How to use Norton Partition Magic 8.0

[357mag]

I just picked up Norton Partition Magic 8.0. This CD is bootable. I put the disc in my DVD drive and restared the computer. But it went to the A:\prompt. So I'm getting the impression that even if this is a bootable CD(and it is)you can't use it to delete partitions if you don't have a floppy drive. I don't have any floppy drives any more.

So I think I would have to actually install the program onto my computer, and then go into it and highlight the partitions I want to delete, and then probably reboot my machine for Partition Magic to complete the requested operations. This is okay, but I really would prefer if I could simply do this from the bootable CD instead.

But I suspect I may be misunderstanding also. If it's bootable, shouldn't you be able to work with the program even if you don't have a floppy drive?

If anyone can help out with this, please post.

[glc]

You should be able to type a command at the "A" prompt to start the program. I suggest you type DIR and look for the appropriate executable.

[357mag]

I tried your suggestion but all I got was "bad command or filename". After the program was done loading this is what the screen showed me:

Command or filename not recognized
A:\>

Volume in drive A does not have a label
Directory of A:\

ATAPI_CD SYS
AUTOEXE BAT
BM BAT
COMMAND COM
CONFIG SYS
GETCH EXE
HIMEM SYS
IBMBIO COM
IBMDOS COM
MSCDEX EXE
PM BAT
PTEDIT EXE
SMARTDRV EXE
TAISATAP SYS
DOS


A:\ _


That's it. I tried typing things like BAT and EXE and COM etc. but to no avail

Unless I'm still doing something wrong.

[357mag]

Well I reluctantly logged into Symantec's Live Chat and spoke with a technician. He did say that I should be able to run it right from the disk. But he suspects that my particular disk is corrupt.

So he provided me with an URL to download the entire version at no charge. I'll burn that to disc and hopefully this time everything will function the way it's supposed to.

[357mag]

Get a load of this. I get done burning the new .iso image of Partition Magic. I reboot my machine from it. The same damn thing happens as before. I get a black screen with white text and the infamous A:\ prompt.

So I start to realize that there is nothing wrong with the original disc after all. But Norton has kinda lied. The main disc is simply not bootable. They say it is but it isn't.

So I go into the menu after installing Partition Magic and I choose Create Rescue Disks. Guess what happens then? The program tells me to insert a blank formatted 1.44 MB disk in my drive. I don't have a floppy drive.

Conclusion: You can't run Partition Magic from the main disc, even though they say you can. And if you don't have a floppy, you can't create rescue disks either.

The only way I could use the program is to install it and then use it within Windows.

[glc]

Yes, the CD is bootable. At the A prompt, type:

pm

Why the live chat moron couldn't tell you that, I dunno.

[357mag]

It still does not work. I tried typing pm followed by Enter and it still does not open up anything. All I get is "invalid filename" or "not recognized" or something like that.

I tried lowercase and uppercase but no difference.

Here is some other stuff that it says on the screen:

Device Driver not found MSCD001
No Valid CDROM device drivers selected

The A: drive is the bootable portion of the CD

The main Symantec utilities and programs are located in the Y: drive

I'm dumbfounded. For a supposed "bootable" CD, I certainly can't get it to work.

I'll try any other suggestions you offer.

[glc]

I see the problem.

Neither atapi_cd.sys or taisatap.sys is compatible with your optical drive. I'm guessing your optical is SATA. In order for it to work, you are going to have to build a custom iso with the correct drivers and config/autoexec/pm.bat entries.

I doubt even building floppy rescue disks will work without customization.

[357mag]

I don't think my CD-ROM is SATA. I'm not sure about my DVD burner though. I wonder how I would build a custom .iso.

[357mag]

Talked to Symantec again. He said it is not possible to add any drivers. But he said this problem can occur if the drive Partition Magic is trying to boot from is set to Primary or Secondary Slave.

He suggested putting the CD in the Secondary Master Drive, or change jumper settings on the CD-ROM so it's Secondary Master.

I've already tried both drives and the results are the same, so I think I would have to change a jumper setting.

[357mag]

I've decided to replace my CD-ROM with another DVD burner. My CD-ROM is getting old and I think it's the next thing that is going to go.

The guy at Symantec said one of my drives should be set to Secondary Master in order for Partition Magic to be bootable.

So I'm wondering why won't Partition Magic boot from my first DVD drive. I didn't install it. I had my tech friend do it, so I'm not sure how the jumpers are set. I think there are only three ways to set the jumpers right? Cable select, Master, and Slave.

So should I leave the first DVD drive set where it is, and set the new DVD drive to Master? Or do I change the jumpers on the first drive also?

Need advice.

[glc]

I'm thinking that PM 8.0 is too old to be compatible with the 3rd party IDE controller on your Intel board. Symantec bought out Powerquest several years ago and inherited PM 8.0 and they have not bothered to keep it updated.

Let's back up a bit - exactly why do you need to USE Partition Magic?

[357mag]

I was going to use it to delete the Windows partition whenever I wanted to reformat my drive. It would be faster than using an overwrite method.

I guess I could use GParted, although I generally hate Linux and anything that has to do with it.

But another option is Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0. I downloaded a demo of that and it tried running it from the CD and it worked great. I can get it for half price at Newegg.

[glc]

You don't need to delete any partitions when you reformat a drive - just format the partition.

[357mag]

The next time I need to reformat I'll try your suggestion. However, I'm not sure it will work that way. I think what will happen is that the Windows install disk will already see that Windows is installed on the drive. It's not gonna say "Would you like to format this partition?". If it works at all, Windows may offer the option of deleting the partition first, then I may be able to format it.

But I think I tried this approach once already and Windows didn't want to delete it's own partition.

[glc]

It will ask you if you want to repair or install a fresh copy. Choose fresh copy. It will then ask if you want to leave the file system intact or not. Choose no. It will then ask if you want to do a quick or full format.