Partition Magic or Acronis

[PtBetsie]

I plan to buy a partition software and was wondering if one is better than another Acronis is confusing as they have too many "products' some of which seem to do the same thing.

[awaj]

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/ is currently offering a free partitioning software program (usually you have to pay for it) it will be gone tomorrow though.

[jlreich]

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/ is currently offering a free partitioning software program (usually you have to pay for it) it will be gone tomorrow though.
I used Paragon partition manager several years ago, before I discovered BootIt NG. I think it was in the 6.x version then. It did the job just fine. Probably still have a copy of it in some buried folder somewhere.

If you have never used BootIt NG, or have and don't like it, then Paragon is no worse than the other two you mentioned and the price is right. At the least it's worth a try for free. If you don't like it then you are out nothing but time.

If you intend to buy then do consider BiNG (http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootit-next-generation.htm). It doesn't have a fancy GUI and works outside of windows, but it is a very good and powerful utility. Doesn't even need to be installed, just boot from a CD or floppy. One of my most favorite things about it is that it can edit text files even in NTFS, most notably the boot.ini file, and it also supports Vista/7's BCD utility. In addition it is an excellent imaging tool and a good boot manager (needs to be installed to HDD for this). All for $35. :) And of course it has a 30 day free trial.

[PtBetsie]

I'm not sure I am interpreting BING correctly. Working outside of windows, will it allow me to merge 3 partitons on a HD into one with no loss of data? the price is right.

[jlreich]

Working outside of windows
This means it does not install in windows, but either you boot from a floppy or CD, or you can install it to your hard drive and have it available at every boot before windows loads. Not working from within windows makes it both more powerful and more safe.

To install it is preferable to let it make an 8MB FAT32 partition for itself. You will need have that space available before hand. But you can use an existing FAT32 partition if you like and it will install there without disturbing any other files. I use it as a boot manager on my main system which has multiple OS's, but even on the machines that only have one OS I install it because it is handy to have right there without searching for a disk. I also make sure I always have a BiNG CD in my computer repair toolkit.

BiNG does not merge partitions. I cannot speak of the mind of Terabyte Unlimited but I would think they choose to leave that out because merging partitions is inherently risky to data. ;) But it does easily slide and resize partitions.

I have, and also Paul Komski, sang the praises of BiNG for years now but it is not for everyone. If you much prefer to have a partition manager in windows then it is not for you.

When I used Paragon back then it did not merge partitions either. That may have changed in the years since I used it. Something you would have to look at if you decide to give it a try.

[awaj]

BiNG is an awesome tool. It's a bit too powerfull for 99.99% of what I do, but it was fun when I went through my multi-OS on one computer stage...

[Sylvander]

I have BiNG [and "Image for DOS", and "Image for Windows"], and "Paragon Hard Disk Manager" [PHDM], and the FREE [copy of PHDM] "Seagate Disk Wizard"...

But I normally use [or try to find something within] the FREE Puppy Linux operating system to do the various jobs needing done.
It can be run from a "live" optical disk.
Configuration changes and/or additionally installed packages can be saved to a "pup_save" file [on any handy storage media], or else changes to sessions saved back to the recordable or re-writable disk if not close and made a multi-session disk, or various other arrangements.

e.g. For Partition work I normally use the FREE [and natively included] GParted.
I don't think it will merge [the contents of] multiple partitions onto one, but...

1. It's possible to [use (for example) "X File Explorer" (Xfe) to] copy the contents of multiple partitions to some other handy storage location [e.g. to a folder on a partition on an external USB HDD].

2. Then [use Xfe to] delete the original contents of the partitions.

3. Then [use GParted to] delete the un-needed partitions...

4. Then [use GParted to] non-destructively resize the EMPTY remaining partition [perhaps to occupy ALL of the remaining space on the HDD].

5. Then [use Xfe to] copy or move the files back to the remaining partition.
I think you should only do that with one set of operating system folders/files, and those would need to go back to their original partition.
Data file can go anywhere, so they can [if you want to do that; I usually keep them on separate partitions from the OS] be added to the same partition as the operating system.

[awaj]

most of my partioning has been done through windows actually...

[Paul Komski]

I too would caution against merging partitions using partitioning software even if a utility such as Partition Magic claims it can merge them. The results can be very unpredictable and be especially wary if the partitions are already fairly full. Data merged this way is usually transferred to a new folder inside the new enlarged partition if only to prevent overwriting of sfuff with the same file names. Be aware that if the adjacent partitons are not both of the same type (primary or logical) that merging or resizing have one added layer of complexity.

