User's Guide DiskEditor 6.0 Compute with confidence www.acronis.com Copyright © Acronis, 2000-2002. All rights reserved. Windows is a registered trademark owned by Microsoft Corporation. All other mentioned trademarks may be registered trademarks of their respective owners. Distribution of materials from this Guide, both in original and/or edited form, is forbidden unless a special written permission is obtained directly from it's author. THIS DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED «AS IS». THERE ARE NO EXPLICIT OR IMPLIED OBLIGATIONS, CONFIRMATIONS OR WARRANTIES, INCLUDING THOSE RELATED TO SOFTWARE MARKETABILITY AND SUITABILITY FOR ANY SPECIFIC PURPOSES, TO THE DEGREE OF SUCH LIMITED LIABILITY APPLICABLE BY LAW. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 1. INSTALLING ACRONIS DISKEDITOR AND GETTING STARTED. 6 1.1 ACRONIS DISKEDITOR SYSTEM PACKAGE...................................... 6 1.2 INSTALLATION................................................................................. 6 1.3 REPAIRING/UPGRADING ACRONIS DISKEDITOR ............................. 7 1.4 REMOVING THE SOFTWARE............................................................. 7 1.5 USER INTERFACE............................................................................. 7 CHAPTER 2. WORKING WITH ACRONIS DISKEDITOR ................................... 8 2.1 PARTITION OR DISK SELECTION...................................................... 8 2.2 MAIN WINDOW OF THE PROGRAM .................................................. 9 2.3 WORKING IN MULTI-WINDOWS MODE ......................................... 11 2.4 EDIT HARD DISKS.......................................................................... 13 2.5 WRITE BLOCK TO A FILE AND READ FROM A FILE........................ 14 2.6 VIEW.............................................................................................. 16 2.7 SEARCH ......................................................................................... 16 2.8 WORKING WITH DIFFERENT ENCODINGS ...................................... 18 CHAPTER 3. MAIN WINDOW VIEW MODES ................................................. 19 3.1 MASTER BOOT RECORD (MBR).................................................... 19 3.2 CREATING PRIMARY PARTITION ................................................... 20 3.3 FORMATTING A PARTITION ........................................................... 22 3.4 CREATING A LOGICAL PARTITION................................................. 25 3.5 FILE ALLOCATION TABLE (FAT) AND ROOT FOLDER (ROOT)...... 26 3.5.1 3.5.2 3.5.3 3.5.4 A FILE AS A CHAIN OF CLUSTERS.............................................................26 A FOLDER IN DISKEDITOR MAIN WINDOW ..............................................27 FILES WITH SHORT NAMES .......................................................................29 FILES WITH LONG NAMES.........................................................................30 3.6 FOLDERS AND SUBFOLDERS.......................................................... 31 Acronis DiskEditor 3 Introduction Hard Disk A hard disk is a very effective device for storing information. Modern hard disks feature huge volumes of stored information, very high recording densities, and very high access speed to retrieve stored information. A hard disk is usually an extremely reliable device. One of its parameters ­ non-failure operating time ­ may reach 20,000 to 500,000 hours. This does not mean, however, that storing information on hard disks is 100% error-free. Information on hard disks maybe threatened by a number of factors every user should be aware of. Hard Disks Utility Programs There are program tools that allow a user to inspect various computer systems, including disk subsystem. Disk managers included in these tools, are capable of defragmenting hard disks, finding and correcting files and folders structure imperfections, as well as finding and marking bad sectors. Special utilities are capable of finding and destroying computer viruses that threaten your information integrity. In some cases a user will require a much more powerful set of tools, known as a disk editor, to repair their hard disk drive. The Acronis DiskEditor is exactly the software for this job. Acronis DiskEditor is a professional-grade program that performs a variety of actions on a hard disk: to restore boot records and files and folders structure, to find lost clusters, remove computer virus code from a disk, and much more. This program has much to offer a beginner as well. It can be used in an educational setting. It is one thing to read a few books about hard disk construction and data storage, and it's quite another to observe it yourself with the Acronis DiskEditor. About this Guide A hard disk is a rather complex information storage device. One should have the base knowledge of hard disks and their interaction with the computer to work effectively on them using the Acronis DiskEditor program. If you are ready to work on a hard disk with a disk editor, it is necessary to remember that mistakes can cause sever problems: you could violate the disk's information integrity, not only making any data inaccessible, but also unservicable. 4 Introduction It is impossible to offer complete information on organizing data storage on a hard disk and on its interacting with operating system and applications in such a short Guide. Thus we will inform you only about the most vital data below skipping many complex technical details of information storage and the internal construction of a hard disk. The general outline will be on the capabilities of Acronis DiskEditor program. For information on the basic features of the program and its functionality, please see Chapter 2 «Working with Acronis DiskEditor». Information about different view modes and the overall performance of working with a disk see Chapter 3 «Main Window View Modes». Software Usage Conditions The conditions for Acronis DiskEditor software usage are described in the «License agreement», included with this package. The supplied registration card is the confirmation of your legal purchase and usage of Acronis DiskEditor on your system. Each registration card has its own unique registration number. Under current legislation the «License agreement» is considered a contract between a user (you) and a software manufacturer (Acronis, Inc.). The contract