MiniTool Partition Wizard 7.5

Version 7.5 is out. The stated changes are:

1. 3TB hard drive or 4096-bytes-sector-based hard drive supported
2. Align all partitions or the assigned partition to optimize hard drive performance
3. Faster operating speed and higher security

http://www.partitionwizard.com/press-releases/MiniToolSolutionLtd-announces-PartitionWizard7.5.html

 

Robin,

Thanks for that. The previous version didn't support 2048 sector aligned partitions. This version does.

 

Hi Brian,

Is this option available in the Free version or only the PRO and above?

Best regards,

 

Free version is available

And can some1 plz explain align all partition feature in simple noob language

 

Thanks for the update. Does anybody know if this will automatically create a partition with the 2408 offset or does the partition have to be aligned after partition creation.

 

It is available in both versions.

 

I sent an email to support and they said if a partition is created using Partition Wizard, it will be aligned by default.

 

But aligned to "what"? The default alignment was "Cylinder". If you click the drop down arrow you can choose "MB" which is another term for 2048 sector alignment.

Each term refers to a different partition alignment. Legacy Cylinder alignment is where the partition offset is in multiples of 16065 sectors. MB or also called 2048 sector alignment is where the partition offset is in multiples of 2048 sectors. For example, a partition with an offset of 145,408 sectors is MB aligned (2048*71). The offset is measured from the first sector on the HD, LBA-0.

 

That's a good point. I emailed and asked if it aligned to 2048 sectors or to cylinder. The answer I received was that it would have default alignment. I guess I would not know for sure unless somebody can confirm it. I assumed they meant to the MiB but you know what assume can mean. I know Gparted can align to MiB.

 

I didn't mean to confuse you. The default choice is Cylinder but just click the drop down arrow and choose MB. So you do have both alignments to choose from. It's fine.

 

Okay, thanks for that. Appreciate it.

 

I tested a partition "Move" (Slide). It's fast. Four times faster than GParted.

Also it maintains the alignment. A Cylinder aligned partition when moved was still Cylinder aligned. A MB aligned partition when moved was still MB aligned.

Please avoid "Merge". I didn't test it but it has proved a disaster with other partitioning apps.

 

Where is the "drop down arrow" you refer to? I don´t see any.

 

Robin,

Good point. You only see that option if the HD is blank. No partitions. If you have any partitions on the HD you aren't given the option of Cylinder or MB alignment when you are creating a new partition. That's not good.

I did some tests. If you create a partition that follows a Cylinder aligned partition the new partition will be Cylinder aligned. If you create a partition that follows a MB aligned partition the new partition will be MB aligned. Can you see a method that works?

 

I did a test with the following configuration (Windows 7 x64):

Partition 1 - unaligned
Next - unallocated space
Next - Partition 2 - unaligned

I aligned partition 2. The process was successful and the partition was aligned to MB.

 

Robin,

How did you create an "unaligned" partition. I tried the Align button on a Cylinder aligned and also a MB aligned partition and in each case I was told the partition is already aligned.

 

I just tried the PW “align” option on several partitions. In some cases, the program reported that the partition was already aligned. In others, the align task was generated. This is what I mean by “unaligned”.

I never saw any reference to "cylinder" or "MB" align.