@68 - Precisely why they tell everyone to make a backup before doing something as risky as resizing partitions.

I am COMPLETLY dissapointed about Paragon's partition mananger. I installed it,then I wanted resize the C partition. So,at restart it starts resizing. After about 2 hours - done. Restarted the computer again and then...WHAT A SURPRISE!!! WINDOWS COULD NOT FIND MY HARD DISK,
"1.Insert your Windows Instalation DVD media.2.Reboot your computer and choose language settings.3.Click 'repair my computer" - Searched everywhere,nothing. After getting a temporary pc i downloaded the dvd and burned. Then i was UNABLE to repair it so i started a new instalation. I'LL NEVER USE PARAGON! NEVER,EVER!!!

This would not install. I tried 5 or 6 times. Each time it says the installation was aborted before it finished, try again.
I ran the 64-bit install on Windows Vista 64-bit.

Since I'm going to wipe my current installation of Windows anyway, and it would be impractical to test this sort of app within a VM, I installed Paragon Partition Manager 11. The Express Mode button is on the right, not the left of this app (big deal). Paragon can't handle my RAID volumes, my USB thumb drive, or proprietary (non-standard) partitions. This is version 11, Paragon is a regular here on GOTD, but they're going on my do-not-install list. ShadowProtect handles all of that with ease, EASEUS handles non-standard partitions fine (I don't remember about the rest).

OK finally saw what I was missing. Duh. Clunky installation for clunky people can be confusing. The zipped file put a file onto my C drive by default to which I had to navigate to and click on.

Too subtle for moi, I suppose. But once I stumbled on it, installation proceed as expected.

Thanks GAOFTD!

@49 Sparky
There is a possible fix at techspot.com -- how to fix an unreadable usb flash drive-- gives details and free software to maybe fix your usb. Thanks GOTD for a repeat, upgraded my hardrive and cpu -- lost this software. Program works great on 2 TB hd.

Receive error code "ERROR 1327. INVALID DRIVE F:\" the setup went well, and extracted the setup. Setup ran and installed the install file on C:\ drive. Opened the install exe it ran into that error code. Running Vista Home Edition.

I know it is late to complain but I downloaded and installed the file 3X without success. All 3 times the file installed and activated automatically (according to the screen wizard) but no activation code nor information to obtain one was ever seen in the install process. The installation whizzed through and the wizard indicated that the software was activated.

The usual GiveAwayOfTheDay installation complete screen came up in my browser, but no sign of the software package can be found in my computer.

Running Vista 32. No icon on the desktop. No can find in the program search function. All I can find is a folder "Paragon NetBurning Driver" in a drivers backup folder, which doesn't seem to be this program. So I cannot install it nor access it. What happened to the program?

This one is a bust for me, which is too bad as I have used Paragon in the past and liked it very much. I will be installing a new 2TB HD in a week or so and looked forward to making use of this otherwise excellent software.

I run XP SP3. My drive's partitioned into C (storage) and D (OS, etc). I installed this in order to try to swap the two over. Luckily it seems to have saved me the trouble already. My C drive vanished after the install.

This is probably a dumb question, but here goes...can I use this to create a new partition on an existing hard drive, without losing the existing data? See, told you it was a dumb question! Thanks.

Many thanks @Rick #27. Appreciate it.

Well nobody else has posted the registration link, so here it is - as it saves some time during installation if you've already got the registration details. [http://www.paragon-software.com/registration/PM11SEpers.html]

I installed the software on a Win 7 Home Premium OS. Installed with little difficulty but the program will not open. A popup error message appears that indicates: "Operation Failed. Paragon Partition Manager was not started because some other product that uses Disk Engine must be already running. Please close that program first and try again." Now what can I do since I don't know of another product that is using the Hard Disk Engine? I have closed all other running programs.

This software works! Don't try to show the world how knowlegeable you are about HDD partitions. If there is something particular you don't like - be explicit.

#52, juju, it would be a very rare situation for me to need a partitioning app. Windows Disk Management nearly always suffices for my needs. When Windows Disk Management is able to see and manage partitions, and a commercial third-party app is unable to, then I don't particularly trust that app. It appears that more people have positive experiences with Paragon than negative, but it does concern me when some people report data loss/corruption from using their apps. There's an annoying bug in Win7's Disk Management which the Service Pack didn't fix, the lower pane isn't resizing when you maximize.

If you have a 64 bit system, make sure you download the right one. I noticed somebody said it didn't work - I can assure you this software works great on Win 7 64 and other x64 systems - but the download is different.
--------------------------

About backups - yes yes yes, do a backup first, which led me to turn up something interesting - looks like they are removing links to this product - which I dearly love - so grab it now, it competes with their two pay-for backup tools, so I bet it's gonna disappear.