I would never now use such software for merging but always either transfer the content of one partition to another hard drive or DVD, either as data or as an image file, or if there is enough room just copy the data from one partition to another and then delete the original data in its original location. Please choose copy and not move when doing such operations; then delete the original data/partitions later if the copying was completed successfully. Of course if you can empty the whole partition in one swoop you can then simply delete the now empty partition before contemplating resizing.

You can then (or beforehand if that is feasible) use PM or BiNG to resize the partitions down and up as appropriate. If the partitions are rather full this may involve doing it a number of times and that is when a secondary drive can be invaluable. If the partition to be resized down finishes up not adjacent to where it is required you would then need to move/slide it to where it is required and then resize the target partition to occupy the unallocated space. Some resizing software will require or recommend that you also defragment the volumes before such operations. This should be unnecessary with BiNG.

I also highly recommend (even though it may take some time) that you run chkdsk X: /F on each "X:" partition that you intend to resize beforehand (and that includes partitions that you intend to merge if you do decide to go that way). Merging (which after all is an intrinsic resizing operation) and simple non-destructive resizing are much more likely to cause data loss if there is any corruption of the underlying file system.

The final point to say is that whether you are merging, resizing or just using your PC normally that it is quite daft to only keep one copy of important data. That is another reason for suggesting something like an external hard drive to use for these manoeuvres and then retain it as a proper backup location for all of your important files. I am fairly experienced in doing this sort of stuff but recently "took a chance" and attempted a manouvre involving shifting data around a drive but to the wrong location without having first backed it up as I have always recommended and normally always do. Than goodness for GetDataBack (much to my chagrin I finally had to purchase it for myself) is all I can say as well as don't take risks with valuable data - particularly other peoples' valuable data.

[ErnieK]

You asked about PM or Acronis.

I used PM a few years ago and had quite a few problems when it came ot restoring images. I then switched to Acronis and this is (by me) highly reccomended. and use the following prog's:

Acronis TRUE IMAGE (now version 2009) is the program for making back-up images of you hard drive(s) or partitions.

This is easy to follow and work with. You can do one of back-ups or schedule to run full or incremental back-ups to a time suiable for you. You can also make an emerancey recovery partiton (Press F11 at boot-up) which is very handy, especially if you make an image with nothing but your security prog's (plus Acronis) installed and update this regularaly. So you will always have a clean "Basic" install sitting there. You can aslo make an Emergancey Recovery disk with TI and DD on it as well as Image of OS

Acronis DISK DIRECTOR (Version 10) is an excelent program for creating \ deleting \ merging etc. Again I give this a high recommendation. About the only thing it cannot do is physically install a drive into your PC.

PM may be different now but I would recommend Acronis. They are pay for and not free but they are not too expensive considering they will last you a few years.

[Paul Komski]

I used PM a few years ago and had quite a few problems when it came ot restoring images.Maybe you are thinking of something else but PM is a partitioning and not an imaging program.

Acronis DISK DIRECTOR (Version 10) is an excelent program for creating \ deleting \ merging etc.I would still urge caution when using any partition-merging application unless you have your data backed-up elsewhere. I gave up using any of these "easy merge" applications (particularly any running from Windows) and would only ever copy data and resize/delete/create partitions appropriately.

[ErnieK]

OOPS! :o Sorry. Paul, you are absolutely correct. PM is for partitioning. I got mixed up between TI (True Image) and DD (Disk Director) in the excitement of posting into the Guide for the first time in about 2 - 3 years. (Blame "Whyzman" for my being here today. :D

And I totally agree with you. Having\making a backup should be part and parcel of anyones daily PC use.

Acronis allows you to make this backup\image to a seperate drive\partition BEFORE any changes in the structure of a hard drive.

THIS SHOULD BE STANDARD PROCEDURE and does not take long to make full image of a drive\partition (Imaging is my prefered method of backing up as well as drag 'n drop \ Syncing - two seperate backups)

After image is made it can be MOUNTED into a "TEMP" drive and thus allows you to extract any folder or file(s) you want.

You can create image direct to USB 2 drive as well

[Paul Komski]

backup should be part and parcel of anyones daily PC use
Absolutely. There are a number of imaging programs around that allow such file/folder extraction and it is very good methodolgy.

Don't stay away for so long!