Paragon Partition Manager - 9.0 Owner's Guide

Partition Manager™ 9.0

User Manual

Paragon Partition Manager™ 9.0

User Manual

CONTENTS

Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 4

Partition Manager Editions .................................................................................................... 5

Product Components ............................................................................................................... 7

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

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

Supported Technologies .................................................................................................................................. 8

Supported File Systems ................................................................................................................................... 9

Supported Media .............................................................................................................................................. 9

Getting Started ...................................................................................................................... 10

Distribution ..................................................................................................................................................... 10

Contacting Paragon Technology GmbH ...................................................................................................... 12

System Requirements .................................................................................................................................... 12

Installing the Program ................................................................................................................................... 13

Booting from the Linux/DOS Recovery CD ................................................................................................ 15

Basic Concepts ....................................................................................................................... 18

Drive Partitioning .......................................................................................................................................... 18

Backup Operations ........................................................................................................................................ 18

Paragon Hot Processing & Volume Shadow Copy Service ........................................................................ 19

Dynamic Disks ................................................................................................................................................ 20

64-bit Support................................................................................................................................................. 21

Copy Operations ............................................................................................................................................ 21

Scheduling ....................................................................................................................................................... 22

Interface Overview ................................................................................................................ 23

General Layout............................................................................................................................................... 23

Main Menu ..................................................................................................................................................... 24

Tool Bar .......................................................................................................................................................... 26

Virtual Operations Bar.................................................................................................................................. 26

Common Tasks Bar ....................................................................................................................................... 27

Disk Map ......................................................................................................................................................... 28

Explorer Bar ................................................................................................................................................... 29

List of Partitions ............................................................................................................................................. 30

Legend Bar ..................................................................................................................................................... 31

Status Bar ....................................................................................................................................................... 32

Settings Overview .................................................................................................................. 33

General Options ............................................................................................................................................. 33

General Copy and Backup Options ............................................................................................................. 34

Hot Processing Options ................................................................................................................................. 35

Partitioning Options ...................................................................................................................................... 35

E-Mail Options ............................................................................................................................................... 36

Virtual Mode Options .................................................................................................................................... 38

File System Conversion Options ................................................................................................................... 38

Operation Dependency Options.................................................................................................................... 40

CD/DVD Recording Options ......................................................................................................................... 40

Backup Image Options .................................................................................................................................. 41

Password Protection Options ........................................................................................................................ 42

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Getting Information about Disks and their Images ........................................................... 44

Viewing Disk Properties ................................................................................................................................ 44

Viewing Image Properties ............................................................................................................................. 45

Partition Management .......................................................................................................... 48

Basic Partitioning Operations ....................................................................................................................... 48

Advanced Partitioning Operations ............................................................................................................... 55

Changing Partition Attributes ...................................................................................................................... 68

Hard Disk Management ........................................................................................................ 73

Update MBR ................................................................................................................................................... 73

Convert to Basic ............................................................................................................................................. 73

Change Primary Slot ..................................................................................................................................... 74

Data Backup and Rescue ...................................................................................................... 76

Creating Backup Images ............................................................................................................................... 76

Restoring System and Data ........................................................................................................................... 82

Build Recovery Media ................................................................................................................................... 90

Copy Tasks ............................................................................................................................. 92

Copy Hard Disk.............................................................................................................................................. 92

Copy Partition ................................................................................................................................................ 94

Boot Management .................................................................................................................. 97

Creating Dual Boot Systems ......................................................................................................................... 98

Scheduling Operations ........................................................................................................ 107

Save to Scheduler ......................................................................................................................................... 109

Scripting ............................................................................................................................... 110

Extra Functionality ............................................................................................................. 112

View Partition/Hard Disk Properties ......................................................................................................... 112

Volume Explorer .......................................................................................................................................... 112

File Transfer Wizard ................................................................................................................................... 113

Mount Partition ............................................................................................................................................ 115

Partition Defragmentation .......................................................................................................................... 117

MFT Defragmentation................................................................................................................................. 118

Compact MFT .............................................................................................................................................. 118

Downgrade NTFS Version .......................................................................................................................... 119

Change SID ................................................................................................................................................... 120

Test Surface .................................................................................................................................................. 120

Check File System Integrity ........................................................................................................................ 121

Edit/View Sectors ......................................................................................................................................... 121

Send Log Files .............................................................................................................................................. 122

Glossary ................................................................................................................................ 124

Paragon Partition Manager™ 9.0

User Manual

Introduction

Paragon Partition Manager™ 9.0 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. The key features of the program are listed in the special chapter.

