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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Windows x64

Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 is a great free imaging and partitioning tool


Paragon has long been a name respected by technicians and IT professionals. Their latest release is aimed squarely at home users, and it's a program well worth trying out.

Backup & Recovery 10 Free Edition is an excellent, multi-talented hard drive management app. So, what can you do with it? For starters, it will create and restore images of your hard drives and partitions. There's also a built-in tool for creating bootable rescue media (either CD or USB flash drive).

Tasks can be scheduled to run at regular intervals, and you can also create differential jobs (which only back up files that have changed since the previous backup). On massive partitions, the differential option can really speed up the imaging process.

You can also mount previously created images so you can explore them like any other folder or disk on your computer - or manually add additional files.

In addition to backup and imaging tasks, Backup & Recovery can also perform a number of partition management tasks. Use it to create, format (FAT32, NTFS, EXT2/3/4, Linux Swap), and hide partitions as well as check filesystem integrity and check for surface defects.

Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Free is loaded with great features. It's simple enough for casual users and powerful enough to be of use to seasoned veterans.

It's free for non-commercial use and downloads are provided for both 32 and 64-bit Windows. You will need to register for a serial number, but it's well worth the minimal effort (just be sure uncheck any 'email me special offers' boxes).

Filed under: OS Updates, Utilities, Windows, Microsoft

Access Windows 7, Vista exFAT partitions in XP

Since a lot of you weren't (and still aren't) too excited about Windows Vista, you might not have noticed the exFAT file system before.

It's the heir apparent to FAT32, and it can finally cope with large files and drives. What's new? For starters, exFAT has been tweaked to provide faster access and allocation, adds support for UTC time stamps, and provides increased compatability with flash media.

Gone are the 32gb drive and 4gb file size limitations. The only problem is that exFAT isn't native to Windows XP - which the vast majority of you are probably still running.

Problem solved. Microsoft has released KB955704 to address the issue. Download it from their site and install it, and you'll be able to seamlessly work with exFAT partitions in XP.

[ via gHacks ]

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Commercial, Freeware, Ask DLS

My two favorite free, post-install tech tools

We received a question from one of our readers the other day asking about an easy way to resize his 500GB data drive to make room for a Windows 7 install. This got me thinking about two tools that I've been using a lot lately: Easeus Partition Manager and Macrium Reflect.

If you play with a lot of operating systems, keeping a good set of images (or a stockpile of extra hard drives) around is a must. Reflect is incredibly fast and the free version should provide all the functionality most home or enthusiast users need. If not, the full version is only $40 anyway, and well worth it.

Reflect also works right in Windows, which makes imaging drives a task that users of any skill level can easily handle. People I tell to grab the free version sometimes have trouble finding the download page: it's right here.


Read more →

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Commercial

Download Paragon Hard Disk Manager 8 SE for free

Paragon Hard Disk Manager 8 Special Edition

There are things you definitely don't want to get after their expiration date. Milk, egg, and bread come to mind. But then there are Power Bars and other processed foods that taste exactly the same years after their expiration date has come and gone. Not that we'd know.

It turns out you can get a free copy of Paragon Hard Disk Manager that's a little past its prime as well. Although the free offer was supposed to expire in April, if you visit the Paragon site to register your product and download your software from Computer Active, you can get a fully licensed copy of this Windows application which would normally set you back around $50.

Paragon has a couple of useful features. First, you can use the software to create, delete, or resize partitions on your hard drive. But you can also use it to create or restore images of your entire disk or copy the entire hard drive to another disk. Here are a few more features:

  • Merge partitions
  • Redistribute free space
  • Schedule backups
  • Differential backups
  • Copy partitions
  • Explore disc images

This offer could expire at any time. There are also plenty of free disk partitioning apps out there, but few have has many features or are as easy to use as Paragon's software. But if all you need is a simple partitioning tool, you might want to check out Parted Magic, which can be run from a LiveCD or a USB flash drive.

[via gHacks]

Filed under: Utilities, Linux, Open Source

Free, non-destructive partitioning with GParted

GPartedOne of the best and handiest tools in the power user's toolbox is GParted. I've written about it before, and the short version is this: GParted is an open source Linux app for modifying your hard drive's partitions without losing any data. It has support for a huge number of file systems, including those belonging to Windows, and though it's not as easy to use as some commercial solutions, it has the distinct advantage of being totally free. If you want a hand getting up and running with GParted, Ihighly recommend Modify Your Partitions With GParted Without Losing Data, a new article over at HowtoForge. It runs you through the whole process of using the fantastic GParted LiveCD to shuffle around your partitions to your heart's content.

A bit of a warning, though: Repartitioning is an inherently risky activity, and messing with existing partitions without first making a backup could, as the kids say, end in tears. Always backup.

Filed under: Utilities, Linux, Open Source

GParted: Free, non-destructive disk partitioning tool

GPartedLooking for a fast and free non-destructive, graphical disk partitioning tool? Yes, such a thing does exist: Its GParted, short for Gnome Partition Editor, an open-source tool for Linux. Okay, so most of you aren't Linux users--why should you care? Well, because GParted will resize your FAT32 and NTFS partitions (as well as about 10 other formats) and it comes in install-free LiveCD and USB drive versions. That means you can stick it in your CD-ROM or USB port, make your partition changes, reboot, and be done with it. The LiveCD and USB versions weigh less than 29MB, or if you're already running Linux, GParted by itself weighs in under 500kb.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Linux, Open Source

Mount your ReiserFS partition

Access ReiserFS in WindowsLast summer I posted about a driver that'll let you access Linux ext2 partitions under Windows, which is still handy, but what if your Linux partition uses ReiserFS? Well, for that there's Mark Piper's RFSD, a driver for Windows that lets you access your ReiserFS partitions as though they were ordinary FAT or NTFS drives. The project is a bit stalled, but the drivers work, so it might be just the thing for your  dual-boot environment.

[Via Digg]

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