Ranish Partition Manager
Encyclopedia
Ranish Partition Manager is a freeware
hard disk
partition editor
, disk cloning tool
, and boot manager, that gives a high level of control for creating multi-boot systems. It is available on the freeware live cd
SystemRescueCD
and the Ultimate Boot CD (not the Windows version). It runs under MS DOS or Free DOS.
Aside from tools that can be run from the regularly used operating system, RPM is one of the fastest ways to partition a hard disk, or to restore, clone, or move an operating system.
Most modern operating systems probably would not have problems reading and editing the files on a converted drive but some software used for re-sizing or imaging partitions, may decide to silently "correct" the partition by moving the beginning of the partition (perhaps to conform to a standard CHS alignment)https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=379482#c37 or to conform to a 1-MiB
alignment. This re-sizing would not prevent Windows XP from booting, but it might prevent Windows Vista from booting, if the starting sector is moved without updating Vista's boot files. Secondly, if the user is unaware that the partition has been moved, they may not realize that an old backup of the partition table, will be obsolete.
However there is another possible problem with converting primary partitions into logical drives, unless the primary partitions are made for this purpose. Windows XP Disk Management
is known to delete "nonstandard" extended partitions. There must be at least 63 sector
s before the primary partition, to allocate for an EBR, in order to make the conversion. For these reasons, it may be preferable, for any primary partition which may be converted to an extended partition, to start them on head 1, instead of at the beginning of the cylinder. The space from the beginning of this cylinder, to head 1, should be free space; the previous partition should end at the end of the last complete cylinder (or at the end of an earlier cylinder).
Starting primary partitions on head 1 (instead of head 0) has another advantage. It allows bit-identical cloning
of these primary partitions, to logical drives, making completely normal (usual) logical drives. That is, the EBRs of the logical drives are at the beginning of a cylinder, the logical drive begins on the very next head, and the logical drive ends on a cylinder boundary. However this author has not tested installing or booting operating systems from primary partitions beginning on the head 1, which were not the first partition. (The first partition usually begins on head 1 because this cylinder begins with the master boot record
.)
partition editors, GParted
is not sector-precise, meaning it will not show the numbers of the sectors or cylinders where partitions are being created. However, it does a few things RPM cannot: GParted can resize partitions with data on them (NTFS
, FAT, etc.) and it can format NTFS partitions. Although RPM is able to format FAT partitions, Windows XP had an error on a partition formatted with RPM.
Ranish Partition Manager and GNU Parted
(parted) can display all partitions in one CHS format, and both are sector precise, but parted does not show the locations of the EBRs or all the values they contain. In Linux, all this information can be displayed by using
allows the user to move the cursor anywhere on the partition table to select what values to change. Parted is riskier and less efficient to use, because it saves every change as soon as it is made, and it takes time to update certain things.
RPM can create partitions manually or using a wizard
.
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
hard disk
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
partition editor
Partition editor
A partition editor is a kind of utility software designed to view, create, alter and delete disk partitions on a computer storage device, most commonly a hard disk, but often a USB flash drive or other storage medium.A partition is a section or segment of the storage space on a storage device...
, disk cloning tool
Disk cloning
Disk cloning is the process of copying the contents of one computer hard disk to another disk or to an "image" file. Often, the contents of the first disk are written to an image file as an intermediate step, and the second disk is loaded with the contents of the image...
, and boot manager, that gives a high level of control for creating multi-boot systems. It is available on the freeware live cd
Live CD
A live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
SystemRescueCD
SystemRescueCD
SystemRescueCd is an operating system for the x86 computer platform, though the primary purpose of SystemRescueCD is to repair unbootable or otherwise damaged computer systems after a system crash. SystemRescueCD is not intended to be used as a permanent operating system. It runs from a Live CD or...
and the Ultimate Boot CD (not the Windows version). It runs under MS DOS or Free DOS.
Partitioning
- Unlike the partition editor bundled with Windows VistaLogical Disk ManagerThe Logical Disk Manager is an implementation of a logical volume manager for Microsoft Windows NT, developed by Microsoft and Veritas Software. It was introduced with the Windows 2000 operating system, and is supported in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows 7...
and Windows 7, Ranish Partition Manager can make partition tables where both Windows XP and Windows Vista can be installed. However, it is possible to make a partition table with no errors in RPM, where the Windows XP installer cannot install XP (without deleting the extended partition value from the partition table). Editing this type of partition table with Vista's partition editorLogical Disk ManagerThe Logical Disk Manager is an implementation of a logical volume manager for Microsoft Windows NT, developed by Microsoft and Veritas Software. It was introduced with the Windows 2000 operating system, and is supported in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows 7...
will result in mixed alignments. - Any number of changes can be made before saving to disk.
