Powerquest PARTITIONMAGIC 8.0 User Manual
®
PowerQuest
®
PartitionMagic 8.0
Includes PowerQuest® BootMagic® and PowerQuest® DataKeeper™
User Guide
PowerQuest® PartitionMagic® 8.0
User Guide
Published September 2002
© 1994-2002 PowerQuest Corporation
All rights reserved. This product and/or its use may be covered by one or more of the
following patents: 5,675,769; 5,706,472; 5,930,831; 6,088,778; 6,108,697; 6,108,759;
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iv
Table of Contents
Introduction
What Is PartitionMagic? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
New Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1: Getting Started
PartitionMagic System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Installing PartitionMagic under Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Creating Rescue Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Before Running PartitionMagic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Running PartitionMagic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Setting a Password for PartitionMagic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Uninstalling PartitionMagic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 2: PartitionMagic Basics
PartitionMagic Main Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Rescue Disk Main Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Process Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Selecting a Hard Disk and Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Selecting an Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Undoing an Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Viewing Pending Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Applying Changes to Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Supported File Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Changing PartitionMagic Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Using International Keyboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Defragmenting a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Chapter 3: Managing Partitions
Integrity Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Browsing Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Resizing and Moving Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Creating Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Deleting Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
PowerQuest PartitionMagic v
Undeleting Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Changing Partition Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Formatting Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Copying Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Checking Partitions for Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Merging Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Splitting Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Getting Information About Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Scanning a Disk for Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Defragmenting Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Chapter 4: Completing Advanced Disk Operations
Changing a Drive Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Retesting Bad Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Hiding and Unhiding Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Resizing the Root Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Setting an Active Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Resizing Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Chapter 5: Converting Partitions
Procedure for Converting Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Converting FAT Partitions to FAT32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Converting FAT Partitions to NTFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Converting FAT32 Partitions to FAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Converting FAT32 Partitions to NTFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Converting FAT/FAT32 Partitions to 4K Aligned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Converting NTFS Partitions to FAT or FAT32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Converting Partitions to Logical or Primary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Chapter 6: Using Wizards
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Running Wizards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Create New Partition Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Create Backup Partition Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Install Another Operating System Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Resize a Partition Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Redistribute Free Space Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Table of Contentsvi
Merge Partitions Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Copy Partition Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Chapter 7: Using PartitionMagic Utilities
Changing Drive Letter References with DriveMapper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Switching between Bootable Partitions with PQBoot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Chapter 8: PowerQuest BootMagic
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Configuring BootMagic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Setting BootMagic Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Adding an Operating System to the BootMagic Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Removing an Item from the BootMagic Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Modifying a Menu Item’s Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Setting a Default Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Booting from a Second Hard Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Setting the Startup Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Disabling BootMagic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Using the BootMagic Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Using BootMagic to Install Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Chapter 9: PowerQuest DataKeeper
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Monitoring Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Creating Custom Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Mobile Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Restoring Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Starting DataKeeper from a Windows Shortcut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Exiting DataKeeper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Appendix A: Using PartitionMagic With Other Programs
Norton Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Disk Compression Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Operating System Boot Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Virus Protection Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
PowerQuest PartitionMagic vii
Drive Overlay Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
SoundBlaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
GoBack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Defragmenting Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120
Appendix B: Troubleshooting
General Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Generating Diagnostic Reports with PartitionInfo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Error Messages and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Exit Code 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148
Appendix C: PowerQuest Technical Support
Complimentary Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Fee-Based Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Index
Table of Contentsviii
Introduction
What Is PartitionMagic?
PowerQuest® PartitionMagic® is a utility that lets you quickly and easily create, delete,
merge, or convert file systems of partitions on your hard disk without destroying existing
data. PartitionMagic will make your hard disk more efficient and provide greater security
for your data.
PartitionMagic enables you to secure your data by physically separating it from other files.
Separate partitions also make backups easy.
PartitionMagic helps you reliably run multiple operating systems on the same computer.
PartitionMagic also includes BootMagic, a powerful boot manager that helps you safely
install new operating systems and lets you choose which operating system you want to use
when starting your computer.
In addition to powerful partitioning features, PartitionMagic offers a variety of other
options. For instance, you can perform partitioning operations and view the changes that
will be made before applying them to your system. Additionally, you can view
comprehensive information about your hard disk geometry and your hardware system, and
you can resize root directories (FAT, FAT32) to make room for more long filenames.
