Great software but:

1. WinPE tool directs to site for purchase
2. Backup tool directs to site for purchase
3. Programs can't be re-installed from zip file if you loose it.

Cheers

Thanks, What I meant was that since I have moved the partition boundary by resizing, but still only 2 partitions, If I have to use the recovery options will the recovery commence? I understand it all goes back to factory condition.
as described by someone earlier, I placed a new folder in the recovery D drive to hold a load of data away from the c:windows drive. I am backing this data up elsewhere on a usb disk
Thanks again.

Hello Again Folks
Comment by guardone @ 83 = "When I got my vista laptop I used PM to resize the C and recovery D partitions, in order to give me usable storage space on D. The recovery information is still there. Will it still work, or will the new partition boundary mean it will fail.?"

So long as you don't attempt to MOVE the Vista Partition your system will continue to boot OK. If you DON'T TOUCH the hidden Partition - you can put in as many partition changes as you like & the ORIGINAL Partitions will be returned to Factory State during Recovery ! It's the first job the Recovery System performs - erase the drives ( Partitions ) as they exist & replace them & the MBRs with NEW ones which then get written to with the Recovery Data. This is why it's so hard to recover Data / Files AFTER A SYSTEM RECOVERY.

-----------------------------------------
I hope this answers your question.

Apologies for any Typos


Cheers for now

- - Mike - -
- Macs-PC -

Here in the UK ! :o)

RE#80, Linux is free to use, that's one good reason.

DOS 3 files boot disk still useful in some case(such as flash BIOS), but not much use to boot up WXP. WinPE is one of the method (1 CD).

If you don't like to pay extra for it, BartPE could get you there (use your existing license)

ref 66 "PLEASE Don’t Touch the Hidden Partition or the Recovery Disk is useless !!!"
When I got my vista laptop I used PM to resize the C and recovery D partitions, in order to give me usable storage space on D. The recovery information is still there. Will it still work, or will the new partition boundary mean it will fail. Thanks in advance, and for all of the useful info so far. I missed this latest Gotd, but have the previous version.

This is a very good piece of software, used it before and it delivers! worth the price. the only problem I had with it is was when tried running it on a HDD with bad sectors, when I did, Partition Master crashed and all the information on the HDD was lost to a state of not recoverable ever again. I guess this is not the limitation of Partition Master, and probably all partition applications will have that risk, but I do recommend to check the drive BEFORE using any application meant to manipulate it. in short, be careful and Partition master will serve you well.

Please pardon my naivete: Can this software be used to clone my hard drive?

I simply don't get it !

Why on Earth should I use a LINUX boot CD on my PC
when I have WIN XP Pro SP3 ?

In the old DOS days a rescue diskette could be made
with just 3 files

How many (and which) files are NECESSARY for booting
a WIN XP ?

Then it should be possible to create one with the
system files from your own computer, which can't be
a breach of one's license

Tobiasson, Oslo, Norway, Europa

http://www.partition-tool.com/easeus-partition-manager/comparison.html

Thumbs way up! This is a good program for the $20-40, and a great program for free! The link compares the editions. I used a VERY old edition previously, and this looks FAR better. BTW, if you have a ro ot kit problem, you will find the mbr capabilities very handy. Thank you, GOTD and Easus!

How do I get key manually if I don't want to install it today. Is there way request key for todays GOATD from Easus.

Wow, what a wonderful series of comments and advice. I have been using a PC as long as they have existed, and although not a technician, I am fairly knowledgeable, yet I learned a lot from your comments. Thanks to all! The EASUS software is great, I had used a previous version with great results.

@26,of course I don't expect to get propriety software for nothing,one of the reasons why this is a great site but I was confused earlier as my copy of EaseUS ALLOWED me to burn BartPE and the LINUX disk(I checked,definately BartPE).Anyway as several other commentators have pointed out it can be downloaded for free from Microsoft.
So why not install the software and give us the benefit of your wisdom as opposed to pointing out the bleeding obvious.

