Frequently asked questions about Acronis® Disk Director® Suite 10.0General questions
Questions about Partition Manager
Questions about Acronis OS Selector
Questions about Acronis Disk Editor
Other questions
What is Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0?Acronis® Disk Director® Suite 10.0 is a comprehensive partition and disk management suite that combines a number of previous Acronis products into one solution: - Acronis Partition Expert — Create, split, merge, resize, move, copy partitions without losing your data
- Acronis OS Selector — A multi-boot software utility that allows you to install multiple operating systems on your PC
- Acronis Recovery Expert — Recover accidentally lost or deleted partitions
- Acronis Disk Editor — A disk drive repair tool that allows you to perform advanced operations on your hard disk drive, such as restoring boot records and hexadecimal editing
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What is Acronis OS Selector? Should I install it when I install Acronis® Disk Director® Suite 10.0?Acronis OS Selector is the boot manager included in the Acronis® Disk Director® Suite 10.0. Before becoming part of this suite, it was a standalone product. As to whether you should install it when loading Acronis® Disk Director® Suite 10.0, the answer is: It depends. If you plan to run only a single operating system on your computer, it might not be necessary to install that module. If you choose to run multiple operating systems later, you can install Acronis OS Selector at any time. If, however, you plan to run more than one operating system on your computer, or more than one version of the same operating system, then you can install Acronis OS Selector immediately. Top
What are the Acronis Disk Editor and Acronis Recovery Expert programs installed along with Acronis® Disk Director® Suite 10.0?Formerly standalone programs, Acronis Disk Editor and Acronis Recovery Expert are now included into Acronis® Disk Director® Suite 10.0.
Acronis Recovery Expert is an easy-to-use tool that automatically searches for lost and deleted partitions and restores them, if possible. Acronis Disk Editor is a disk drive repair tool that allows you to perform advanced operations on your hard disk drive, such as restoring boot records and hexadecimal editing. Top
What operating systems does Acronis Disk Director Suite run on?This disk management software can be installed and run on the following operating systems: - Windows 98
- Windows ME
- Windows NT 4.0 Workstation Service Pack 6
- Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 4
- Windows XP Home/Professional Service Pack 2
- Windows Vista
After installing Acronis Disk Director Suite in Windows, you can create bootable media with a standalone version of Acronis Disk Director Suite. You can work with hard disks containing any operating system by booting from the media you created. Top
What file systems does Acronis Disk Director Suite support?Acronis Disk Director Suite supports all the most widely used file systems for PCs: - FAT16/FAT32 (file allocation table) — is used in DOS and Windows and supported by almost every operating system
- NTFS (Windows NT file system) ) — has been introduced in Windows NT and is used by Windows NT/2000/XP/2003
- Ext2 — is used by Linux operating systems
- Ext3 — is the next generation of the Ext2 file system
- LinuxSwap — is used for Linux swap partitions
- ReiserFS — one of the most secure file system that is used on data servers
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What disk capacity does Acronis Disk Director Suite support?Running under Windows operating system Acronis Disk Director Suite works with disks supported by your version of Windows. If you use a standalone version of Acronis Disk Director Suite (started from bootable media) then you will be able to work with disks of any capacity that are present on the market. Top
Does Acronis Disk Director Suite work with RAIDs?Yes, Acronis Disk Director Suite supports RAID arrays. You can perform all available operations with partitions located on RAID volumes without any special precautions. Top
Do I need to reboot my computer in order to perform an operation on my hard disk with Acronis Disk Director Suite?Acronis Disk Director Suite might require you to reboot your computer if the partition involved in the operation cannot be locked (for instance, contains open files). In this case, Acronis Disk Director Suite prompts you to reboot the computer after you commit the operation. Please note that the system partition (the partition the operating system files are stored on) always contains open files. Top
What happens after I reboot my computer for Acronis Disk Director Suite to carry out an operation?After you reboot, your computer boots into "native mode" with all the Windows drivers running, but with no applications other than Acronis Disk Director Suite. You can see the progress of the program work on the screen and, after the operation is complete, the computer is booted into Windows as usual. Top
Can Acronis Disk Director Suite resize a partition that contains bad blocks?We strongly recommend against resizing a partition that contains bad blocks, as this could lead to a total data loss on this partition. Acronis Disk Director Suite does not allow you to resize partitions with bad blocks. We recommend that you create an image of this partition using Acronis True Image Home, reformat the hard disk so the bad blocks are recovered and then restore the created image resizing the partition. Top
Is it possible to use Acronis OS Selector Boot Menu to boot not only from usual diskettes, but also from CD/DVD discs or ZIP diskettes?You can boot both from usual diskettes and from ZIP diskettes from the Boot Menu, and also from CDs/DVDs. When you insert a bootable CD or DVD disc in the drive, the software automatically detects it and there will appear an icon to boot from CD/DVD disc. Top
When I set my machine to hibernate, Acronis OS Selector doesn't prompt for my password on startup. Why is it so?Acronis OS Selector is skipped on the startup if the hibernation file is detected. This is because of the peculiarities of Windows boot up from the hibernation state. Acronis OS Selector was designed to write logs on the hard disk every time it is started and this can corrupt the hibernation state of Windows operating system. Top
Several people use my computer. Can I somehow limit their access to software?Yes, a quite flexible password system is built into Acronis OS Selector boot manager. You can set separate passwords to the Boot Menu (this password is required every time the computer is booted) and to each boot configuration. You can also set a special Administration password (this one is required to change any settings). Of course, this protection is not absolute, and it is better to use it along with other protection means that are built into operating systems. Top
