User manual ACRONIS DISKEDITOR 6.0

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 Acronis DiskEditor 2.4 Edit Hard Disks Edit menu of DiskEditor's main window allows you to access the main operations with blocks of given hard disk sectors. You can edit hard disk data directly in the fields of any view mode (see the View menu). You can operate with data blocks using Edit menu in the view as Hex mode. Edit menu Any view mode allows you to select blocks with the help of the mouse by clicking and holding its left button, or with the help of the keyboard advancing the window with Shift key pressed. Simply changing data in the hexadecimal or character area, in the view as Hex mode of the main window or in any fields of other view modes, does not lead to changes in the given disk sector. Having performed such changes, you will see that the Save sector item in Edit menu will become enabled as well as the appropriate toolbar button. Save sector operation This feature allows you to save the results of your sector editing or to reject it. Acronis DiskEditor 13 If you have made changes in a hard disk sector and decided to exit the editor without saving them, you will see a warning about saving your changes. Saving modified sector 2.5 Write Block to a File and Read from a File Write to file... and Read from file... menu items allows you to save the selected block to a file or to read the block from a file and save it to a disk sector. The selection of Write to file... item results in opening the Write to file window (the saved block should be preliminary selected). In this window enter the file name and its path, or locate a file by clicking the Browse... button. The file size will be calculated automatically. To save a file click the OK button. 14 Chapter 2 : Working with Acronis DiskEditor Write to a file To read a block from a file, and insert it into a disk sector, you must place the cursor on the necessary sector byte and then select Read from file... menu item. The selection of this menu item will result in opening the Read from file window. In this window enter the file name and its path or locate a file by clicking the Browse... button. To insert file contents to sector from the current cursor position (or considering offset in the file) click the OK button. Read from a file Acronis DiskEditor 15 2.6 View Information in the Acronis DiskEditor window can be viewed and edited in several different modes. You can select the appropriate view mode with the help of View menu. View menu The editor offers 7 view modes: · As Hex, · As Partition table, · As FAT16 bootsector, · As FAT32 bootsector, · As FAT32 FS info sector, · As NTFS bootsector, · As FAT folder. The Chapter 3 «Main Window View Modes» is entirely devoted to features of view modes. 2.7 Search Search menu allows you to search a hard disk for some line and to go to a disk sector according to its absolute offset. Search Menu 16 Chapter 2 : Working with Acronis DiskEditor Selecting Search item in the same menu will give you access to functions of searching lines in the disk being edited. (You can do the same by pressing Ctrl+F key combination.) Search parameters can be set in the Search dialog window. The Search dialog window A search line can be set both as char, and numeric (hexadecimal) value. During a search you can ignore letter case, as well as search for a given line at a given offset inside the sector. During search, disk data is interpreted according to the encoding selected. If you selected a search mode without letter case matching, not only case but also elements above characters will be ignored for Roman character sets. After the search process is finished, the current position will be moved to where a line was found, or will remain the same if no lines were found. You can search for the next line from the current position by selecting Find next item in the Search menu or by pressing F3 key. You can go to the necessary sector according to its absolute offset by selecting the Go to... line the Search menu (or by pressing Alt+P key combination). Selecting this line opens the Go to... dialog window. Go to sector... Acronis DiskEditor 17 The transition is performed by entering absolute sector offset, or cylinder, head, and sector numbers. The listed parameters are bound by this expression: (CYL x HDS + HD) x SPT + SEC ­ 1, Where CYL, HD, SEC are numbers of cylinder, head, sector in the CHS coordinates (Cylinder ­ Head ­ Sector); HDS is the number of heads per disk, SPT is the number of heads per track. You can return to sector from another one by selecting the Back item in the Search menu (or by pressing Ctrl+Backspace key combination). 2.8 Working with Different Encodings The main window of the program features a list of encodings available in DiskEditor. This list is shown closed and dropped down below. The closed and dropped down list of encodings The list of encodings is intended for correct interpretation of hard disk sector contents. Selecting the necessary encoding, you will be able to view sector contents correctly. This is interpreted in the right part of program's main window in the hex mode. 18 Chapter 2 : Working with Acronis DiskEditor Chapter 3. Main Window View Modes A hard disk of 1.79 Gb capacity is used as an example of how DiskEditor displays information. All disk partitions were removed and the disk was completely cleared of any information with the help of Acronis DriveCleanser which zeroed all hard disk sector bytes. This is done to demonstrate how data storage structures are created on a hard disk by standard means ­ for example MS Windows (or MS DOS) operating system using FDISK and/or the FORMAT utility. 3.1 Master Boot Record (MBR) The main window of the program in the view as Partition table mode is shown below. As you can see the disk is empty and contains no partitions. Partition table As a hard disk can contain only 4 primary partitions, 4 lines on the screen are allocated for information about partitions. A hard disk partition is characterized by the following parameters: · Type, for example FAT16/32, NTFS, etc., · Boot patch flag ­ whether partition is bootable or not, · Begin partition cylinder, · Begin partition head, · Begin partition sector, · End partition cylinder, Acronis DiskEditor 19 · End partition head, · End partition sector, · Number of hard disk sectors allocated for partition. Hard disk partitions are described in the Partition table in two ways simultaneously: (1) in CHS co-ordinates (Cylinder ­ Head ­ Sector; limited and obsolete variant) ­ coordinates of initial and end partition sectors, and (2) partition heading and its length in sectors. Each record of the Partition table contains a partition boot patch flag indicating to the main loader what partition to boot. The boot patch flag can be assigned to one partition only. At the lowest (byte) level MBR structure containing the master boot record and the Partition table can be described as follows: · Bytes 000h ­ 1BDh ­ load code of active partition's bootsector, · Bytes 1BEh ­ 1CDh, 1CEh ­ 1DDh, 1DEh ­ 1EDh, 1EEh ­ 1FDh ­ partition records, · Bytes 1FEh ­ 1FF ­ Partition Table signature equal to AA55h. 3.2 Creating Primary Partition Using the FDISK utility supplied with your Windows operating system (enabling large disks support), we will create the Primary partition at a 0.97 Gb capacity (or 1000 Mb) on the selected hard disk. To see changes in the Partition table contents, select the hard disk with the newly created partition for viewing. If we select the created partition for working, the Partition table will be unavailable for viewing. The Partition table contains information about the entire hard disk. If you select a disk partition for working, DiskEditor will allow you to browse only the space allocated for that partition, and accordingly, to look at its information only. 20 Chapter 3 : Main Window View Modes