),

 Total size, used space and free space (in GB or MB).

Below there is a list of wizards, which may be called for this disk. All default values of parameters will correspond to the disk settings.

DATA BACKUP AND RESCUE

In this chapter you will find all the information necessary to establish a reliable data protection system.

CREATING BACKUP IMAGES

We have already mentioned that the most prevalent way to protect valuable data is to create backup copies (backup images in terms of the program) of it. This operation can be accomplished with the Simple Backup Wizard.

By going through steps of the wizard, you configure all the necessary settings to launch the backup operation. To minimize the possibility of making any mistake, the wizard provides auxiliary information on every single option. Moreover you can get an in-depth description to any setting, control, or field of the wizard just by clicking the hint button and then the object you need.

STARTUP

There are several ways to start the Sector Backup Wizard:

Express Launcher

 Click the Backup and Rescue button and then select Simple Backup.

Launcher

 In the Main Menu: select Wizards > Simple Backup…

 On the Common Tasks Bar: click the Simple Backup item of the Wizards menu.

 In the Toolbar: click the Simple Backup button.

SETUP

The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:

 The object to back up. You can back up either an entire disk or separate partitions of the disk (primary,

extended or logical). In case of backing up an entire disk, you’ve got the possibility to include into the image such disk elements as the Master Boot Record (MBR) and the first track of the hard disk. This can be very helpful for serious disk recovery procedures.

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 Name and location of the resulted image. Provide a file name for the new image and its exact location.

The program automatically offers an easy to understand name containing the date and the time of the archive creation, which can anyway be modified.

The program automatically calculates size of the future archive and informs the user about space available on the selected destination.

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RESULT

After the backup operation is completed you receive an image of the selected disk (or the selected partition). This image is placed into the specified destination (a local or network disk), its features defined by the wizard.

Available operation scenarios:

 Backing up a Hard Disk or Partition to a Network Drive

BUILDING RECOVERY MEDIA

The Recovery Media Builder provides the possibility to prepare the Linux/DOS recovery environment 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. Besides it enables to save data from partitions of your hard disk directly to compact discs or just burn ISO-images.

STARTUP

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There are several ways to start the Recovery Media Builder:

Launcher

 In the Main Menu: select Tools > Recovery Media Builder…

 On the Common Tasks Bar: click the Recovery Media Builder item of the Wizards menu.

SETUP

The wizard offers the following steps to build recovery media:

 Type of the recovery media. You can place it either on a CD/DVD disc, flash memory or a floppy disk.

 Contents of the recovery set. You can choose whether to use the default Linux/DOS recovery

environment (included in the installation package) or your own bootable image (need to provide a path to it). Besides you’re free to add any data you like to the standard image what is very convenient.

 A recording device. The appropriate external media (CD/DVD, flash memory or a floppy disk) needs to

be available in the system.

You can make an ISO image instead of burning a CD/DVD by selecting the Emulator drive.

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 CD/DVD writing parameters (in case you select this kind of media). Writing parameters include writing

speed (maximum or minimum) and the ability of ejecting the recorded disc after completing the operation.

The program supports CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD+R double layer and also Blu-ray discs.

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If the inserted disc is not empty, the wizard will suggest erasing its contents (if possible). Once the operation has been confirmed, the program will delete the re-writable disc's

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contents and begin the recording process.

RESULT

As a result of the operation, you receive recovery media to use in most emergencies.

COPY TASKS

In this chapter you will find all the information necessary to make a copy of a hard disk or a separate partition.

CLONING HARD DISKS

You can clone a hard disk of any file system. During the hard disk copying process, the program moves controlling records of used partitioning scheme, the bootstrap code and on-disk partitions. That’s why this operation cannot be substituted by simply copying all on-disk partitions.

The Copy Hard Disk Wizard is a traditional-like wizard. By going through its steps, you configure all the necessary settings to launch the copy operation. To minimize the possibility of making any mistake, the wizard provides auxiliary information on every single option. Moreover you can get an in-depth description to any setting, control, or field of the wizard just by clicking the hint button and then the object you need.

You need at least two hard disks to carry out this operation.

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STARTUP

There are several ways to start the Copy Hard Disk Wizard:

Express Launcher

 Click the Copying and Migration button and then select Hard Disk Migration.

Launcher

 In the Main Menu: select Wizards > Copy Hard Disk…

 On the Common Tasks Bar: click the Copy Hard Disk item of the Wizards menu.

 In the Toolbar: click the Copy Hard Disk button.

SETUP

The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:

 The hard disk to copy. Select a hard disk you want to copy.

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 The target hard disk. Select a hard disk (if several) where all data of the source disk will be copied to.

 Copy parameters. The wizard enables to specify the following options:

Copy options

- HDD raw copy to copy the hard disk in the sector-by-sector mode, thus ignoring its information structure (e.g. unallocated space or unused sectors of existing partitions will be processed as well). This can help to avoid problems with hidden data created by certain applications or the system administrator. However, it will take more time to accomplish the operation.

- Partition raw copy to copy a partition in the sector-by-sector mode to process unused space of that partition as well. This can help to avoid problems with hidden data created by certain applications or the system administrator. However, it will take more time to accomplish the operation.

- Perform incremental copy to only copy changes on the hard disk from the moment of the last copy operation. The program will perform comparison between a previous copy of the hard disk and its current state. Only sectors that are different will be updated, thus considerably decreasing the amount of data to write.

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Resize options

- Remove free blocks between partitions not to keep blocks of free space between partitions on the targeted hard disk.

- Copy data and resize partitions proportionally to make the program proportionally change the size of partitions keeping their relative order intact. The option can be useful when upgrading the hard disk to a larger one.

Verification options

This section allows you to define whether the Surface and/or the Writing verification tests will be accomplished during the operation.

RESULT

After the operation is completed, you receive a fully functional duplicate of the existing hard disk.

