Paragon Alignment Tool 2.0...

Discussion in 'Paragon Partition Manager Product Line' started by Christ0pher, Apr 21, 2010.

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  1. Christ0pher

    Christ0pher Registered Member

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    I downloaded this update - but I can't seem to locate any documentation that describes its purpose.

    What does it actually do... o_O
     
  2. Cudni

    Cudni Global Moderator

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  3. tsavo

    tsavo Registered Member

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    hello, can you send me the Paragon Alignment tool 2.0??

    thanks
     
  4. JRViejo

    JRViejo Super Moderator

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    tsavo, the Paragon Alignment Tool can be delivered electronically, after it is purchased.
     
  5. silver0066

    silver0066 Registered Member

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    I am using Win 7 64 bit. The 64 bit PAT 2.0 says that my system drive (2 Intel x25-E's in Raid 0) is not aligned.

    I tell PAT to align, it reboots, starts the alignment process, reboots again and states the the drive is NOT ALIGNED.

    I then ran chkdsk c: /r and tried again... Same results.

    Does anyone have any suggestion on how I might get the system drive aligned?

    Many thanks,
     
  6. Cudni

    Cudni Global Moderator

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    is chkdsk fixing errors every time you run it?
     
  7. silver0066

    silver0066 Registered Member

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    No it does not. After I reboot chkdsk stated that the computer is clean. I finally got it aligned by using diskpart.exe which entails a reformat and ShadowProtect to restore without restoring the MBR. Now the Raid System drive comes up green in PAT.

    I now have the same problem on a 1TB Sata drive. Chkdsk reports it has no errors and still PAT will not fix the alignment. I think the developers at Paragon need to do more work on the program.

    It looks like I will have to do a backup and reformat on the 1TB drive.
     
  8. KAMiKZ

    KAMiKZ Registered Member

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    I have the EXACT same problem, too.

    I have Win7 64bit, I am using Samsung pm800 SSD 256GB. And my alignment is off by one 4k sector. I run PAT with just the power cord attached, no ext drives or anything, and I dont' use bitlock encryption or anything like that.

    It says that the partition is unaligned, and there's clearly only the button "Align" to press bedies the cancel butotn, I did so, and it restarts, and it first
    Flush System Buffers, that didn't take long,
    then Checking File System, that takes about 20 minutes,
    At the end of the checking file system process, it says press any key to restart,
    I do so and it restarts back into Windows without any intermediary screens by PAT, immediately PAT opens in Windows and shows me that the partition is not aligned as a statement of the outcome of the "align" action I took above. And now the only button visible to press is "close". Then I press it, and it closes and nothing else happens.

    I repeated this two more times, and it came back the same.
     
  9. romanshein

    romanshein Registered Member

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    Same problem on both Win7 64 and XP Home 32. It also failed to align non-system partitions in online (from OS) mode.
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2010
  10. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    Worth running checkdisk to fix any filesystem errors before trying PAT.
     
  11. KAMiKZ

    KAMiKZ Registered Member

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    I have already tried doing a chkdsk /r in command prompt in the recovery tools booted from a rescue disc of Windows 7, just so to be comprehensive (I am unsure if the normal startup chkdsk /r is as 'low level')

    And disappointingly, it gave the same "not aligned" result.
     
  12. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    I assume you have another Paragon app. e.g. Partition manager installed - does that give any alarms about the drive?
     
  13. MassiveOverkill

    MassiveOverkill Registered Member

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    Downloaded and installed on my Win XP Pro 32 bit machine, ran the alignment tool 3 times. Each time it rebooted and did it's thing and when Windows comes back up it tells me the partition was successfully aligned, but the status window shows it misaligned and MSINFO32 shows it misaligned as well (32,256 bytes). Also my drive shows as Non-optimally aligned partition in yellow/gold, not Red (stating that that it can't be aligned).

    It's a shame because I work for a large corporation and we're looking for an easy solution to existing XP builds that are misaligned as well as for properly re-aligning images copied from Acronis, which screws up partition alignment.
     
  14. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    Strange - it seems those it didn't work for were using the "boot time " mode.

    It worked for me and I ran from within WinPE 3.

    It might be worth trying it from a pe 3 boot disc to see if it works from there.

    You can use this to make one http://cid-b0a22789320e3247.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/pe/HDMaddPAT.zip


    ( no need to add HDM as well - just say N to that option if you like )
     
  15. MassiveOverkill

    MassiveOverkill Registered Member

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    I just used the Windows msi package and ran it within windows.
     
