## Partition Manager FAQ

Important!!! If you got a computer with Award BIOS dated October 1998 (or newer) you MUST read this!
If you already cannot access your disk on such motherboard read instructions how to fix it.

Can I partition my disk without losing data with your Partition Manager?
When I install Boot Manager Norton Antivirus reports virus Bloodhound.MBR. What do I do?
I have changed size of my FAT-32 partition from 6G down to 2G, but Explorer still shows 6G.
My hard disk was corrupted by <some bad program>. Could your tool help me to recover my partitions?

Partition Manager vs Partition Magic
Advanced Boot Manager vs System Commander
Why would anyone need 31 bootable partitions?
Does Partition Manager support disks larger than 8G?

When I try to install Windows NT it couldn't continue after reboot. What's wrong with it?

When I run Partition Manager I get the message "Note that BIOS reports only 624 cylinders." Is there a problem with my computer?

What is the proper way for installing Linux with Advanced Boot Manager?

How do I set default partition?
How do I set boot menu timeout?
How do I boot my old MS-DOS from the second hard drive?

Can I shrink FAT partition?
Can I enlarge FAT partition?
Can I convert FAT-16 to FAT-32?
Can I convert FAT-32 back to FAT-16?
Can I merge two FAT-16 partitions into a single FAT-32?

Why I cannot boot MS-DOS from FAT-16 if it is located above 2G?
Is it possible to have Windows 95 with FAT-32 and NT with NTFS on the same disk?
When I tried to install Windows 95 onto the second hard drive setup failed with error "SU0013". What should I do?

I installed Advanced Boot Manager and now I cannot see Extended partition.
I installed Advanced Boot Manager. Should I do anyting before installing a new OS?
I installed Windows 95 and Advanced Boot Manager has disappeared. What happened?

Why are there only four choices - Last, Next, Prev, Last3 - in Advanced Boot Manager?
Why are you spending so much energy writing this program and giving it out for free?

Q: Can I partition my disk without losing data with your Partition Manager?

A: Yes. You can. If you have one large FAT-16 or FAT-32 partition and you want to create another partitions, without losing existing data you have to do the following:
1. Defragment your C: disk.
2. Run partition manager and change partition size in TWO places: partition table and boot record (you get there when you press Enter). Make sure the size does not drop below minimum partition size.
3. Reboot computer and run SCANDISK to check for errors / adjust FAT-32 free space.
4. Create new partitions.

Q: Why do I need your Partition Manager, if I already have Partition Magic by Powerquest?

A: Partition Manager and Partition Magic are different programs. They are complementing each other. While Partition Magic isolates you from small details and does all work for you, Partition Manager lets you see all those details in the partition table (cylinders', heads', and sectors' numbers) and you have to make all decisions yourself. I use Partition Manager for non-standard tasks, such as creating more than one primary (bootable) FAT partitions on the disk, and use Partition Magic to resize partitions or change their cluster size.

Q: What is the difference between Advanced Boot Manager and System Commander?

A: While both programs allow you to have multiple Operating Systems on one hard drive they do it in the different ways. System Commander lets you boot several OS from one partition by manipulating with system files (for example you can put several versions of MS-DOS, Windows 95, and Windows NT into a single FAT partition). With System Commander you still have a limitation of four partitions per disk, but you can put many OS in each of those partitions. On the other hand Advanced Boot Manager does not manipulate inside partitions, but, instead, lets you create up to 31 bootable partitions on your disk, and then boot from them different OS. I have not tried, but it might be possible to use both at the same time.

Q: Why would anyone in the right mind want to create 31 bootable partitions?

A: Probably 31 is too much, but the current limitation of four partitions is a problem. For example, I have six partitions on my 5.1G hard disk. I have an old version of MS-DOS, Windows 95, Solaris x86, another Windows 95 partition for programs downloaded from web, some empty space to test Partition Manager, and an Extended DOS partition. When I boot from DOS or Windows 95 I can see two partitions: one, from which I have booted and an extended partition with my files and programs.

In addition, it is now common to have several OS, such as Windows 95/98, Windows NT, and various flavors of Linux in order to develop crossplatform applications.