Paragon Backup & Recovery™, Free Edition

It's awesome - the interface is great, and it has tools to thoroughly verify the archive !!! - it creates backup and boot media on discs,

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/br-free/download.html

Grab it now - I think it's going Bye-Bye

Thanks Again GAotD

#50 Fubar: then please tell us which partitioning app do you consider as the best? TIA

Paragon is a very solid company. They have products which compete with Easus Partition Manager and Acronis True image and Acronis disk management suite. They are doing a good job and seem to be producing a slightly better product than the previous kings of the hill. All things being equal I would go with Paragon as their world HQ is only about a mile from my house so I do have a bit of town pride in my decisions.

#32,37, mike, if you choose to circumvent the security features in Vista+ because you don't understand them, that's your decision, but you shouldn't encourage others to do so. While it certainly didn't hurt that I have an SSD, Win7 installed in mere minutes, it's designed to install quickly.

A single partition is generally better for storage management, multiple volumes (whether via partitions, physical drives, or RAID volumes) are better for managing defragmentation and backups. Paragon isn't a top-tier solution provider; while adequate for most GOTD users, their lack of support for technologies which have been around a very long time, such as RAID, limits the value of their products to me.

#28, Micke, Paragon apps typically have an Express Mode and an Advanced Mode, you can select either. When in Advanced Mode, right at the top left there's generally an Express Mode button.

I managed to hose a USB stick with this. Was trying to encrypt it with Truecrypt, which reported I had to remove existing partition(s) first. Then installed this and did the delete partition wizard, apparently successfully.

Tried truecrypt again, still reporting existing partitions, went back to Paragon and tried to delete again. For laughs I also went to create partition wizard, which reported it couldn't see the USB stick, probably more than 4 partitions.

End result-A USB stick that can't be formatted under Windows (Vista 32 bit) and can't store any files. Expensive to me for a free program.

This software does not install on Windows 7 64, only works on 32bit platform.

Any reason why I can't get this to install? I found the extract file and it seems that I keep on extracting it. I can't seem to find the program itself. It says it's activated but I can't find it, no desktop icon either. I didn't think that I was that bad at installing a program but I guess I am. I must have done the same thing 6 times already. DAH

@Daweeni #30

Hard drive manufacturers say that 1000KB equals 1MB, 1000MB equals 1GB, etc. But Windows measures it differently. Windows says that 1024KB equals 1MB, 1024MB equals 1GB, etc. So your 750GB hard drive is read by Windows as a smaller number, so it looks like you have lost some capacity when really it's just being measured more conservatively by Windows, OK?

#33 - same experience except Paragon killed 2 hard drives out of 3 on system in one incident (and yes I know what I'm doing as a computer tech since the 80's). Took hours to recover but was recovered with Easeus data recovery product. No I do not work for Easeus.

i have always liked oaragon but i just got a new system with a sinfle partition of 1 TB i had the software resize the c: to 259gb. The systen rebooted and it seems it is running but itis taking forever to complete...screems are asleep but i hear HD acticity, Is this normal> how long will this take? I have 6 core amd with 8 gb ram and win 7 64 bit. thank you.

@Daweeni #30

This depends on how these 50GB are being used now. Have you checked in Windows Disk Manager (right-click on My Computer icon->Manage->Disk Manager), is this space allocated to any partition?

@Micke #28

You can switch to this first menu using a button that looks like a Paragon icon and named "Express Mode".

@Wildcat
"Do I need to uninstall 10.0 Personal?"

Yes, you can have only one version of the program installed at the time.

@SK KHAN
"HELLO,my first impresstion about this software is very good,but I ll say onething that this software does’nt have ( MERGING TOW PARTITION) IN A SINGLE PARTITION?SORRY My english is not too good:>"

To merge partitions please go to Wizards menu -> Advanced -> Merge Partitions and follow the wizard's instructions.

This is exactly the same version as offered before, build 9887. However I did not have a 64 bit Win 7 when it was offered previously, so I am happy to see this repeated today.

I had upgraded from XP to Win 7 on my wife's computer and when I had finished there was over 200 GB of space missing from the hard drive. Only 1 GB of free space left and the properties of my C Drive showed only 10-11 GB in existence on the entire 250 GB drve.

Fortunately this happened at the same time as the last Paragon Partition Manager Giveaway. Downloaded, Installed, Found the missing space, added much more to C and made a new & bit smaller partition to the drive so it is now in two sections. One for business/programs and the other for games. - And it did not cost me $55. Thanks GOTD and Paragon! Won't be downloading this time but I will highly recommend it to others who do not have it.

Regarding the size. It is BIG but it does a lot and it does it well!

To Farrukh (#21):
64bit version of programs use 32bit emulations that's why they are installed in Program Files (x86).

To Alslow (#23):
Please note that this installation file also includes an ISO image of the Linux/DOS Recovery CD. That's why the installation is 104MB.

Found the file in C. But i get the error unknown archive format. what to do next. ???

