aci rick's List: HDD Partitions

• #4: “Quick question – can I use this tool to create a partition on my external hard drive (which is currently formatted as NTFS) and have that partition as a FAT32?”

   

  **Should** be able to do that with EASEUS Partition Master or most any partitioning software, *BUT*, external drives connected via USB rely on electronics that can vary widely from one brand/model of housing/dock to the next. How well or even if those electronics work with the hardware in our PC/laptop &/or software can vary a LOT. ‘Bout all you can do, other than searching for other user reports, is back up the external drive, make sure you can restore it, & give Partition Master [or any alternatives] a try. If you do have [or are afraid of] problems, you can always create a virtual disk on the external drive & format it FAT32.
• You want disc image backup software… EASEUS offers their free version on their site, while Paragon backup apps have been on GOTD in the past — they also have free versions. If you have a Western Digital or Seagate hard drive [not sure about other brands], they have free software for download

• #19: “Whenever I try to use it I always get a message stating that I must have administrator rights.”

   

  A **guess**, I have seen AntiVirus apps like CA & McAfee change registry permissions to restricted — an app can then try to write a key or value, find it doesn’t have permission, & report it needs admin status/permission levels. You might also have something else running [AntiVirus?] preventing Partition Master from locking files or partitions so it can’t do it’s job — again it might respond that you don’t have admin permissions.

   

  MSConfig will let you run Windows without everything that normally starts with Windows… you can also try turning other apps & services off. Either might help diagnose a software conflict — RE: the registry permission thing, I don’t know of an easy way to check for it… you can try monitoring with something like Process Monitor, or record install & running in a virtual machine, then compare the registry changes you recorded with what you’ve actually got — I’ve done both & either is a PITA.

  • PITA = Pain In The Ass

1 more annotation...

• The GOTD version does not include their WinPE setup — see previous Paragon offers on GOTD for lots of discussion on why. OTOH you don’t need it —

  see reboot.pro &/or 911cd.net &/or Microsoft’s Windows AIK for info & tools to make IMHO better alternatives, e.g.

  I have a very small [<100 MB] bootable ISO with most network drivers etc., & it optionally uses 100+ portable apps, complete with start menus on a separate USB hard drive, including a V/Box win7 VM.
• [Or look at Acronis -- their non-WinPE boot discs can be much faster]
• As far as the file size goes, you can 1) trim that down by getting rid of files like their boot disc creation stuff, 2) experiment with compression [e.g. the portableapps.com app compactor], &/or 3) look at storing/running it from an external disk/device — by copying those files mentioned above into the program folder that you installed normally on an external drive/device, you can both run it normally in Windows or as a portable app.

• “This program has multi-boot management and will also add Operating Systems to your existing setup”

   

  *Before* adding a boot mgr of any sort, 1) use something like the Paragon disk backup wizard to backup your MBR, & 2) look at EasyBCD from NeoSmart because there’s a good chance you don’t Have to add a boot mgr in the 1st place.

2 more annotations...