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

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

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User Manual

Personal

Professional

Server

Enterprise

Server

Windows 95

Windows 98

Yes

Windows Me

Windows NT

Yes

Windows NT Server Family

Yes

Windows 2000 Professional

Yes

Windows XP Home Edition

Yes

Windows XP Professional

Yes

Windows XP Professional 64-bit

Yes

Windows 2000 Server Family

Yes

Windows Storage Server 2003

Yes

Windows Server 2003 Web

Yes

Partition Manager Editions

The product is being released in several editions, Personal, Professional, Server and Enterprise Server which vary in price and provided functionality:

Personal Edition Peculiarities

 The Personal edition does not support dynamic disks:

- It cannot perform any operations on dynamic disks, but entire deletion;

- It cannot convert dynamic disks back to basic;

- However, it can recognize the layout of dynamic disks.

 Backup to a Network Drive and Perform Incremental Copy functions are unavailable in the Personal

edition.

 There is no File Transfer Wizard in the Personal edition.  Change Cluster Size, Change Root Size (FAT16), Change Boot Size (FAT16/FAT32), Downgrade

NTFS Version, Defragment MFT, Compact MFT, Change Primary Slots, Change Serial Number, Change Partition ID, Change SID, Convert to Basic program’s dialogs are unavailable in the Personal

edition.

 There is no possibility to send notifications by e-mail on the carried out operations in the Personal

edition.

Enterprise Server Edition Peculiarities

 Only the Enterprise Server edition supports scripting, i.e. it provides the possibility to perform batch

tasks in the unattended mode.

 Only the Enterprise Server edition enables to schedule tasks for later execution.  Only the Enterprise Server edition offers an advanced backup functionality.  Only the Enterprise Server edition allows the user to restore a partition/hard disk directly under

Windows.

 Only the Enterprise Server edition provides support of the Microsoft VSS (Volume Shadow Copy

Service) technology.

Supported Operating Systems

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Windows Server 2003 Standard/ 64-bit

Yes

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise/ 64-bit/ Itanium

Yes

Windows Server 2003 Datacenter/ 64-bit/ Itanium

Yes

Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard/ Premium

Yes

Windows Vista

Yes

Windows Vista 64-bit

Yes

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

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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 the user may find and run tasks in the field of hard disk partitioning and optimization, data and system backup, hard disk/partition 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 the 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.

 WinPE based Recovery CD. Especially for keen followers of Windows, our product also offers a

WinPE based bootable media. Unlike Linux/DOS Recovery CD it can boast an excellent hardware support and the same interface as for the Windows version. However its system requirements are much tougher.

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Some features may be unavailable in the version of the product you have. To learn more about it please consult the Partition Manager Editions chapter.

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

virtual operations).

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

Windows disk tools, the program supports all file systems.

 Carrying out advanced partitioning operations such as redistribution of available disk space or

merging of adjacent partitions of NTFS, FAT or FAT32 file systems with the help of easy-to-

use wizards.

 Boot Manager Setup Wizard to easily manage several operating systems on one computer.  Hot Resize NTFS upward allows the user to enlarge NTFS partitions (system, locked) without

rebooting Windows and interrupting its work.

 Conversion of FAT and NTFS file systems without reformatting.  Install New OS Wizard to make your system ready to install a new operating system.  Effective tools for file system optimization. Defragmentation of FAT and NTFS file systems

will help improve the hard disk performance while working with these systems.

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

including standard bootstrap code and other system service structures, thus maintaining the operating system’s working capability.

 Back up a partition/hard disk including service data of the file system. The program supports

all five types of dynamic volumes (simple, spanned, striped, mirrored, RAID-5).

 Restore an entire disk or separate files from the disk archive (image).  Restore with Shrink function provides the possibility to restore a backup image to a free block

of smaller size taking into account only the amount of actual data of the image.

