Rating: 
Summary: Partition Magic trashed my Toshiba Satellite 320 CDT laptop
Review: After backing up all my data as instructed I installed PM 7.01 and combined my 2Gig C: FAT partition with my 2 Gig D: FAT 32 partition, then (following the instructions) ran DriveMapper. On reboot there were several problems. First, initially (every boot now) I got a "Red X" box saying that "Your display adapter is not configured properly. To correct the problem click OK to start the hardware installation wizard." When I did so it found "Advanced Configuration & Power Interface (ACPI) BIOS". I clicked on that to install it and got the message, "Windows could not load the driver for this device because the computer is reporting two ACPI.SYS Bus types (Code 2). Contact your computer manufacturer to get an updated BIOS for your computer." I do not want to do that because it was working perfectly before I used Partition Magic. Second, while I do have a display (sort of), it is 16 colors, 640 x 480 and does not fill the LCD screen of my laptop. It used to be 600 x 800, millions of colors. I cannot adjust it using "Display properties" on the taskbar because that program reports (Unknown Monitor) on (Unknown Device). Third, my network has disappeared so I can no longer access the internet from my laptop. "My computer / properties / performance" reports that no PC Card sockets are installed! Since my wireless connection is via a PC Card, I suppose that the reason my network has disappeared is that the card socket has disappeared. I can reinstall the network but do not know how to reinstall the card socket, whatever that is. I didn't remove it so how do I reinstall it? Fourth, Windows is operating in MS-DOS compatibilty mode, and Drive C is using MS-DOS compatibility mode file system: SLOW. It's never done that before. Fifth, My Palm Hotsync cannot find COM1, because my COM and LPT ports have all disappeared. "My computer / properties / device manager" reports that I have no COM or LPT ports at all. Last, the floppy and CD-ROM are both invisible to the system ("Drive A is inaccessible"), so I can neither get software nor data in nor out of the computer. I e-mailed PowerQuest support immediately and this is their entire helpful reply: "It sounds like that you merged a partition that had the device drivers on another partition. Did you run DriveMapper after that merge was complete? If not, you may want to do so. If so, then the only option would be to contact Toshiba for the device drivers assocoated with the devices that are not running." Besides insulting me by essentially saying, "RTFM", PQ Support has NO suggestion for dealing with the fact that my network is gone, my drives don't work, and my I & O ports are all trashed. New drivers are readily available from Toshiba's excellent web site but they are of no help to me because my laptop is now deaf and blind (but not dumb). Neither am I. Luckily, [Amazon.com has a great returns policy].
Rating: 
Summary: Great, Easy, Perfect
Review: After tring different partitioning software i purchased this program and absolutly LOVE IT! The interface is great and it gives you a good amount of detail of your hard drive(S) that windows does not. But the greatest thing about this program is the wizards. There is a wizard for everything that you would want to do in creating, resizing, moving, formating. The wizards take you through step by step in easy to understand terms for anyone type of computer novice or expert. It makes suggestings and seys up the partition even if you want to install a second operating system (like linux or a different version of windows) and tells you why that is the best option to use. Once you deciede what you want to do it will reboot the systme and automacially start doing its job which it does faster than any other program i have used and it never damages any data you already have on your hard drive.
Rating:
Summary: eMachine users beware
Review: Although my new eMachine claims to have Windows XP, and the software box says it will partition XP, allowing for example w98 for a 2nd OS, the hard drive was not partitioned, The "instructions" in the rather large owner's manual were way over my head. Maybe the fact that some of the eMachine XP is permanently installed had something to do with the problem. Anyway I'm out the bucks and Fry's says "tough", though the eMachine was also their product.
Rating: 
Summary: IT WORKS WELL; AND VERY COMPATIBLE.
Review: Although PowerQuest designed "PartitionMagic 7.0" for Windows XP, it remained compatible with all the Windows starting from '95. I was glad to see the software create, resize, and merge both big and small partitions on my hard-disk without destroying a single datum.
