One thing I don't like about MiniTool Partition Wizard is that it doesn't support manipulating dynamic disks. AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard Edition has a lot more options that are out in the open as well as hidden away in menus than many other free partition software tools, but doesn't let that scare you away. You can resize, merge, create, format, align, split, and recover partitions with AOMEI Partition Assistant, as well as copy whole disks and partitions.
Some of the partition management features with AOMEI's tool are limited and offered only in their paid, professional version. One such feature is the ability to convert between primary and logical partitions. You can also use AOMEI Partition Assistant to create a bootable Windows flash drive, move an operating system to an entirely different hard drive, and wipe all the data from a partition or drive.
Simple wizards make it easy to walk through some of these tasks. When [email protected] Partition Manager resizes a partition, you can define the custom size in either megabytes or sectors. Unfortunately, [email protected] Partition Manager can't resize locked volumes, which means it won't let you change the size of the system volume. There's more on this in the review.
Managing the size of a partition in EaseUS Partition Master is dead simple thanks to their easy to use slider that lets you drag left and right to shrink or expand a partition. Modifications exist only virtually , which means you're only seeing a preview of what will happen if you save the changes, but nothing is actually set in stone yet.
Changes don't take effect until you click the Execute button. I particularly like this feature so things like expanding and copying partitions can be done in one swipe instead of having to reboot between each operation, thus saving tons of time. The list of pending operations is even shown on the side of the program so you can clearly see what will happen when you apply them.
You can also password protect EaseUS Partition Master, hide partitions, upgrade the system drive to a larger bootable drive, merge partitions, defragment a drive, and copy Windows to a different hard drive. One thing I don't like about this program is that several features are only available in the full, paid version, but are still clickable.
This means you might sometimes try to open something in the free version only to be prompted to buy the professional one. GParted runs entirely from a bootable disc or USB device, but it still has a full user interface like a regular program, so it's not at all difficult to use. Editing a partition's size is easy because you can choose the exact size of the free space before and after the partition, using either a regular text box or a sliding bar to visually see the size increase or decrease.
Changes GParted makes to disks are queued up and then applied with one click. Because it runs outside the operating system, pending changes don't require a reboot, which means you can get things done that much quicker.
A small but particularly annoying issue with GParted is that it doesn't list all the available partitions on one screen like most other free disk partitioning programs. You have to open each disk separately from a drop down menu, which is actually easy to miss if you're not sure where to look.
GParted is around MB, which is much larger than most of the other programs on our list, so it may take some time to download. Instead, you must install it to a bootable device like a disc or a flash drive. This means you can use it even if you don't have an operating system installed at all. Cute Partition Manager can be used to change the file system of a disk and create or delete partitions. Any changes you make are queued up and can be undone because they are only applied when you save them.
Cute Partition Manager is completely text-based. This means you can't use your mouse to select the different options — it's all done with the keyboard.
Don't let this scare you off, though; there aren't that many menus and so it's not really a problem. I love Macrorit Partition Expert's user interface because it's super clean and uncluttered, making it very easy to use.
All the available operations are listed out on the side, and none of them are hidden away in menus. Some of the actions you can perform to a disk with Macrorit Partition Expert include resize, move, delete, copy, format, and wipe a volume, as well as change the volume's label, convert between a primary and logical volume, and run a surface test.
Like most of the partition management software in this list, Macrorit Partition Expert doesn't actually make any changes to the partitions until you apply them with the Commit button. If walking through wizards helps you feel more comfortable making changes to partitions, then you'll like Paragon Partition Manager Free.
Whether you're creating a new partition or resizing, deleting, or formatting an existing one, this program has you move through a step by step process to do it. Unfortunately, a number of additional features are disabled in Paragon Partition Manager, available only in the pro version. IM-Magic Partition Resizer works very much like the tools mentioned above. It installs quickly and is super simple to use. So I had 1.
Windows 7 2. Secondary plex 3. Secondary Plex. When I booted to 3 everything worked fine. When I attached the 1st hard drive again, the 3 disappeared and I had two options: 1. Windows 7 worked , but Secondary plex didn't work. I couldn't understand why, i wish I could. When I booted to the windows another weird thing happened. Windows detected the second hard drive Which was all the time at its place as a foreign disk, so I had to delete partitions and add mirror again. After Mirror is completed , again both 1 : Windows7 and 2 Secondary Plex boots to the windows without any issues.
Technically I think my first question will answer the second one. I just need to figure out why after plugging back the first hard drive , the windows couldn't boot from Secondary Plex. Please share with me your idea. I've dealt with a similar problem before. I remember that one hard drive had the boot loader, and it was on a very small partition. The second drive had no such partition, so fixing the boot loader was not an easy task.
Basically looked something like this:. Thanks for reply. Mine doesn't have a separate partition for boot , but it has a small partition named "System Reserved". In my experience to get it worked , that small partition should be mirrored as well. I can easily create the mirror and boot from both hard drive. The only issue I'm facing is when the primary hard drive fails. I know installing a new Windows is the last solution which works all the time. I think if we want to think of the RAID like that I mean to have only the data backup and installing a new windows in case of recovery , we'd better to use a free software like Cobian and just backup the whole drive on external storage , or probably these days most of the companies have NAS,SAN.
In my scenario I like to have a simple RAID 1 solution which works like physical RAID, means even one of the drive fails , even it is the primary I can keep it working and the only thing I have to do will be to change the bad hard drive with a good one.
I entirely agree with you that software RAID sucks. In my case I had to do that as I didn't have any other option. Anyways, the last attempt was successful, I was able to boot off the second hard drive when had the first one plugged off. It worked. When I plugged on the the first hard drive back again , it booted again , but the Windows was not smart enough to understand it is the old hard drive and start syncing RAID again. It was detected as a foreign hard drive.
I had to import it, delete its partition and do the mirroring again. Probably much less than what it cost you in time to go through what you just dealt with. Not as nice as mirroring, but again, with what you went through, it may be better than software RAID. Thanks for your info. I started buying this for our desktop computers. I'm in the process of getting this approved. I just read the review of that card , and it didn't seem to be a good one.
Lots of customers complaining about that card. Do you have any suggestion? If it was you, what RAID controller you would get? Most of the desktops are running Windows 7 64bits. I haven't put a RAID card in a desktop machine in a long time.
Everything I could have recommended is long gone. Rosewill stuff is generally pretty cheap. A bunch of those bad reviews look like people just didn't know what they were doing though so you need to take some of that with a grain of salt.
The vast majority are 4 and 5 star and seem to like the card. Seems like the biggest problem was drivers. Considering how cheap it is it might make sense to grab one, grab the latest drivers, install it and test it for a week or two and see what you think. If it truly does suck you won't be out much. To continue this discussion, please ask a new question. Cloud Help Desk: Delays for ticket imports:. Laplink Software, Inc.
