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DavidC767

6 Posts

8464

August 11th, 2007 02:00

Partitioning Hard Drive with PartitionMagic

I would like to partition my primary hard drive into several smaller drives.
 
I have had good luck with PartitionMagic in the past. I never used FDISK since that destroys all the data on the disk. I have been using PartitionMagic for many years. I recently tried to use this on a Dimension E520.
 
I put the PartitionMagic disk in the CD drive and start the computer. When PartitionMagic starts it loads Caldera DR-DOS and the displays the error message:
 
No drives are attached, or drives are powered down. The device driver is not installed.
 
PartitionMagic will then list three items to select and when I select PartitionMagic, I can additional errors that the drive letters are invalid and PartitionMagic does not start.
 
My copy is version 8.0 (I believe this is the latest version, although I got my copy before they were bought by Symantec) and it works fine on my Dimension 8250.
 
The major difference is that the E520 uses SATA drives instead of ATA.
 
Is this causing the problem? If so, what is the best way to get around it?
 
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
David
 
Dimension E520
Windows XP Professional SP2
80GB Primary Drive
 

billyd1000

154 Posts

August 11th, 2007 11:00

I am guessing you are expriencing one or two problems. 1) Partition Magic may not be compatiable with your OS.(Quite likely if it is an older version and you are running Vista.) 2) The utility is not compatiable with your SATA HDD. (as you mentioned as a possibility).
 
Edit: I see your OS in your Sig now.Ooops! :smileysurprised: 1) You could check to see if the utility is compatiable with the newer drives. If not there may be an update or newer version available. 2) Browse for other partition utilities that are known to work with SATA drives . 3) Go to the manufactures web site who built the drive and see if they offer a utility program or advice for advanced partitioning.


Message Edited by billyd1000 on 08-11-2007 07:14 AM

Message Edited by billyd1000 on 08-11-2007 07:20 AM

mombodog

2 Intern

 • 

12.7K Posts

August 11th, 2007 22:00

TomR14

3 Posts

August 15th, 2007 14:00

I've been trying to partition the drive for a couple years.

Found this the other day: http://radified.com/blog/archives/000141.html

Summary: It doesn't matter what product you use, Dell has maxed out the number of physical partitions allowed on the drive; looks as if you'll have to make some choices as to whether you want to keep the hidden Dell partitions. Tom

Message Edited by TomR14 on 08-15-2007 10:54 AM

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