Hi to everyone at GAOTD and this great forum.
I'm very grateful or the useful tips,advice, and recommendations that appear.
My reason for writing is firstly to say this Easus version and the previous one both work without a flaw. I would also like to praise the Easus Support Team (don't know about the USA group).
I had trouble with activating the Easus TODO Backup software offered here a couple of months ago. Easus Support contacted me no less than eight times until I was up and running.
All this support from a company that GAVE me the software in the first place.
We all have horror stories of trying to get even the minimum of help from other companies where we have dropped a couple thousand Pounds into their laps.
Absolutely nothing to do with Easus or GAOTD, just very grateful.

I use freeware MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition.
It has three "how to" videos actually showing each step to make sure
everything is done correctly and accurately. ...Chinese accent but clear spoken English...

ginz
My apologies for a less than adequate explanation of using MaxBlast, but I was somewhat distracted by Windows playing up.
When I transfer one system to another drive, I do so from the system I want to transfer, on to the new drive via a USB port. MaxBlast having been installed on the original drive initially.
mike
Just like to take this opportunity to thank you all the excellent comments you post, I really look forward to reading them and learning from them.

Thanks GOTD for this awesome software!
Is this version includs a Built-in bootable disk ? If yes, which one, the WinPE bootable disk or the Linux bootable disk ?

Well the setup wizard is badly designed - while it was running, explorer was VERY slow to respond, even if the setup wizard is waiting for me to respond and the CPU usage is about 20%. Sure, this is on a netbook with an AMD E350 CPU, but still... (also windows 7 64-bit and 4GB RAM)

Did not work on my external partition. Could not recover it. I think that its fix disk recovery manager is rather poor, otherwise nice software.

This is a great program that I've had for many years and one of the main reasons I'm subscribed to GOTD's email notifications. It looks like there aren't a lot of reasons to get the pro version over the free home one (previously you got 64-bit support, but now free includes that), though now you can resize dynamic volumes in pro. See this. Note: this requires SP1 (Windows 7 anyway).

EASEUS Partition Master is still my prefered partitioning program, even the freeware version! Thanks GAOTD!

Hello Again Folks
Comment by by Waldemar @ 53 = "Could, and how, your multi-partition system be used to modify my XP two partition 250GB hard drive?"

I would almost certainly expect that your system can be adapted using EaseUS PM 9.0 BUT as I don't know anything about you or your your setup - I'm not going to publish a blanket 'run list' of how to's - as you COULD end up with a duff system if you get it wrong. I'd suggest you e-mail me directly & I'll reply & try to find out as much as I need to know - in order to try to help you.
----------------------------
Comment by Comment by Edward @ #55 = "If i use this on a window vista 32 bit drive laptop will it mess up my rebootable drive that was installed with the operating system ? - I would like to set it up like Mike commented on to put my GOTD programs into so i do not lose them each time i reboot to the beginning."

As I mentioned above - since you are unsure of this software - I'd ask you e-mail me directly & I'll be able to go through it with you in detail !
What I can say is that Vista AND Seven DO NOT like you putting any partition IN FRONT of their Partitions ! Do it & you WON'T Boot up again ! BUT That said YOU CAN alter & Add Partitions on these drives CAREFULLY !!!!!!!!
Another thing you guys need to concider is - DO YOU have a recovery disk that opens a Hidden Partition on the Drive ? IF SO - Are you ever likely to require it to Return to Factory state ? ( ie to sell a laptop ) IF SO - PLEASE Don't Touch the Hidden Partition or the Recovery Disk is useless !!!
----------------------------
Comment by Mike @ #56 = "Different mike, but *Most* of the time I restore backups because something’s messed up, not because the drive failed, & a SATA internal or eSATA external drive is much faster than optical disc or USB 2. Internal drives/partitions are often also more convenient, & you don’t have to worry about an internal drive having been dropped etc. like one that’s stored outside the PC’s case. What I do is use a 2nd drive, usually an older one left over after an upgrade, then I copy that backup to an external hard drive."

I honestly couldn't have put it better - Other Mike :o)
----------------------------

Comment by Roberto @ #56 = "I know that this is a highly-user rated program and I praise GAOTD for making it available, But as the kind of person they write “X for Dummies” books for, I have two basic questions before I download and intall this: (a) If we avail ourselves of this offer, will we be forced to buy the product after the free use period if we want to access and maintain/tweak any partitions we use this to make and maintain?
Will it revert to a free version with limited abilities and without update privileges after the first year? (b) My past experience with another-developer’s partition manager which I purchased for their customer service caused me to lose all my data. Will using this app without customer support risk a similar situation? I don’t think I have enough knowledge to solve problems on my own that may arise.

