PartitionMagic 6.0: Disk Division Made Easy

DOS Boot

Aside from the blue screen of death, Windows users most fear the black screen of DOS. Like its predecessors, PartitionMagic 6.0 tries to avoid alarming users by working primarily in Windows. You can view your current partition setup and instruct PartitionMagic to make one or more changes without leaving Windows. These instructions are called "operations pending": You've given the program instructions, but it hasn't yet executed them. If you have any operations pending, a green Apply Changes icon appears in the Wizards pane of the main window. If the requested operations won't involve any files that are in use--for example, if you're creating a new partition from unallocated disk space--PartitionMagic 6 can do most of its work without leaving Windows. If you're manipulating a partition with files that are in use (such as the one containing your operating system), PartitionMagic 6.0 must restart in DOS mode on Windows 95, 98, or Me systems, or must drop into a DOS-like boot mode on Windows NT or 2000 machines.

Even operations that proceed under Windows often require a restart so that PartitionMagic can run its Drive Mapper, which updates the drive-letter association of every file to take into account the modifications you've made.

PartitionMagic alerts you if you'll have to restart before changes can take effect, but it didn't provide a "Click OK to restart" dialog box. So I went to the Start menu and selected Shutdown, then Restart--at which point PartitionMagic froze. I was supposed to exit PartitionMagic first to get the handy "Would you like to restart" dialog box, but I wasn't given any clue about this.

Speaking of reboots, PartitionMagic 6.0, like its predecessors, includes the BootMagic utility for managing multiple operating systems. At start-up, BootMagic presents a list of all operating systems installed on your hard drive and lets you choose which OS to use. While BootMagic can recognize any OS that runs on an Intel-based system, including Linux, you can configure the application only within Windows.

Windows 2000 and Me Support

With Windows 2000 becoming a standard operating system for business, PartitionMagic 6.0's native support for it is a welcome addition. The program also adds a new trick: the ability to convert a FAT32 partition directly into the NTFS format recommended for Windows 2000 (and NT). Previously you had to convert the partition from FAT32 to FAT and then change to NTFS.

PartitionMagic 6.0 also runs on Windows Me, but it hits a snag because of the way Me implements DOS mode. While still based on DOS, Me doesn't provide the option to run from a DOS prompt, as Windows 95 and 98 do. As a result, PartitionMagic 6.0 sometimes has trouble completing operations that require shifting into DOS. Representatives of PowerQuest say they expect to post a patch or workaround on the company's Web site within two months.

Should You Upgrade?

If you use Windows 2000 or Me, PartitionMagic 6.0 is a worthwhile investment. If you're running Windows 95, 98, or NT, you don't plan on upgrading your operating system, and you have an older version of PartitionMagic (or Partition Commander), you probably don't need to move up to this version. The added features, such as those allowing you to split a partition or undo a deleted partition, are handy but not essential.