Partition Magic question

[cil254]

I have a partioned HD and I want to merge the partitions into one.
I understand Partiton Magic can do that.
Questions:
1 - Is it a one shot deal ? i.e. run PM, merge partition and then I can forget about PM (uninstall it) ?
2 - What happens to the programs, registry etc... that were pointing to drive D: E: etc.. once I merge it all to one drive (C:) ?

[canook]

I have a partioned HD and I want to merge the partitions into one.
I understand Partiton Magic can do that.
Questions:
1 - Is it a one shot deal ? i.e. run PM, merge partition and then I can forget about PM (uninstall it) ?
2 - What happens to the programs, registry etc... that were pointing to drive D: E: etc.. once I merge it all to one drive (C:) ?

1 - Yes. Fire and forget.

2 - I've never merged drives with data on them, I'm not sure what would happen with duplicate files / paths. I can tell you, though, PM is not going to go and edit your registry and config files for you. I recommend uninstalling programs prior to merging, reinstall after. Also, back up your data. PM doesn't guarantee no data loss.

Hope this helps.

[scottyb]

I just lost 90GB of data by trying to merge 2 partitions that were on one hard drive that was used exclusively for storage. Will likely be the last time I use the program. While I should have backed up the data, 90GB is a lot to backup to DVD, I had no other hard drive space to back up onto. Instead I think I will stick with the partitions that I have.

[Singh]

I can tell you, though, PM is not going to go and edit your registry and config files for you. I recommend uninstalling programs prior to merging, reinstall after.
Actually partition magic does do this. After it has merged the partitions, it will run a drive mapping program that should correct most of the stuff. I've never needed it so I can't vouch for how well it works.

I've merged partitions with data twice. Worked fine both times. But I would recommend backing up your data just in case..

[woof]

Merging partitions is a dangerous action because a lot can go wrong and it cannot be done under some circumstances.

It is far safer to do the following:

If for example you have C: and D: partitions and you want to eliminate the D: partition:

1. First always run Chkdsk on both partitions before doing anything to clear up any filesystem/partition errors.
2. In explorer COPY all of your data on the D: partition to the C: partition.
3. Check to make sure that the data moved has not been corrupted by the move** then
4. Use Partition Magic (PM) to delete the D: partition.
5. Use PM to extend the C: partition to now encompass the space formerly occupied by D:.
6. Reboot.
7. Run Chkdsk on C:
Done.

If you do not have enough space on C: initailly to move all data then this might have to be done in a couple steps: Move what data you can, resize the D: partition down creating free space between C: and D:, resize C: up to encompass that free space then repeat the process by transferring more data from D: to C: etc as many times as are necessary.

This process assumes you only have data on D:. If there are programs installed there then this won't work and you will either have to uninstall them and reinstall them on C: or risk the PQ merge function.

**An SFV file checker program works well for this (winsfv, quicksfv).

[canook]

Actually partition magic does do this. After it has merged the partitions, it will run a drive mapping program that should correct most of the stuff. I've never needed it so I can't vouch for how well it works.

I've merged partitions with data twice. Worked fine both times. But I would recommend backing up your data just in case..

I stand corrected - interesting feature. They must have added that in a later version than I've used (I haven't used the program in a while). I'm not sure I'd completely trust it, though... just seem to be too many weird and wonderful places for programs to hide their settings.

[wanna_be]

I just lost 90GB of data by trying to merge 2 partitions that were on one hard drive that was used exclusively for storage. Will likely be the last time I use the program. While I should have backed up the data, 90GB is a lot to backup to DVD, I had no other hard drive space to back up onto. Instead I think I will stick with the partitions that I have.

scottyb you may be able to use Easy Recovery Professional by Ontrack systems to get some and maybe all of those files back. I have used it to get files back from formatted disks before.

[morkys]

Can you merge partitions that are different sizes and have different cluster sizes? Merge a 40GB (4kb clusters) and 2GB (2kb clusters) partition? Ghost everything to another HD or partition and then merge and ghost the system back? Does Partition Magic 8 have a ghosting utility?

[JimG]

Actually partition magic does do this. After it has merged the partitions, it will run a drive mapping program that should correct most of the stuff. I've never needed it so I can't vouch for how well it works.

I've merged partitions with data twice. Worked fine both times. But I would recommend backing up your data just in case..

It's called DriveMapper and I've used it a couple times when my drive letters got rearranged. It worked perfectly as far as I could tell.

Jim