PartitionMagic

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PartitionMagic

Main window of Norton PartitionMagic 8.05
Developer:	Symantec
Latest release:	8.05 / 2004-05-05
OS:	DOS, Microsoft Windows, WinPE
Use:	Disk partitioning utility
License:	Proprietary
Website:	www.symantec.com/partitionmagic/

PartitionMagic is a computer program for hard disk drive partitioning originally made by the PowerQuest corporation but now owned by Symantec. The program runs on Microsoft Windows operating systems or from a bootable CD-ROM and enables creation and modification of partitions. Existing partitions can be resized without loss of data.

1 Details
2 Future versions
3 Compatibility issues with Windows Vista
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Details

PartitionMagic is capable of resizing NTFS or FAT (16 or 32) partitions without data loss, and can copy and move partitions, including to other disks. It also has various other features, including being able to convert between FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS, modify the cluster size of FAT16/32 and NTFS filesystems, and merge adjacent FAT or NTFS filesystems (all without data loss, though some NTFS-only metadata is lost on conversion to FAT). Additionally, it has somewhat limited support for ext2 and ext3 partitions.

[edit] Future versions

PartitionMagic, while under PowerQuest, was updated regularly, adding new and useful features. Since Symantec purchased the application, there has not yet been a new release, and Symantec has stated that it has no plans on releasing a new version.^[1]

[edit] Compatibility issues with Windows Vista

While PartitionMagic is compatible with NT, 98, ME, 2000, and XP, PartitionMagic fails to run under Windows Vista. When launched, with a Windows Vista partition present, even from another version of Windows, Partition Magic displays the following error: "Init failed: Error 117. Partition's drive letter cannot be identified."