Available operation scenarios:

 System Hard Disk Migration

CLONING PARTITIONS

You can duplicate partitions to protect oneself from downtime in case of a system malfunction or for cloning sample partitions. The program enables to duplicate all partition data including files, the exact structure of directories and file system metadata (location of files, security information, access quotas, etc.).

The Copy Partition Wizard will help you copy a partition of any file system. To minimize the possibility of making any mistake, the wizard provides auxiliary information on every single option. Moreover you can get an indepth description to any setting, control, or field of the wizard just by clicking the hint button and then the object you need.

STARTUP

There are several ways to start the Copy Partition Wizard:

Launcher

 In the Main Menu: select Wizards > Copy Partition…

 On the Common Tasks Bar: click the Copy Partition item of the Wizards menu.

SETUP

The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:

 The partition to copy. Select a partition you want to copy.

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 Destination disk. Select a hard disk with enough unallocated space to perform the operation.

The program enables to copy a partition to a block of free space, which is smaller than the partition itself, taking into account only actual amount of data.



 Copy parameters. The wizard enables to specify the following options:

- Partition size. Define the size (in Mb) of the copied partition.

- Free space before. Define the position (in Mb) of the copied partition relative to the beginning of the available range of disk space.

- Free space after. Define the amount of trailing free space (in Mb) at the end of the available range of disk space.

Partition size and position may also be defined by using the drag-and-drop technique.

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To do that, just carry out the required operation on the Disk Map.

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RESULT

After the operation is completed you receive a fully functional duplicate of the existing partition.

BOOT MANAGEMENT

Our program enables to easily manage several operating systems on one computer with the help of the Boot Manager Setup Wizard. Among the key features of the wizard the following should be mentioned:

 Up to 16 operating systems on one PC;

 Secure adding/removing of the Boot Manager startup record to/from the MBR;

 Auto Boot option to automatically start up the previously chosen OS after a certain time period;

 Hiding of any primary partition except selected at the moment.

STARTUP

Express Launcher

 Click the Boot Management button and then select Boot Manager.

Launcher

 In the Main menu: select Tools > BM Setup Wizard…

 On the Common Tasks Bar: click the Boot Manager Wizard item of the Wizards menu.

SETUP

The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:

 Hiding other primary partitions. By marking this checkbox the program will automatically assign the

hidden flag to all primary partitions of the hard disk(s) except the one selected to boot. This will help to avoid any problems when dealing with different operating systems or different versions of one and the same OS, as they will be unaware of each other.

 Boot menu options. In this section you can switch between the following modes:

- Normal mode. Choose this mode to display the boot menu every time the computer starts up and define a timeout on the expiry of which the program will automatically select the previously chosen item of the menu.

- Hidden mode. Choose this mode not to display the boot menu until pressing a hot key. For this mode you should define a hot key used to enable the Boot Manager and a time period in seconds the startup message will be displayed.

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 Deactivating/Configuring the Boot Manager. These two options will only be available once the wizard

has been completed and launched again. Select the Deactivate option to remove the Boot Manager from the MBR (Master Boot Record) or Configure to modify the previously set parameters of the startup process.

RESULT

After the Boot Manager Setup Wizard is completed the program updates the original record in the MBR to get control of the booting process and to be able to display the boot menu.

Available operation scenarios:

 Creating Dual Boot Systems

PARTITION MANAGEMENT

In this chapter you will find all the information necessary to carry out partitioning operations supported by the program.

BASIC PARTITIONING OPERATIONS

Here you can learn how to accomplish basic partitioning operations (create, format, delete).

CREATING PARTITIONS

The program provides the ability to create a new partition by using the DOS partitioning scheme. This operation can be accomplished either with the Create Partition Wizard or the Create Partition Dialog.

Besides there's the Express Create Partition Wizard that will analyze your disk subsystem to help you create an NTFS partition in the most appropriate place of your hard disk by up-taking all the unallocated disk space (if any) and/or an innocuous slice of the unused space of an adjacent partition, and then make it available in the system by assigning a drive letter.

RESTRICTIONS

1. Do not use the Create Partition function in order to undelete the last deleted partition.

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2. The program cannot create new partitions on Dynamic Disks. The current version of the program supports only hard disks that use the DOS partitioning scheme (in Windows 2000 and XP these disks are named Basic Disks).

3. According to the rules of the DOS partitioning scheme, the following combinations of partitions cannot be created:

 Two Extended Partitions on one hard disk

 Five or more Primary partitions on one hard disk

 If there is an Extended Partition on the disk, only three Primary partitions are allowed

4. The program allows creating new partitions only within blocks of un-partitioned space. It cannot convert a free space on an existing partition to a new partition.

EXPRESS CREATE PARTITION WIZARD STARTUP

There are several ways to start the Express Create Partition Wizard:

Launcher

 In the Main menu: select Wizards > Express Create Partition…

 On the Common Tasks bar: click the Express Create item of the Wizards menu.

CREATE PARTITION WIZARD STARTUP

There are several ways to start the Create Partition Wizard:

Express Launcher

 Click the Partitioning button and then select Create Partition.

Launcher

 In the Main menu: select Wizards > Create Partition…

 On the Common Tasks bar: click the Create Partition item of the Wizards menu.

DIALOG STARTUP

In order to start the operation you should take the following steps:

Launcher

1. Select a block of free space on the Disk Map;

2. Call the Create Partition Dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Create Partition.

 Call the popup menu for the block of free space (right click of the mouse button) then select the

menu item: Create Partition.

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EXPRESS CREATE PARTITION WIZARD SETUP

Thanks to a highly intelligent work algorithm, the wizard requires minimal involvement in the operation, thus you only need to choose a method you find the most suitable to create the partition (if several available), which actually differ in the amount of space to allocate. For easy perception, you can see the resulted disk layout on the disk map by selecting this or that mode.

The number of available methods depends on your disk layout.

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To learn more on the way the wizard works, please click the corresponding link on the first page of the wizard.

CREATE PARTITION WIZARD SETUP

The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:

 Partition destination. Select a hard disk (if the computer has several hard disks) and then choose

position for the future partition on the disk: at the end (preferable), at the beginning or somewhere in the middle between other partitions.