Roberto -
a: I can assure you that once you've installed it - It's yours - no one year deal here !
( Be aware tho that you can't save the "Setup" file for future use without really good FileSystem knowledge so it might be adviseable to install it on more than one machine ) PLUS - I'd strongly recommend you create the EaseUS Partition Master 9.0 BOOT CD as this will let you create / change OUTSIDE of windows BUT AGAIN - I draw your attention to my earlier advice - tread carefully or regret it ! Once you complete the changes with this software - it's permanent !!
I would suggest that you & anyone else interested PRACTICE FIRST on a BLANK or unused Drive - this CAN be an External USB Drive !
b: I've used this software since version 4.1.1 was given here away HERE in November 2009 & I have to admit to being completely converted to it !
( I'm desperately trying NOT to sound like an Advert or Shill ) As such I've used it on many Hard Drives & NEVER had one fail yet - it even rescued my 2 missing Partitions last week - so I DOUBT that you'll be encurring the same scenario with PM 9.0 Pro ! I HAVE recommended it on numerous occasions - FREE & Paid For versions !
----------------------------

Comment by Gill @ #58 = "I am using the free version of this software and it works without any problems and is very easy to use. I would like to know though can i download this and uninstall the free version without any problems with what i done with the free version."

To be honest - I'd say you'd struggle to find any issues at all by upgrading BUT if you want to be completely safe & don't have any settings saved then I'd suggest you un-install the EaseUS Partition Master Free version using Revo Free - removing ALL traces of it in the registry AND Hard Drive - before you run a clean install of EaseUS Partition Master 9.0 Pro.
----------------------------

I'll keep monitoring the GAOTD Site for another 4 or 5 hours ( UK - Midnight or later ) - BUT I may not be ablet to reply online again so I'd suggest if you need help you e-mail me directly to guarentee a reply at some point !

I have been having MANY problems with my e-mail systems over the past couple of weeks BUT I believe I've got it sorted now. PLEASE DON'T assume if you don't hear back from me witin 48 hours that I'm ignorring you - I WILL reply to each e-mail I get when I can ! Also - please take into acount the Time Difference -
we are at GMT +/- 0 Hours here in the UK - America's Midnight ( GAOTD BasePoint ) is OUR 08:00 !!!
You can contact me DIRECTLY via - XP.Pro@NTLworld.Com You can also e-mail me via the links on my website !
------------------------------------------
I hope this answers your questions.

Apologies for any Typos


Cheers for now

- - Mike - -
- Macs-PC -

LIVE in the UK ! :o)

I just installed it on my Win XP (SP3). It had to uninstall my old version (which was not working for unknown reason!)
The installation and registration were smooth.
I have a flash memory stick with 16GB that I almost was sure it was dead. I tried everything I know to revive it but nothing was able to fix it.
I tried EaseUS Partition Master and it managed to remove the existing partition and allocate a new one then format it. My memory stick is back to life. GAOTD and EaseUS made my day!
Thanks

EASEUS PERSON: Can your program CHANGE THE CLUSTER-SIZE of a hard disk? (WITHOUT DESTROYING any data?) - or what program can do this? Alter the clustersize of a drive volume without deleting any files.

#57: "(a) If we avail ourselves of this offer, will we be forced to buy the product after the free use period if we want to access and maintain/tweak any partitions we use this to make and maintain? Will it revert to a free version with limited abilities and without update privileges after the first year?"

I don't believe it will ever revert to a free version, but to be honest, I don't remember it ever being a year between giveaways featuring newer versions. As far as being forced to buy anything, once installed it's installed -- you shouldn't have to re-install unless you format your system drive & start over, &/or if you want EASEUS PM on a different machine or Windows install... to reinstall today's GOTD at a later date you'd either have to pay or install the free version.

"(b) My past experience with another-developer’s partition manager which I purchased for their customer service caused me to lose all my data. Will using this app without customer support risk a similar situation? I don’t think I have enough knowledge to solve problems on my own that may arise."

