John Maurizio, I am afraid that you are going to be sorely disappointed if you think you are going to get the above features that you quoted. I do not know what you think this software does- but it does not do any of the things that you are hoping for. Like a dead man's money-you are not going to be able to take this one with you to a new computer.

Partitioning software allows you to divide the hard drive into sections/sectors - organizational package units. In this day of time, sectioning allows you to organize data, pictures, documents, etc. in sections of one's hard drive. In the old days breaking the hard drive into sections would better allow one to maximize how much material you are storing in segments. Different types of types of operating system packets store and catalog materials different sized units. Again in the old days, when you exceeded a given amount of storage the packaging units became less efficient so the same amount of data might waste significant disk space. You do not have to worry about that too much these days because the newer versions of Windows in the cataloging system allows the storage of much larger sections of material in sectors so space is not wasted as much when storing large/larger amounts of material and cataloging the storage.

There are other reasons for petitioning a hard drive in these days that go beyond organization just like they did in the old days. You can store different operating systems on different partitions and have a dual-boot or tri-boot computer or a whole bunch of-boot operating systems using boot managers. A boot manager allows one to make a choice of which operating system you are going to initialize your computer with. There is more that can be done with partitioning software but I am afraid that those tasks do not include recovering lost data. Perhaps this software package contains a feature that lets one recover data but that is not commonly found and it is not the primary purpose of partition management software. That wishful function is also not specifically spelled out in the above description of Paragon Partition Manager Home 15. Something else that is not specifically spelled out is what the "15" in the title means. My guess is that it refers to the year "2015" which would make it last year's software. Being a year old would not make it any less capable of petitioning one's hard drive.

kc4cop, okay I was hoping it would work but I don't know too much about this software. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.

No kidding. :(

OK, figured it out. I went to the link supplied in the read me, and entered my info to register. It was the mailed to me. When I ran the program again, I had the correct info to enter in key and code areas. My, wouldn't it be something if these instructions were added to the read me!
Program installed quickly and easily after that. Paragon usually has excellent programs. Thank you Paragon & GOTD.

CJ Cotter,

"Yes, this is a slightly different product, but the 97 GOTD reviewers were divided about this company and the quality of its software."

Neither disk partitioning nor disk/partition image backups [essentially storing the raw data on partition(s)] is rocket science. All of the major brand software works. Not all of the major brand software works on everything however -- results seem to be Very much hardware specific.

I've read reports from people I very much respect who have had problems with different brands that worked fine for me. Testing different brands I found only two that could boot my Windows 10 tablet -- Paragon B&R 16 & Macrium Reflect Free. Paragon [old & new versions], AOMEI, & EaseUS work fine on this PC.

So yes, it is best to use a bit of caution & test Any software that will boot your device to do its job -- you can't alter Windows files while they're running so that would include backup & patritioning software. At the same time test any external hardware you'll use, e.g. USB sticks & external drives etc., because different brands & models are very far from equal.

CJ Cotter, you are referring to long since settled issues - issues that never really existed except in the minds of some people. Paragon has historically been quite good to GOTD users. In fact GOTD used to have a banner at the top of their main webpage quoting Paragon's good relationship with GOTD.

Word to the wise - when installing, do NOT turn on the Hot Core Driver feature. The program did not complete the install and did not uninstall on my Win 7 Pro 64-bit - that caused a real mess for me. I had to do a System Restore back, and even then still had Paragon files and folder on my hard drive.
(I deleted those files and folders, RE-installed without Hot Core Driver and also temporarily turned off my Avast during the install. This time, the install went well.)

glnz, The "Hot Core Driver" folder was "Xed out" out in the features to install. The choice was visible If you went through the customized installation. When a feature such as a non-needed foreign language is "Xed out" it means that that feature will not be installed or available to the user. That fact that the feature would not be installed should not keep from being able to install the rest of the program.

I had problems with the installation of this program over several trials of installation. I never was successful in installing the program. My problems did not have anything to do the feature that you mentioned. I kept getting the error message that three different shortcuts could not be installed because of a permission problem to a folder (possibly C:\Program Files\Paragon Software\). Even when I changed the ownership of that folder and the subsequently included folders I still was not able to make the shortcuts or complete the installation of the program.

Leo,

You **might** get away with using Microsoft's "Windows Install Clean Up" app, if you can find it -- it removes installations from the Windows Installer [msi] database, but had compatibility problems with 7 so was pulled from distribution when 7 was new.

You **might** get away with finding & removing the registry entries for the old Paragon software using Regedit.