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By default, the program allows you to create a new partition only as the last primary or as the last logical drive within the extended partition. However, by activating the



advance mode on the first page of the wizard you can remove this restriction that in its turn might result in some boot problems.

 Partition size. There is no restriction on size of the future partition, merely depending on space available

on the hard disk.

If there is not enough free space in one block, the wizard enables to redistribute free space, joining all free space blocks together into one united block and moving partitions when necessary. If the total amount of free space is still not enough, it is possible to split a fragment of space from one of the existing partitions, thus resizing it.

If a partition to resize is locked and cannot be processed, the wizard makes the system reboot to create the partition and then automatically boots the system again.

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(The rebooting mechanism is different for different versions of Windows.)

You can also choose whether the future partition will be primary or logical by marking the appropriate checkbox.

 Partition properties. On the next page of the wizard you can set a number of additional parameters:

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- Partition type. From the pull-down list select a file system the newly created partition will be formatted to, otherwise the partition will remain unformatted (so that it will not be ready to use).

- Volume label. Enter a label for the selected partition in this textual field. It is an irrelevant parameter usually used for drive identification.

- Surface test level. Define the level of the surface check to make the program find bad and unstable sectors and mark them unusable in the file system metadata.

DIALOG SETUP

Initially the program suggests some consistent values for all parameters. In most cases, you can just press the Yes button to confirm the operation.

 Define whether the partition will be Primary, Extended or Logical. You can choose the desired partition

type from the pull-down list. As a matter of fact, the available alternatives fundamentally depend on the selected block of free space - within the Logical free space, only Logical partitions can be created; Within the Primary free space, both Primary partitions or the Extended Partition can be created.

 Partition Size. Define the size (in Mb) of the new partition.

 Free space before. Define the position (in Mb) of the new partition relative to the beginning of the block

of free space.

 Free space after. Define the amount of trailing free space (in Mb) at the end of the new partition.

Partition size and position may also be defined by using the drag-and-drop technique. To do that, just carry out the required operation on the Disk Map. The virtual operations

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are to be available.

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 File system for new partition. From the pull-down list select a file system the newly created partition will

be formatted to, otherwise the partition will remain unformatted (so that it will not be ready to use).

 Volume label. Enter a label for the selected partition in this textual field. It is an irrelevant parameter

usually used for drive identification.

 Drive letter assignment. The pull-down list contains vacant drive letters that can be associated with the

newly formatted partition.

In addition, there is the possibility to make further detailed settings (although the default values will do in most cases). To activate the advance mode, you need to click the More options button at the foot of the dialog page. Depending on the chosen file system, the following options become available:

 Use OS built-in routine. Mark the option to restrict the available values according to the used OS.

 Whether the surface test will be performed. Define the level of the surface check to make the program

find bad and unstable sectors and mark them unusable in the file system metadata.

 The amount of sectors per boot. This parameter is available exclusively for FAT16 and FAT32 file systems.

Set the number of sectors to be reserved for the boot area on the partition with this spinner control.

 The amount of root entries. This parameter is available exclusively for FAT16 file system. Set the maximum

amount of files/directories to be placed in the Root Directory on the FAT16 partition.

 The amount of sectors per cluster. Define the Cluster Size for the formatted partition with this spinner

control.

Number of available options depends on the selected file system type.

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RESULT

After the operation is completed you receive a fully functional partition.

Available operation scenarios:

 Creating a New Partition to Detach Operating System from the Rest of Data

FORMATTING PARTITIONS

Any partition should contain some file system to be used for keeping data. The process of installing a file system is commonly known as formatting. A huge variety of file systems have been developed these days.

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SUPPORTED FILE SYSTEMS

The program provides the ability to format partitions of the following file systems:

- FAT12 & FAT16

- FAT32

- NTFS

- Ext2

- Ext3

- Linux Swap v. 2

- HPFS

This operation can be accomplished either with the Format Partition Wizard or the Format Partition Dialog.

WIZARD STARTUP

There are several ways to start the Format Partition Wizard:

Launcher

 In the Main menu: select Wizards > Format Partition…

 On the Common Tasks bar: click the Format Partition item of the Wizards menu.

DIALOG STARTUP

In order to start the operation you should take the following steps:

Launcher

1. Select a partition on the Disk Map;

2. Call the Format Partition Dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Format Partition.

 Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) then select the

menu item: Format Partition.

WIZARD SETUP

The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:

 Partition to format. Select a hard disk (if the computer has several hard disks) and then the required

partition to format.

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As a result of this operation contents of the selected partition will be lost.

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 Partition properties. On the next page of the wizard you can set the following partition parameters:

- Partition type. From the pull-down list select the desired file system type. In fact, the program displays only those file systems that can correctly be placed to the selected partition, taking its capacity into account.

- Volume label. Enter a label for the selected partition in this textual field. It is an irrelevant parameter usually used for drive identification.

- Drive letter assignment. The pull-down list contains vacant drive letters that can be associated with the newly formatted partition.

In addition, there is the possibility to make further detailed settings (although the default values will do in most cases). To activate the advance mode, you need to mark the appropriate option at the foot of the page. When it is marked, the next page enables to define:

 Use OS built-in routine. Mark the checkbox to restrict the available values according to the used OS.

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 Whether the surface test will be performed. Define the level of the surface check to make the program

find bad and unstable sectors and mark them unusable in the file system metadata.

 The amount of sectors per boot. This parameter is available exclusively for FAT16 and FAT32 file systems.

Set the number of sectors to be reserved for the boot area on the partition with this spinner control.

 The amount of root entries. This parameter is available exclusively for FAT16 file system. Set the maximum

amount of files/directories to be placed in the Root Directory on the FAT16 partition.

 The amount of sectors per cluster. Define the Cluster Size for the formatted partition with this spinner

control.

Number of available options depends on the selected file system type.



DIALOG SETUP

Initially the program suggests some consistent values for all parameters. In most cases, you can just press the Format button to confirm the operation.

