There are several reasons for waiting to
adjust the number or size of partitions on a hard drive. For example, you may
need to reallocate space from one partition to another as your storage needs
change.
Paragon
Partition Manager 12.0 Home
Windows has a habit of wiping the data on a
partition when you change it, but Partition Manager can achieve most changes
without disturbing resident data. Version 12.0 can split an existing partition,
distributing files from the old partition between the new ones in an
arrangement of your choice.
This partition-splitting feature’s absence
is something for which the product has been criticized in the past/ paragon
offers a wizard to achieve the split, which is just one of many such help tools
available.
You choose a partition, then specify which
of the folders stored within that you want to move to the new partition.
Paragon splits the partition and distributes the files accordingly. This simple
process won’t work with Dynamic partitions, though, and you’ll need the Pro
version to convert partitions from Dynamic to Basic.
The program works with FAT, NTFS, Apple HFS
and versions of the Linux EXT file system.
The
main screen will be familiar to anyone who has used an earlier version of the
program
Paragon offers a new partitioning engine in
version 12.0 Home, so we checked its performance by splitting and then merging
the partitions of a 320GB SATA disk. The splitting process took 18 minutes 48
seconds, and the merging required 18 minutes 37 seconds. These type of tasks
could easily be completed in a lunch hour.
The main screen will be familiar to anyone
who has used an earlier version of the program. The top panel shows details of
the currently selected partition, including a pie chart of its usage, while two
shuttered panels show a partition list and a graphical disk map.
You can access tools to create, delete,
format and label partitions. The main interface also offers the aforementioned
partition-merging functionality, although they must be adjacent on the same
disk. Extras include simple file backup, which enables you to select files and
folders and back them up to another partition, and a boot manager.
As well as a $40 single-PC licence, which runs
for a year, a $10 10-day licence is available. The latter makes a lot of sense
if you simply need to use the program once to configure a new PC.
Verdict
Paragon Partition Manager 12.0 Home is a
pleasing revision to the product, adding the ability to split partitions and
perform basic functions without data loss. The versatile pricing structure is
welcome, given that the $37.5 annual price will be expensive for those who need
to use Partition Manager only once.
System requirements
Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7; 256MB RAM; 1GB
drive space
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Details
·
Price: $40
Verdict: 4/5
·
Usability: 4/5
·
Features: 4.5/5
·
Value: 3.5/5
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