Version 15 of Paragon's software uses an .msi file wrapped in a .exe setup file. When you see a .msi setup or install file that means it uses Windows Installer. It's too easy for developers to create a .msi setup routine that damages the Windows Installer database in your copy of Windows, & when that happens, innocent apps [in this case Paragon's] suffer. I believe Microsoft does have some fixits etc. to try & repair Windows Installer -- in my limited experience they haven't helped. In **limited** cases I've used Universal Extractor to extract an app's files from a .msi file, put those files where they need to go, & then the app **may** work.

Good Luck

Leo,
use Revo uninstaller

Herbert , try the "readme" file. It gives you the webpage to fill out a form to get the software license key in your email. Almost always the readme file will contain this information.

Chérioux,

"First time, it asked me a product key and serial number (why both ?) which I did not have."

You should receive those in an email from Paragon.

"you have to give your particulars twice, once for getting the download link, another time to get the product key"

The 1st time is for GOTD, the 2nd is for Paragon -- separate companies.

"... the installer rolled back... then rolled back, then said nothing was installed and you have to do it again."

No idea what's wrong -- I've installed their v.15 apps on several systems without problems. Perhaps disabling security software's real-time scanning if that's possible?

"I had checked "Hot Core Driver" or somesuch for install, "recommended for Windows 2000". (But is it discouraged for Windows 7 ? Nobody says.)"

Don't use it in 7. Microsoft introduced VSS [shadow copies] in it's current form in Vista -- software that works with running Windows files, e.g. partitioning & backup apps, then use those copies rather than the actual running files, which can't be touched. Hot Core is for earlier versions of Windows where VSS isn't available.

Thank you, Mike.

I made a fourth attempt with the following changes :

- Installed under Windows admin user account, instead of non-admin ;
- Turned off real-time shield of Avast antivirus.
- Did not install the special Windows 2000 driver.

The exact same thing happened : the installer installed the software, then auto-uninstalled with a "rollback" message and a warning that nothing was installed at the end.

This is getting ridiculous. The only problems I can see is :

- I refused to give a user or corporation name. This certainly should not prevent install.

- I monitored the install with Revo Uninstaller. This should not be a problem. I have never come across a piece of software that would refuse to be monitored by Revo Uninstaller, and anyway I need it. In spite of allegedly nothing having been installed, Revo uninstalled something for each of my failed attempts (what ? I don't know).

- I have another partition software installed (AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro). This should not be a problem either, and at the very least, if those programs are incompatible with each other, there certainly should be a prior warning to that effect.

Added to the aggravation due to the unfriendly registration process, this makes me very wary of that offer. Partition software change things deep into the system, meaning they may wreak havoc if they are not properly programmed. If the install itself is such a pain, it does not bode well.

Chérioux, nothing is hidden in the readme file. GOTD intends that you read this file every day if you want to download offer. It has been that way for years.

kc4cop,

It's precisely the fact that this information is only in the Readme file that makes it hidden. The fact that something has been like that for years does not make it a good thing.

This is indeed a problem, as is evidenced by the difficulties that I, and many others in this thread, have had either installing the software, or even getting the product key.

I am on GOTD's website. I have been brought to this page by the RSS feed I have created to be alerted of new offers. The Paragon offer is described here, with its conditions and limitations. Why should I expect to copy a web link which points to another page of GOTD's website, a web link that can only be found after unzipping a downloaded folder and opening a text file ? This is ridiculously poor user interaction.

Also, why should there be two different mail exchanges ? Saying one is for GOTD and the other is for Paragon is not an appropriate answer. When I buy a loaf of bread, I don't go first to the baker's, then to the baker's electricity provider, to pay the part of his electricity bill which goes into my bread. That's none of my business. That's for him to take care of.

And for all those convoluted operations, I have still not been able to install Paragon on my PC, whereas I install new software as a matter of routine every other day.

Chérioux, just accept the fact that you were wrong. The readme file is there for a purpose and most of us learned to read the file to gether information on how to register and offering. If you cannot follow directions do not complain about it publicly.

I can't be wrong by stating my opinion.

Do you know what a customer is ? Are you aware of a concept named ease of use and user friendliness ? Do you know what freedom of speech is ? Do you understand that some people might have a different opinion from yours, and that you are being obnoxious by trying to shout them down ?

If you want to be helpful, you can suggest ways to make this Paragon install work, instead of acting as a bully. Because that's the reason I wrote a comment in this thread, to begin with.

Sam Peter,

Until sometime in November Paragon is giving away v.16 of their backup app at their site. You can use that if you don't want to or can't wait for the drive copy software.

mike,
I searched their site. Did not find the "give away" you mentioned.