 File system. From the pull-down list select the desired file system type. In fact, the program displays only

those file systems that can correctly be placed to the selected partition, taking its capacity into account.

 Volume label. Enter a label for the selected partition in this textual field. It is an irrelevant parameter

usually used for drive identification.

 Use OS built-in routine. Mark the checkbox to restrict the available values according to the used OS.

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 Whether the surface test will be performed. Define the level of the surface check to make the program

find bad and unstable sectors and mark them unusable in the file system metadata.

 The amount of sectors per boot. This parameter is available exclusively for FAT16 and FAT32 file systems.

Set the number of sectors to be reserved for the boot area on the partition with this spinner control.

 The amount of root entries. This parameter is available exclusively for FAT16 file system. Set the maximum

amount of files/directories to be placed in the Root Directory on the FAT16 partition.

 The amount of sectors per cluster. Define the Cluster Size for the formatted partition with this spinner

control.

Number of available options depends on the selected file system type.

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RESULT

After the operation is completed you receive a fully functional partition formatted to the specified file system.

DELETING PARTITIONS

With the Delete Partition Wizard or the Delete Partition Dialog you can delete a partition on a hard disk partitioned with the DOS partitioning scheme. Unlike the majority of other utilities (Windows Disk Manager included), the program can not only remove references to the deleted partition from the Partition Table, thus making it unavailable for the operating system, but also enables to irreversibly destroy its data. This feature will guarantee security of your personal information.

WIZARD STARTUP

There are several ways to start the Delete Partition Wizard:

Express Launcher

 Click the Partitioning button and then select Delete Partition.

Launcher

 In the Main menu: select Wizards > Delete Partition…

 On the Common Tasks bar: click the Delete Partition item of the Wizards menu.

DIALOG STARTUP

In order to start the operation you should take the following steps:

Launcher

1. Select a partition on the Disk Map;

2. Call the Delete Partition Dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Delete Partition.

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 Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) then select the

menu item: Delete Partition.

WIZARD SETUP

The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:

 Partition to delete. Select a hard disk (if the computer has several hard disks) and then the required

partition to delete.

As a result of this operation contents of the selected partition will be lost.

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 Merge free blocks. As a result of the operation you may get several blocks of the unallocated space on

the hard disk. So choose whether to merge them all and place at the beginning of the disk or at the end by selecting the required operation from the pull-down list.

DIALOG SETUP

Initially the program suggests you just to remove references to the selected partition from the Partition Table.

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 Enter the volume label to confirm deleting. To confirm deletion of the selected partition, enter its Volume

Label. The current volume label is displayed above.

 Do not ask volume label next time. Mark the option to inhibit confirmation next time you start the dialog.

RESULT

By default, the operation takes only a fraction of a second. However, the program waits until Windows completes the modification of the disk layout.

ADVANCED PARTITIONING OPERATIONS

Here you can learn how to accomplish advanced partitioning operations (merge, redistribute free space, undelete, etc.).

MERGING PARTITIONS

The Merge Partitions Wizard enables to consolidate the disk space, which originally belongs to two adjacent partitions, into a single, larger partition. The order, in which two partitions have been chosen, is important since all contents of the second selected partition will be placed in a folder on the resulted joined partition.

The program provides the ability to merge only NTFS, FAT16 or FAT32 partitions.

STARTUP

There are several ways to start the Merge Partitions Wizard:

Express Launcher

 Click the Partitioning button and then select Merge Partitions.

Launcher

 In the Main menu: select Wizards > Merge Partitions…

 On the Common Tasks bar: click the Merge Partitions item of the Wizards menu.

SETUP

The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:

 The partition to expand. Select a partition, the size of which you need to increase by up-taking contents

of an adjacent partition.

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 The partition to merge with. Choose the second partition for the merge operation, the contents of which

will be placed in a folder on the resulted joined partition. By default, the program offers an easy-tounderstand folder name to store files of the second partition, which however can be customized.

Be particularly careful when selecting system partitions to process, since the incorrect order, in which two partitions have been chosen, will result in inability to boot the



operating system.

RESULT

After the operation is completed the disk space of the two adjacent partitions will be consolidated.

REDISTRIBUTING UNUSED SPACE BETWEEN PARTITIONS

This operation can be accomplished either with the Express Resize Partitions Wizard or the Redistribute Free

Space Wizard.

EXPRESS RESIZE PARTITIONS WIZARD

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The Express Resize Partitions Wizard enables to easily increase free space on one partition by up-taking the unused space of an adjacent partition of your hard disk.

STARTUP

There are several ways to start the Express Resize Partitions Wizard:

Express Launcher

 Click the Partitioning button and then select Resize Partitions.

Launcher

 In the Main menu: select Wizards > Express Resize Partitions…

 On the Common Tasks Bar: click the Express Resize item of the Wizards menu.

SETUP

The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:

 Adjacent partitions to resize. Click on the left partition of the pair of partitions you need to redistribute

the unused space between, as the right one will be selected automatically.

 Resulted size of partitions. Redistribute the unused space between the partitions with the slider or

manually by entering the required value.

RESULT

After the operation is completed the unused space between the specified partitions will be redistributed according to your needs.

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Available operation scenarios:

 Increasing Size of a System Partition by Taking Unused Space of an Adjacent Partition

 Resizing Partitions of Apple Boot Camp

REDISTRIBUTE FREE SPACE WIZARD

The Redistribute Free Space Wizard helps to increase free space on one partition by up-taking the on-disk unallocated space and the unused space of other partitions. By default, the wizard adds to the target partition all existing blocks of the free space. Besides you can specify partitions to act as a space donor. The wizard will automatically recalculate positions of the partitions and move their contents to new locations.

STARTUP

There are several ways to start the Redistribute Free Space Wizard:

Launcher

 In the Main menu: select Wizards > Redistribute Free Space…

 On the Common Tasks bar: click the Redistribute Free Space item of the Wizards menu.

