Do we need 3rd Party Disc Managers Any More ?

[Trimble Bracegirdle]

I just noticed that Acronis Disc Manager has released a new version 11
...its been years since version 10.
I also use Paragon Partition Manager 9 , a much more recent release.

These two are AFAIK the main products for this.

In XP I would expect to need this for major disc maintenance..
Defrag better than Windows ...Formatting, Cloning & moving Partitions ..
and Back up tasks.

But as I move to Windows 7 can I expect to find all I need built in
& no need for these 3rd party Disc Utilities ???
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse (Can We Also Say Bye-Bye To Nero)

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Trimble.

I haven't needed a third-party disk manager since Disk Management first
appeared in Windows 2000 over 10 years ago.

In Win7, as in Win2K, WinXP and Vista, just press Start, type
"diskmgmt.msc", press Enter - and furnish Administrator credentials.

About the only thing I've occasionally needed that Disk Management won't do
is Move a partition. But by using a step-by-step procedure, I've been able
to accomplish that, too, without a third-party program.

And, yes, I do use multiple HDDs with so many logical drives that I'm
running out of letters in the English alphabet. :^{

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2010 (15.3.2804.0607) in Win7 Ultimate x64

"Trimble Bracegirdle" wrote in message

I just noticed that Acronis Disc Manager has released a new version 11
...its been years since version 10.
I also use Paragon Partition Manager 9 , a much more recent release.

These two are AFAIK the main products for this.

In XP I would expect to need this for major disc maintenance..
Defrag better than Windows ...Formatting, Cloning & moving Partitions ..
and Back up tasks.

But as I move to Windows 7 can I expect to find all I need built in
& no need for these 3rd party Disc Utilities ???
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse (Can We Also Say Bye-Bye To Nero)

 

[Ken Blake]

And, yes, I do use multiple HDDs with so many logical drives that I'm
running out of letters in the English alphabet. :^{

RC, change from the English alphabet to Chinese characters! The
Chinese have many more than we do. <vbg>

None of my business of course, but why do you have so many logical
drives? For the great majority of people, it sounds like enormous
overkill to me. I always think that organization by folders is much
better than organization by drives.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Ken.

"Ken Blake" wrote in message

And, yes, I do use multiple HDDs with so many logical drives that I'm
running out of letters in the English alphabet. :^{

RC, change from the English alphabet to Chinese characters! The

Chinese have many more than we do. <vbg>

Good idea! But then you'd have to translate for me. ;^{

None of my business of course, but why do you have so many logical

drives? For the great majority of people, it sounds like enormous
overkill to me. I always think that organization by folders is much
better than organization by drives.

Well, some of it is just history - or "legacy", to use Microsoft's jargon.

Back in the past century I started using a couple of partitions for apps and
data. This was in about Win95. Then I got a copy of WinNT4.0 and learned
to dual-boot, so that took an additional partition. Since that made more
than 4 partitions on my one drive, I had to learn about extended partitions
and logical drives. I had already added a CD-ROM drive in about 1989, so
that used a drive letter. I got tired of swapping disks for some multi-CD
tax programs (one CD for the app and one or two more for data), so I bought
a 7-disk CD changer. That died long ago. And then I got a second HDD - and
a pair of DVD burners...

When the Vista beta began in about 2005, I tested both the 32-bit and 64-bit
versions and we were getting new builds every few months. I was reluctant
to dump the old build each time until I was sure the new one was working
well, so I created a new logical drive for each build as it came along. I
deleted or reformatted many of them after a while, but still had a dozen or
more volumes on my hard disks. And then we started the Win7 beta...

Somewhere along the way I got a digital camera - and a card reader, so
there's another drive letter. And a few USB flash drives.

Ever hear of Parkinson's law? ;^|

Right now, as it happens, I have a little breathing room. I haven't yet
completely deleted WinXP and Vista (x86 and x64 versions of each), although
I practically never boot into them anymore. So I could free up a few drive
letters. But this 1 TB HDD I got a year or two ago still has a few hundred
GB of unused space, so those letters might just get used again.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2010 (15.3.2804.0607) in Win7 Ultimate x64

 

[Ken Blake]

Hi, Ken.

"Ken Blake" wrote in message



Chinese have many more than we do. <vbg>

Good idea! But then you'd have to translate for me. ;^{

LOL! I wish I could. Before I visited China almost ten years ago, I
learned a little Chinese, but I forgot almost all I knew immediately
when I returned home.

drives? For the great majority of people, it sounds like enormous
overkill to me. I always think that organization by folders is much
better than organization by drives.

Well, some of it is just history - or "legacy", to use Microsoft's jargon.

Back in the past century I started using a couple of partitions for apps and
data. This was in about Win95. Then I got a copy of WinNT4.0 and learned
to dual-boot, so that took an additional partition. Since that made more
than 4 partitions on my one drive, I had to learn about extended partitions
and logical drives. I had already added a CD-ROM drive in about 1989, so
that used a drive letter. I got tired of swapping disks for some multi-CD
tax programs (one CD for the app and one or two more for data), so I bought
a 7-disk CD changer. That died long ago. And then I got a second HDD - and
a pair of DVD burners...