Almost every claim the manufacturer labelled on the packet/box is true; except that the BootMagic utility (which is supposed to simplify the switching from one Operating System to another) is not very efficient. Also, I was disappointed to know that PowerQuest reserved her mail-in rebate solely for registered previous users who purchase this 7.0 edition. (They should have included new buyers).
Rating: 
Summary: beware with win XP
Review: as a previous owner of PM 4.0 which i had used numerous times with various operating systems and computers, i found the initial offer to be quite inviting. however, in a footnote of appendix a / pg 108, it tells you that you must run partion magic from the rescue diskettes if you have norton system works installed...this was the kiss of death for me. it's been a month since my purchase and i still don't have my system rebuilt and working the way i want to too. ugh !!!
Rating:
Summary: Partition Magic 7
Review: Buy this one at your own peril. I have 20 years experience with PCs and this is the most harmful product I've ever used. I bought it to sort out my hard drives and get them all in nice order. In the end, several logical disk drives were lost. Considerable data was lost, and I've spent hours and hours struggling to recover my data- to no avail. It seems that the programme hangs the system, and then, as its writing to the hard disks, proceeds to corrupt and destroy file allocation tables and partitions. With this product, who needs viruses? Partition Magic damaged my computer worse than any virus!. For this product to work, you must be very lucky. If your computer hangs-- say good by to your data. You only have to read the list of error messages that signify catastrophic errors to realise that this programme is full of risk. I regret buying and using it, so it is relegated to the garbage can with the wish that they were liable for consequential damages.
Rating:
Summary: Of course you need a backup ... but it's great!
Review: For heaven's sake, if you don't have a good backup when doing this kind of thing there is something wrong with you. What if the power goes out during the change? The best thing is using it to move from one hard drive to another (DriveCopy is junk). Then you can move things around on the new drive and if you have troubles you go back to the old drive (which isn't changed so you don't have to worry about PM causing it troubles). I've had very few troubles, mostly my own fault or a bad hard drive.
Rating:
Summary: Partition Magic - this is a GREAT product.
Review: From my own experience: I had a C drive that was really squeezed for space, and a D drive on the same physical disk with plenty of room. I know how tricky drive partitioning can be, particularly if you're dealing with an existing drive with data on it. I was not going to try to deal with this myself at the DOS level, and upgrading the physical drive to a larger size is just as risky. I heard about Partition Magic, and decided to give it a try. I bought it, used it once, and it was worth every penny! Repartitioning my existing drive went flawlessly, and the wizard interface was easy to use. I recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Partition Magic - this is a GREAT product.
Review: From my own experience: I had a C drive that was really squeezed for space, and a D drive on the same physical disk with plenty of room. I know how tricky drive partitioning can be, particularly if you're dealing with an existing drive with data on it. I was not going to try to deal with this myself at the DOS level, and upgrading the physical drive to a larger size is just as risky. I heard about Partition Magic, and decided to give it a try. I bought it, used it once, and it was worth every penny! Repartitioning my existing drive went flawlessly, and the wizard interface was easy to use. I recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Great Product/Great Support
Review: I am fairly new to the computer/tech world, yet I found this product extremely easy to use. It comes with wonderfully detailed PDF & "readme" files to explain every step you must take to be successful, including how to rename drive letters on Windows 2000 partitions so as not to have to use "Drive Mapper", which is included but requires additional work. The first thing I found extremely helpful was the fact that I could call a toll-free number for pre-purchase information. ...Partition Magic also comes with Boot Magic and extensive directions on creating a dual-boot system. Power Quest even offered video tutorials to go with all of their products, and I was very happy with the video walk-through, as well as the written instructions, offered specifically for "installing Windows 2000 to an existing ME system". While HP & Microsoft both suggested not dual-booting with ME and Windows 2000, I have been quite successful because the new primary partition I created for W2K actually thinks it's on its own separate computer due to the program causing the ME partition to automatically hide when I use the W2K and vice-versa. If a user creates the boot diskettes as suggested by the wizards when the program is installed, the dual boot system is remarkably easy to set up. Once set up, the first thing to load when you turn on your system is Boot Magic which gives you choices based on your personal preferences within the Boot Magic program. ... All in all this program is great and I am VERY happy with my purchase.
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