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

operation automatically.

 File Transfer Wizard assists the user with copying of separate files/directories or burning of

them to CD/DVD. Besides it provides access to Paragon backups as regular folders to browse through their contents or copy required files.

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

successful accomplishment of any operation.

 Volume Explorer utility allows the user to browse and export contents of the local

mounted/unmounted volumes of any file system as well as Paragon backups.

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

operating system cannot boot anymore.

Supported Technologies

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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.

 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.

 Paragon Shutdown After Apply™ technology to set the computer to automatically switch off on the

successful accomplishment of any operation.

 Microsoft Dynamic Disk (simple, spanned, striped, mirrored, RAID-5) to offer more management

flexibility without the partition limitation of basic disks. Dynamic storage can be particularly beneficial for large-scale businesses when dealing with many physical hard disks involving complex setup.

Supported File Systems

Paragon Partition Manager 9.0 provides support of major file systems presented on the market today:

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

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

Supported Media

 Large hard disks (up to 1,5 TB tested, 2 TB limit in theory)  IDE, SCSI and SATA hard disks  CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and also DVD-R, DVD+R double layer

discs

 FireWire (i.e. IEEE1394), USB 1.0, USB 2.0 hard disks, ZIP® and Jazz® disks, MBR Flash Cards  PC card storage devices (MBR flash memory, etc.)

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The File option enables just to save the image as an ISO file in the required location.

Getting Started

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

Distribution

Paragon Partition Manager 9.0 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 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).

Thus in order to run the Windows components, you need to install them first (see Installing the Program).

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 9.0 purchased over the Internet contains two downloadable files:

 Self-extracting file for Windows components installation;  Recovery CD ISO image-file with a built-in tool for CD/DVD burning

These files can be downloaded individually as found necessary.

To burn an ISO image of the Recovery CD, simply do the following:

1. Launch the Unpack & Burn Wizard by clicking on the downloaded executable file;

2. On the Destination page of the wizard select the CD/DVD option to write directly to a CD/DVD

disk;

3. On the CD/DVD Writing Parameters page choose the required recording device from the list of all

available devices, then define the writing options (speed and whether to eject the recorded disc after completing the operation or not);

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

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.

4. Insert a blank disk into the recording CD/DVD drive and click the Next button to start the

operation.

Registration

Paragon Technology GmbH provides a wide range of online services through its web-service - KB (Knowledge Base):

 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.

To enter the Knowledge Base, please visit the web-site: http://kb.paragon-software.com/.

To Register as a New User

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

1. Run the Internet browser and visit the page: http://kb.paragon-software.com/;

2. Select Registration in the menu;

3. On the renewed page, select your country and language;

4. Fill out the registration form.

To Register a New Product

If you are a registered user and would like to register Partition Manager 9.0, simply do the following:

1. Click Login in the menu;

2. On the Login page, in the User Name field, enter an E-mail, which you have used for registration;

3. In the Password field enter the password you received with registration confirmation. Click the

Submit button;

4. If the user name and password are valid, you will enter the system;

5. In the opened menu click the Product Registration item to see a list of all registered products with a

new registration form;

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Service

Contact

Visit Paragon GmbH web site

www.paragon-software.com

Registration & updates web-service

kb.paragon-software.com

Knowledge Base & Technical Support

kb.paragon-software.com

Pre-sale information

sales@paragon-software.com

Some features may be unavailable in the version of the product you have. To learn more about it please consult the Partition Manager Editions chapter.

6. Select Paragon Partition Manager 9.0 from the list of products;

7. Type in your product serial number in the Serial Number field. Click the Submit button.

That is all. You will receive a confirmation by E-mail.

How to Download Updates/Upgrades

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

1. Enter the Paragon Software web-service;

2. In the menu click the Download Update to see what updates are available for you;

3. Select the desired update and click the Download button.

Contacting Paragon Technology GmbH

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

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 98/NT/2000/XP/Vista/Server 2000/2003 and XP/Vista/Server

2000/2003 64-bit

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

Linux/DOS based Recovery CD

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

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

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.