No matter what you do, backup -- stuff happens. Apologizing in advance if this sounds harsh, there's literally almost no reason anyone can't restore a backup they created. There's free backup software, blank discs are dirt cheap, on-line storage is free if you have or can find on-line access [you can often get by sitting in the parking lot where a fast food place or cafe has Wi-Fi], external burners go for $30 if you don't have one built-in & so on. If someone can click the Next button in a wizard, they can backup/restore everything. You will not find people anxious to help you (regardless whether you pay or not), if you don't take some personal responsibility.

With that out of the way, the EASEUS folks are both knowledgeable & friendly [look at their comments earlier], plus they have active forums where you can get help. And while no one can guarantee something won't go wrong when you're working with partitions [there is some unavoidable risk, regardless the software you're using], restoring a backup you can always put things back the way they were.

As a computer tech I don't have many problems but one time Paragon trashed 2 partitions on 2 drives. EaseUS saved the day by recovering everything from Paragon's bug. Since then I only use EaseUS. Thumbsup big on EaseUS.

mike - thanks for great post. Follow-up Q -

You wrote "As far as connecting stuff goes, all that depends on what you’ve got to work with — while you could certainly use an external dock, there are many, Many ways to accomplish what you’re after. If for example all you’ve got is your laptop, do a disk/partition image backup to DVD, swap drives & restore."

Could you drop here a few links to how-to's for both methods - external (with, I suppose, a USB cord), and image? Just that I never did it.

Also, if I do the image thing, when I put the new, blank hard drive into the laptop, how can I even turn the laptop on to "restore" the image onto the hard drive? Or does EaseUS put an automatic app-thingy on the DVD itself so that the machine automatically boots from the DVD and prompts me to restore the image onto the blank HD?

Thanks again!

#37: "Can someone tell me the exact file size of the zip file?"

EaseUSPartitionMaster.zip = 53,219,638 bytes - md5 = be0cdde12404b98f6a30235a51b318f3
* * *

#41: "... why can’t software be put on the created WinPE disk that compares license keys? I haven’t looked into whether the Linux bootable disk you can create with this giveaway is as powerful as the free GParted bootable disk that anyone can make for free."

RE: licensing, it's not AFAIK a matter of your owning a license for Windows -- Google/BIng "winpe license" or similar & you'll find lots of info/discussion. Far as the GParted Live CD ISOs you can download, you're getting the same sort of *nix running environment but you're getting GParted rather than EASEUS PM -- EASEUS PM is much easier to use, though GParted can probably do some [mostly *nix related?] stuff PM can't.

* * *

#49: "... 2-If you have only one physical HD logically partitioned (from c to I) the C is more efficient than the others... 3- The waste of space due to the logical partitioning and the lost of performance of the applications not stored in the primary one seems to consider..."

FWIW & if it helps...

Parts of a regular hard drive are faster than others because like a CD/DVD/BD, the distance covered in a single rotation is greater on the outside rim than on the inside of the disc or platter. However, while that can make quite a difference with an optical disc, I don't know how much practical difference that makes using your PC/laptop, e.g. if an app's files are read into memory, how fast you can re-read those files from disk may be irrelevant.

That said, while there are costs, if nothing other than the time to set everything up, more partitions can make maintenance easier. A partition where nothing changes doesn't need defragged or backed up again, & partition image backups are quicker to create & restore when they're smaller. A lot boils down to how you use a disk or partition -- if you're doing a lot of Media Center stuff JBOD [Wikipedia http://goo.gl/Ay4Py ] might make more sense... you'll often see it with multi-drive external housings, where in effect Windows just sees one big mass of disk space where it can write video streams for storage. [Apologies if anyone doesn't like the term JOBD, but I used it because I think that's what most people are most likely to see advertised with external drives/housings at places like Newegg.]

* * *

#51: "I manually uninstalled Home V4 before trying to install this. It starts to install but then says it can’t continue as the file is in use by another program. I rebooted and tried again… same error. What do I do now?"

Generally when that sort of thing happens you can get Process Explorer from Microsoft.com, or try to use Task Mgr., & look for anything using one of the EASEUS PM files. You could also use Autoruns [also from microsoft.com] to stop any EASEUS drivers from starting with Windows, reboot, & try again. In win7 64 right now Autoruns lists epmntdrv & EuGdiDrv. Make sure you can restore a backup though, or at least a restore point in win7, or contact EASEUS tech support [EASEUS forums?], because I think your problem's unusual, & there may be more going on.

