Operation Manual

Automatic Partition Operations

Hard disk partitions are not only assi

ned letters, but are also numbered. That means some

operating system partitions are assigned letters and numbers, in others, only numbers.

Create, delete and move partition operations, as well as hiding/unhiding a

partition and direct letter change may result in problems running

applications, opening files (as some shortcuts become unusable) or booting

an operating system.

Therefore, when performing partition operations, you must be careful and

remember that each operating system works differently with partition

letters. Each OS has its own partition letter assignment rules.

Windows 95/95OSR2/98/Me

Windows 95 (original) assigns partition letters automatically in fixed order,

according to these rules:

• Partition letters start from C: and continue until Z:. C: partition is

considered system, i.e. used for OS startup.

Note that this OS cannot reco

nize all partitions, but only 1 (FAT12), 4 and 6 (FAT16)

types. File system type is determined not by partition type, but by its contents. Partitions of

other types are passed (no letters are assigned to them).

• The first primary active partition found on the first hard disk is assigned

C:. If there’s no such partition, C: is assigned to the first suitable

primary partition

• Similarly and consecutively, one of the primary

partitions from other

hard disks is considered. They are assigned D:, E:, etc. (If there is no

suitable partition found on the first disk, then C:, D:, etc. are

assigned.)

• Next, all suitable logical partitions are considered in the sequence order

on the first, second, third, etc. hard disks. They are assigned E:, F:,

G:, for example

• Finally, in order, letters are assigned to all remaining suitable primary

partitions of the first, second, third, etc. disks.

The Windows 95 OSR2/98/ME partition letter assignment order is almost

the same as in original Windows 95, with the following exceptions:

• Additional type

11 (FAT32), 12 (FAT32 LBA) and 13 (FAT16 LBA)

partitions are considered. This is tied to FAT32 and high-capacity hard

disk support

Partition operations in the mentioned operating systems may result in

problems running applications, opening files, and other problems if letter

assignments change.

Windows NT/2000/XP