WinPE based Recovery CD

To use the WinPE based Recovery CD on your computer, (it doesn’t matter what operating system is

installed), make sure that it meets the following minimum system requirements:

 Intel Pentium CPU or its equivalent, with 300 MHz processor clock speed  At least 384 MB of RAM (512+ is recommended)  Hard disk drive with 40 MB of available space  SVGA video adapter and monitor  Mouse

Installing the Program

As we have already mentioned only Windows components of the product require installation. So to install Paragon Partition Manager 9.0 under Windows, please do the following:

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

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

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

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

Paragon Partition Manager™ 9.0

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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

Partition Manager 9.0 will be installed anyway as it is the main component.

C:\Program Files\Paragon Software\Paragon Partition Manager 9.0. To select another folder, click the

Browse button.

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

5. Select Components to Install

The Select Components page enables the user to choose what components are to be installed.

Besides Partition Manager 9.0 the user can also install a trial version of Drive Backup™ 8.51 as a bonus from Paragon Technology GmbH. So choose the required component(s) by marking a checkbox opposite its title. A brief description to the selected feature on the right will help make no mistake.

Click the Next button to continue.

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

Start > Programs > Paragon Partition Manager 9.0.

Click the Next button to continue.

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

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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.

8. Copying Files The Setup Status 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.

Booting from the Linux/DOS Recovery CD

The Linux/DOS Recovery CD can be used to boot your computer into PTS DOS or Linux to get access to the hard disk without use of the failed operating system.

You also have an option to boot in the PTS DOS safe mode. The reboot of the computer from the Recovery CD in the safe mode may be of great use 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.

Boot Menu

After you have inserted the Recovery CD into 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. No partitions mounted.

 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.

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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 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.

If you are going to use network resources, first launch the Network Configuration Wizard to establish a network connection.

Linux/DOS Recovery CD assigns drive letters to partitions the way it is done in DOS, i.e. one after another, primary partitions at first. Thus mounted partitions may have different drive letters from Windows.

Normal Mode

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

 Paragon Partition Manager (enables to carry out partitioning operations of any complexity, copy

and back up separate partitions or entire hard disks, defragment FAT and NTFS volumes, etc.);

 Simple Restore Wizard (allows restoring hard disks and partitions);  File Transfer Wizard (allows coping files/folders to another disk or a partition as well as recording

them to CD/DVD);

 Boot Corrector (helps to correct the Windows System Registry without Windows being loaded);  Network Configurator (starts the Network Configuration Wizard);

 Log Saver (helps to collect and send the necessary log files to the Technical Support)  View the mounted partitions (the list of all mounted partitions will be displayed);

 Command Line (allows experienced users to execute any operation);  Reboot the computer;  Power off the computer.

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

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

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

Safe Mode

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

Running Commands

To launch the required command you should take the following steps:

1. Insert Paragon Linux/DOS Recovery CD into your CD/DVD drive;

2. Reboot the computer;

3. Select one of the boot modes (Normal, Safe, Low Graphics) in the Boot menu;

4. Choose a command by using the arrow keys of the computer keyboard to move within the menu;

5. Launch the command by pressing the Enter button.

6. After it has been launched consult the help system by pressing ALT+F1 to know more on the

subject.

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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.

Drive Partitioning

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

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

It is also worth mentioning to that with a hard drive properly partitioned, such routine operations as files de-

fragmentation or consistency check will not be that annoying and time-consuming any more.

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

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

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

Backup Operations

Since the advent of the computer age the best way to protect valuable information was to store it in form of archives on external media. In case of hard disk malfunction, its contents could be restored from the archive. Then backup soon became a common term to mean making duplications of data for protection purposes.

Nowadays backup has become an essential routine operation for any serious information work. A modern backup archive uses the so-called image, 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. A backup image can be copied or moved like any ordinary file.

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Some features may be unavailable in the version of the product you have. To learn more about it please consult the Partition Manager Editions chapter.

The user can store backup images on external media (CD/DVDs). This guarantees a high level of data protection as long as the backup media is kept secure. It is possible to store backup images on a local

network drive as well. Special server-side software enables to secure and store backup images for the entire

network. For this purpose computers named backup servers are used. Such a backup server provides nearly the same level of protection as external media.