New Features
PowerQuest PartitionMagic 8.0 includes the following new features:
• New user interface – Makes PartitionMagic easier to navigate.
• Large partition support – Enables management of partitions up to 160 GB,
containing up to 145 GB of data.
• File browser – Makes it possible to browse the contents of a partition or copy, move,
and rename files and folders from within PartitionMagic.
• Running multiple operating systems – BootMagic has been enhanced, so it can be
installed on a FAT or FAT32 partition on any hard disk. PQBoot for Windows has
been added, enabling you to boot into an alternate operating system from Windows
and return to the standard operating system on the next reboot.
PowerQuest PartitionMagic 1
• Ability to resize clusters on NTFS partitions – Reclaims lost performance that can
result from converting a FAT32 partition to NTFS as part of an operating system
upgrade. Larger clusters can also reduce the rate of fragmentation.
• PowerQuest DataKeeper – Provides an easy way for you to back up your important
data files for safekeeping.
• Installing Another Operating System wizard – Includes built-in information so
more of the operations are automated when you are preparing your system to run
multiple operating systems. Also includes information you can print to help you with
the part of the process that is not directly tied to PartitionMagic.
• Create Backup Partition wizard – Helps you create a partition for backup data files.
Also includes information you can print to help you configure and run PowerQuest
DataKeeper to use the new backup partition.
• Flash tutorial – Introduces partitioning concepts and provides an overview of the
tasks you can complete with PartitionMagic.
Introduction2
CHAPTER
Getting Started
This chapter includes the following information:
• PartitionMagic System Requirements
• Installing PartitionMagic under Windows
• Creating Rescue Disks
• Before Running PartitionMagic
• Running PartitionMagic
• Setting a Password for PartitionMagic
• Uninstalling PartitionMagic
1
3
PartitionMagic System Requirements
PartitionMagic for Windows requires a minimum of 70 MB of hard disk space, a CD drive
(any speed), a 3.5-inch floppy drive, VGA or higher resolution monitor with a screen area
of at least 800 x 600 pixels, and processor and memory requirements as shown below.
Operating System Minimum RAM Minimum Processor
Windows 95b through
Windows 98 SE
Windows Me 32 MB Pentium/150 MHz or compatible
Windows NT 4.0
Workstation with SP6a
applied
Windows 2000
Professional
Windows XP 128 MB* Pentium/233 MHz or compatible
* Resizing NTFS clusters on partitions over 120 GB in size requires 256 MB RAM.
PartitionMagic supports hardware RAID level 0 (disk striping) and RAID level 5 (striping
with parity).
PartitionMagic supports external USB, USB2, and FireWire (1394) hard drives under
Windows. Operations that are executed in boot mode are not supported on these devices.
See “USB, USB2, and FireWire Support” on page 17.
The rescue disk version of PartitionMagic requires a Pentium/150 MHz processor (or
faster), a 3.5-inch floppy drive, 8 MB of RAM (16 MB for NTFS partitions; 32 MB
recommended for FAT32 partitions; some very large partitions may require up to 256
MB). Microsoft recommends 128 MB RAM for Windows 2000 and Windows XP
systems, although the product can run on systems with 64 MB RAM.
32 MB Pentium/150 MHz or compatible
32 MB* Pentium/150 MHz or compatible
64 MB* Pentium/150 MHz or compatible
Installing PartitionMagic under Windows
You must have administrative privileges to install PartitionMagic on a Windows NT,
Windows 2000, or Windows XP system.
IMPORTANT! PartitionMagic must be installed on a local drive, not on a network drive.
Chapter 1: Getting Started4
Insert the PartitionMagic CD into your CD drive.
1
2 If the installation program does not start automatically, click Start ➤ Run on the
Windows taskbar. Then type drive:\AUTORUN, where drive is the drive letter of
your CD drive.
3 Click PartitionMagic ➤ Install, and follow the on-screen installation instructions.
There is sometimes a delay after you click Install. If you click it twice, you will start two
instances of the installation and will have to cancel the second one.
Creating Rescue Disks
You can run a DOS version of PartitionMagic or the BootMagic configuration program
from the PartitionMagic CD if your computer has the ability to boot from a CD. If your
computer cannot boot from a CD, PowerQuest recommends that you create rescue
diskettes at the end of the PartitionMagic installation.
