Every PC purchased comes with its hard drive partitioned. So why would one need software like Partition-It to partition a hard drive that's already partitioned? This interesting question will be addressed in this review.

Partition-It, Extra Strength is designed primarily to manipulate partitions on one's hard drive. The software package contains two separate programs: Partition-It (P-I) and Select-it (S-I). The P-I software requires a 386 or better CPU, 8 M RAM, MS 3.1x/Win 95, Hard-Drive storage of 6M (for MS 3.1x) and 3M (for Win95; 4.57M on my Win95 PC). Installation, which was trouble free, is from a CD. P-I/S-I sells for about $45 and comes with two manuals: a Partition-It User Guide and a Select-It User Guide. Both guides are well written and contain basic tutorials on the subject of partitioning.

The S-I software was neither used nor installed. S-I is software replaces the current Master Boot Record with its own copy, so that, S-I is loaded in place of the normal default operating system. Then S-I provides boot management functions that allow for manipulating multiple operating systems easily. I've no multiple operating systems to try out S-I.

Partitioning a Hard Drive involves fooling around with one of the most basic aspects of the PC's ability to function ... namely, storing and retrieving data. If the partitioning information, which itself is stored on the hard drive, is corrupted, the computer will not even boot up. So manipulating the partitioning of a healthy well behaved computer should be done with care and trepidation.

To understand the need and use of P-I, it is instructive to understand how Partitioning is related to hard-drive operation. Hard drives (like floppies) originate as blank magnetic media on which data may be stored and from which data may be retrieved. However, before any data can be transferred to and from such blank media, an address structure must be imprinted on the media; thus, a PC's operating system can locate, exactly, any particular piece of data it chooses to store or retrieve. The imprinting of addresses is done in three stages: 1) a low-level physical format; 2) Partitioning; 3) a high-level logical format. Hard drives are sold by manufacturers with the low-level format already done, and although this format can be changed, it needs special software and techniques to do so, original low-level formats are almost never tampered with.

The next step, Partitioning, structures the hard drive into distinct address spaces, any of which may (or may not) be high-level formatted differently. The need for this option arose in the earliest days of computers when it was somewhat common to use more than one operating system, each with its own high-level formatting scheme. Partitioning allowed different operating systems to be coincidentally resident on a single computer without cross interference. Each OS was tucked into its 'own' partition, storing and retrieving its 'own' data that was high-level formatted in its 'own' fashion. Except for those who use more than one operating system, there is less justification for partitioning now than there once was. This is especially true for Win95/Win98 using FAT32. And now most all new computers come with a single partition on their hard drive(s). However, partitioning does add an additional degree of cataloging that can be generally useful and, moreover, is almost a necessity for those that like to muck about in the Explorer window.

The P-I software does more than Partition a fresh hard drive. It may be used to: increase useable disk space, create a separate partition for the Win95 Swap File, create a new partition in a drive already partitioned, delete a partition, resize a partition, move a partition, change the cluster size of a partition, and move applications to other partitions. However, there are a number of caveats in using P-I. Ignoring some of these can cause a loss of data so it pays to read the Readme file prior to installation.

I have two hard drives, each already having more than one partition. The initial S-I display is a two part Explorer-type window. One display showed the six partitions of my two drives on the left half of the screen vs. details of each partition on the right. The second optional display showed the same partitions vs. the various wizards that may be invoked and activated to effect the partitioning operations available in P-I.

Using the Partitioning Wizard, I tried creating a new partition on an 8.4G drive already partitioned into a primary and three extended partitions. These partitions were all about equal and took up all of the disk space. In order to create an extra partition on the drive, I first had to create some free space on the drive. Free space is a drive region that is not formatted for accepting data and, if it exists, does not show up in the Explorer window.

Creating Free Space was a simple operation that involved bringing up a window that showed the drive space as a bar segmented into the existing partitions. Dragging a given segment boundary across the bar changed the size of the partition denoted by the segment. It was that simple. I changed partitions to create free spaces, and changed them back to their original configuration, without a hitch.

Having a segment of free space, I was able to create a new partition and delete it easily. A new partition creates the problem of redesigning the drive letter of the CD ROM, which must get bumped up because it is usually the last drive in the chain of drives. P-I also allowed the relocation of a program from the C drive to the D drive with no noticeable effects on the functioning of the program; this is not a simple operation since it involves registry and INI file modifications for required DLL file locations.

P-I was a pleasure to use, and it dispelled my initial reluctance to fool around with my partitions. I have fooled with partitions previously but with software that functioned crudely and imperfectly as compared with P-I.