However, should the user not have a local network and/or it is inconvenient to record data onto external media, then the backup images can be stored in a specially secured place on the hard disk. This place is referred to as the backup capsule, which has an independent system layout (e.g. a separate partition) that will stay operable should the active file system be damaged. To avoid an accidental removing or unauthorized access of the backup data, this partition is hidden and thus cannot be mounted in the operating system. A single hard disk may contain only one backup capsule. However, the user can attach another hard disk with an existing backup capsule to the computer and restore from that as well without any problems.

It is only possible to browse the contents of the backup capsule by using special software. The system of wizards that is implemented into the program is designed to work with the backup capsule. Thus, by storing disk images in the backup capsule the user obtains a reliable level of data protection.

Paragon Hot Processing & Volume Shadow Copy Service

Offline versus Online Backup

In the course of time there have been developed various methods of backing up data. Despite different work concept, all of them can be divided into two principal groups: offline (cold) and online (hot) backup techniques.

As the name infers, offline backup 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, since backup software obtains an exclusive right to process data that guaranties high level of operating efficiency. However an offline backup is absolutely out of question when dealing with 24/7 production environments.

In contrast, online backup enables to create a consistent snapshot even as the data is currently modified. Online backups are particularly useful for systems with high availability requirements, but they 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 backup, taking into account that applications may still keep writing to disks. As a result an online backup cannot boast high operating speed.

Our program supports both offline and online methods of image creation. As far as online backup 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 backup technology for Windows NT+ family operating systems. Developed back in 2001, nowadays it is integrated with all backup solutions offered by the company.

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It is not recommended to use Paragon Hot Processing with active SQL Server 2003, Exchange 2003 or Oracle databases since the backup image contents may be corrupted.

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

Some features may be unavailable in the version of the product you have. To learn more about it please consult the Partition Manager Editions chapter.

Paragon Hot Processing is not exactly a snapshot technology, though it has much in common with it. During an online backup, the program uses the kernel mode driver HOTCORE.SYS to intercept and control disk write activity of applications and the operating system. The hotcore driver as an integral part of the program

is installed during the setup procedure (that’s why the system reboot is required to complete the setup

procedure). For the most part the driver is in the idle mode until it is activated with the program. While in this mode it bypasses any calls having no effect on the overall system performance, but a few kilobytes of the system memory.

Paragon Hot Processing technology offers copy/backup of locked partitions and hard disks under Windows NT+ family operating systems providing both high operating efficiency as well as low hardware requirements.

Volume Shadow Copy Service

Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is designed to provide the backup infrastructure for the Microsoft Windows XP/Server 2003 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 backup solution vendors on the market, it is based on a snapshot technology concept.

Initiated by a VSS aware 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 backup utility starts processing the data while applications keep writing to original volumes.

Unlike Paragon Hot Processing the VSS technology provides a unique possibility to make a synchronous snapshot of multiple volumes. This very feature can be particularly beneficial when backing up active SQL Server 2003, Exchange 2003 or Oracle databases located on multiple volumes the way it is recommended by Microsoft to improve the level of database performance and reliability, thus providing 100-percent data consistency.

Dynamic Disks

One of the key features of our program is the possibility to process dynamic disks. As you probably know, MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Server 2003/Vista support four primary partitions per physical hard disk, one of which can be extended. Certainly there is the possibility to create logical drives within the extended partition. Such types of disks are called basic. Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista follow the same strategy: You can have a maximum of four primary partitions, one of which can be an extended partition with logical drives. However, these operating systems also introduce a new disk configuration type - dynamic disk - which must be understood to effectively configure and manage hard disks.

Dynamic disk is a physical disk that doesn't use partitions or logical drives. Instead, it contains only dynamic volumes. Regardless of what format you use for the file system, only Win2K computers can access dynamic volumes directly. However, computers that aren't running Win2K can access the dynamic volumes remotely when connected to the shared folders over the network.

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Some features may be unavailable in the version of the product you have. To learn more about it please consult the Partition Manager Editions chapter.

Dynamic disks can co-exist on a system with basic disks. The only limitation is that you cannot mix Basic and Dynamic disks on the same hard drive.