I am using the free version of this software and it works without any problems and is very easy to use. I would like to know though can i download this and uninstall the free version without any problems with what i done with the free version. thanks

I know that this is a highly-user rated program and I praise GAOTD for making it available, But as the kind of person they write "X for Dummies" books for, I have two basic questions before I download and intall this:

(a) If we avail ourselves of this offer, will we be forced to buy the product after the free use period if we want to access and maintain/tweak any partitions we use this to make and maintain?
Will it revert to a free version with limited abilities and without update privileges after the first year?

(b) My past experience with another-developer's partition manager which I purchased for their customer service caused me to lose all my data. Will using this app without customer support risk a similar situation? I don't think I have enough knowledge to solve problems on my own that may arise.

#15: "I have the same 9.0 Pro version... confirm whether it allows for the creation of a WinPE bootable CD/DVD?"

While I didn't see any build numbers, "Main.exe" is dated 8/3/11 6:14 PM if that helps. While it includes a WINPE folder, it just includes 3 files -- BCD, BOOTMGR.LDR, & EASEUSPE.LDR -- & clicking the button to create a WinPE disc takes you to the upgrade web site.

* * *

#28: "... The number one suggestion appears to be the transfer of a system to another hard drive. A first rate and free program that will do this is called MaxBlast."

If it helps anyone...
Hard drive makers usually supply software to transfer your stuff from your old drive to a new one, create disk/partition image backups etc., but it's important to note that this software [often a version of Acronis] checks for the brand of connected drives. Seagate's MaxBlast for example will only work if it sees a Seagate drive somewhere.

The difference between cloning a drive & copying a partition [which EASEUS PM will do] is that while the data will be the same, a copied system disk/partition will not automatically boot. There are advantages & disadvantages to this, depending on what you're doing -- Paragon's apps will automatically *correct* things, adding a copied partition to the boot menu for example, & I'll switch between Paragon & EASEUS depending on the results I want. That said, EasyBCD [neosmart.net] can put things right pretty painlessly.

Also note that when win7's installed as the 1st Windows OS, it'll create a small partition to store boot data -- if you dual boot XP & win7 it'll add that data to the XP drive/partition. That can [slightly] complicate things, as sometimes you may want that 1st partition, sometimes not, but you probably do want/need the boot data it contains. When you have a single partition for win7, Google/Bing for ways to make it boot using Microsoft/Windows tools, or use EasyBCD -- I boot to a WinPE-type disc/USB stick, fire up EasyBCD portably, & create the needed boot setup... directions are on their site.

* * *

#30: NEED STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO USE THIS EASEUS PRODUCT TO COPY-CLONE A LAPTOP DISK TO A NEW, BIGGER DISK so that the new disk will work flawlessly after I slip it into the laptop... how do I connect the fresh “Destination Disk”... Before copying the source disk over to the Destination Disk, must I first “format”... I like EaseUS, but is this better than a pay disk copy program like Acronis..."

How to do it depends on the software you use -- if you buy a Seagate drive for instance, it'd be simpler to use their free software, which is Acronis BTW, & just an overall different sort of app from EASES PM. In that situation you could use EASEUS PM, but not sure why you'd want to.

As far as connecting stuff goes, all that depends on what you've got to work with -- while you could certainly use an external dock, there are many, Many ways to accomplish what you're after. If for example all you've got is your laptop, do a disk/partition image backup to DVD, swap drives & restore. Paragon backup apps are on GOTD from time to time, they have free downloads, & EASEUS has their own backup app [todo-backup.com].

As far as formatting goes, yes & no... Restoring a backup or cloning/copying a disk/partition you normally want unformatted, unallocated disk space. BUT, you should check a new disk out before you use it -- Seagate has a utility you might run, or there's software you can get on-line, or you could use Windows, or you could for example use whatever utility on a boot CD with the new drive installed but empty. One advantage of using an external dock/housing is you could actually use the new disk for a while -- many fail within the 1st week or so if they're going to [e.g. I plugged the last drive I bought into my PC & used it for a month or so before sticking it in an external housing].