- Allows sectorDisk sectorIn computer disk storage, a sector is a subdivision of a track on a magnetic disk or optical disc. Each sector stores a fixed amount of user data. Traditional formatting of these storage media provides space for 512 bytes or 2048 bytes of user-accessible data per sector...
-precise editing of primary partitions, logical drives, and EBR extended partitions (type 05). A particularly rare feature of RPM is that it shows exactly where extended boot records are, advises the user of where they should be, and allows the user to put them anywhere.- RPM may show an error if the EBRs are not on the beginning of a head (relative to the beginning of the extended partition-- type 0F). If partition alignments of this sort, are ignored, and the partition is edited by Windows XP disk managerLogical Disk ManagerThe Logical Disk Manager is an implementation of a logical volume manager for Microsoft Windows NT, developed by Microsoft and Veritas Software. It was introduced with the Windows 2000 operating system, and is supported in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows 7...
, XP may delete the logical drives. This can happen if the extended partition is first edited by Windows Vista or Windows 7.
- RPM may show an error if the EBRs are not on the beginning of a head (relative to the beginning of the extended partition-- type 0F). If partition alignments of this sort, are ignored, and the partition is edited by Windows XP disk manager
- Because RPM shows all of this information and shows the entire drive in a CHSCylinder-head-sectorCylinder-head-sector, also known as CHS, was an early method for giving addresses to each physical block of data on a hard disk drive. In the case of floppy drives, for which the same exact diskette medium can be truly low-level formatted to different capacities, this is still true.Though CHS...
format, it is easy to see whether the entire extended and primary partition tables, conform to a standard CHS alignment.- If a partition table does not follow a consistent CHS alignment (or maybe even if it does), and a Vista partition is resized or imaged, using certain tools, these tools may "correct" the start of the partition (sometimes by placing it on a cylinder (or track?) boundary) and making it unbootable. (source)
- This also makes it easy to write down the location of a partition (in cylinders), delete it from the partition table, and later re-add it to the partition table, to make the partition visible again. This is used in multi-boot systems, where more than four primary partitions are required.
- Using this technique it is possible to convert logical drives to primary partitions and vice versa. This is an experimental technique that may have problems in certain situations (see section below).
- That technique only works with primary partitions. In order to install Windows XP it may be necessary to delete the extended partition from the partition tablePartition tableThe term partition table is most commonly associated with partition table but it may be used generically to refer to other "formats" that divide a disk drive into partitions, such as: GUID Partition Table, Apple partition map, or BSD disklabel.An alternative term to generically refer to partition...
(in the master boot recordMaster boot recordA master boot record is a type of boot sector popularized by the IBM Personal Computer. It consists of a sequence of 512 bytes located at the first sector of a data storage device such as a hard disk...
). However if you delete the extended partition value in the master boot recordMaster boot recordA master boot record is a type of boot sector popularized by the IBM Personal Computer. It consists of a sequence of 512 bytes located at the first sector of a data storage device such as a hard disk...
then you try to add it back, RPM will delete the first extended boot record. Instead, this can be done with a disk editorDisk editorA disk editor is a computer program that allows its user to read, edit, and write raw data on disk drives ; as such, they are sometimes called sector editors, since the read/write routines built into the electronics of most disk drives require to read/write data in...
such as hexedit on System Rescue CD. The value for the extended partition is copied to a file and deleted from the partition table. After installing Windows XP, the extended partition value is copied back and the extended partition becomes visible to Windows.
Speed
RPM runs instantly from any of the following:- SystemRescueCDSystemRescueCDSystemRescueCd is an operating system for the x86 computer platform, though the primary purpose of SystemRescueCD is to repair unbootable or otherwise damaged computer systems after a system crash. SystemRescueCD is not intended to be used as a permanent operating system. It runs from a Live CD or...
(at the first prompt select "Run system tools from floppy disk image" (version 1.6.0)). - RPM can be installed to a floppy diskFloppy diskA floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
from the TUIText user interfaceTUI short for: Text User Interface or Textual User Interface , is a retronym that was coined sometime after the invention of graphical user interfaces, to distinguish them from text-based user interfaces...
(it does not require use of the command line as is required to save a text file of the partition table). - RPM can be installed to a hard drive.
Aside from tools that can be run from the regularly used operating system, RPM is one of the fastest ways to partition a hard disk, or to restore, clone, or move an operating system.