Q: What is the proper way for installing Linux with Advanced Boot Manager?

First you have to create two Linux partitions (ext2fs and swap):

      # File System     Size
      1 FAT-16          200M    <- This your old DOS
      2 FAT-32         2000M    <- This is Windows 95
    > 3 Linux (ext2fs)  800M
    > 4 Linux swap       40M
      5 Extended        500M
          FAT-16        500M    <- This is shared FAT-16 partition inside
                                   extended partition, visible to all OS.

Then you have to edit Advanced Boot Manager boot menu:

      #  Partitions   Name
      1  1/1  Last    MS-DOS 6.22
      2  2/2  Last    Windows 95
      3  3/3  Last3   Linux

After that save it and reboot computer. Then in boot menu you have to highlight "Linux" and press 'A' to boot from Linux boot floppy disk.

When Linux setup will ask you where to put LILO you have to answer "In the first sector of the partition" (NOT "in MBR").

Q: I just have installed Advanced Boot Manager but I cannot see my extended DOS partition? Here is my disk layout:

      1 DOS FAT-16     500Mb
      2 DOS Extended   300Mb
      3 Linux          400Mb
      4 Linux swap      20Mb

A: When you install Advanced Boot Manager it automatically picks extended partition only if it is last on the disk. In your case you have to edit boot menu (press Space in the main screen) so it will look as follows:

      #  Partitions  Name
      1  1/1  Next   MS-DOS
      2  3/3  Next   Linux
      3  3/3  Last3  Linux (sees D:)

After that you will be able to see extanded partition from both DOS and Linux.

If you did this, but you still cannot see Extended partition, it might be that you have unused space at the end of the disk, which is considered to be the last partition. Then you have to enlarge Extended partition up to the end of the disk (just increase its size in MBR).

Q: Why are there only four choices - Last, Next, Prev, Last3 - in Advanced Boot Manager?

A: The reason, why number of choices was limited, is that I wanted to keep all occupied (by partitions) space covered in MBR. Then if somebody runs fdisk or similar utility, it wouldn't think that disk space not mentioned in MBR is empty (and available), even though it has some valuable information.

This is a reasonable behaviour, since most people want to hide primary partitions from each other and put all shared data in the Extended partition, making it visible to all of the systems, and implemented set of choices seems to be enough.

Q: After I installed Windows 95 Advanced Boot Manager has disappeared.

A: Click here to see what you should do before installing a new OS in the Partition Manager's help.

Q: Can I boot my old MS-DOS from the second hard drive?

A: Yes you can do that. See an example in the Partition Manager's help.

Q: I have Windows 95 and Linux on my computer, after installing your boot manager I have added another Windows 95 partition for my little brother. The problem is that every time I leave my computer I have to reboot from second Windows partition, so my brother won't get into Linux, when he turns it on. Is there a better solution?

A: Yes, there is a solution for this case. You have to set a "default partition" in the boot manager's options. Then, instead of booting from rememberd "last time booted" partition, boot manager will always start with the default partition highlighted.

Q: My computer is so slow that when I turn it on I can go and get a cup of tea before it finishes BIOS tests. But some times there is a line in the cafeteria and I miss the boot manager's prompt. Is there any way to hold the prompt?

A: Yes, there are several ways. First of all you can set the prompt timeout up to 100 seconds - this will give you some time, or you can set it 0 - this will force boot manager to wait forever, even if you had to go to China for your tea, you still couldn't miss it. (In case of compact boot manager setting default partition to Space will have similar effect). And finally, you can get a faster machine, which will solve most of the problems.

Q: Does Partition Manaer support disks larger than 8G?

A: Yes. Version 2.38 supports disks over 8Gb in size.

The old standard for partition table has an 8G limit for the size of the hard disk and partitions. Version 2.37 of the Partition Manager follows that standard and if you have 8G or greater disk it will not be able to see anything beyond 8G boundary. However, you can operate as usual under 8G line.

Q: How do I convert FAT-16 to FAT-32?

A: There is a program which does one-way conversion from FAT-16 to FAT-32. You can download a copy of cvt.exe. This utility appears to be written by Microsoft, but I couldn't find any documentation or reference for it on their web site. So use it at your own risk.