Tom K, it is still there, you have 4 days to claim your free copy
https://www.paragon-software.com/home/brh/

There is still no registration code, and I have checked all spam folders, including on my isp's email website. What is the registration code?? Thanks.

glnz, as I got mine instantly, maybe you put the wrong e-mail? I suggest you ask for it again

Finally got it to a third email address. Will it be the same product code and reg key for each time I install on my three home devices?

desktopuser, why advertise you poor habits? Yours is poor advice. Perhaps you only had limited experience using partition and boot managers. In the above comments you can find several of the many good reasons for continued partitioning of one's hard drive after a computer has been in use for a while. The partitioning products that I have used, several different products and many times in years past, including Paragon's Partition Manager, have always done an admirable job for me. The program that I used in the beginning was PartitionMagic. It was a safe product. Most products will continue to work correctly even if power to the computer is interrupted during the partitioning or repartitioning process.

I still backup my hard drive before doing any petitioning work. You might find adding that tidbit to your advice column could be helpful to some.

Yrral, http://files.giveawayoftheday.com/Paragon/ParagonPartitionManagerHome32bit-ghkr27.zip

Yrral, huh? I got 32-bit and it won't install on my 64-bit W7 HPE SP1 box! :(

For me, it's the exact opposite. The only download link I could find is for the 32 bit version which will not work on a 64 bit OS. Apart from a few holdouts with 32 bit XP, who has a 32 bit OS these days?

Too bad I can't find a 64-bit download link. I'll have to skip this one with only a 32-bit installer.

Eric, http://files.giveawayoftheday.com/Paragon/ParagonPartitionManagerHome64bit-ghkr27.zip

Which browser are you using?

Firefox 49.0.2

Problem resolved. In Firefox, I have an set that blocks pop-up windows. I tried the Edge browser with no option set, saw the pop-up captcha window..selected the proper windows...viola...email sent...key received..thanks

Aah, thats ... er.... handy but annoying! What if I wanted the 32bit version..... ;)
Thanks for letting us know though. Shame I can't edit my above comment...

Chris Locke (CS Computer Services), Thank you for the nice review and useful advice. Regarding the older systems, Paragon provides free tools - including Partition Manager, Drive Copy - special edition for XP and more, which can be downloaded along with their corresponding manuals in PDF format from the official website, here:

I've been testing and using Paragon's products, especially Backup & Recovery also given away recently. The startup interface for v.15 can be switched between the "Express mode" (Metro style) and the full scale launcher, setting which will be preserved between sessions. I believe this is the case for the one offered here today.
You mention AOMEI Backupper in the previous post and I can say, based on my experience so far, both offer good and reliable products in the same category, with similar features. Since Backupper Pro has been given away a few days ago and I didn't have time for a review... By the way, the license issue has been fixed and the giveaway continued the next day, however I managed to download and install it in the first day. It simply offered the option to reserve the licensing info upon uninstalling the older version and didn't ask for a new key after upgrade. Nice feature.
Paragon Partition Manager and AOMEI Backupper are intended for different tasks (partition management vs. backup/restore), but both developpers provide complementary tools, some of them freely downloadable from their respective websites, which pretty much cover most users needs regarding drive management - partition management, backup and restore, bootable recovery environment, etc. Personally, I find AOMEI products a bit more user-friendly and leaner, but I definitely recommend Paragon software as well.
I didn't install Partition Manager yet, so I can't write a specific review and post this comment as a reply instead.

Thank you Paragon and GOTD for today's giveaway!

Link disappeared, here it is again...
Partition Manager 14 Special Edition for XP: https://www.paragon-software.com/home/pm-xp/
More free tools: https://www.paragon-software.com/free/
I hope it works this time, however, I'm sure anyone interested can find their way there.

Chris Locke (CS Computer Services), Look at answer to #7, they give you 32bit.

Yup, got that now, thanks.

jamtz,

"I've been testing and using Paragon's products, especially Backup & Recovery also given away recently. The startup interface for v.15"

Go to the Paragon site & pick up v.16 while it's still available free. It has a completely new interface, & it's a bit faster.

Thanks mike, I know and installed that one recently. Others might find this useful, anyway. Maybe it worth mentioning that "Backup & Recovery 16" didn't invalidate my copy of "Hard Disk Manager 15 - Backup & Recovery", installed longer ago. Both run fine, although I couldn't see a big difference in functionality or speed, yet.
I specified v15 because Partition Manager offered today is also v15 and, judging by the screenshots, has a similar launcher. v16 comes with some kind of hybrid interface, with both "main view" and "x-view" included.

Oh yes, I had another look at both versions (Backup & Recovery 15 and 16) and remembered why I decided to keep the old one. It gives me a few more options, like Manage Recovery Capsule, incremental backup - I didn't see this one in version 16, which seems more basic and forces the user to go through a step-by-step wizard even to only see what options are given. I still prefer the old-style interface. I'm not sure if the missing features are specific to a particular edition (like Hard Drive Manager 15 - Backup & Recovery, Compact) or they just decided to remove some of those features, or include them in a different product. Any comparison between different versions and different editions at the same time wouldn't be relevant, I suppose.