SETUP

The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:

 Partition to enlarge. Select a partition, the size of which will be increased at the expense of other

partitions. Blocks of the free space (if any) will be automatically added to the target partition.

 Partition to donate. Choose any partition(s) (not only adjacent) to donate free space.

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 Partition size. By default, the program leaves 50% of the unused space on a partition and removes

another 50% to add it to the target partition. However, the size to take can be customized by moving the slider or by manually entering the exact value.

RESULT

After the operation is completed free space of the specified partition will be increased by up-taking the on-disk unallocated space and the unused space of other partitions.

UNDELETING PARTITIONS

When simply deleting a partition (without additional wiping) disk management software only removes references to it in the Partition Table, thus leaving the possibility to recover it later.

The program enables to find and recover these partitions. A restored partition will be fully functional, as long as other partitions were not created, moved or exceeded the disk space occupied by that partition. That is why the program offers this function only for blocks of free space.

The operation can be accomplished with the Undelete Partition Wizard.

STARTUP

There are several ways to start the Undelete Partition Wizard:

 In the Main Menu: select Wizards > Undelete Partitions…

 On the Common Tasks Bar: click the Undelete Partition item of the Wizards menu.

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 Select a block of free space on the Disk Map and click the Recover Lost Partitions item on the page

that appears in the Explorer Bar.

 Call the popup menu for the block of free space (right click of the mouse button) then select the menu

item: Recover Lost Partitions…

SETUP

The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:

 Free blocks to scan for lost partitions. Choose a free block from a tree-like list of available hard disks.

 Search method. By default, the wizard selects the fastest search method for your operating system. In

most cases that will do to find any accidentally deleted partition. However if you're under Windows XP for instance (the Conventional Search option is selected), but the deleted partition you're looking for has been created with the Disk Management utility under Vista, the wizard won't be able to find this partition, unless you manually select the appropriate option (Quick Search for Partitions Created by Vista or Later OS). Moreover if the wizard still fails to find the partition you need, you can select the Thorough Search option to scan every single sector in the specified search area to get the most accurate results.

To know more on the available search methods, please use the context sensitive hint



system.

 File system filter. By default, the wizard will search for all known file systems. However, by clicking on the

appropriate option on the second page of the wizard, you can specify only those file systems you need.

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 A partition to undelete (if several). By default, the program searches records of any deleted partition

ever existed on the selected block of free space. So you can get several partitions to choose from.

Most likely the required partition will be found first. If so, you may abort the search operation by pressing the Stop search button.

RESULT

After the operation is completed you receive a fully functional partition.

INSTALLING A NEW OPERATING SYSTEM

Getting your computer ready to install a new operating system, especially when it is going to be an additional OS in the system, is a rather complicated task that implies quite a number of operations, from allocating space to create a new partition (resize, redistribution of free space) to formatting of the newly created partition to a particular file system and checking its surface for bad sectors to avoid possible data loss. Operating systems today are being supplied with basic tools of partitioning that only enable to create a partition (in case there is enough unallocated space on the disk) and then format it to the specified file system type. Our program offers a handy Install New OS Wizard to easily carry out all the necessary operations to install a new operating system.

STARTUP

There are several ways to start the Install New OS Wizard:

Express Launcher

 Click the Boot Management button and then select Install New OS.

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Launcher

 In the Main menu: select Wizards > Install New OS…

 On the Common Tasks bar: click the Install New OS item of the Wizards menu.

SETUP

The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the operation:

 Partition to install a new operating system. The program offers two ways of installing a new OS, i.e. to

create a new primary partition for it or use an existing one.

Only primary partitions can be used to install an operating system.



- In case the first option has been marked, the wizard enables to specify:

A hard disk (if several) where a new partition will be created. Thanks to an advanced program engine it is possible to use unallocated space of the disk (if any) and unused space of existing partitions to create a new partition;

To avoid any possible problems, the new partition will in no way be created as the first partition of the disk which already contains at least one partition.



And its size. If there are blocks of the free space on the disk, the wizard will merge them all and allocate the resulted space for a new partition in the first place. If not, it will take 50% of the unused space of an adjacent partition. However, the size to take can be customized by moving the slider.

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- In case the second option has been marked, the wizard enables to choose an existing primary partition to install a new operating system.

Your computer may fail if any other OS has already been installed on the selected partition.



 Partition properties.

- Partition type. From the pull-down list select the desired file system type. In fact, the program displays only file systems that can be correctly placed to the selected partition, taking its capacity into account.

- Drive letter assignment. The pull-down list contains vacant drive letters that can be associated with the newly formatted partition.

- Surface test level. Define the level of the surface check to make the program find bad and unstable sectors and mark them unusable in the file system metadata.

 OS Label. Enter a label for the selected partition in the textual field. It will later be used for the drive

identification.

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RESULT

As the final step the wizard will offer you to insert a distributive CD/DVD of the new operating system and restart the computer to launch the installation procedure.

The program will update your MBR, so most likely you won’t be able to start up any of the previously installed operating systems. Please launch the Boot Manager Setup



Wizard after the installation has been completed to fix this issue.

Available operation scenarios:

 Creating Dual Boot Systems

MOVING/RESIZING PARTITION

The Move/Resize Partition function allows you to resize or change location of any partition without destroying its data.

In order to move/resize a partition you should take the following steps:

Launcher

1. Select a partition on the Disk Map.

2. Call the Move/Resize Partition dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main menu: Partition > Move/Resize Partition…

 On the Explorer bar: click on the current total size value.

 Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map or

on the Partition List, then select the menu item: Move/Resize Partition…

3. Define parameters of the operation.

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 Volume size. Define size (in Mb) of the modified partition.

 Free space before. Define the partition position (in Mb) relative to the beginning of the available

range of disk space.

 Free space after. Define the amount of trailing free space (in Mb) at the end of the available range

of disk space.

 Sector to sector move. Mark the checkbox to move the partition in the sector-by-sector mode to

process its unused space as well. This can help to avoid problems with hidden data created by certain applications or the system administrator. However, it will take more time to accomplish the operation.