* * *

#35: "Mike @25: Why would you create a partition for backups? If you lose the drive, you’ve lost your backups as well. That needs to be dropped on a separate device... "

Different mike, but *Most* of the time I restore backups because something's messed up, not because the drive failed, & a SATA internal or eSATA external drive is much faster than optical disc or USB 2. Internal drives/partitions are often also more convenient, & you don't have to worry about an internal drive having been dropped etc. like one that's stored outside the PC's case. What I do is use a 2nd drive, usually an older one left over after an upgrade, then I copy that backup to an external hard drive, then every so often burn a copy to discs for extra coverage [overkill?]. The basic idea is that whatever you do should be tailored to the most likely scenario, making provisions for worst case but not necessarily assuming that's what you'll encounter.

If i use this on a window vista 32 bit drive laptop will it mess up my rebootable drive that was installed with the operating system ?

I would like to set it up like Mike commented on to put my GOTD programs into so i do not lose them each time i reboot to the beginning.

Thank you for the info.
Edward

I've used the free version of the program to re-size the partitions on one of my laptops with no problems but where Easeus really came to my rescue was in a rather unexpected way.

Suddenly both of my laptops stopped displaying most external USB drives under My Computer even though they appeared under Device Management where it said they were working properly. Auto run didn't work either. They didn't open an Iomega media player with a hd, too. One machine had Vista and the other Windows 7. My XP PC had no such hiccups. I suspect the culprit was a Windows update. I'd appreciate it if you let me know what the exact problem is.
Easeus Partition Master did recognise the external hard drives, and using it to change their letter forced updating of the system information and the problem was fixed permanently for each drive on each laptop.

Mike Macrae @25. Could, and how, your multi-partition system be used to modify my XP two partition 250GB hard drive?

ginz #39
Maxtor was taken over by or joined Seagate so I'm pretty sure it works on Seagate drives. However, if you wish to transfer to other drives it will work if it sees the correct type even if only plugged in to a USB port. As for the step-by-step it couldn't be easier simply a matter of instructing it to transfer from one to the other. I have used it many times with out the slightest difficulty, anyway the best luck!

I manually uninstalled Home V4 before trying to install this. It starts to install but then says it can't continue as the file is in use by another program. I rebooted and tried again... same error. What do I do now?

I would be wary of using this on any disk that has Linux partitions. In June, in a forum posting, they said that v8 only supported ext2 and ext3. I can't find any indication this has changed in v9, and it just shows my ext4 partitions as "other" on my disk.

@23
Your process is very clear but I have some question:

1- If the crash is logical no problem; But what happens if the crash is physical? (the one and single HD partitioned in C to I) Why not simply have an image of the HD on an external one ?

2-If you have only one physical HD logically partitioned (from c to I) the C is more efficient than the others. There is not so much difference between a directory clearly defined on C and a logical partition.

3- The waste of space due to the logical partitioning and the lost of performance of the applications not stored in the primary one seems to consider.

In my opinion if you have a single HD back up on by imaging on an other physical disk is to consider.(with an acronis like true image it is possible to retrieve specific files eg MBR...).

Please, since I'm neither an IT guru nor an ayatollah, I would like have your return on these ^points . TK

Hello! I have used this program before for resizing partitions on my active hard disk and it works wonderfully. The program has been around for many years, so it is definitely worth adding to your system. My opinion is, don't let this one slip away!

@Gonzo (comment#41) - I'm not sure what you mean - Easusus does have an option in its Tool menu for creating a WinPE bootable disk. I haven't tried it, but it is one of those things you don't get in the free edition.

#4: "Is it possible to upgrade from a previous giveaway offer EASEUS Partition Master 7.0.1"

EASEUS Partition Master normally installs each version in its own folder, but running setup.exe will uninstall old versions [Note that you have to manually delete the old program folder]. If for some reason you want to keep both versions installed, save a copy of the old program folder somewhere, then after installing the newer version put it back -- I've done that when unsure about how well a newer version would work, & both *seemed* to run fine [mileage may vary].

* * *

#8: "It says “Built-in WinPE 3.0 based bootable CD/DVD or Linux based bootable CD/DVD.” on Professional edition so which is it? Free or not?"

The edition comparison page [ http://goo.gl/tQM4 ] shows 2 prices for Partition Master Pro -- $19.95 w/out, $39.95 with WinPE.