Hi jamtz,

The v.16 interface is Much different -- many of the settings & options are in the 1st tab, including some stuff I was used to finding elsewhere in the menus. It will do incremental, but I don't remember 100% about backup capsules -- I think it does but could be wrong. [I've got it installed in 10, but right now I'm in 7]

Version 15 checks your key only during install, so I've used the same key for multiple installations when the software's been given away. Version 16 keeps track, so one license [& email] per copy. I have one regular copy of their B&R Home v.16, & a few from their current giveaway on multiple PCs -- as far as I can tell they're identical.

The setup routine is different with v.16 -- same with the program files or code, though not terribly so, & backup archives from v.16 are still compatible with v.14. Paragon seems to me to maybe be focusing more resources on the Enterprise & cloud, so it may take longer, but I'd think a v.16 would be around the corner for their partitioning & other software. In that respect I think talking about .v16 a little bit might be useful to some folks trying to decide if they want to get today's GOTD or not.

Chris Locke (CS Computer Services), I got 32-bit version on my 64-bit W7 HPE SP1 box. :(

Ignore the screenshots, which shows the Professional version. This is indeed the Home version.

Chris Locke (CS Computer Services),

FWIW starting with 8, the Microsoft recommended way of setting up a hard drive is, starting with a GPT disc, having Boot, Microsoft Reserved, Windows, & Recovery partitions. You don't have to have the Reserved or Recovery partitions, if the device bios allows it the disk can be MBR, eliminating the Boot partition, & you can of course add more partitions for media or whatever.

All that can sometimes complicate image backups, disk cloning, copying partitions, setting up partitions etc. With 10 the contents of the Recovery partition can be accessed from the boot menu [from the 2ndary menu on your way to Safe Mode], & I'm unsure if that recovery partition can be relocated to make room for a larger Windows partition & still work, if that matters [I haven't tested & haven't read of anyone else testing after moving the Recovery partition].

With 10 the Windows partition is the only one accessible [with a drive letter]. You can make limited changes, e.g. adding [& later removing] a drive letter using partitioning software, but actually creating the Boot & Microsoft Reserved partitions in other than Windows command line Diskpart have failed in my tests to create a bootable, working Windows 10 install. When cloning or copying win10 to a new disk [larger or smaller], it **may** in some cases be easier to install 10 fresh to the new disk, which will set up the partitions, boot loader etc., then copy or clone just the old Windows [%system%] partition on top of the new one.

That said, some people have had problems with Windows 10 setup reporting the Boot partition is too small when upgrading builds [the nest one is due for general release next March]. I've experienced the upgrade process sometimes adding a 2nd Recovery partition. In either case partitioning software [like today's GOTD, Paragon Partition Mgr.] can then be super useful.

Finally, the contents of the Boot partition [& the bootmgr file for MBR] do change when you upgrade builds. The boot files actually change more than once, with intermediate versions &/or settings during the installation process. [Depending on the device, the 10 install routine can also change the boot media list & defaults in the bios.] All of that can [somewhat rarely] go wrong, especially in the case of a failed install or upgrade. Being able to copy the old Boot partition or restore a image backup of the boot partition can in those cases be extremely useful.

mike,

Can you define "FWIW," "GPT disc," "MBR" etc.?

jacksonX,

"... and it has advanced features to migrate OS to SSD, convert NTFS to FAT32, make bootable media and Windows To Go Creator."

Unless you've bought a larger SSD [500GB or more], many are better off to install Windows + software fresh using the SSD -- there's no easy or automated way to move software from the Windows or System partition to another partition on a conventional hard drive. So-called special migration features &/or software are IMHO usually over-hyped, & often unnecessary -- AFAIK restoring an image backup to a new SSD in most software makes any needed adjustments [e.g. alignment].

Windows To Go is most often misunderstood, & wrongly advertised & hyped by 3rd party software companies [e.g. AOMEI & yesterday's FlashBoot]. For a copy of any version of Windows to just work on different hardware [i.e. be portable] it has to be modified to use special universal-type drivers & driver packs [see reboot[.]pro]. Windows 10 will run [but not upgrade] on a USB device -- other Windows versions have to be modded. A normal copy of Windows will add device-specific drivers -- if you run it on a different device it may or may not boot, & if it does, new drivers will be added. The official Windows To Go is limited to Enterprise & Edu -- you're looking at having to reactivate Windows every time you run it on a different device otherwise, which may not be possible depending on the license.

george, Sadly you are mistaken. Macrium is the gold standard in this neighborhood, followed somewhat distantly by AOMEI.

Ciao!

April Gagaar, O Rrly, Macrium Macrium released reference partition manager?
Did you know that at the time when the Paragon has been the absolute world leader in this business, the Macrium company did not exist, even in the project?