There are five types of dynamic volumes: simple (uses free space from a single disk), spanned (created from free disk space that is linked together from multiple disks), striped (a volume the data of which is interleaved across two or more physical disks), mirrored (a fault-tolerant volume the data of which is duplicated on two physical disks, and RAID-5 volumes (a fault-tolerant volume the data of which is striped across an array of three or more disks).

With dynamic storage, you can perform disk and volume management without the need to restart Windows.

Limitations:

 Dynamic disks are not supported on portable computers.  Dynamic disks are not supported on Windows XP Home Edition-based computers.  You cannot create mirrored volumes or RAID-5 volumes on Windows XP Home Edition, Windows

XP Professional, or Windows XP 64-Bit Edition-based computers.

Thus, the dynamic disk is a new way of looking at hard disk configuration. Dynamic disks offer you more management flexibility without the partition limitation of basic disks. Dynamic disks can contain an unlimited number of volumes, but they cannot contain partitions or logical drives. Dynamic storage can be particularly beneficial for large-scale businesses when dealing with many physical hard disks involving complex setup.

64-bit Support

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

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

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

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

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Some features may be unavailable in the version of the product you have. To learn more about it please consult the Partition Manager Editions chapter.

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.

Scheduling

The automation of the program’s operations is particularly effective when the user has to repeat a sequence

of actions on a regular basis. For example, when a specific project is being developed on a computer on a day-to-day basis and a backup copy is made every evening so as not to lose the valuable data, it should be possible to simplify certain routine operations. Certain operations really need to be automated to facilitate the task of multiple executions and setting a precise time for its completion.

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

The program has a special tool for scheduling. The user can set out a timetable for various operations. For example, some operations may be performed daily, others - weekly and so on. The scheduled operation starts at a specified time without interrupting the user's current activity.

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1. Main Menu

2. Tool Bar

3. Virtual Operations Bar

4. Common Tasks Bar

5. Explorer Bar

Interface Overview

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

General Layout

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

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

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6. List of Partitions

7. Disk Map

8. Legend Bar

9. Status Bar

MENU ITEM

FUNCTIONALITY

Tools

Generate Script…

Generate a script for the task

Save to Scheduler…

Schedule pending operations

Send Log Files

Compress and send the log to the Paragon Support Team

Boot Manager…

Manage several operating systems on one computer

Recovery Media Builder…

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

Settings...

Edit the general settings of the program

Exit

Exit the program

Changes

Undo "the last virtual operation"

Cancel the last virtual operation on the List of Pending Operations

Redo "the last virtual operation"

Cancel the last undo virtual operation on the List of Pending Operations View Changes…