Partition size and position may also be defined by using the drag-and-drop technique. To do that, just carry out the required operation on the Disk Map. The virtual operations are to be available.

When resizing a FAT16 partition beyond the 2GB limit (maximum file system size), the partition will automatically be converted to FAT32.



The program enables to enlarge NTFS partitions (system, locked) without rebooting Windows and interrupting its work, providing 100 percent guarantee that your data is kept intact.

4. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation.

Available operation scenarios:

 Increasing Size of a System Partition by Taking Unused Space from any Other

CONVERTING FILE SYSTEM

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With our program you can change type of the used file system without destroying its data. While performing the operation, it first checks the current file system for consistency and then verifies whether the on-partition data meet the requirements of the desired file system or not. After having passed the testing, the program reorganizes the file system metadata and user files.

The program enables to convert the following file system types:

- FAT16 > NTFS, FAT32

- FAT32 > NTFS, FAT16

- NTFS > FAT16, FAT32

- Ext2 > Ext3

In order to convert a file system you should take the following steps:

Launcher

1. Select a partition on the Disk Map.

2. Call the Convert File System of Partition dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main menu: Partition > Convert file system…

 On the Explorer bar: click on the current file system type.

 Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map or

on the Partition List, then select the menu item: Convert File System…

3. Initially the program suggests some consistent values for all parameters. In most cases, you can just press the Convert button to confirm the operation.

 New file system. From the pull-down list choose a file system you would like to convert to. Actually

the program only displays variants available for the operation, taking into account the current parameters of the selected partition and limitations of the used file system.

 New cluster size. Define the cluster size for the partition. This parameter can have a profound effect

on the overall performance. In a nutshell, larger clusters waste more space, but generally provide for slightly better performance, because of less fragmentation. So be particularly careful with it.

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The cluster size value is expressed in sectors per cluster. To get it in Kbytes, please divide it into half.



You may only decrease the current cluster size.

 Surface test level. Define the level of the surface check to make the program find bad and unstable

sectors and mark them unusable in the file system metadata.

4. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation.

MAKING LOGICAL/PRIMARY

The program allows you to include a primary partition in the extended partition, or exclude a logical partition from the extended partition, without partition duplication.

In order to change a partition type you should take the following steps:

Launcher

1. Select a primary or logical partition on the Disk Map.

2. Call the Make Partition Logical/Primary dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main menu: Partition > Modify > Make Partition Logical/Primary.

 On the Explorer bar: click on the current partition type.

The Make Primary > Logical option is only available when the selected partition is adjacent to the extended partition and vice versa.



The Make Primary > Logical option of the system partition will result in inability to boot the operating system.

3. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation.

CHANGING PARTITION ATTRIBUTES

This chapter explains how you can change partition attributes (Active flag, Hidden flag, Partition ID, Volume Label, etc.).

MARK PARTITION ACTIVE/INACTIVE

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The program enables to set an active/inactive flag for primary partitions of a hard disk. By default, an operating system will boot only if its partition is active or bootable.

In order to mark a partition active/inactive you should take the following steps:

1. Select a primary partition on the Disk Map.

2. Call the Mark Partition Active/Inactive dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Mark Partition as Active/Inactive.

 Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map,

then select the menu item: Mark Partition as Active/Inactive.

3. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation.

There can only be one active partition on a hard disk, otherwise your operating system



will fail to boot.

HIDE/UNHIDE PARTITION

The program allows you to hide/unhide primary and logical partitions. By default, an operating system does not mount hidden partitions, thus preventing access to their contents.

In order to hide/unhide a partition you should take the following steps:

1. Select a partition on the Disk Map.

2. Call the Hide/Unhide Partition Dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Hide/Unhide Partition.

 Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map,

then select the menu item: Hide/Unhide Partition.

3. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation.

It is strongly recommended not to hide the system partition. Otherwise your operating system will fail to boot.



SET LABEL OF A PARTITION

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The Partition Label is a small textual field (up to 11 characters) that is located in the partition's boot sector. It is detectable by any partitioning tool and is used for notification purposes only.

In order to change a partition label you should take the following steps:

1. Select a partition on the Disk Map.

2. Call the Change Volume Label dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Modify > Change Volume Label.

 On the Explorer Bar: click on the current volume label.

 Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map,

then select the menu item: Change Volume Label.

3. Enter a label for the selected partition.

4. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation.

HARD DISK MANAGEMENT

In this chapter you will find all the information necessary to carry hard disk operations supported by the program (Update MBR, Convert to Basic, Change Primary Slot).

UPDATING MBR

The program enables to overwrite the current bootable code in the MBR (Master Boot Record) by the standard bootstrap code. This can help to repair a corrupted bootable code of a hard disk resulted from a boot virus attack or a malfunction of boot management software.

In order to update MBR of a hard disk you should take the following steps:

1. Select a hard disk on the Disk Map.

2. Call the Update MBR dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main Menu: Hard Disk > Update MBR.

 Call the popup menu for the selected hard disk (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map,

then select the menu item: Update MBR.

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3. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation.

EXTRA FUNCTIONALITY

This chapter describes the supplementary functionality available in the program.

VIEW PARTITION/HARD DISK PROPERTIES

The program enables to obtain in-depth information on the properties of hard disks and partitions. Besides the general information, such as capacity, used space or file system type it provides the possibility to get info on hard disk geometry, cluster size, exact partition location, etc.

There are several ways to get properties on a partition/hard disk:

Launcher

1. Choose a partition/hard disk on the Disk Map, then select in the Main Menu: Partition/Hard Disk > Properties…;

2. Call the popup menu for the selected partition/hard disk (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map, then select the menu item: Properties…

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In the opened dialog information will be grouped according to its properties, thus by clicking tabs you can get information you need.

VOLUME EXPLORER

Volume Explorer is a special tool to browse and export contents of the local mounted/unmounted volumes formatted to FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, Ext2FS, Ext3FS, ReiserFS file systems. Besides it enables to access Paragon backups as regular folders to explorer their contents or to retrieve certain files.