has legal effect and its violation may entail a court examination. Illegal use and/or distribution of this software will be prosecuted. Technical Support Users of legally purchased and registered copies of Acronis DiskEditor receive free technical support from Acronis, Inc. In case you have problems with installation or use that cannot be solved with this guide or read-me file, please visit our support web-site or e-mail our support department at the addresses shown below. You must also send us the registration number of your Acronis DiskEditor copy. This number is written on a registration card supplied with this product. Support URL: http://www.acronis.com/support/ E-mail: support@acronis.com Acronis DiskEditor 5 Chapter 1. Installing Acronis DiskEditor and Getting Started 1.1 Acronis DiskEditor System Package Acronis DiskEditor system package includes: · An installation CD, · This guide, · License agreement, · Registration card, · Advertising materials. 1.2 Installation To install the Acronis DiskEditor: 1. Insert the Acronis DiskEditor installation CD into CD-ROM drive and start the installation procedure. 2. Carefully follow the installation program instructions on the screen. 3. After making your installation choices and copying of Acronis DiskEditor files onto your hard disk, you will be offered to create a bootable rescue diskette or CD-R(W) (you may omit this step if you have purchased the boxed product that contains a bootable CD). While DiskEditor works in Windows, your computer may fail to boot. So, it's recommended to create a bootable rescue media. 6 Chapter 1 : Installing Acronis DiskEditor and Getting Started After installation of Acronis DiskEditor is completed, you should restart your computer. 1.3 Repairing/Upgrading Acronis DiskEditor In order to upgrade or repair your software, start the Acronis DiskEditor installation program again. It will determine that DiskEditor was already installed on your computer and will ask you if you want to restore (update) the program or completely remove it from disk. 1.4 Removing the Software To remove the software select Acronis DiskEditor Uninstall Acronis DiskEditor from the Programs menu. You will see a dialog box asking if you really want to remove the software from your PC hard disk. Press Yes to confirm removal. Acronis DiskEditor software will be completely removed. 1.5 User Interface The Acronis DiskEditor program has a graphic user interface and is controlled by mouse or Tab, Shift+Tab, Left, Right, Up , Down, Space, Enter and Escape keys. If you routinely work with applications under Windows, X-Windows, or OS/2, there will be no problems understanding and using the Acronis DiskEditor interface. Acronis DiskEditor 7 Chapter 2. Working with Acronis DiskEditor 2.1 Partition or Disk Selection Working with the Acronis DiskEditor program begins with the Open dialog window that users see after clicking the Acronis DiskEditor line in the program group of Programs desktop start menu. The window of partition or disk selection By default the program automatically marks the first hard disk for working. But you may select any other disk or individual partition ­ click the left mouse button on a corresponding rectangle. The difference between selecting the entire disk or a partition only is the following: if you select the entire disk you will be able to view and edit data storage structures of the entire disk ­ Partition table, File Allocation Table of all disk partitions, the root folder, data area. If you select a partition only, you will be able to view and edit only data storage structures of this partition ­ File Allocation Table, the root folder and data area of the selected partition. 8 Chapter 2 : Working with Acronis DiskEditor 2.2 Main Window of the Program The main window shows numbers of disk and sector where internal program cursor is positioned usually contains information and the work of various modes. Below the main window of the program is the view as Partition table mode. The main window in the view as Partition table mode To make the information contained in this field sensible, the current sector should be the MBR or the extended Partition table. Acronis DiskEditor 9 The next figure shows the Partition table as a single dump (hexadecimal byte values are on the left, and the corresponding characters are on the right). The main window in the view as Hex mode The current editing position is shown by the cursor that can be either in the left, or right part of the window In this section of the Guide all examples of DiskEditor's main window view modes are given for demonstration purposes. The main menu of Acronis DiskEditor contains the following items: · Disk ­ allows you to open the window of a hard disk partition or to select a hard disk for editing; · Edit ­ allows you to operate with blocks of selected hard disk partitions; also allows you to save contents of a disk sector after editing; · View ­ allows you to select a view mode for more convenient presentation of data; · Search ­ allows you to search a partition (or a hard disk) for any line (or any sequence of characters) and go to a certain disk sector according to its absolute offset; · Help ­ allows you to get help concerning the editor window or about the program's developer and version. 10 Chapter 2 : Working with Acronis DiskEditor 2.3 Working in Multi-Windows Mode The disk editor features multiple windows: from Disk menu of DiskEditor you can open several main windows, each of them showing various hard disk sectors. Disk menu You can switch between various Acronis DiskEditor windows with the help of the mouse, clicking the necessary window, or consistently advancing windows with the help of Alt+Tab key combination. Acronis DiskEditor as a multiwindow editor Acronis DiskEditor 11 Selecting Properties item in Disk menu allows you to get access to the window with main properties of the computer hard disk selected for working (or of selected partition of the given disk). The Hard Disk Properties window The main hard disk properties displayed in this window are: · System name ­ disk's system name, · Model ­ hard disk model, · Sectors per track ­ number of sectors per a track, · Heads ­ number of heads, · Cylinders ­ number of cylinders, · Total size ­ hard disk capacity, · Interface ­ interface type (ATA, SCSI), · Controller ­ controller type. 12 Chapter 2 : Working with Ac ...