Hi Folks
This text was originally used on 17/08/11 – ( Including Replies ) – for v9.0 . . . BUT is fully relevant today ! There may be many who never saw it first time.
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This first section is aimed at helping those who do NOT understand Partitioning – NOT to patronise those who do !
For those wondering what this software is for – whether they need it or not . . .  The first thing I have to say to you is – since you have no idea what this software is for – YOU SHOULD NOT USE IT on a main Hard Drive containing valuable Data !
First try it out on an old HDD on an old PC or Laptop to prevent accidents ! Practice makes perfect & all that !!!
Right – onto what it Is / Does . . .
Imagine you have a sheet of A4 paper – you fold it in half & then in half again . . . You STILL have ONE piece of paper BUT with FOUR separate sections ! This software does EXACTLY that to Hard Drives – only it doesn’t have to be halves – it can be any size from about 5Mb upwards – ( smaller would be unable to contain relevant data & Format etc. ) – although the smallest I use is 100 Mb for my Boot Data Drive !
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I’ve personally been building PC’s / Hard Drives etc. for around 16 years now & a method I developed early on & has served me perfectly ever since is that I typically set ALL PC Hard Drives up as C: / D: / E: / F: / G: & H:

C: Boot Data – ( 100mb )

D: Environment – XP / Seven

E: FallBack – Usually XP BUT in the past I’ve used 2000 – whatever the customer owns. Even Win 98 would work BUT it would need updating with add-ons in order to read larger drives & those with NTFS File systems etc.

F: Programs – This is where Office & AutoRoute / Encarta / Games etc. & ALL the GAOTD Software Downloads are installed to . . . NOT Windows Drive / Program Files !!!!

G: Media Drive – All scans / photos / Films / Music etc – NOT in Windows / Documents !

H: Virtual DVD – Stores setups / drivers & Backups etc. Also Downloads saved here in most cases – where an External Drive is not available !

I: & if the Hard Disk is BIG enough – purely for Backup !

( My NETWORKED Drives typically are Mapped in from O: & P: onwards – leaving space for local External Drives. )

WHY bother going to all this trouble ?  Well – having learned from WAY to Many instances where a Windows crash has left everything LOST ! – yes there are softwares to get stuff back – BUT this way – if Windows crashes – load up the FallBack Windows – MOVE everything you need off the Main Windows Drive & Restore it – NO DRAMA !
PLUS – the only way to lose absolutely everything as with a single Drive C: is if the MBR  ( Master Boot Record )  the Index for the entire Hard Disk is damaged – & even then – There are 2 MBRs  ( 1 as backup ).

This also DRAMATICALLY cuts the time of Defrags etc.& you can backup the stuff you need to – individually & quicker – AWAY from the Windows Drive.

I appreciate that this system is not for everyone – companies would NEVER do this – ‘cos it’s way to much work for them to bother with ! I’ve set up more than 200 systems this way & NOT ONE complaint – in fact in a few cases of Virus or system crash – it’s proved a God-Send !
IF Poss – I do try to put the FallBack Windows on a second HDD even if it’s only 3Gig in size – it’s only there as a last resort !
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 !

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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 that Fubar, Ashraf, Mike & Bubby are streets ahead in their 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 !!!

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As for Easeus PM – I used to use PowerQuest / Symantec Partition Magic – it was brilliant BUT as soon as I tried Easeus PM when it was given away here the year before last – I swapped to it FOR GOOD — it is excellent. I wish I’d had it years ago. I’ve found it streets ahead of others I’ve tried including Partition Magic. Paragon is good BUT I prefer Easeus – it’s much more No-Nonsense. It does what it’s supposed to – WELL !

Easeus PM can be Installed & Run within Windows BUT I just make the CD version & use it to boot up the target machine – even then it’s like looking at the Windows version – it’s really well laid out ! ALL operations can can be carried out at this point including – Create a NEW ‘Drive Structure’ from scratch / Stretch & Shrink existing ‘Drive Structures’ / move a Partition from place to place on the drive  ( NOT to be done TO or BEFORE the Vista / 7 Partition )  & tons more. It’s a seriously POWERFUL & RELIABLE bit of kit . . . BUT It’s laid out well enough that Learners can trial it too !

While Partitioning from within Windows – a re-boot is required to complete the process as Windows locks the hard Drive while it’s in use ! Running from the CD @ Boot up completes ALL functions there & then because the Drive is not in use by anything else !!!

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Just last week I had a 360 Gig External drive lose BOTH of it’s partitions – out of the blue ! I was 3/4 through copying files from it – across my network when I got the error – File Not Found !
I LOST EVERYTHING – My most up-to-date documents & Downloads ( 150+ Gig ) . The drive had been solid for as long as I can remember – it really wasn’t expected !!!
I re-booted my laptop – into EaseUS Partition Master 7.0.1 Pro CD ( Linux version ) & ran the Partition Recovery – It managed to recover BOTH partiotions & ALL Files also. It’s worth it’s price for that function alone !
I hope this has been helpful for some of you :o)
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Apologies for any Typos

Cheers for now & HAVE A GREAT DAY FOLKS !!

- – Mike – -
- Macs-PC –

The Return of the Macs ! :o)

Hi Folks

Comment by Four @ #4 — January 11th, 2012 at 3:27 am “This does exactly what windows xp and later can do. Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools\disk management So why pay for it?”

The truth is … You’re not even CLOSE ! Evidently you’ve never tried it or you would know this is 10 times better than Windows Drive Management – ( which I also use )– This is without doubt the BEST hard Drive Utility I’ve ever tried – especially in Boot-Up mode – from CD / USB & I’ve been using these tools since the early 90′s !

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Comment by Groink @ #5 — January 11th, 2012 at 3:28 am “How can this program have 90% good feed back and 5% bad feed back when there are no comments prior to “my own … Anyone?

I think the question should be How can this program have 90% good feed back and 5% bad feed back ? What happened to the other 5% ? I’m guessing it was 10% in which case that would only require 9 people to vote up & 1 down !

Also – so early in the new session – there could have been numerous comments awaiting moderation – as yours too would have had to ! I was quite surprised to find so many comments  ( 11 )  at just 09:00 GMT  ( 1 HOUR into new session )  normally it’s 3 or 4 by then !

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I hope this has been helpful for some of you :o)
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Apologies for any Typos

Cheers for now & HAVE A GREAT DAY FOLKS !!

- – Mike – -
- Macs-PC –
LIVE in the UK ! :o)

Hi Folks

Comment by Jon — January 11th, 2012 at 4:45 am @ #21 “Does anyone know whether the Linux boot disk to be created from the program is a universal boot disk which is good for use on any Windows computer, or just a computer-specific boot disk good for only the computer on which the boot disk is created?”

YES Hi Jon – It works PERFECTLY on ALL Windows Systems !

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I hope this has been helpful for some of you :o)
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Apologies for any Typos

Cheers for now & HAVE A GREAT DAY FOLKS !!

- – Mike – -
- Macs-PC –
LIVE in the UK ! :o)