Display the List of Pending Operations

Apply Changes

Launch the real execution of virtual operations

Discard All Changes

Cancel all virtual operations on the List of Pending Operations

Reload Disk Info

Refresh the current information about disks

Wizards

Create Partition…

Create a partition of any file system

Format Partition…

Format a partition of any file system

Delete Partition…

Delete a partition of any file system

Back Up Disk or

Partition…

Create a new backup archive

Restore Disk or Partition…

Restore a disk from the backup image

Copy Hard Disk…

Create a hard disk copy

Copy Partition…

Create a partition copy

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

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

Main Menu

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

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Merge Partitions…

Merge adjacent partitions of NTFS, FAT or FAT32 file systems

Redistribute Free Space…

Redistribute available disk space of existed partitions

Undelete Partitions…

Recover any of accidentally deleted partition

Install New OS…

Make your system ready to install a new operating system

Hard Disk

Update MBR

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

Change Primary Slots…

Modify the primary partitions enumeration for the selected hard disk

Convert to Basic…

Convert a dynamic disk containing simple volume(s) into basic

Change SID…

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

Edit/View Sectors…

View/edit sectors of the selected hard disk

Properties…

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

Partition

Create Partition…

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

Format Partition…

Format a partition of any file system Format Partition dialog

Delete Partition…

Delete a partition of any file system Delete Partition dialog

Move/Resize…

Move/Resize the selected partition

Convert File System…

Convert file system of the selected partition

Assign Drive Letter…

Assign drive letter to the selected partition

Remove Drive Letter…

Remove drive letter for the selected partition

Hide Partition…

Make the selected partition unavailable for the operating system

Unhide Partition…

Make the selected partition available for the operating system

Mark Partition as Active

Make the selected partition bootable by default

Mark Partition as Inactive

Make the selected partition non-bootable by default

Change Cluster Size…

Change cluster size of the selected partition

Change Boot Size…

Change boot size of the selected partition

Change Root Size…

Change root size of the selected partition

Change Volume Label…

Change volume label of the selected partition

Change Serial Number…

Change serial number of the selected partition

Change Partition ID…

Change identifier of the selected partition

Downgrade NTFS

version…

Decrease version of the selected NTFS partition

Compact MFT…

Shrink MFT of the selected NTFS partition

Change SID…

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

Make Partition Primary…

Make the selected partition Primary

Make Partition Logical…

Make the selected partition Logical

Defragment Partition…

Defragment data on the selected partition

Defragment MFT…

Defragment MFT (Master File Table) of the selected NTFS partition

Test Surface…

Test surface of the selected partition/block of free space

Check File System

Check the selected partition for possible file system errors

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Integrity…

Edit/View Sectors…

View/edit sectors of the selected partition

Properties…

Get in-depth information on the properties of selected partition

View

Toolbar

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

Status Bar

Display the Status bar

Common Tasks Bar

Display the Common tasks bar

Disk Map Legend

Display the Disk map legend

Properties and Commands

Display the Explorer bar

Disk Map Location

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

Choose Columns…

Select properties to display on the List of partitions

Help

Open the Help system

About

Open the dialog with information about the program

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

Some features may be unavailable in the version of the product you have. To learn more about it please consult the Partition Manager Editions chapter.

BUTTON

FUNCTIONALITY

Create a partition

Copy a partition

Copy a hard disk

Format a partition

Delete a partition

Open the Help system

Tool Bar

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

Virtual Operations Bar

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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

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:

Basic Partitioning Tasks

Starting the Create Partition Wizard. The Create Partition Wizard assists the user to create partitions of any file system.

Starting the Format Partition Wizard. The Format Partition Wizard allows formatting existing partitions to one of the file systems supported by the program.

Starting the Delete Partition Wizard that enables to delete partitions of any file system.

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 accomplishment.

The Virtual Operations Bar enables to manage pending operations.

Common Tasks Bar

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

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

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Advanced Partitioning Tasks

Starting the Merge Partitions Wizard. The Merge Partitions Wizard allows merging adjacent partitions of NTFS, FAT, FAT32 file systems.

Starting the Redistribute Free Space Wizard that enables to redistribute available disk space of existed partitions.

Starting the Undelete Partitions Wizard that helps to recover accidentally deleted partitions.

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

Backup Tasks

Starting the Backup Wizard. The Backup Wizard assists the user with the backup of the hard disk’s data.

Starting the Restore Wizard. The Restore Wizard helps to restore data from a previously made backup image.

Copy Tasks

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

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

Tools

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

Starting the File Transfer Wizard. The File Transfer Wizard allows copying of separate files/directories or burning of them to CD/DVD. Besides it provides access to Paragon backups as regular folders to browse through their contents or copy required files.

News and Documentation

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

Launching the Help system.

Opening a brief review on the Paragon Scripting Language.

Some features may be unavailable in the version of the product you have. To learn more about it please consult the Partition Manager Editions chapter.

Disk Map

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

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

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

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

 Manufacturer,  Model.

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

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

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

Disk Map is synchronized with the Explorer bar. When the user selects a disk on the Disk Map the Explorer bar displays detailed information of the selected disk.

Explorer Bar

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

 User Manual,  Information about the program consisting of the product's name, the version of the program and a list

of helpful links,

 Detailed information about disks selected on the Disk Map,  List of scheduled operations,  Volume Explorer utility,  Disk Editor utility.

According to these categories the Explorer bar has several tabs:

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

- Disk Editor to view/edit sectors of the selected partition/hard disk;

- Volume Explorer 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.

 Scheduled Tasks, which gives the user the possibility of browsing and editing scheduled operations.

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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

 Help System, which contains the User Manual and information about the program.

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

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

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

List of Partitions

The List of Partitions is another helpful tool that enables the user 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),

+ 96 hidden pages

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Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

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