Q: I have a 6G FAT-32 partition. I want to convert it back to FAT-16, because I am going to install Windows NT. Can Partition Manager do that?

A: Even if Partition Manager could do it - you still cannot have 6G FAT-16 partition. The limit for FAT-16 partition is 2G. I would suggest you to shrink FAT-32 partition down to 4G and create a 2G FAT-16 partition on the freed space.

Another case (more details)

Q: How do I shrink a partition?

A: First of all run SCANDISK and DEFRAG utilities. Then start Partition Manager and change partition size. Then go to the setup screen (press Enter on the partition) and change size there. Make sure that you do not go below MINIMUM partition size. Reboot computer. Then run SCANDISK to make sure there is no errors and let it adjust amount of free space on the disk. Done.

Note: DEFRAG moves all files to the beginning of the partition, but it leaves system and hidden files untouched. Therefore even after you run DEFRAG there still might be files at the end of partition. In this case you would have to find those files and remove system and hidden attributes, then defragment the disk again and after that restore those attributes.

Q:I have changed size of my FAT-32 partition from 6G down to 2G, but Explorer still shows 6G of the free space. What's wrong.

A: You either forgot to change partition's size in its boot sector (you get there when you press Enter on the partition record) or you didn't run SCANDISK afterwards.

Q: Can I enlarge existing FAT partition?

A: Yes, but only if it was shrinked before. The problem is the size of the FAT - it must be large enough to address all clusters on the disk. However, if you don't want to backup and restore all files so much that you are willing to spend $70, get Partition Magic and it will do it in a few minutes. (I am going to add this feature to my program in a near future).
Note: you can format partitions with option /x:max_number_of_sectors so that you can enlarge them in the future. For example if you want to extend partition up to 4G you should put /x:8,000,000 as an option.

Q: Can Partition Manager merge two 2G FAT-16 partitions into a single 4G FAT-32, without erasing all data?

A: Yes, but it isn't automatic. You would have to do the following steps:

    Pictures:

    Original:      [ FAT-16  Data......... Free.... ] [ FAT-16 Data.... Free..... ]
    Move files:    [ FAT-16  Free.................. ] [ Data.................. F. ]
    Format:        [ FAT-32  Free.................. ] [ Data.................. F. ]
    Move files:    [ FAT-32  Data................ F ] [ Free..................... ]
    Enlarge:       [ FAT-32  Data................ Free........................... ]
    Unzip:         [ FAT-32  Data............................. Free.............. ]

Descriptions:

1. Copy all files from the first partition to the second one (better zip them)
2. Using Partition Manager format first partition as FAT-32 with option /x:max_num_of_sectors (to make FAT tables large enough for the future expansion)
3. Reboot computer
4. Copy all files back to the first partition
5. Delete second FAT-16 and enlarge FAT-32 up to 4G
6. Reboot computer

Note: be careful with copying system and hidden files. Also, if the first partition was bootable, you would need to run "sys.com" to install system files rather then just copying them back after formatting.

Q: I desperately need to convert 2G FAT-32 back to FAT-16. And I don't have money to buy Partition Magic.

OK. Lets go step by step.
Suppose that you have 1.2G of data on your partition.

    Pictures:

    Original:      [ FAT-32  Data... Free... Data... Free... Data... ............ ]
    After Defrag:  [ FAT-32  Data................... Free........................ ]
    Shrink:        [ FAT-32  Data................... F] [ FAT-16 Free............ ]
    Move or zip:   [ FAT-32  Free.................... ] [ Data................... ]
    Format:        [ FAT-16  Free.................... ] [ Data................... ]
    Move back:     [ FAT-16  Data................... F] [ Free................... ]
    Enlarge:       [ FAT-16  Data................... Free........................ ]

Descriptions:

1. Defragment and shrink FAT-32 partition down to 1.3G.
2. On the freed space create a temporary FAT-16 partition.
3. Reboot computer and move (or zip) as much as possible files to the second partition.
4. If there is no more files on FAT-32 go to step 5. Otherwise return to step 1 and keep creating those FAT-16 partitions until you move all files from FAT-32.
5. Format former FAT-32 partition as FAT-16 with option /x:4,000,000 - this tells partition manager to make FAT tables large enough to extend partition up to 2G in the future.
6. Reboot computer
7. Move all files from the closest temporary FAT-16 partition to the newly formated one. Delete that temporary partition and enlarge our destination FAT-16 up to that space.
8. Reboot computer.
9. If there are more temporary partitions go back to step 7.