Launcher

To launch the Volume Explorer you should click Disk View tab in the Explorer Bar and then choose Volume Explorer:

Call the popup menu for the selected file/folder (right click of the mouse button) to export it to some other location (local or network drive, etc.).

Available Operation Scenarios:

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 Restoring Separate Files and Folders from a Backup

MOUNT PARTITION

The program enables to assign or remove drive letters of existing formatted partitions.

ASSIGN DRIVE LETTER

In order to mount a partition you should take the following steps:

Launcher

1. Select a partition on the Disk Map.

2. Call the Add Drive Letter dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Assign Drive Letter…

 Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map,

then select the menu item: Assign Drive Letter…

3. Specify a drive letter for the selected partition. Initially the program suggests some consistent value for this parameter. So you may just press the Yes button to confirm the operation.

However you can manually define the required letter by selecting it from the pull-down list of available drive letters.

4. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation.

REMOVE DRIVE LETTER

In order to un-mount a partition you should take the following steps:

Launcher

1. Select a partition on the Disk Map.

2. Call the Remove Drive Letter dialog to define appropriate settings. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Remove Drive Letter.

 Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map,

then select the menu item: Remove Drive Letter.

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3. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation.

Modifying drive letter of the system partition will result in inability to boot the operating system.



After having processed partitions with installed software, some programs may not run properly.

DEFRAGMENT PARTITION

Defragmentation is the process of rewriting parts of a file to contiguous sectors on a hard disk to increase the speed of access and retrieval. When files are updated, the computer tends to save these updates on the largest continuous space on the hard disk, which is often on a different sector than the other parts of the file. When files are thus fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk each time the file is opened to find all of the file's parts, which slows down response time.

The program provides the necessary tool for the defragmentation of NTFS and FAT partitions.

In order to start the operation you should take the following steps:

Launcher

1. Select a partition on the Disk Map.

2. Call the Defragment Partition dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main menu: Partition > Modify > Defragment Partition…

 Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map or

on the Partition List, then select the menu item: Defragment Partition…

3. Initially the program suggests some consistent values for all parameters. In most cases, you can just press the Yes button to confirm the operation.

 Directories Placement. From the pull-down list select the way how to sort directories.

 Sort by size. Sort files according to their size.

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 Sort by time. Sort files according to the last time of update.

 Skip auxiliary files. Mark the option to ignore contents of the PAGEFILE.SYS and HIBERFIL.SYS

system files. These files are used temporarily in the operating system.

 Defragmentation Mode. Select the preferable defragmentation mode.

4. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation.

Available operation scenarios:

 Hard Disk Optimization

TEST SURFACE

The program enables to test surface of existing partitions and blocks of free space for bad or unstable sectors. If found any it automatically marks them unusable in the file system metadata, thus minimizing the risk of data loss.

In order to start the surface test you should take the following steps:

Launcher

1. Select a partition or a block of free space on the Disk Map.

2. Call the Test Surface dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Test Surface…

 Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map,

then select the menu item: Test Surface…

3. From the pull-down list choose the level of the surface check.

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4. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation.

CHECK FILE SYSTEM INTEGRITY

The program allows you to check integrity of a file system. It can be used to detect possible file system errors before performing any operation on a partition.

To start the system integrity check you should take the following steps:

Launcher

1. Select a partition on the Disk Map

2. Call the Check File System Integrity dialog to set up the operation. There are several ways to do it:

 Select in the Main Menu: Partition > Check File System Integrity

 Call the popup menu for the selected partition (right click of the mouse button) on the Disk Map,

then select the menu item: Check File System Integrity.

3. Initially the program suggests some consistent values for all parameters. In most cases, you can just press the Yes button to confirm the operation.

 Automatically fix file system errors. Mark the checkbox to automatically fix any found error

without requesting a confirmation.

 Scan for and attempt to recover bad sectors. Mark the checkbox to additionally process sectors

marked bad in the file system metadata for the purpose of their possible recovery.

4. The operation will be performed immediately after confirmation.

SEND LOG FILES

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The program enables to simplify the procedure of sending support requests to the Paragon Support Team. In case of having difficulties with handling the program, you, with the help of this very function, can address the company support engineers and provide them with all the information they need such as the disk layout, performed operations, etc. in order to tackle the encountered problem. Information of that kind is stored in Log files.

In order to send log files to the Paragon Support Team you should take the following steps:

Launcher

1. Call the Send Log Files dialog in the Main Menu: Tools > Send Log Files;

2. Provide a customer name and a product serial number;

3. Give a detailed description on the encountered problem.

By clicking the Send button the built-in mail client will generate a template request with attached compressed log files and then send it to the Paragon Support Team.

LOG FILES

Log files are simple textual files that can be opened by any text editor. There are several log files automatically generated by the program:

Stubact.log

Pwlog.txt

Cdb.log

BioNTlog.txt or

Bio95log.txt

Contains in-depth information on parameters and performance of all operations

carried out by the program

Besides brief overview on operations it also contains detailed information about the state of all hard disks

Contains low-level information on the CD/DVD devices used in the system

It is an OS-dependent supplementary log file derived from Bioxx.dll. It may contain valuable information on Windows family operating systems

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Bio95log.txt

Log files do not contain any confidential information on the operating system settings or the user documents.



The Send Log Files function is only available when outgoing mail server (SMTP) and the user e-mail address are properly set. To learn more about it please consult the Settings

Overview chapter.

VIEW LOGS

With a handy dialog you can study logs on any operation carried by the program. To make this job as easy as possible, all the information is structurally divided, besides there is the possibility to see the disk layout before and after an operation, what is very convenient.

Launcher

In order to view logs on carried out operations call the View Logs dialog in the Main Menu: Tools > View Logs…

TYPICAL SCENARIOS

This chapter lists a number of the most frequently used scenarios that may be accomplished with the program. You can find here useful recommendations and descriptions of operations.