I already have Acronis OS Selector installed, and I would like to install Linux on my computer. Where should I install the Linux loader: to MBR or to the boot sector of the partition? Maybe I do not have to install it at all?Acronis OS Selector does not substitute the Linux loader, so you should install the Linux loader (usually GRUB or Lilo) to the boot sector of the partition you plan to install Linux itself. Top
I have installed Linux on my computer, and now I am unable to get into the Acronis OS Selector Boot Menu (after reboot I get directly into Linux). How can this problem be solved?Obviously, you have installed the Linux loader (GRUB or Lilo) into MBR, so the Acronis OS Selector MBR was erased. You should reactivate Acronis OS Selector by booting from Acronis Disk Director Suite bootable media with Acronis OS Selector Activator. Top
I deleted the BOOTWIZ folder, and now every time I boot my computer I get an error message, and then Windows is booted. How can I get rid of this error message?Of course, you should not have deleted Acronis OS Selector this way, since you could have lost all your operating systems. You can get rid of the error message in the following ways: - Windows 95/98/ME — boot from Startup Disk and execute "fdisk /mbr" command
- Windows 2000/XP/2003 — boot from Installation Disc, enter Recovery Console and execute "fixmbr" command
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Why automatic hard disk utilities are not enough?In many cases automatic utilities are not enough, and even cannot be used. For example, in case of damage of important hard disk areas by boot viruses or viruses that damage hard disks sectorwise. Such damages often result in impossibility to boot the computer up. Acronis Disk Editor may become the only way out of this situation with its independent mode of booting from a diskette or CD disc. To simplify the task of restoration we recommend you always have backup copies of important hard disk areas that you can also create with Acronis Disk Editor at hand. Top
What is the main advantage of Acronis Disk Editor?The main advantage of Acronis Disk Editor is the opportunity to resolve issues that cannot be resolved by automatic utilities. Additional advantages of our product include the following: - Ability to work in both universal hexadecimal mode of data representation and in special modes for editing Partition tables, FAT 16/32 and NTFS boot sectors, and folders. Special operating modes are provided for many disk data storage structures
- Simple navigation and user-friendly interface
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It is possible to unintentionally spoil data on a hard disk during training to work with Acronis Disk Editor?The developers tried their best to reduce the probability of accidental hard disk data damages. Safety of work with Acronis Disk Editor is provided by committing all changes of hard disk sectors contents in computer memory first. It is only when you save changes to the hard disk that changes are permanent. Top
I have Norton GoBack installed. Can I use Acronis Disk Director Suite?The problem is that Norton GoBack changes existing partitions type (FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, etc.) into its own format, making them incompatible with existing partitioning software while GoBack is active. This way Norton GoBack prohibits other applications from changing the partition table. So you will need to disable Norton GoBack first if you want to perform any operation (create, delete, resize, split, merge) with partition(s) or to install Acronis OS Selector. NOTE: When you disable Norton GoBack, you will lose all backup history for the changed partition and will not be able to undo the changes. Top
Does Acronis Recovery Expert allow the user to restore separate files or folders deleted by accident?Acronis Recovery Expert works with hard disk partitions only and does not restore individual files or folders. Please note that the most effective way to protect your data is to back up your hard disk with Acronis True Image Home, which allows you to restore either the entire partition or individual files or folders once you created a backup. Top
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What is a hard disk partition?Creating separate sections on a disk is called partitioning. Partitions are analogous to separate physical disk drives and do not depend on each other. To visualize a partition, think of a large cabinet. A cabinet with no drawers would have just one partition — everything would be stuffed into the same area. Now think about a cabinet with 3 drawers. You now can separate like items into different drawers. Now consider a disk drive. By creating separate "drawers" — or partitions — on the disk drive, you now can keep your operating system separate from your applications and data. In fact, each partition can contain its own operating system. Top
How many partitions can I have on my hard disk?Physical hard disks can contain up to four primary partitions or up to three primary partitions and infinite logical partitions. The number of primary partitions on a disk is limited because the partition table located on the hard disk contains only four records. Extended partitioning supports additional divisions of the drive into logical partitions. The number of logical partitions on a disk drive is unlimited. Top
What is a primary partition?A primary hard disk partition can contain the operating system, applications and user data (files). Only one primary partition can be set as active in a given PC session. Most operating systems can boot from a primary partition only. If you want to use several operating systems on the same physical computer, you have to create several primary partitions. Top
What is an extended partition?An extended hard disk partition was developed as a way to avoid the four-primary-partitions limit. The extended partition is used only for creating the desired number of logical partitions. An extended partition does not contain any data itself. Top
What is a logical partition?An extended partition can be divided into any number of logical partitions. Logical partitions are similar to primary partitions in that they also can contain operating systems, applications and user data. Top
What is an active partition?An active partition is the default partition from which your system boots. It must contain an operating system. Please note that there may be only one primary partition on a hard disk and that only a primary partition can be set active. (If you are running Windows XP along with other operating systems on the same computer, Windows XP must be on the Primary, Active partition.) Top
What is a file system?A file system is the way in which files are named and where they are placed logically for storage and retrieval on the disk drive. The process of creating a partition file system is called formatting. Each partition can have its own file system. Top
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