If you have enough free space on the original partition the process will involve only one temporary partition and one copy cycle "to and back."

When you do copy use appropriate utility - one which handles long file names and hidden files.

Q: Why are you spending so much energy writing this program and giving it out for free?

A: I am a poor student. :-) And I know how it feels not being able to do simple things because you don't have money to buy software. It feels miserable, but you learn a lot, if you have enough determination. Now I know a lot (because I did all those things) and now I want to help other people.

If you think that I am not getting anything in exchange for my work - you are wrong. I am getting people to learn the staff. It is in Partition Magic you just click and it moves data around and you don't know what is going on (which is cool by the way). In my program, unlike the others, you will not get anywhere, unless you know which numbers to enter. Partition Manager will, obviously, help you and show everything it can, but it will require some efforts from the user side - basicly to think (that's why it is so small - it leaves decision making up to the user's brain :).

So, my program directed to people who learn, just like me or a bit younger. And I expect that when they become more experienced, they will also write something, which I and everybody else could use.

Q: Why I cannot boot MS-DOS from FAT-16 partition if it is located above 2G?

A: There is a bug in MS-DOS boot sector code. It will not work if partition is above 2G. I have written a replacement for that boot sector code. To install it you have to run Partition Manager, select FAT-16 partition and press Enter. You will get into boot sector configuration screen. Then press F6 to install the new code and F2 to save it.

In addition to fixing 2G problem with the new boot sector code you can now dual boot Windows 95 OSR2 with no problem (which was not possible before, because of the bugs in OSR2 code).

The new code is independent from Partition Manager and, once installed, it can be used with any other Boot Manager. To uninstall it simply run "sys.com" which comes with your OS.

Q: Is it possible to have Windows 95 with FAT-32 and NT with NTFS on the same disk?

A: Yes. You simply have to create FAT-32 and NTFS partitions with Partition Manager, and format FAT-32. Then you have to install Windows 95 into FAT-32 and NT into NTFS. After that you can use Compact or Advanced Boot Managers to switch between the systems.

In order to share files you can either create a small FAT-16 partition at the end of the disk (which both OS can read) or get NTFS driver for Windows 95 and FAT-32 driver for NT at http://www.sysinternals.com

Q: When I tried to install Windows 95 onto the second hard drive setup failed with error "SU0013". What should I do?

A: This problem exists with both Windows 95 and 98. However there is a way around.

First of all you have to create and format FAT-16 or FAT-32 partition for Windows 95/98 on the second disk. Then you have to reboot computer and in BIOS setup swap first and second hard drives or simply disable your first hard drive. After that you can boot computer with Windows 95 setup floppy and install Windows.

After Windows will be configured you have to reenable your first hard disk in BIOS setup. Then run Partition Manager and go to the second disk, install boot manager and change in the FAT-16/32 boot sector drive number from 128 to 129. (To get into the boot sector configuration select partition and press Enter).

When you will boot Windows from the second disk make sure that all primary FAT partitions on the first disk are hidden. (It can be configured automatically with Advanced Boot Manager).

Q: When I run Partition Manager I get the message "Note that BIOS reports only 624 cylinders." Is there a problem with my computer?

A: No. Your computer is OK. Most of the BIOSes follow an "old custom" to reserve last cylinder "for testing purposes." Newer BIOSes and OS (such as NT) ignore that and use last cylinder. To be compartible with them Partition Manager tries to detect the last cylinder.

Q:When I try to install Windows NT it couldn't continue after reboot. What's wrong with it?

A: There is a problem with NT - it wouldn't boot from partitions above 2G. You have to place NT partition under 2G or make a small FAT-16 partition at the beginning of the disk where NT could put its boot files. However it seems that this bug was fixed in SP4. So you may want to try it out.