You can create rescue disks from the PartitionMagic CD or from the Start menu. The
bootable CD and rescue disks also enable you to run PartitionMagic from DOS, Windows
3.x, or Linux machines.
Rescue disks are useful when:
• You want to run PartitionMagic, but you do not have an operating system that is
supported by the Windows version of the software.
• You have hidden the partition where PartitionMagic is installed and need to run
PartitionMagic to unhide the partition.
• You have accidently converted a partition to FAT32 or NTFS and your operating
system does not support that operating system, so your computer will not boot. (You
can use the rescue disks to convert the partition back to FAT.)
• Other occasions arise when you do not have access to PartitionMagic on the CD or
hard drive.
You must have two blank 1.44 MB floppy disks available before you begin this procedure
(three disks for double-byte languages).
PowerQuest PartitionMagic 5
You can create rescue disks three ways:
1
To create rescue
disks from: Do this:
Windows
(preferred
Click Start
8.0
➤ PartitionMagic 8.0 Tools ➤ Create Rescue Disks.
➤ Programs ➤ PowerQuest PartitionMagic
method)
PartitionMagic
CD (useful if you
1a Open the English\DOSMAKE folder on the
PartitionMagic CD.
do not have
Windows)
1b Type MAKEDISK A:, where A: is the drive letter for
your floppy disk drive.
You can also install the DOS version of PartitionMagic to
your hard disk using this process. If you install to your hard
disk, the PartitionMagic files (but not the system files) will be
installed to a PQMAGIC directory at the root of the disk, and
you will not need floppy disks.
PartitionMagic
Click Tools
➤ Create Rescue Disks on the menu bar.
main window
2 Insert a blank formatted 1.44 MB disk into your 3.5-inch disk drive and click OK.
3 Follow the prompts and the instructions on the progress bar (located at the bottom of
the window).
Chapter 1: Getting Started6
The rescue disks contain the following files:
PartitionMagic Disk 1 PartitionMagic Disk 2
• Autoexe2.bat
• Autoexec.bat
• Command.com
• Ega.cpi
•Keyb.com
• Mode.com
• Partinfo.exe (utility program)
• PTEDIT (utility program)
• Miscellaneous system (.SYS) files
• MSCDEX.exe (Windows 9x/Me
only)
• NWCDEX.exe (Windows
NT/2000/XP only)
•Fdisk.com (Windows NT/2000/XP
only)
• CHKDSK.exe
If you create rescue disks for a double-byte language, the third disk includes fonts.
• Autoexec.bat
• Command.com
• Mouse.com
• PMHelp.dat (help file)
•PQMagic.exe
•PQMagic.ovl
•PQMagic.pqg
•PQPB.rtc
• Rescue.txt
•zAbout.pqg
• Boot.ini (Windows NT/2000/XP only)
Before Running PartitionMagic
It is wise to run a file check (such as CheckDisk or ScanDisk) before running
PartitionMagic. Doing so can help you avoid problems you could encounter if you try to
manipulate partitions on a disk with bad sectors or file system errors. See “Checking
Partitions for Errors” on page 50.
You should back up your hard disk before using PartitionMagic. While PartitionMagic has
been thoroughly tested and is reliable, other factors, (such as power failures, operating
system bugs, and hardware defects), can put your data at risk. Before using any utility that
makes extensive changes to your hard disk, you should back up your data. PowerQuest®
Drive Image® is ideal for backing up partitions.
PartitionMagic cannot run while other low-level disk utilities (such as virus detection
software, defragmenting software like Diskeeper®, or backup software like GoBack®)
are running. Close all such utilities prior to starting PartitionMagic.
PowerQuest PartitionMagic 7
Verify that the version of PartitionMagic you are running is supported on the operating
system (and Service Pack, if applicable) you are running. See “PartitionMagic System
Requirements” on page 4.
If you would like a high-level overview of PartitionMagic, click Help
➤ Flash Tutorial
to run a Flash presentation that explains the product.
Running PartitionMagic
You can run PartitionMagic from Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT
4.0 Workstation, Windows 2000 Professional, or Windows XP. Under any other operating
system, you must run PartitionMagic from the rescue disks.