Limitations and workarounds
RPM has not been updated for many years. (This author has not tested it with a dynamic disk or a large sector drive.) It has some quirks and display problems, most of which occur when using drives that are much larger than when RPM was written:- Formating partitions with RPM sometimes seemed to result in problems in Windows XP.
- It can display a maximum of 64 lines. This makes it impossible to add a partition when the partition table has approximately 3 primary partitions, plus an "extended partition" with 28 logical drives. Logical drives require two lines minimum. Free spaces between drives usually use a line each.
- On one system, the max cylinder value that could be entered "manually" was 65535. Higher numbers could be entered by using the wizard (press "enter" to run the wizard). The values can always be reduced using the "-" key.
- Re-sizing the beginning of the extended partition (type 0x0F) can only be done manually so the beginning of the extended partition could not be re-sized beyond cylinder 65535. Take for example a disk (and partition table) that uses a sectorDisk sectorIn computer disk storage, a sector is a subdivision of a track on a magnetic disk or optical disc. Each sector stores a fixed amount of user data. Traditional formatting of these storage media provides space for 512 bytes or 2048 bytes of user-accessible data per sector...
size of 512 byteByteThe byte is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, a byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the basic addressable element in many computer...
s, a head size of 63 sectors, and the largest (and probably the most common) cylinder size, that is, 255 heads per cylinder. On this disk, Ranish PM could re-size the beginning of the extended partition, to anywhere less than about 502 GiBGibGib may refer to:* A castrated male cat or ferret* Gibibit , measurement unit of digitally stored computer information* Gibraltar, British overseas territory* Drywall, construction material...
from the beginning of the disk. On a disk that is the same except the cylinder size is 240 heads per cylinder, the maximum location for the start of the extended partition would be roughly 472 GiBGibGib may refer to:* A castrated male cat or ferret* Gibibit , measurement unit of digitally stored computer information* Gibraltar, British overseas territory* Drywall, construction material...
. Generally the only time primary partitions are required (as opposed to logical drives) is to install certain operating systems (like Windows). 472 GiB is probably plenty of space for this purpose, even with multi-boot systems.
- Re-sizing the beginning of the extended partition (type 0x0F) can only be done manually so the beginning of the extended partition could not be re-sized beyond cylinder 65535. Take for example a disk (and partition table) that uses a sector
- The wizard has a quirk where the last character of the cylinder value may be displayed incorrectly when the value is changed. If this is ignored it seems to work fine.
- It can usually be used with partitions that do not follow a single CHS alignment, but this can be awkward for these reasons:
- RPM allows the partition table to be viewed as CHS or sectors. In sector mode, drives over maybe 250 GB or so, have so many sectors they push the lines to the next line on the display. And the cursor does not appear in the correct place.
- If you only know the sector you want the partition on, you may need to convert this to a CHS value for this reason: In sector mode, the max size possible to create a partition in sectors, was somewhere over 268,435,433 but under 268,435,550. Partitions of at least one terabyte have been created, when entering the values in cylinders (in CHS mode using the wizard).
- But in CHS mode it doesn't allow just any head or sector address to be typed in. The "-" and "+" keys can raise or lower these values, when they can't be typed in.
- cannot format some filesystems or display their volume labels e.g. NTFS
Backup of a primary partition table and extended partition
Ranish Partition Manager can be used to create a (manual) backup of both the primary partition table and the "extended partition" (table).Converting logical drives to primary partitions and vice versa
Using RPM it is possible to convert logical drives to primary partitions. In RPM this is done by "deleting" the logical drive, moving the beginning of the "extended partition" (type 0x0F) forward, recreating a primary "partition" in the same location as the logical drive, then saving the changes. The process is reversed to convert a primary partition to a logical drive. However, before or after these conversions the partition must deviate from a standard CHS alignment, because logical drives usually start on the second head (head 1) while primary partitions usually start at the beginning of a cylinder.Most modern operating systems probably would not have problems reading and editing the files on a converted drive but some software used for re-sizing or imaging partitions, may decide to silently "correct" the partition by moving the beginning of the partition (perhaps to conform to a standard CHS alignment)https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=379482#c37 or to conform to a 1-MiB
MIB
MIB may refer to any of several concepts:* Master of International Business, a postgraduate business degree* Melayu Islam Beraja, the adopted national philosophy of Brunei* Motion induced blindness, a visual illusion in peripheral vision...
alignment. This re-sizing would not prevent Windows XP from booting, but it might prevent Windows Vista from booting, if the starting sector is moved without updating Vista's boot files. Secondly, if the user is unaware that the partition has been moved, they may not realize that an old backup of the partition table, will be obsolete.
