Product Reviews

Dealing with hard disk partitions is always a tricky, time-consuming process even for propellerheads who know what they're doing. That is why there has been a stream of tools that claim to make the job more pleasant. Almost any partitioning program is going to be friendlier than the limited and text-based utility Fdisk, that comes with MS-DOS and Windows.

Partition Magic 4 offers a longer list of features, including the ability to copy, move and resize partitions to, from and within multiple hard disks while keeping the data contents intact. You can also set up multiple primary partitions, enabling the system to run more than one installation

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of Windows or a mix of operating systems.

From the screenshot you'll see that Partition Magic looks like any other Windows program. You can use the mouse to select, move and otherwise tinker with partitions in a variety of formats including FAT16, FAT32, FAT32X (FAT32 partitions larger than 8Gb) and other, weirder file systems such as those used by Linux, Windows NT and OS/2. In the previous release of Partition Magic, the Windows version of the program would let you see the layout of your hard disk but disallowed any changes. This had to be done with the graphical DOS version of the program, which was best run from a boot floppy disk. Version 4 lets you play with the partitions under Windows as if you are editing them, although in reality it is merely recording what choices you make. When you press the Apply button Windows quits to MS-DOS mode and the changes are executed, freeing you to go down the pub.

The slick interface, the ability to run all of the time-consuming procedures at once and a good selection of utilities make Partition Magic 4 an essential buy for anyone who plays with operating systems. The upgrade price of £24.95 (£29) is worth it for the FAT32X support and command queuing alone.