FWIW, I don't normally use the WinPE type discs/USB devices for partitioning -- WinPE is more flexible in terms of running software & it's faster when you're moving lots of data [e.g. restoring a backup image], but personally I haven't seen any big advantage using WinPE vs. *nix for partitioning. In cases where you do have to move a lot of data, say if you wanted to put your C: system disk/partition on a new partition D:, freeing up C: for something like a new *nix install, you should back up anyway, so I'll shrink C: to make room, then restore that backup to D:.

That said, EASEUS Partition Master adds system files & drivers [several versions are included for 32 bit, 64 bit etc.], making it unsuitable as a portable app & a bit more of a pain setting up for WinPE, but you should be able to dig up info on-line to DIY. EASEUS used to provide help in their forums, at least before they offered a WinPE option. 911CD.net & reboot.pro have several projects for creating WinPE boot discs/USB devices, some do not require downloading &/or installing the huge AIK from Microsoft, & things like driver packs are available giving you more functionality on more hardware. It's a bit more inconvenient, but you can also try booting to your WinPE disc/device & installing EASEUS Partition Master every time you want to use it -- EPM will be lost as soon as you close your running WinPE, but if you only use it once or twice, not a huge deal. According to the comparison page, using the free version you'd lose the capability to "Resize dynamic volume". If it helps, makes it easier etc. Wondershare has a LiveBoot 2012 app they were giving away last week -- maybe they'll do it again (GOTD?). In a nutshell it's a WinPE ISO -- the app itself amounts to help files & utilities to put that ISO on a CD or USB stick.

Also if it helps, the free VirtualBox is a handy way to test boot discs/images, & there's a portable launcher available so you don't have to install the full VBox app if you don't want to. Create a new Virtual Machine -- you don't have to actually install an OS to it -- attach the disc or ISO to the VM, then make sure that's 1st in the boot order, fire it up. Microsoft/Windows Virtual PC works too, but it's not as painless to set the device boot order.

* * *

#11: "Q/ If I change NTFS partitions on my system (dual bootable: Win XPx32 & Linux Mint Julia plus GRUB for boot) using EaseUS Partition Master, does it change MBR and couse problems for booting with GRUB?"

When in doubt, & for an extra margin of safety I always use Paragon's backup apps to backup that 1st disk track -- note you have to use the backup wizard. EASEUS is pretty good about not messing with the MBR or anything, though I'm far from expert with GRUB. You might want to also check out EasyBCD as a potential alternative.

* * *

#14: "As you know 2.2TB+ drives are out of the supported size range for the popular Windows XP system."

Just FWIW, while it's cheaper to buy a 2 TB drive than 2, 1 or 1.5 TB drives, transfer from one drive to another is usually significantly faster than copying/moving from one place to another on the same drive. Also, while USB 3 is an alternative, eSATA is cheaper & more common for external drive housings/docks -- with eSATA, drives >1 TB may be iffy. Long story short, avoiding those drives & their problems with XP [for me anyway] makes more sense *today*... eventually 1 TB drives might be like today's 500 GB models, much more expensive when figuring cost per GB.

Windows Preinstallation Environment is now widely available free of charge via the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK).

Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Automated_Installation_Kit

Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows Vista
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=9085

The Win 7 download file is 1GB

Always good software to have, but to be honest the professional features dont bother me. The home edition which is freeware is adequate for most in my opinion.

I personally use the home edition from time to time and never have any problems with it.

Hi Folks
Comment by Bruce Epper @ #33 ="Why would you create a partition for backups? If you lose the drive, you’ve lost your backups as well. That needs to be dropped on a separate device – internal or external or tape for that matter."
OK - I accept I could have been clearer on this point - to be honest - I was in a hurry & never gave it much thought - my bad !!!

Obviously SYSTEM Backups etc. are made onto Secondary Drives AND DVD / External Network Drives. I typically TRY to use 2 Drives in a system - 1 Primary with MAIN Windows / Programs / Media & Virtual DVD & then 1 Secondary with FallBack & Backups.
IF this is NOT possible they DO all go on the same drive BUT you usually find that IF the MAIN Windows goes down - it's eaier to go in through Fallback Windows & then ccopy all Documents / valuable data etc. onto the Backups Drive ( OR Virtual DVD if no Backups Drive is available ) then Format & Re-Install Environment Drive. Then Transfer Data BACK !
It's purely an extension of FallBack - NOT a COMPLETE System BACKUP !
FallBack drive itself is usually around 2.5 Gig - enough for XP & it's PageFile etc. a seperate AntiVirus & FireWall & NOT MUCH ELSE ! A Backup Drive just extends this forshort-term data transfer storeage etc.

