Hi, Ken.
> how do I set up an extended partition or is that a thing of the past too?
Ever since it first appeared in Windows 2000, over 9 years ago, Disk
Management has been THE tool for creating, formatting, assigning drive
letters and otherwise managing hard drives - and other devices that can be
assigned "drive" letters, such as USB flash drives, optical drives, cameras
and card readers, etc. Each version of DM has gained more capabilities; the
version in Win7 is the best yet. I haven't needed Partition Magic since
Win2K. ;<)
But the Vista version of DM did change the handling of extended partitions,
as John Barnett said. In Win2K/XP, we created an extended partition by
explicitly selecting that option from the new volume menu. In Vista/Win7,
the first 3 partitions are automatically created as primary partitions; we
aren't offered a choice. When we add a 4th partition, it is created as an
extended partition (using all the remaining space on the HDD) with a single
logical drive of the size we specified.
In Vista/Win7, to create the first, second or third volume as an extended
partition, we must do it by "Using a command line", as Disk Management's
Help file puts it. In other words, we must use the DiskPart.exe shell,
which can handle several tasks that the DM GUI cannot do. If you are
familiar with the DiskPart shell (NOT the very limited diskpart command in
WinXP's Repair Console) in WinXP, you will be comfy in Vista's version. (As
you probably know, you get into that shell by typing "diskpart" in an
Administrator:Command Prompt window.) If you are not familiar with the
DiskPart shell, be sure to proceed cautiously! It is a powerful utility
that can do a lot of good things - or create a disaster if you're not
careful. ;<)
RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64 RC 7100
"Ken" <> wrote in message
news

3287971-4AD9-4FAB-8C1A-...
> After many years of faithful service the CD bootable version of Partition
> Magic 8.0 has become obsolete when it comes to drives that have been
> touched Vista 64-bit and Windows 7?! I get the Partition Magic "Error
> 105" and it quits. In fact, Windows 7 will not install correctly on a
> Primary partition setup by Partition Magic. Anyway, the partitioning and
> formatting capability in Vista and Windows 7 gets the job done. I have
> just one question - how do I set up an extended partition or is that a
> thing of the past too? Any reconditions on a Partition Magic standalone
> replacement?