However there is another possible problem with converting primary partitions into logical drives, unless the primary partitions are made for this purpose. Windows XP Disk Management
Logical Disk Manager
The Logical Disk Manager is an implementation of a logical volume manager for Microsoft Windows NT, developed by Microsoft and Veritas Software. It was introduced with the Windows 2000 operating system, and is supported in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows 7...
is known to delete "nonstandard" extended partitions. There must be at least 63 sector
Disk sector
In computer disk storage, a sector is a subdivision of a track on a magnetic disk or optical disc. Each sector stores a fixed amount of user data. Traditional formatting of these storage media provides space for 512 bytes or 2048 bytes of user-accessible data per sector...
s before the primary partition, to allocate for an EBR, in order to make the conversion. For these reasons, it may be preferable, for any primary partition which may be converted to an extended partition, to start them on head 1, instead of at the beginning of the cylinder. The space from the beginning of this cylinder, to head 1, should be free space; the previous partition should end at the end of the last complete cylinder (or at the end of an earlier cylinder).
Starting primary partitions on head 1 (instead of head 0) has another advantage. It allows bit-identical cloning
Disk image
A disk image is a single file or storage device containing the complete contents and structure representing a data storage medium or device, such as a hard drive, tape drive, floppy disk, CD/DVD/BD, or USB flash drive, although an image of an optical disc may be referred to as an optical disc image...
of these primary partitions, to logical drives, making completely normal (usual) logical drives. That is, the EBRs of the logical drives are at the beginning of a cylinder, the logical drive begins on the very next head, and the logical drive ends on a cylinder boundary. However this author has not tested installing or booting operating systems from primary partitions beginning on the head 1, which were not the first partition. (The first partition usually begins on head 1 because this cylinder begins with the master boot record
Master boot record
A master boot record is a type of boot sector popularized by the IBM Personal Computer. It consists of a sequence of 512 bytes located at the first sector of a data storage device such as a hard disk...
.)
Comparison with other partition editors
Like most graphicalGraphical user interface
In computing, a graphical user interface is a type of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players or gaming devices, household appliances and...
partition editors, GParted
GParted
GParted is a GTK+ front-end to GNU Parted and the official GNOME Partition Editor application.It is used for creating, deleting, resizing, moving, checking and copying partitions, and the file systems on them...
is not sector-precise, meaning it will not show the numbers of the sectors or cylinders where partitions are being created. However, it does a few things RPM cannot: GParted can resize partitions with data on them (NTFS
NTFS
NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7....
, FAT, etc.) and it can format NTFS partitions. Although RPM is able to format FAT partitions, Windows XP had an error on a partition formatted with RPM.
Ranish Partition Manager and GNU Parted
GNU Parted
GNU Parted is a free partition editor, used for creating, destroying, resizing, checking, and copying partitions, and the file systems on them. This is useful for creating space for new operating systems, reorganising hard disk usage, copying data between hard disks, and disk imaging...
(parted) can display all partitions in one CHS format, and both are sector precise, but parted does not show the locations of the EBRs or all the values they contain. In Linux, all this information can be displayed by using
sfdisk -us -l -x but the format requires more scrutinizing and doesn't indicate errors/warnings with color, as RPM does. Unlike the command line tools parted or sfdisk, RPMs text user interfaceText user interface
TUI short for: Text User Interface or Textual User Interface , is a retronym that was coined sometime after the invention of graphical user interfaces, to distinguish them from text-based user interfaces...
allows the user to move the cursor anywhere on the partition table to select what values to change. Parted is riskier and less efficient to use, because it saves every change as soon as it is made, and it takes time to update certain things.
RPM can create partitions manually or using a wizard
Wizard (software)
A software wizard or setup assistant is a user interface type that presents a user with a sequence of dialog boxes that lead the user through a series of well-defined steps. Tasks that are complex, infrequently performed, or unfamiliar may be easier to perform using a wizard...
.
External links
- Official website
- A number of books refer to Ranish Partition Manager including a book by TechTVTechTVTechTV was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming...
's Leo LaporteLeo LaporteLéo Gordon Laporte is an Emmy Award winning, American technology broadcaster, author, and entrepreneur. A former resident of Providence, Rhode Island, he now lives in Petaluma, California with his wife Jennifer and two children, Abby and Henry....
. http://books.google.com/books?as_brr=0&as_pub=-icon&q=%22Ranish+Partition+Manager%22