Q: When I install Boot Manager Norton Antivirus reports virus Bloodhound.MBR. What do I do?

A: Boot Manager's IPL (Initial Program Loader) code have been identified by NAV as Bloodhound.MBR virus. This is a false alarm. There is no virus on your system. To remove this warning you have to disable "MBR Virus Detection" option in NAV configuration:

People have submitted this false alarm to Symantec Antivirus Center so you may expect it to be fixed in the future.

Q: My hard disk was corrupted by <some bad program>. Could your tool help me to recover my partitions?

A: You could try to guess starting partition locations and their sizes. For that first read Partitioning Primer and second download Partition Manager version 2.38.

In 90% of the cases your disk will look similar to the example given in the primer. You will have to guess starting location of the partition and then see if in the right bottom corner correct information about its boot sector (i.e. volume label) will appear. If it does try to set partition's ending location according to the information in the boot sector. Repeat it for all the partitions that you might have on your disk.

Also you might want to use some recovery tools listed on the links page.

There were reported problems with Award Modular BIOS v4.51 dated October 1998 on some P5 and P6 motherboards. For some reason BIOS does not let user to select values for Cylinders/Heads/Sectors for large disks, where CHS translation is needed. Instead at the startup it picks number of heads by looking at the ending head of the first partition record in the MBR.

For example if your first partition starts at Cyl=0, Head=1, Sect=1 and ends at Cyl=400, Head=254, Sect=63 it assumes that your OS expects to see disk with 255 heads and 63 sectors (heads are numbered 0..254, sectors - 1..63).
And if partition ending head is 127, then it assumes that OS expects 128 heads per cylinder.

So how will it influence Partition Manager users?
First of all if you create partition, which does not end on the last head, and you put that partition into the first row in MBR then on the next reboot BIOS will report wrong number of heads. Even if you do not create such partition yourself, but you have installed Advanced Boot Manager this will also happen, because by default Boot Manager creates very small partition at the beginning of the disk which both starts and ends on the first head.

The simptoms of the problem would be that after installation of Advanced Boot Manager or after you created a new partition you have rebooted and first time everything would work, but when you rebooted for the second time nothing would work and hard drive would report 128 heads instead of 255 and 4G instead of its normal size (8G, 10G, 13G, ... ).

I am going to make these checks in the next version of the program.

For now the solution would be to make sure that Advanced Boot Manager partition takes up entire cylinder (ie. starts at Cyl=0, Head=1, Sect=1 and ends at Cyl=0, Head=254, Sect=63). This will waste about 8M of the disk space, but everything will work.
Another solution would be either to move Boot Manager to the end of the disk or make sure that it never appears in the first row in MBR. To do that you have to go into the boot menu configuration screen and force bootable partitions to be placed in the first row (replace "3/*", "4/*", ... with "3/1", "4/1", ...). But make sure that those partitions do not end in the middle of the cylinder.

If you already run into this problem and cannot access your disk here is what you have to do:

1. Reboot computer from DOS or Windows 95/98 system floppy. It will not be able to see C:, D:, ... But this is normal.
2. Run partition manager from the floppy. It will show you your partition, but it will complain about disk size. Ignore the complains and press 'S' to save partition table to a file on the floppy (or press 'F4' and write down file system types, starting sectors, and number of sectors for all partitions).
3. Delete all partitions. That's correct - DELETE them!
4. Press 'U' to uninstall Advanced Boot Manager. You should see partition table with four rows of only zeros.
5. Press 'F2' to save it.
6. Reboot computer and enter BIOS setup (hit 'DEL' when it prompts).
7. Run "Hard Disk Auto Detection". Choose line with correct size of your disk (it also should say "LBA").
8. Save changes and reboot computer from floppy.
9. Run Partition Manager and load partition table from the saved file or enter partition types and locations manually.
10. If you still want to use Advanced Boot Manager make sure that it's and all other partitions ends with head=254 (if you have 255 heads).
11. Save changes to the disk.

If this doesn't work, try to take your disk to computer with older BIOS, which is not so smart :). The last option usually works.