Normally when a partition fails - the others are safe & even when they all fail - THEY CAN BE RECOVERED - as per my post above !

Comment by Fubar @ #38 ="Microsoft recommends against needlessly partitioning drives that have an NTFS volume, doing so generally slows access and results in horrible space management issues."
I've been using this system since the '90s . . . WITHOUT PROBLEMS - IT WORKS ! Usually with Multiple drives except in Laptops etc. I've used a mixture of Fat32 & NTFS & on some older MotherBoards I've had to use FAT for the Boot partition as the BIOS didn't see the Boot Data ot the others. Even THEN - the system was completely stable & ran without issue !!!

Even though Windos System Restore is NOT the most relyable in my experience ( even on SINGLE PARTITION Drives ) - IT DOES work on a Multi Drive system although I usually remove E: / G: / H: / I: from Restore as these too would be rolled back. Leaving ONLY Environment Drive AND Programs Drive.

I've stated on many occasions on this site that YOU, Ashraf, Mike & Bubby are streets ahead in your Microsft Technology knowledge compared to me BUT I go by what I learned from EXPERIENCE - I try stuff - if it works for me - I stick with it - if not - I TRY ANOTHER WAY !!!

I hope this answers your questions.


Cheers for now

- - Mike - -
- Macs-PC -

LIVE in the UK ! :o)

mike, fubar
you should better mention, which kind/group of users you address!

only some hints/examples:

::For partitioning a drive you should know about boundaries or/and use a software, that assists you in managing this optimized.

:: Of course it MIGHT be usefull (e.g. for often changed documents) to do ADDITIONAL quick-backups on a 2nd partition: If you don´t have an 2nd HD built in and if the external drive can not/is not continuously attached.

as you can see - erverything depends...

And no - I don´t want to discuss about this ( especially not with you, fubar ;-) -- )

2 cents - great program, GREAT comments - I'm updating to this version, wow, thanks GOTD!

Too bad it doesn't allow for the creation of a WinPE bootable disk. As far as licensing goes, what's wrong with using the license for the copy of Windows that you already purchased from Microsoft and are running on the machine whose disk you want to repartition?

The WinPE disk you create could check whether its license key matches the license key on the hard drive you want to alter. Programs such as Magical Jelly Bean Key Finder can tell you what the license key is for the version of Windows installed on a disk, so why can't software be put on the created WinPE disk that compares license keys?

I haven't looked into whether the Linux bootable disk you can create with this giveaway is as powerful as the free GParted bootable disk that anyone can make for free. Go to http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php to get GParted.

If you work a lot with HDD partitioning then this is THE software for the job. I have been using EaseUS PM for many years now and each version just gets better IMO. To me the best part of this software is the ease of use, its straight forward approach leaves nothing unanswered and makes it easy even for novices to correctly set up partitions. If you don't have this in your utilities arsenal then you need to grab it today and put it in the top drawer of your PC toolbox.

Old Scotty - will MaxBlast work on non-Maxtor disks? Again, if you see my post above at # 30, what's the step-by-step for MaxBlast or this EaseUS product? Thanks.

#25, Mike Macrae, Microsoft recommends against needlessly partitioning drives that have an NTFS volume, doing so generally slows access and results in horrible space management issues. Backups should always be done to another physical drive, preferably external.

Vista+ have special handling for special folders. Program Files cannot (at least without hacks) and should not be moved, doing so will break security and may mess up System Restore (changes with every version of Windows, I've never found a Microsoft document which describes exactly what it does, can be quite bizarre on older versions of Windows). Most standard user folders (Documents, Music, Video, etc.) can be moved, not just elsewhere on the drive but to other drives and even to other networked computers (at least on Windows 7). Select the folder Properties, if it can be moved there will be a Location tab.

Have downloaded the program four times. Each time I get a different file size, and so far none of them will open. Can someone tell me the exact file size of the zip file?

1. boot with linux cd live
2. choose gparted
3. do what you have to do
4. exit