To run from: Do this:
Windows Start menu Click Start
8.0
➤ PartitionMagic 8.0.
Windows Explorer Right-click any drive object, and click PartitionMagic 8.0.
Running PartitionMagic from Rescue Disks
When you boot your computer from the first rescue disk, PQMAGIC automatically runs.
You must insert the second rescue disk when prompted.
Preparation
Before you run PartitionMagic from the rescue disks, you should:
➤ Programs ➤ PowerQuest PartitionMagic
• Turn off third-party disk caches.
• Deactivate/unload any TSR programs that access or modify partitions being changed.
You cannot run PartitionMagic on a Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP
Professional, or Windows Me machine that is in hibernation. To use the rescue diskette or
PartitionMagic for Windows, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Me must have
been shut down normally.
Rescue Disk Limitations
The following features are not available when you run the DOS version of PartitionMagic
from the rescue disks or from the PartitionMagic bootable CD.
• Split partitions
• Secure erase of partitions
Chapter 1: Getting Started8
• Undo last change
• Wizards
If you run out of space on the first rescue disk as a result of adding network, SCSI, or
CD-ROM drivers to your boot sequence, you can delete the following files from the disk:
chkdsk.com, fdisk.exe, ptedit.exe, and partinfo.exe. We recommend that you delete the
files in that order, freeing up only the space that you need to accommodate additional files.
These files are included in the Utilities folder on the PartitionMagic CD where you can
access them later, if necessary.
If you use an international keyboard or character set, you will need to modify the
AUTOEXE2.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files on the rescue disks. Refer to “Using
International Keyboards” on page 23 for additional information.
Checking an NTFS partition with the rescue disk version of PartitionMagic may take an
unusually long time. Since PartitionMagic performs checks both before and after the
move, copy, and resize operations, these operations may be slower with the rescue disk
version of PartitionMagic than with the Windows version.
Command Line Switches
The following command line options are supported by the Windows version and the DOS
(rescue disk) version of PartitionMagic, unless noted otherwise. When you specify
multiple options, the order is unimportant.
Switch Description
/? Lists all the command line options switches for the version of
PartitionMagic you are running.
/CAS Copies all sectors within partitions.
/CBS Checks for all bad sectors.
/CEC Checks for extra cylinders.
/DBG Enables debug messages.
/IFC Ignores file system checks.
/I24 Ignores the 1024 cylinder boundary.
/MUP Allows you to move partitions of unknown types.
/NBS Disables bad sector checking.
PowerQuest PartitionMagic 9
Switch Description
/NRB Instructs PartitionMagic not to reboot after the program exits.
/NSS Does not display the splash screen.
/PQB Forces the batch file to the specified location. PartitionMagic creates a
batch file when it must perform some operations in boot mode.
Syntax: PQMAGIC /PQB=C:\, where C: is the location where you
want the batch file to be saved.
/RAV Tells PartitionMagic to read and verify all disk writes. Enabling this
option increases the length of time needed to perform some operations,
but it ensures that the operation outcome is accurate.
/UVM Tells PartitionMagic to use virtual memory.
/WFS Wipes the first sector after deleting all partitions.
Setting a Password for PartitionMagic
You can assign a password that must be entered before PartitionMagic for Windows will
start.
1 Click General ➤ Set Password.
The Set Password dialog appears.
2 Type a new password, then press <Tab>.
3 Confirm the new password, then press <Tab>.
4 (Optional) Add a hint.
Chapter 1: Getting Started10
Click OK.
5
Entering a Password
When you start PartitionMagic and there is a password assigned, the Enter Password
dialog appears.
1 Type the password assigned to PartitionMagic.
You can click Hint to display a reminder.
2 Click OK.
Changing a Password
1 Click General ➤ Set Password.
2 Type the old password, then press <Tab>.
3 Type the new password, then press <Tab>.
To remove password protection, leave the new password fields blank.
4 Confirm the new password, then press <Tab>.
5 (Optional) Change the hint.
