Partition Magic 6.0

The solution for drive partitioning..

Partition Magic 6.0 is, as its name implies! If you are running any version of Windows, this utility provides an easy route to solving a major problem with Microsoft's operating system and changing the usual hard drive configuration your computer came with.

Partition Magic's function is to allow the creation and re-sizing of partitions on hard drives. One reason that this function is so important is that all the Windows versions require the use of a virtual memory swap file which gets written to regularly. If that swap file is allowed to get fragmented, one can expect to experience system crashes.

The best way to prevent that from happening is by isolating the system swap file within a partition of its own and restricting its ability to fragment by limiting the partition size. The result is a faster, more stable machine.

The problem is that most new computers come with massive hard drives pre-configured with a single partition. That configuration results in insuring that the Windows swap file has gigabytes of space in which to fragment, resulting in the often experienced slam, bang, crash.

Partition Magic 6.0 to the rescue. In days past, partitioning your hard drive was something of a feat. Thanks to PowerQuest Software's Partition Magic series of products, the pain and mystery of partitioning a hard drive has been reduced. Their most recent offering, Partition Magic 6.0 is a major step forward in making disk management user-friendly. With Partition Magic it becomes a simple task to re-size the massive drive into smaller partitions.

In addition to fixing a major Windows crash problem, partitioning makes data and system backups more manageable. By isolating data files within a single partition, backups become easier and multiple copies can be stored in other partitions.

System requirements

You need the following to run Partition Magic 6.0 on Windows 95/98/NT Workstation/Windows2000

(Note: You cannot install Partition Magic on NT Server 4.0):

• 32 Megs of RAM
• 54 Megs of hard drive space
• CD-ROM

The User Guide

The User Guide is extremely helpful to anyone who has not worked with the concept of hard drive partitions. It covers the following:

• Installation of the program in-depth
• Using the Wizards to make changes
• Creating and working with partitions
• Converting between file types
• Working with BootMagic, and DriveMapper

I do not really want to go into any great detail about the User Guide, but suffice it to say, it does a good job of answering just about any question you might have about how to use Partition Magic 6.

The Interface

Partition Magic's new interface is intuitive. It provides easy access to all the necessary tools: the Wizards, Operations pending, hard disk information, and help. An important part of the interface is the wizards themselves. The various wizards for Partition Magic 6.0 are helpful and simple to use. Creating a new partition and re-size an old one is simply a matter of a few button clicks thanks to these wizards. Anyone who has used previous editions of Partition Magic will be somewhat familiar with some of the items I examine below.

Conclusion

One very good thing Partition Magic does when you make a new partition is ask what the partition will be used for - data storage or to install a new OS. If the partition will be used for data, then Partition Magic will create the new partition within a logical partition; if the partition will be used to install a new OS, then Partition Magic will create the partition as a primary partition. This is a highly useful feature, saving you the headache of accidentally having too many primary partitions on your hard drive. As well, you can choose where, physically, on the drive the partition will go: Either at the end or the beginning of the free space. The options for different file system types are quite extensive when creating a new partition: Fat, Fat32, Linux Ext2, Linux Swap, NewWare, HPFS.

In addition to Partition Magic, other utilities are include in the product to make the process of configuring your computer a simple matter.

Finally, working with the program has been a very pleasant experience. I had no major mishaps. As always though, Back Up Your Stuff before messing with any program, especially one as powerful as this. Partition Magic 6.0 is a mature product that solves major problems. Buy it if you dislike reformatting and starting over.