When the Vista beta began in about 2005, I tested both the 32-bit and 64-bit
versions and we were getting new builds every few months. I was reluctant
to dump the old build each time until I was sure the new one was working
well, so I created a new logical drive for each build as it came along. I
deleted or reformatted many of them after a while, but still had a dozen or
more volumes on my hard disks. And then we started the Win7 beta...

Somewhere along the way I got a digital camera - and a card reader, so
there's another drive letter. And a few USB flash drives.

Ever hear of Parkinson's law? ;^|

Right now, as it happens, I have a little breathing room. I haven't yet
completely deleted WinXP and Vista (x86 and x64 versions of each), although
I practically never boot into them anymore. So I could free up a few drive
letters. But this 1 TB HDD I got a year or two ago still has a few hundred
GB of unused space, so those letters might just get used again.

OK, if you are talking about a multi-boot situation, I certainly
understand, and don't disagree with, multiple partitions. It's many
partitions in a single boot situation that I typically disagree with.

 

[Dave \Crash\ Dummy]

Hi, Ken.

"Ken Blake" wrote in message



Chinese have many more than we do. <vbg>

Good idea! But then you'd have to translate for me. ;^{


drives? For the great majority of people, it sounds like enormous
overkill to me. I always think that organization by folders is much
better than organization by drives.

Well, some of it is just history - or "legacy", to use Microsoft's jargon.

Back in the past century I started using a couple of partitions for apps
and data. This was in about Win95. Then I got a copy of WinNT4.0 and
learned to dual-boot, so that took an additional partition. Since that
made more than 4 partitions on my one drive, I had to learn about
extended partitions and logical drives. I had already added a CD-ROM
drive in about 1989, so that used a drive letter. I got tired of
swapping disks for some multi-CD tax programs (one CD for the app and
one or two more for data), so I bought a 7-disk CD changer. That died
long ago. And then I got a second HDD - and a pair of DVD burners...

When the Vista beta began in about 2005, I tested both the 32-bit and
64-bit versions and we were getting new builds every few months. I was
reluctant to dump the old build each time until I was sure the new one
was working well, so I created a new logical drive for each build as it
came along. I deleted or reformatted many of them after a while, but
still had a dozen or more volumes on my hard disks. And then we started
the Win7 beta...

Somewhere along the way I got a digital camera - and a card reader, so
there's another drive letter. And a few USB flash drives.

Ever hear of Parkinson's law? ;^|

Right now, as it happens, I have a little breathing room. I haven't yet
completely deleted WinXP and Vista (x86 and x64 versions of each),
although I practically never boot into them anymore. So I could free up
a few drive letters. But this 1 TB HDD I got a year or two ago still
has a few hundred GB of unused space, so those letters might just get
used again.

My history and resulting behavior is much like yours. Now that I am down
to one system (Windows 7 x64), I have reduced the number of partitions,
but I'm not ready for one huge one. On my active hard drive I have one
primary partition for the OS, a couple of logical drives in an extended
partition, and a lot of unformatted free space for future whims. I don't
have videos or other bulky items. I also have an external drive to
backup all the stuff on the internal drive.

 

[Percival P. Cassidy]

RC, change from the English alphabet to Chinese characters! The
Chinese have many more than we do.<vbg>

Chinese doesn't have an alphabet; it has *characters* -- tens of
thousands of them, each of which is a word.

In mainland Chine there is "pin-yin," which uses "English" letters to
construct representations of the Chinese sounds but does not even use
(AFAIR) all 26 letters.

More seriously: since so few machines come with built-in floppy support,
isn't it time to make at least "B:" available for hard disk use? I
suppose we have to reserve "A:" for use by USB-connected floppies.

Perce

 

[Ken Blake]

Chinese doesn't have an alphabet; it has *characters* -- tens of
thousands of them, each of which is a word.

Yes, yes, I know (I even said characters). I bent the truth very
slightly for my (very little) joke.

I've forgotten most of what I knew, but ten years ago, before going to
China for a vacation trip, I studied and learned a little Chinese.

 

[Char Jackson]

Chinese doesn't have an alphabet; it has *characters* -- tens of
thousands of them, each of which is a word.

In mainland Chine there is "pin-yin," which uses "English" letters to
construct representations of the Chinese sounds but does not even use
(AFAIR) all 26 letters.

More seriously: since so few machines come with built-in floppy support,
isn't it time to make at least "B:" available for hard disk use? I
suppose we have to reserve "A:" for use by USB-connected floppies.

Along the same lines, isn't it time Microsoft stopped using letters to
represent drives?

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Along the same lines, isn't it time Microsoft stopped using letters to
represent drives?

Yes.

I'm using SyncToy to back up a cellphone and its SD card (two letters). If
I plug in the phone at the wrong time the two drives get new letters.
SyncToy finds them, but it loses the configuration data (folders to not
back up, etc).

I recently discovered that mounting drives to folder names actually keeps
the associations intact regardless of drive letter changes. I had tried it
before, but I made an error that didn't preserve the association.

Still not Mac or Unix like, but better than before.

My backup software can't deal with the folder names, however. The program
sees them as part of C: :-(