Partition Magic

[Vic 970]

AMD Duron 750 Meg. 64 meg RAM. 40Gig HD. w98

Drive A = Floppy
B = Floppy
C = HD
D = CD rom
E = CD/RW

SiSoftSandra reports that performance will be increased by partitioning the HD. so I looked into this & figured this could be advantageous in other ways, intention is..,

Copy o/s (with all users settings) for easy restoration if the system fails. seperate data & programs for protection & easy backup. possibly try other o/s (on same HD in different partition.)

so I have got Partition Magic, having Browsed through the 150 page instructions it seems that there is a lot more to it than the advert suggests & is a bit off putting. (particulary drive allocation, which is apparently a problem with more than 1 CD drive & 1 removable drive.)

Does anybody use (or refuse) Partition Magic? if so I would be glad of your comments, Good, bad or indifferent.

Is it really worth the hassle? & how do you seperate the progs which loaded with the o/s?

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for every question there's an answer. Then a load more questions.

Regards..,
Vic.

[skhips]

Partition Magic 6 is the latest, very good and will move all your programs around when changing partitions for you.

Or you could just use FDISK on your startup disk but you will lose all data and will have to reinstall the lot unless you create an image first using something like Norton Ghost.

However as long as all your personal data is backed-up and you have all your drivers then a Fdisk followed by format and a fresh install can do your computer a nice spring clean.

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[scroatbagg]

Vic,

I live just outside Crewe... Strange world... Are you an alex fan?? Anyway partition magic. use it and once you are into it its easy. With regards to your drive letters, as far as i remember the re asign themselves as you partition the disk. The easiest way is to start with a blank reformatted disk if you havny got to much on it. I have moved progs but have had the odd problem. Suggest you do a format, add you partitions and give them all easy names, i.e os, games, etc, then if you are trying to find a certain prog you only need to look into the drive for it rather than searching

[Vic 970]

with a handle like 'scroatbagg' its no surprise that your from around this area.

Thanks for the comments, (skhips & yourself) I'm not in a rush to do it (partition) at the moment, but gathering info to help make up my mind on what I can & should be looking to achieve. Keep the comments coming please I need all the advice I can get.

By the way scroatbag I've got a board & rig surplus to requirements. needs a knuckle & a fin!

------------------
for every question there's an answer. Then a load more questions.

Regards..,
Vic.

[kenja]

I think you'll find Partition Magic quite easy to use. I've done alot of multiple-boot installations (while studying for certifications). I usually just use FDISK, but I would use Partition Magic to "shrink C:" if I were in your situation.

Drive letters: I physically disconnect my Iomega Zip drive while installing multiple operating systems (otherwise it will often "grab" a letter I don't want it to have). Make sure a partition has the appropriate letter before installing an OS onto it, because it can't be changed later (at least for Windows).

If you want your existing programs to be on a separate partition from the Win98 OS, I think you'd have to reinstall them.

Tips on installing multiple OS's: mcmcse (http://www.mcmcse.com/win2k/guides/multiboot.shtml)

[scroatbagg]

Vic,
im not a native from crewe. You mention a board and rig that is surplus, I take it you are a windyboarder??? As it so happens so am I!! Where do you sail, wavehead or just into blasting??

Back to partition magic... Do it it makes life so much easier..

Hook in and hang on

[Vic 970]

hi scroatbag,
only had a little experience on boards, mainly into yachts & dingies, take a look at my site www.revi.co.uk (http://www.revi.co.uk)

I am going to go ahead with partition magic, all the comments are favourable, just thinking how best to do it & how best to re-organise when its done.


------------------
for every question there's an answer. Then a load more questions.

Regards..,
Vic.

[This message has been edited by Vic 970 (edited 06-24-2001).]

[sea69]

good luck vic http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

I have partition magic, but have not used it yet.. I am keeping it for later.. (when I use up my last 13 gigs of 30 on this HDD.. hehe..

but I have this leftover excess 4 gigs of BLANK space left from "Go Back" that I had and uninstalled.. on my "D" Drive (system save- compaq).. am hoping PM can give me back at least 3.5 gigs of this waisted space.. (someday)

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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sea1_69@hotmail.com

homepage (http://www.seanweb1.homestead.com/3.html)



[This message has been edited by sea69 (edited 06-24-2001).]

[scroatbagg]

Vic, thought maybe not a rad windsurfer, it was the knuckle that gave it away!!! Take a look at my site www.force5.freeserve.co.uk (http://www.force5.freeserve.co.uk) lots of nice pics of The Fat Boys Windsurfing Club members doing what we do best.. I would advise you to decide how best to set up your partitions and what you are going to call them and what you will put into them.. I have one partition that I call "scratch" that I dump any demos or photos etc onto then its easy to clear out later. I have only got 4.3 Gig HD, so "C" is for Win98, "D" is for all progs and "E" for scratch. One day I will install a bigger HD but even with the tiddler I have got it makes it easire to defrag etc..

Rig big or go home!!!

[Vic 970]

Thanks all for the input.

I have just partitioned my HD into 4. (had a practice first on my old pc 2.1 Gig into 2 partitions)

Was a lot easier than expected with no problems whatsoever, takes quite a while though with 40 Gigs even though the system is pretty fast. the CD rom & RW drive letters were updated by the wizard.

Haven't tried putting another O/S on yet but will get around to it eventually.

Advice:
If your thinking of doing it, back up your data first then go ahead.

Remember when you move anything to a different partition that you may have to modify the path in the shortcut (ie from C: to D: etc.)

------------------
for every question there's an answer. Then a load more questions.

Regards..,
Vic.