6 Click OK.
Uninstalling PartitionMagic
1 On the Windows taskbar, click Start ➤ Settings ➤ Control Panel.
2 Double-click Add/Remove Programs, then select PartitionMagic 8.0.
3 Click Add/Remove.
PowerQuest PartitionMagic 11
CHAPTER
PartitionMagic Basics
This chapter includes the following information:
• PartitionMagic Main Window
• Rescue Disk Main Window
• Process Overview
• Selecting a Hard Disk and Partition
• Selecting an Operation
• Undoing an Operation
• Viewing Pending Operations
2
• Applying Changes to Your System
• Supported File Systems
• Changing PartitionMagic Preferences
• Using International Keyboards
• Defragmenting a Hard Drive
• Getting Help
13
PartitionMagic Main Window
The main window includes an action panel with shortcuts for common tasks and an
overview of pending operations, a map of each disk, and a list of the partitions on the
selected disk.
The menu bar and a toolbar appear at the top of the window. The menu bar gives you
access to all of PartitionMagic’s features. The toolbar gives you quick access to
commonly used options. When the pointer is over a toolbar, the status bar shows what the
button does.
You can customize the main screen by clicking commands on the View menu.
Note that the main screen is different if you run PartitionMagic from the rescue disks. See
“Rescue Disk Main Window” on page 15.
Menu Bar
Toolbar
Tasks
(Wizards)
Disk Map
Partition List
Operations
for selected
partition
(unavailable
options are
dimmed)
Legend
Status Bar
Disk Map
The disk map shows the partitions approximately to scale and also shows unallocated
space (space not assigned to any partition). You can also display hard disks to scale by
clicking View
➤ Scale Disk Map. Each partition is represented by a different color
according to the file system it uses. If the selected hard disk contains logical partitions, the
logical partitions are shown within an extended partition.
Chapter 2: PartitionMagic Basics14
Each partition is color-coded to show the file system it uses and the used and unused space
within the partition. A legend is displayed just above the status bar located at the bottom of
the PartitionMagic window. You can use the Legend to help you understand the different
colors used in the disk map and partition list.
There are triangle indicators to mark the 2 GB boot boundary and the 8 GB boot boundary
(1024 cylinder limit). The boundary markers can help you as you create, move, or resize
partitions, so you will not make primary partitions unbootable by accident. For additional
information about the boot boundaries, refer to “Understanding the BIOS 1024 Cylinder
Limit” or “Understanding the 2 GB Boot Code Boundary” in the PartitionMagic online
help located under Getting Started > Partitioning Basics.
Partition List
The partition list displays the following information about each partition: drive letter,
volume label, file system type, size, amount of used and unused space in megabytes,
status, and whether the partition is a primary or logical partition. If the partition does not
have a volume label, “Local Disk” displays next to the drive letter.
An asterisk (*) appears in place of a drive letter for:
• Hidden partitions
• Extended partitions
• Partitions with file systems not supported by the active operating system
• Unallocated space (space not currently assigned to any partition)
A partition’s status can be:
• Active: The partition the computer boots from.
• Hidden: Partitions that do not have a drive letter. Partitions can be hidden by the
operating system (which may hide all primary partitions except the active one), or
you can hide partitions with PartitionMagic. Under Windows 2000/XP Professional,
hidden partitions are permitted to have a drive letter.
• None: Partitions that are not active or hidden.
Rescue Disk Main Window
The main screen appears different when you run from rescue disks than it does when you
run PartitionMagic from Windows.
PowerQuest PartitionMagic 15
• Menu bar — gives you access to all of PartitionMagic’s features. Be aware that the
operations available from the Partition menu when you run PartitionMagic under
Windows are available under the Operations menu when you run from the rescue
disks.
• Toolbar — gives you quick access to commonly used options and allows you to
select the disk you want to operate on.
• Partition information — provides both a visual and text description of the partitions
on the disk.
• Status bar — shows you how many operations are pending; also includes a brief
description of the currently selected option.
Menu Bar
Toolbar
Disk Map
Partition List
Status Bar
Process Overview
To complete a task, follow this general process:
1 Select a hard disk and partition.
The steps for selecting a hard disk and partition are included in this chapter of the user
guide. You must follow these steps before you can perform any operation within
PartitionMagic.
2 Select an operation and enter details about the changes you want to perform.
Chapter 2: PartitionMagic Basics16
Apply changes to your system. See “Applying Changes to Your System” on page 19.
