|
Direct Looks:
We take a closer look at
more featured products:
Go
>
|
|
|
|
Read the Manual
As with any powerful utility software, you'll want to read the
manual.
PowerQuest's
documentation is excellent, and contains important information for
using PartitionMagic in conjunction with other utility software such
as Norton, hard drive "overlay" drivers, alternate file systems, and
more.
Although
PartitionMagic operates "on the fly" and performs its operations
non-destructively, it's still a good idea to back up your hard drive
before using the software. |
|
|
|
.
PowerQuest PartitionMagic
Simple software for advanced
system maintenance.
Looking for this item? -
get it
here...
Partition Magic 8
is out, but unless you need the higher drive capacity (up to 160
GB vs 80 for V7) we'd recommend picking up version 7 while you
can. Partition Magic 8 has an "activation" sequence similar
to Windows XP, and although we can sympathize with PowerQuest's
desire to protect their product against misuse, you need this kind
of software when you need it. Activation locking easily
could interfere with that. On the other hand, version eight
is more useful for advanced partitioning, and continues to evolve
into a viable backup solution, so if you already have v7, 8 could
be a useful upgrade.
PowerQuest PartitionMagic 7.0
Indispensable utility for partition management.
Partition Magic
7.0 now available from links on this page. Partition Magic
6 reviewed.
If you're familiar
with the antique DOS command FDISK, you'll appreciate the ease
and convenience this powerful utility brings to what's normally
a major operation-
partitioning a hard drive into several logical units.
If not, you'll
appreciate it even more.
PartitionMagic 6.0
lives up to its name, enabling you to accomplish the impossible
as easily as working with folders on your system. From its
easy, intuitive Windows interface you can create, resize, move,
split, and merge partitions on your hard drive.
All that's pretty
cool, but here's the magic part: it makes these basic changes to
the structure of your drive without damage to the data. If
you know what's involved, that's hard to believe.
Nonetheless, it does exactly what it claims- and each new
version just gets better.
The program is
particularly useful when adding or replacing physical drives,
with the capacity to copy a partition from one physical drive to
another, change the order of partitions, and more.
More about adding or
replacing a hard drive...
Included auxiliary
programs allow moving applications from one logical drive to
another, as well as dealing with unwanted effects of changing
drive letters, an otherwise vexing by-product of partitioning.
You can even use it
to create alternative operating environments for your system,
ideal for a "serious" computer that doubles as a game machine.
We've been using
this software on various machines through several versions, and
all you really need to know about it is it works. PartitionMagic
6.0 receives our highest recommendation.
More about PowerQuest
PartitionMagic
get it here...
About
hard drive partitions...
A hard drive partition masquerades to your operating
system as a distinct and separate hard drive. Although
there's just a single physical hard drive attached, the
computer sees a new hard drive installed for each new partition.
These are called logical drives, and they only exist deep
in the interface between your hardware and system software.
| Single physical
hard drive (30 GB): |
Drive C: 30
Gigabytes |
| Divided into
three partitions: |
10 GB |
10 GB |
10 GB |
| Your computer
sees: |
Drive C:
10 Gigabytes |
Drive D:
10 Gigabytes |
Drive E:
10 Gigabytes |
This isn't even a
Windows thing. It happens down below the DOS level, and
the only "built in" way you have to get at it is FDISK and
FORMAT from a DOS floppy boot, then reinstall everything that
was on the hard drive, or restore it from a backup.
PartitionMagic 6.0
provides a Windows interface and a high degree of automation to
this otherwise daunting task. Even better, it facilitates
manipulation of existing disk partitions non-destructively, and
performs migration tasks when adding or changing drive letters.
Why use partitions
and logical drives...
Reasons for partitioning a large hard drive into smaller logical
units are the same as they've always been: to organize
applications and data, isolate the operating system, and
facilitate practical backups of the entire operating system.
The sometimes
crippling incompatibilities between computer games and
applications software makes partitioning still more attractive.
With PartitionMagic 6.0 you can set aside a portion of your hard
drive just for games. Choose that partition when you boot
and nothing else exists. It's as though you actually
removed one hard drive, the one set up with Windows and all your
applications, and installed another- one whose system settings
have been tweaked to play your current favorite.
Particularly with
today's high capacity drives, partitioning makes a lot of sense.
For us, the most important aspect is damage control. With
multiple logical drives, drive errors are confined to just a
portion of your disk. With a modular backup system in
place, repair and recovery is faster and easier.
A side benefit is
increased performance- partitioning creates a lower level master
index to your hard drive's contents, speeding disk access times.
With a judicious distribution of application software and data
files, scandisk and defragmentation are much quicker processes.
For an increased
level of control and flexibility on your system, PartitionMagic
is an excellent investment. We've been using it since
1995, and never lost a scrap of data. With support for
drives over 20 GB, PartitionMagic 6 is an indispensable utility
for serious computer users.
More about PowerQuest
PartitionMagic
Get PowerQuest PartitionMagic 7
Direct Connect: PartitionMagic 7.0
Copyright . Site Information . Terms of use
|
|
