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- First things first: Before you run this program
- ===============================================
-
- Partition Resizer is the safe and easy way to repartition your hard disk,
- without erasing its contents. But, since it is playing with your valuable
- data, you should strictly follow the instructions given, in order to avoid
- any harm to your data.
-
- The program has been tested in several machines, and with many different drive
- types, and it has proven to be safe. Since it uses the standard bios routines
- to access the disk, it is completely safe and compatible with every 8086 or
- better DOS running system that uses IDE disk control. It should run on every
- IDE hard disk, with up to 1024 cylinders, 256 heads and 63 sectors/track.
- It also has a reset protection system, which allows it to restore it's work
- even if the machine's power supply goes off! This is really important, since
- the resizing process can take almost an hour in some cases, and of course, not
- everybody has a UPS on his machine...
-
- In order to run this program you must do the following, to ensure data
- protection:
-
- 1. Copy this program, along with the DOC files on a bootable DOS floppy disk.
- This floppy should contain the following files:
-
- Boot System files (whatever your DOS version is)
- FDISK.EXE
- FORMAT.EXE
- SYS.COM
- PRESIZER.EXE
- PRESIZER.DOC
- README.1ST
- TROUBLE.DOC
- MORE.COM or any ascii file viewer
- DELTREE.EXE (if DOS version >= 6.00)
- CHKDSK.EXE
- a Disk Editor if possible
-
- The program MUST NOT be run from the partition which is being resized or
- moved, and in case you resize or move your system's boot partition,
- you MUST run it from a bootable floppy disk. If you are not resizing or
- moving your boot partition, then you may as well run this program from a
- hard disk, but NEVER from the partition which is being resized or moved.
- Running Partition Resizer from the partition which is currently being resized
- or moved WILL cause harm to your data. Make sure that the disk which you run
- Partition Resizer from, is NOT write-protected. This is because Partition
- Resizer uses the disk to write some information, and it will not proceed if
- the disk is write protected.
-
- 2. Check the partition you want to move or resize with a disk diagnostics
- program, like Norton's Disk Doctor or PC Tools DiskFix (chkdsk should do
- fine, too). Proceed ONLY if the partition has no errors. It would be a good
- idea to test the partition's surface for defective sectors. YOU SHOULD NOT
- USE PARTITION RESIZER ON DAMAGED DISKS. Partition Resizer checks for defects
- the whole area that will be read or written, and it will refuse to continue
- if it finds any bad sectors.
-
- 3. Defrag the partition. This is not absolutely necessary, but will save you
- much time, and it will allow you to free more space from the partition.
- If you decide to do it, you will have to fully optimize the drive, so that
- all data is moved at the beginning of the partition. Make sure that all files
- (including unmovable - hidden, read-only and system) are moved. This can
- be done by changing the files' attributes, optimizing, and putting them back
- again. See number 4 for more details.
-
- 4. There are some files that will be damaged if moved. Such files are IO.SYS,
- 386SPART.PAR etc. IO.SYS is always at the beginning of the partition, so you
- don't have to move it during the optimization. But, 386SPART.PAR will be
- damaged if moved, not only during the optimization process, but also during
- the resizing or moving process. So you will have to delete it, and make
- a new one after you finish with resizing or moving. STACVOL.* files can be
- freely moved or optimized, so you won't have to worry about those. If you have
- doubts about your system files, read the TROUBLE.DOC for more information.
-
- 5. To use Partition Resizer, it is recommended that you boot with a clean
- configuration. If you use a DOS version older than 6.00, you should rename
- config.sys and autoexec.bat in order to skip them during boot time. If you
- use DOS version 6.00 or later (that is for MS DOS) you may press F5 at the
- "Starting MS-DOS..." message to bypass config.sys and autoexec.bat. If you
- boot from a floppy, you should not put any autoexec.bat or config.sys files
- in the disk. IMPORTANT: If you use a bios alarm program, you MUST disable it
- before running Partition Resizer.
-
- After you have done all the above, you may run and use Partition Resizer.
-
- If you have any questions or doubts, you may find the answers in the rest
- documents.
-
- You should now read PRESIZER.DOC, to get more vital info on Partition
- Resizer.
-
- In case you face any difficulties during the resizing process, refer
- immediately to TROUBLE.DOC.
-