faq.htm

一个Win95/98/NT下的分区管理程序

<p><A HREF="#fat32to16in_place">Another case (more details)</A>
<HR>
<A NAME="shrink"></A>Q: How do I shrink a partition?
<P>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. Done.
<p>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.
<HR>
<A NAME="enlarge"></A>Q: Can I enlarge existing FAT partition?
<P>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 <A HREF="http://www.powerquest.com">Partition Magic</A> and
it will do it in a few minutes. (I am going to add this feature to my program
in a month or so).
<BR>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.
<HR>
<A NAME="merge"></A>Q: Can Partition Manager merge two 2G FAT-16 partitions into
a single 4G FAT-32, without erasing all data?
<P>A: Yes, but it isn't automatic. You would have to do the following steps:
<BR>
<pre><B>Pictures:</B>

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.............. ]
</pre>       
<DL>
  <DT><p><B>Descriptions:</B>
  <DT><p>
 <DT>1. Copy all files from the first partition to the second one (better zip them)
 <DT>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)
 <DT>3. Reboot computer
 <DT>4. Copy all files back to the first partition
 <DT>5. Delete second FAT-16 and enlarge FAT-32 up to 4G
 <DT>6. Reboot computer
</DL>
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.
<HR>
<A NAME="fat32to16in_place"></A>Q: I desperately need to convert 2G FAT-32 back to FAT-16.
And I don't have money to buy Partition Magic.
<P>OK. Lets go step by step.
<BR>Suppose that you have 1.2G of data on your partition.
<BR>
<pre><B>Pictures:</B>

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........................ ]
</pre>       
<DL>
  <DT><p><B>Descriptions:</B>
  <DT><p>
  <DT>1. Defragment and shrink FAT-32 partition down to 1.3G.
  <DT>2. On the freed space create a temporary FAT-16 partition.
  <DT>3. Reboot computer and move (or zip) as much as possible files to the 
         second partition.
  <DT>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.
  <DT>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.
  <DT>6. Reboot computer
  <DT>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.
  <DT>8. Reboot computer.
  <DT>9. If there are more temporary partitions go back to step 7.
</DL>
<p>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."
<p>When you do copy use appropriate utility - one which handles long file names
and hidden files.
<HR>
<A NAME="why_do_you_do_it"></A>Q: Why are you spending so much energy writing this program and giving it out for free?
<P>A: I am a poor student. :-) &nbsp;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.
<p>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 :).
<p>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.
<HR>
<A NAME="fat16_above_2G"></A>Q: Why I cannot boot MS-DOS from FAT-16 partition
if it is located above 2G?
<P>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.
<p>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).
<p>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.
<HR>
<A NAME="fat32_ntfs"></A>Q: Is it possible to have Windows 95 with FAT-32 and NT with NTFS on the same disk?
<P>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.
<p> 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
<A HREF="http://www.sysinternals.com">http://www.sysinternals.com</A>
<HR>
<A NAME="SU0013"></A>Q: When I tried to install Windows 95 onto the second hard drive setup failed with error "SU0013". What should I do?
<P>A: This problem exists with both Windows 95 and 98. However there is a way around.
<p>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.
<p>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).
<p>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).
<HR>
<A NAME="last_cyl"></A>Q: When I run Partition Manager I get the message "Note
that BIOS reports only 624 cylinders." Is there a problem with my computer?
<P>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.
<HR>
<A NAME="nt_inst"></A>Q:When I try to install Windows NT it couldn't continue
after reboot. What's wrong with it?

<P>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. In addition
to that I am going to write a patch and make it available with the next version
of Partition Manager in a couple of weeks.

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<I>Last modification: September 4, 1998</I>
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