PartitionMagic 4.0 - Oct/Nov '99

PartitionMagic 4.0

If you regularly set up hard disks with single- or multiple-operating systems, then PartitionMagic 4.0 is an indispensable niche utility program. Many of these programs have fallen by the wayside, often because similar features are included for free in subsequent versions of Microsoft Windows. PartitionMagic, however, has survived and prospered in part because it inhabits three niches, but also because the alternative to using the program is both cumbersome and time-consuming.

Version 4 of the program is more of an evolution than a revolution. Its usability is greatly improved from past versions. Before a hard disk can be used, it must be partitioned and formatted for the appropriate operating system. Without Partition Magic, a DOS program called FDISK is used to create partitions on the disk. For Windows 95/98, the first partition is an active primary DOS partition. If the primary DOS partition uses less than all of the space on the disk, you can use FDISK to create one or more extended DOS partitions until all of the disk space is used. FDISK then creates logical drives for the extended partitions. Each logical drive, including the primary DOS drive (usually drive C), is then formatted with another DOS program. Once this is done, it's cast in stone: The size of the primary and extended DOS partitions cannot be changed without destroying their information.

Let's say you are upgrading from Microsoft Office 97 to Office 2000. Office 2000 takes up more space than Office 97. Furthermore, some of the Office 2000 files must reside on drive C even though you're installing some of the programs to other logical or physical drives. If logical drive C isn't big enough to store the files Office 2000 requires, you will literally have to use FDISK to remove your extended and primary DOS partitions, and then recreate them to accommodate the software you want to install. After that, you'll have to format your logical drives, and reinstall both Windows 95/98/NT and all of your software.

One reason you might have created extended partitions on your hard drive was to remedy the inefficient way in which the retail version of Windows 95 stored information on a hard disk. Unfortunately, the larger the partition, the more wasted space you had on your disk. If you created many smaller partitions on the disk (rather than one large partition), you could store a great deal more information on the same size hard disk.

If you are still using the retail version of Windows 95, PartitionMagic will analyze your disk, suggest an appropriate partition and cluster size, and change the partition and cluster size for you. All this is done without having to delete the partitions, recreate them, or reformat your logical drives, thus leaving the data on your hard drive undisturbed. Unless you enjoy installing Windows and application software, this is a miracle.

PartitionMagic will also convert FAT16, the file system installed by the retail version of Windows 95, to FAT32, the file system installed by Windows 95 (OSR2)/98, which doesn't suffer from the same storage inefficiencies. As the retail version of Windows 95 becomes more and more scarce, this function has become less important.

Another important advantage of PartitionMagic is its ability to resize and move partitions without affecting the programs and data in those partitions, and to transfer programs from one logical drive to another without reinstalling the software. Herein lies version 4.0's great improvement in usability: In version 3.0, each of these tasks had to be done separately, and you had to exit to DOS in order to accomplish them. In the new version, you can make all the changes you want at once. The program is actually doing the same thing that it did in the earlier version, but without your intervention. Also new to version 4.0 is the program's ability to make changes to partitions without automatically exiting to DOS if, and only if, the changes are made to a partition which isn't currently in use.

If you are at all adventurous and have used Windows 95/98/NT for any length of time, you probably have discovered that you can't move a program from one logical drive to another. This is because most Windows programs create entries in the Windows System Registry, and in the SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI configuration files. When you move a program that these files expect to find on a particular drive, the program won't start if it doesn't find the program there. PartitionMagic modifies these files to let the system know where to find them. By doing this, you don't have to uninstall and reinstall the moved programs.

My only displeasure with the program is quite esoteric: You cannot password protect BootMagic. The written and online documentation is very good, however, and technical support is excellent. It seems that this company knows more about hard disks than any other in the industry.

PowerQuest
(800) 379-2566
www.powerquest.com

Windows 95/ 98/ NT

$69.95 ($29.95 upgrade)

Reviewed by Steve Schmidt, attorney, Singer, Smith & Williams, Albuquerque, N.M.

Oct/Nov '99 Issue

PROS
An essential time-saving utility for anyone who deals with hard disks; worth the price for its technical support alone.

CON
You can't password protect the BootMagic program that comes with Partition Magic.

VERDICT
The quintessential utility for working with hard disks, and with single and multiple operating systems.