3
You can also perform some tasks using the wizards. See “Using Wizards” on page 79.
Selecting a Hard Disk and Partition
You can select a partition without first selecting a hard disk. To select a partition, click it
in the disk map or partition list on the main screen.
To select a hard disk, click the title bar on the disk map or click the disk in the partition
list. There are two operations that can be performed on a hard disk: delete all the partitions
or display information about the hard disk. When you select a hard disk, its partitions
display in the partition list in the main window.
PartitionMagic does not support volume sets, stripe sets, stripe sets with parity, or
partitions located on disk mirror/duplex sets configured using Windows NT Disk
Administrator. Under Windows 2000/XP, PartitionMagic supports standard partitions
located on basic disk sets only.
USB, USB2, and FireWire Support
PartitionMagic supports external USB, USB2, and FireWire (1394, IEEE) hard drives
under Windows. Operations that are executed in boot mode are not supported on these
devices.
You can see if an operation will be performed in boot mode by clicking View
➤
Operations Pending. If an operation displays with an asterisk (*), it will not work on a
USB, USB2, or FireWire drive. If any of the queued operations displays with an asterisk,
all of the queued operations will be applied in boot mode.
You may increase the chances of an operation’s being applied under Windows by closing
all applications other than PartitionMagic and only working on operations on that drive (as
opposed to the USB or FireWire drive and drive C:, for example).
Removable Media Support
PartitionMagic is not designed to work on removable media. PowerQuest technical
support does not guarantee they will be able to resolve problems you encounter when
partitioning removable media.
PowerQuest PartitionMagic 17
Dynamic Disks
Windows 2000 and Windows XP use basic disks and dynamic disks. You cannot perform
PartitionMagic operations on dynamic disks.
Selecting an Operation
After you have selected a disk or a partition, you can select an operation using the action
panel, toolbar, context menu, or menu bar. If an operation cannot be performed on the
selected partition, the item appears dimmed on the menu and in the action panel.
• Click one of the operations on the action panel or the toolbar.
When you place the pointer on a toolbar button, a pop-up window displays the
button’s function.
• In the disk map or partition list, right-click the partition you want to change, then
click the desired operation from the context menu.
• On the menu bar, click Partition, then choose the desired operation. (If you are
running PartitionMagic from the rescue disks, click Operations on the menu bar,
then choose the desired operation.)
For more information about the items on the Partition menu, see Chapters 3, 4, and 5 of
this user guide.
Undoing an Operation
To undo or reverse the last operation performed, click General ➤ Undo Last Change on
the menu bar, press <Ctrl+Z>, or click Undo in the action panel.
If you have performed an operation using a wizard, Undo Last Change will undo all the
changes made by the wizard.
To discard all the pending operations, click General
<Ctrl+D>.
Chapter 2: PartitionMagic Basics18
➤ Discard all Changes, or press
Viewing Pending Operations
PartitionMagic queues operations until you apply them. You can view the operations that
are pending at any time at the bottom of the action panel, or you can display a more
detailed view.
1 Click View ➤ Operations Pending.
The Operations Currently Pending dialog appears.
If an asterisk displays to the left of an operation, the operation will be applied in boot
mode rather than in Windows. If any operation in the list appears with an asterisk, all of
the operations will be applied in boot mode.
From the list of pending operations, you can choose to undo the last change, discard all
changes, apply all changes, or close the window.
If you are running PartitionMagic from the rescue disks, you cannot modify pending
operations from this window.
Applying Changes to Your System
As you complete tasks using the Partition menu (or Operations menu if running from the
rescue disks), the disk map and partition list reflect the changes you have made. However,
no changes physically take place on your system until you apply them. You can perform
several operations and then apply all the changes at once.
PowerQuest PartitionMagic 19
To apply changes to your system, click General ➤ Apply Changes, or click Apply in the
action panel.
To discard the changes and start over, click General
exception of being able to undelete some partitions, you cannot discard or undo changes
after you have applied them.
Applying Changes in Windows vs. Boot Mode
When you apply changes, PartitionMagic evaluates your system to see if changes are
being made to partitions where there are open files (such as when you modify the C: drive
while running Windows). If there are no open files, the changes will be applied while
Windows is running. If there are open files, PartitionMagic must go into boot mode to
apply the changes. When prompted, click OK to go into boot mode. You do not need to
have DOS installed on your system to apply changes in boot mode.