  16. KAMiKZ

    KAMiKZ Registered Member

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    No, I don't have Partition manager installed. The pm800 256gb ssd is my primary os drive and there are no other partition on it. And I make sure that there aren't any other hard disk related software install on my computer. No antivirus save MS Security Essential.
     
  17. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    Perhaps I wasn't clear, as nobody understood the point I was trying to make.

    PAT works great if run entirely from within windows ( or WinPe ) i.e. without rebooting into the Linux "boot time " mode.

    The Linux "boot time " mode appears to be less effective.

    There is an new version of PAT released today.

    I assume it adresses that issue.

    Linux boot cd also available with the new version.

    It should be available from your account.

    Hope it helps.
     
  18. MassiveOverkill

    MassiveOverkill Registered Member

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    Uninstalled the old version, installed the new version.........same problem. Just to re-iterate. I'm doing this all within windows.

    "Perhaps I wasn't clear, as nobody understood the point I was trying to make.

    PAT works great if run entirely from within windows ( or WinPe ) i.e. without rebooting into the Linux "boot time " mode."

    That would be great if the software didn't FORCE you to reboot in order to align. I haven't tried the tool on a non-boot partition yet, but I'm betting it has something to do with it.
     
  19. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    It seems that PAT cannot align the boot partition when it is used within Windows, but It can if used from a WinPE disc.
     
  20. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    Yes, of course.

    No need to reboot if run from WinPe.

    No need to reboot if run from within another o/s.

    You will need a reboot if aligning the partition you are in, or the system partition.

    Looks like the "boot time" mode doesn't work quite as well.

    Did anybody try the Linux boot cd ( downloadable from your account) and see if that does the job?
     
  21. Barcath

    Barcath Registered Member

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    Any suggestions on how to run this successfully on a Vista x64 system partition (the sole volume on my SSD drive 0)?

    I tried from Windows with it's automatic recourse to boot-time operation, and that didn't work (as others have reported above--checks the file system for 15 min or so, no errors, but doesn't actually copy clusters or align anything). I also tried the corresponding boot CD, but it didn't have any "Partition Alignment" option, strangely enough--it seemed to be focussed instead on recovering from a hypothetical power failure while running the alignment from Windows.

    I see some links here to info about creating a WinPE disk, but those instructions were only for 32-bit (x86) Windows systems, not x64. (I am familiar with WinPE/BartPE in principle, but am not a user of them.)

    I just downloaded this tool this mid-morning (June 7th, US CDT--there is no version number available from within the program), and it worked fine on my non-system Drive 1 (thanks, Paragon! :) ), but hasn't done anything (good or bad) to my Drive 0, the system drive/partition.

    Any advice? Thanks!
     
  22. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    You need to make a winpe boot cd.

    The 32 bit cd works fine any installed o/s - it is independent of the "bitness" of the installed o/s.

    I use a Winpe 3 32 bit cd I made for operations on 32 and 64 bit o/s.

    Instructions here: 14

    You need a Win7 32 bit install dvd , or Win7 32 bit recovery cd to make it from.

    Copy the contents of the Win 7 32 bit dvd/cd to the HD.

    Rt click and run as admin on the HDMADDPAT.CMD

    If you don't have HDM, you don't have to include it , just enter N. ( If you have Paragon Partition Manager, or Drive Backup, you can include that instead of HDM - say Y to including HDM and browse to the launcher .exe of your installed Paragon PM or DB product. )

    If you don't have Win7 32 bit recovery disc to hand , Download Windows 7 System Recovery Discs — The NeoSmart Files
     
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2010
  23. Barcath

    Barcath Registered Member

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    SIW2, thanks for the amazingly prompt reply! :)

    Can one make a 32-bit WinPE disk easily using x64 installation media? (I've never had to use the Vista repair/recovery stuff, so I'm not familiar with it--not even sure if the install disk is the same as the repair/recovery disk, e.g.)

    Thanks.
     
  24. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    I made mine from within Win7 x64.

    You need the 32 bit install media (dvd ) or the 32 bit win7 recovery disc to make it from.

    Put the 32bit recovery cd/install dvd in the dvd drive , rt click the dvd drive , select COPY, rt click your HD ( e.g. C ) Select Paste.

    That's due to the lack of SysWOW in 64 winpe - virtually nothing will run in it.

    Then rt click and RUN AS ADMIN on AddPATtoHDM.cmd ( if you are within 7 - doesn't matter what bit version you are booted into)
     
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2010
  25. romanshein

    romanshein Registered Member

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    Re: Paragon Alignment Tool 2.0 bood cd needed

    Can someone kindly share Win7 Boot CD with PAT added. I've read instruction, but it seems quite complicated to create it myself.
     
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