I cannot trust Paragon's software anymore...
After their PAT tool completely ruined my HDD,i hav never used any Paragon s/w.
And neway...Easeus is much lighter and so far has never let me down...
And 104 moegs is way too much fr jst a partitioning tool!!!

I am still running xp and have a 750GB drive that only shows 700GB in Windows. (I forgot to partition it when I installed the OS - I was kind of stressed out due to the old hard drive having crashed...). Can I use this to regain the missing 50GB? No big deal if not, since I will probably never use the 700GB that does show, but it would be nice to know if and how I can backtrack.

yasser assayyed,
If the program crashed or refused to work, and you want to return your pc to its original previous condition, you use that handy little option that every pc has, it's called a restore point.

wildcat, If you click the modify button, and get “Error 1316A. A network error occurred… try clicking the repair button instead. You obviously have an earlier version and repair should update it without having to uninstall and reinstall.

I noticed a small annoyence or bug in this one, thought I'd share it here. When PPM is launced you will get a menu from wich you can pick varoius options. Once this option / action is done, you will be returned to this main menu again. This is wery nice. But if you pick Partition Manager, it will not return to main menu and it will start all the time in Partition Manager, reinstall is required to fix it.

The main menu is good since it has all the actions / options in menus and submenus. Fast to pick what you like and easier to use. In Partition Manager mode you still have all, but you should have more knowhows about the software in this mode. If your new to this software, wait with picking Partiton Manager. You got all the options easier in the other menus.

@Buzzy #3 & @Wildcat #12 - I did not have any problems installing PM 11 on my system. However, first I uninstalled PM 10, rebooted, and deleted PM 10's folder from the Paragon Software folder under the Program Files folder. Then when I ran the installation program, it said PM 11, not 10.

@Saleh #5 - At the top of this page, in the description of the program, at the end of the last line (Limitations), it states that WinPE is not included.

@John #6 & @Rob #9 - Today's offering is exactly the same as the one you reference.

@oliviab #10 - If you accepted the defaults when you ran the setup program, the msi file should be in C:\. Just double-click your C drive and look for PM11_Pers_full_ea_x32.msi.

#5 Saleh - if this is the same version that was provided in July of last year, as buzz123 indicates, then it will NOT burn a WinPE CD. According to Paragon's Knowledge Base you need the professional or server versions (http://kb.paragon-software.com/paragon/include/templ/object2.jsp?catId=2124&objId=2601&statId=1639805&foLang=en). Also, from last year, Asraf includes "the bad" that it will not create a WinPE disk (http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/paragon-partition-manager-11se-personal/#)

not sure you are referring to the same software. Easus is not the same company.

I love paragon-All their softwares are very useful-especially when disaster strikes, I have used their bootable CD and revived my PC.
Their registration is also very simple.

104 megs for a program is way to much. How long will it take me to download using my dialup connection? Please make it smaller, say 10mb?

My experience of the two: Paragon vs Easeus is clear: I have had only one problem with Paragon, which was sorted easily. The Paragon interface is a bit clunkier but will do most things that Easeus will do. HOWEVER: Easeus software is NOT FAIL-SAFE. If it encounters a problem it will quit and leave your disk unreadable. Paragon appears to be less prone to this kind of error. I have had to use Paragon software to repair Easeus errors on several occasions. I will not use Easeus again - I will use Paragon again. Very simple.

Thanks, but I'm just wondering why x64 version is trying to install in
C:\Program Files (x86)\Paragon Software\Partition Manager 11 SE Personal\

Seems like, its a copy of x86 version

Never mind. i found the file. i know it says it will be ''installed'' to C: but I assumed that it meant when the program was installed. the msi file is placed directly into the C: drive. I moved it to the unzipped folder, along with the other stuff. it is now installed. Thank you.

Having used both Easeus and Paragon partioning tools for years now, I have to admit that Easues was better at first, but now Paragon has the superior offering.

Paragon Partition Manager allows you to expand partitions that are not at the end of the disc (such as a C: drive when you also have a D: drive) - this is VERY handy when upgrading to a larger HDD or when you run out of room on your C: drive but still have a lot of room on your D: drive.

@yasser assayyed; .. Why bother doing anything yourself? Just take your computer to the shop for everything .. but some people like to be in control of their own computer.

Always happy to see Paragon products on this site... thanks GAOTD

I have several freeware cloning and partitioning apps so I dont realy need another one. I use these apps very infrequently, only when a disc dies or I need to replace a small one with a larger one. I dont 'slit up the space', I add another disc! My main PC has two 320GB discs and a 500GB disc. So I dont need to partition any of them thanks. I am sure that newbies who dont already have a partition software might find this one of use. But be very careful!

Yes... This version is identical top the one last offered in July of 2010 (same checksums).

No need to re-download if that last version is still working for you!

HELLO,my first impresstion about this software is very good,but I ll say onething that this software does'nt have ( MERGING TOW PARTITION) IN A SINGLE PARTITION?SORRY My english is not too good:>