BACKUP SCENARIOS

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BACKING UP A HARD DISK OR PARTITION TO A NETWORK DRIVE

To back up an entire hard disk or a separate partition and then place the resulted image to a network share, please do the following:

1. Click the Back up a Disk or Partition item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be used here).

2. On the Wizard's Welcome page, click the Next button.

3. On the What to back up page, mark the appropriate option opposite a hard disk’s name or a partition’s name depending on the chosen task.

4. Map a network disk to place your backup image to:

 Call the Map Network Drive dialog by clicking the appropriate button;

 Click the standard browse button [...] to browse for the required network share or manually enter a

path to it;

 Define a letter from the pull-down list of available drive letters;

 Mark the checkbox to make this connection permanent. Otherwise it will only be available for the

current Windows session;

 Click the Connect as user button at the foot of the dialog page to specify a user name and

password to access the selected network share if necessary.

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5. Edit the archive name if necessary.

Please take into account values of the parameters Estimated archive size and Space available on backup destination - if the archive size exceeds the available space,



another network drive needs to be selected.

6. On the Backup Summary page review all parameters of the operation and modify them if necessary. Click the Next button to start the backup process.

RECOVERY SCENARIOS

FIXING MBR AFTER A BOOT VIRUS ATTACK

Let’s assume that the MBR (Master Boot Record) of your hard disk has been corrupted as a result of a boot virus attack, thus your system fails to boot.

To fix the MBR of your hard disk, please do the following:

1. Insert Paragon Linux/DOS Recovery CD (the BIOS must be enabled to boot the system from the CD/DVD device).

2. Restart the computer.

3. In the boot menu select Normal Mode to use the Linux recovery environment (more preferable) or Safe Mode to use the PTS DOS recovery environment (in case you’ve got problems with Linux). Moreover you’ve got the option to boot into the Low-Graphics Safe Mode (PTS DOS safe mode) to cope with a serious hardware incompatibility. 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.

By default the Normal Mode will be automatically initiated after a 10 second idle period.



4. In the Linux launch menu select Boot Corrector. You can find it in PTS DOS as well.

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5. On the Wizard's Welcome page, select the Correct the Master Boot Record (MBR) option.

6. On the next page choose the required hard disk from the pull-down list (if several) and then select the Update the MBR executable code option.

7. Confirm the operation.

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8. After the operation is completed click the Report button to see a well informative summary page. The program also enables to store the resulted report. To do that, just press the Save button and choose the exact location in the opened dialog.

9. Click the Finish button to close Boot Corrector.

10. Eject the CD.

11. Reboot the computer.

FIXING WINDOWS STARTUP ABILITY

Let’s assume that due to an unknown reason your Windows fails to complete the startup procedure. At first everything seems quite OK, you can see the standard startup messages on the screen, but at some moment it hangs up.

To fix your Windows startup ability, please do the following:

1. Insert Paragon Linux/DOS Recovery CD (the BIOS must be enabled to boot the system from the CD/DVD device).

2. Restart the computer.

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By default the Normal Mode will be automatically initiated after a 10 second idle



period.

4. In the Linux launch menu select Boot Corrector. You can find it in PTS DOS as well.

5. On the Wizard's Welcome page, select the Search for Windows installations to correct option.

6. On the next page choose the required Windows installation from the list of found installations (if several), then select the Edit the Boot.ini file option. If you’re not sure which installation you need, please use the Properties button to get more info on the selected item.

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7. Examine the file – maybe that’s where the problem is. If it contains a mistake, correct it by using the appropriate buttons.

8. If the Boot.ini file does not contain any mistake, please return to the Correct Windows Installations page to correct drive letters in the Windows System Registry.

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9. On the next page choose a hard disk from the pull-down list (if several), then the required partition. If you’re not sure which installation you need, please use the Properties button to get more info on the selected item.

10. Click the Edit Letters button to correct an existing drive letter or assign a new one in the Windows System Registry.

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11. Once you’ve assigned the appropriate drive letter, close the dialog, then click the Apply button.

12. Confirm the operation.

13. After the operation is completed click the Report button to see a well informative summary page. The program also enables to store the resulted report. To do that, just press the Save button and choose the exact location in the opened dialog.

14. Click the Finish button to close Boot Corrector.

15. Eject the CD.

16. Reboot the computer.

RESTORING A DUAL BOOT MAC FROM AN EXTERNAL USB DRIVE

Let’s assume that your Mac fails to boot because of a hard disk malfunction. But you’ve got a backup of your hard disk on an external USB drive. Just replace the failed disk with a new one and carry out a bare metal restore.

To restore a dual boot Mac from a backup image located on an external USB drive, please do the following:

1. Insert Paragon Linux/DOS Recovery CD (the BIOS must be enabled to boot the system from the CD/DVD device).

2. Connect an external USB drive to the computer.

3. Restart the computer.

4. In the boot menu select Normal Mode to use the Linux recovery environment, since it’s the only mode that enables to work with USB devices.

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By default the Normal Mode will be automatically initiated after a 10 second idle



period.

5. In the Linux launch menu select the Restore Wizard.

6. On the Wizard's Welcome page, click the Next button.

7. On the What to Restore page, click the standard browse button [...] to find the required archive. When done, double click on it to select.

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8. On the Image Properties page, make sure that you select the correct image by viewing the provided information about the archive.

9. On the next page specify a hard disk to restore the image to.

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100

All contents on disk selected for restoring purposes will be deleted during the



operation.

10. On the Restore Summary page you can see your hard disk layout before and after the operation. Click the Next button to initiate the restore process.

11. In the Progress window you can see in real-time a detailed report on all actions carried out by the program.

12. After completing the operation close the wizard, take out the disc and then reboot the computer.

RESTORING SEPARATE FILES AND FOLDERS FROM A BACKUP

To restore separate files and folders from a backup image with Volume Explorer, please do the following:

Launcher

1. Click the Disk View tab and then choose Volume Explorer;