➤ Discard All Changes. With the
Supported File Systems
You can create or modify the following partition types with PartitionMagic. Before
making modifications, you should ensure that both the partition type and operating system
on your machine are supported by PartitionMagic.
Partition
Type Description
Extended The extended partition gets around the arbitrary four-partition limit
for a disk. An extended partition is a container in which you can
further divide your disk space by creating logical partitions. An
extended partition does not directly hold data. You must create
logical partitions within the extended partition to store data.
Extendedx An extendedx partition functions like an extended partition but is not
limited to the first 8 GB (1024 cylinders) on a hard disk.
Linux kernels below 2.2 do not support extendedx partitions.
FAT Uses file allocation table (FAT) and clusters. The FAT file system is
used by DOS, Windows 3.x, and most Windows 95 installations. A
FAT partition is also accessible by all newer operating systems.
FAT16x FAT16x is a proprietary file system developed by Microsoft to enable
FAT partitions beyond 1024 cylinders (~8GB).
Chapter 2: PartitionMagic Basics20
Partition
Type Description
FAT32 FAT32 is an enhancement of the FAT file system. It uses 32-bit file
allocation table entries, rather than the 16-bit entries used by the FAT
system, so FAT32 supports larger disk or partition sizes (up to 2
terabytes). The minimum size for a FAT32 partition is 256 MB.
DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows NT 3.51/4.0, and early versions of
Windows 95 (before version 4.00.950B) do not recognize FAT32 and
cannot read files on a FAT32 partition.
FAT32x FAT32x is a proprietary file system developed by Microsoft to enable
FAT32 partitions beyond 1024 cylinders (~8GB). Windows 95 OSR2
and later versions of Windows may use FAT32x partitions.
Linux Ext2
and Ext3
Linux Swap Holds a Linux swap file. The maximum usable size of a Linux swap
NTFS The New Technology File System (NTFS) is accessible by Windows
Unformatted Unformatted partitions reserve a portion of the disk but are not
Unallocated
space
The Linux Ext2 and Ext3 file systems are only accessible by Linux, a
freeware version of UNIX. The Linux Ext2 file system supports a
maximum partition size of 4 terabytes.
file is 128 MB. (This limitation, however, does not apply if you are
using a Linux Kernel that is verion 2.2.x or later.) The default size
shown when you create a Linux swap partition may be slightly larger
because of the physical geometry on the hard disk.
NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. NTFS is not recommended
for use on disks less than 400 MB because it uses a great deal of
space for system structures.
assigned a file structure.
Unallocated space is the portion of a hard disk that is not currently
assigned to any partition.
Changing PartitionMagic Preferences
1 In the main window, click General ➤ Preferences.
PowerQuest PartitionMagic 21
A check mark next to a preference indicates it is enabled.
Indicates whether
the current
operating system
supports FAT32
partitions.
2 Click check boxes to enable or disable preferences, then click OK.
Allow 64K FAT Clusters for Windows NT/Windows 2000/XP
This preference lets you create FAT partitions with 64 KB clusters, which allows you to
use PartitionMagic to create FAT partitions up to 4 GB.
IMPORTANT! Because DOS and Windows 3.x/95/98/Me do not support cluster sizes
larger than 32K, you cannot access a 64K partition using these operating
systems. You should only use 64K partitions with Windows NT/2000/XP.
If you are using multiple operating systems, PowerQuest recommends not
using 64K clusters.
When enabled, the 64K cluster size is available in the Resize/Move Partition and Resize
Clusters dialogs.
Skip Bad Sector Checks
When PartitionMagic modifies partitions, it performs extensive testing to detect bad
sectors on your hard disk. Newer disk types (such as Enhanced IDE and SCSI) often
handle bad sectors internally, making such testing superfluous. For this reason,
PartitionMagic lets you bypass these tests with Skip Bad Sector Checks. When this
preference is enabled, the Resize/Move, Create, Copy, and Format operations run faster.
WAR N I NG! If you skip bad sector checks and your hard disk has bad sectors, data loss
can result.
Chapter 2: PartitionMagic Basics22
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