http://www.partition-saving.com
Copyright © 1999-2019 D. Guibouret

This file gives list of versions of Partition-Saving with main evolutions.

  1- V2.00
  2- V2.10
  3- V2.20
  4- V2.21
  5- V2.22
  6- V2.30
  7- V2.40
  8- V2.50
  9- V2.60
 10- V2.70
 11- V2.80
 12- V2.90
 13- V2.91
 14- V3.00
 15- V3.01
 16- V3.10
 17- V3.11
 18- V3.20
 19- V3.30
 20- V3.40
 21- V3.50
 22- V3.60
 23- V3.70
 24- V3.71
 25- V3.80
 26- V3.90
 27- V4.00
 28- V4.10
 29- V4.20
 30- V4.30
 31- V4.40
 32- V4.50
 33- V4.60

1- V2.00

Evolutions made are:

• add of management of more than 8 GB hard disk.
• add of data compression.
• add of several files saving capability.
• interface change.

2- V2.10

Evolutions made are:

• all language versions are into the same file with language recognition at beginning of execution.
• some changes are made into interface: use of arrow keys to go from one element to another, add of arrows into scrollbar of listboxes.
• add of mouse use.
• add of batch mode.
• add of deflate level choice (was to the maximum into previous version).

3- V2.20

Evolutions made are:

• add of possibility to save only occupied sectors for partitions with FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 (DOS/Windows) and ext2 (Linux) filesystem.
• add of an option into batch file for this new possibility.
• add of possibility to restore partitions from which only occupied sectors have been saved, on partitions with different size and that are on disk with different format.
• add of copypart.exe util.
• some change made into interface.

4- V2.21

Evolutions made are:

• correction of a problem due to that some CD readers/writers are identified as hard disk. Hard disk detection is now more restrictive (if somebody see that its hard disk is no more detected, please inform me).
• correction of a bug for hard disk with standard access that have at least two logical partitions in the same extended partition. This bug does that partitions after the first logical one were not detected on V2.00 and V2.10 versions and a "Page fault" error on V2.20 version.
• correction in case of bad sectors: from 0 to 126 sectors following this bad one can be not read/written. Now they are.
• add of "quit" and "reboot" options in options file in order to automatically exit program at end of execution and to reboot computer.
• change of interface when asking for saving file name: now a second window gives you partition size and free space on each drive.
• an estimation of remaining time is given in saving/restoring/copying window.

5- V2.22

Evolutions made are:

• correction of hard disk detection in order to detect again some disks that were considered as CD-reader.
• correction in the case a drive is not considered as a hard disk: following hard disks have a bad number.
• correction of reboot.
• add of window displaying search of last occupied sector in the case where only occupied sectors are saved.
• add of a warning in case the file created/acceded is on the partition saved/restored.

6- V2.30

Evolutions made are:

• a new correction on disk detection.
• a correction on DOS drive letter attribution in case there was several main DOS partition on the same disk.
• a new option to avoid check that created/read file is on partition saved/restored.
• use of a new version of compiler and development environment that have better compatibility with Windows 2000 and XP.
• availability to save only occupied sectors for NTFS partitions.
• correction on free size on DOS drive when there was more than 2 GB of free space.
• compatibility between partitions of the same type (partitions that have the same filesystem are considered as compatible).
• if in batch mode, several files are needed when restoring and are on a removable media, program asks for next media in place of generating a "file not found" error and asking for next file.
• changes into documentation and zip file structure.
• some changes into GUI.

7- V2.40

Evolutions made are:

• merge of the 3 programs into one and use of UPX (executable compressor) to reduce size. Add of window asking for action to do and of action options (-c|-d|-r|-s|-t).
• add of console type user interface (-cui option) to solve some blocking problems on some computers.
• correction of code to allow using batch mode when saving NTFS partitions.
• changes in order to use copy of sector in case some FAT sectors are incorrect when saving only occupied sectors of FAT partition.

8- V2.50

Evolutions made are:

• selected button is flanked by ">" and "<" to avoid potential confusion when only two buttons are displayed.
• a driver is added to read saved file containing FAT partition from DOS as if it is a partition.
• an option has been added to allow saving a FAT partition on itself.
• batch file has been modified to take into account this new availability.
• "reboot" option of batch file is also taked into account when saving.
• ext3 partitions are taken into account as ext2 partitions if journal is created on the same partition.

9- V2.60

Evolutions made are:

• saving/restoring a whole disk, master boot record, first sectors of disk and partition table is available.
• writing data on disk is always checked. That slow down restoring but allows to check that disk is not broken.
• DOS drive detecting is modified such as network drive will be found again with some network drivers.
• driver is corrected to avoid that computer hangs in case a program does not close all files that it used on simulated partition.
• one of the paramaters of NTFS boot sector is modified in case a NTFS partition is restored on a partition which is not the same as the origin one (this parameter is said unused by Microsoft but is used during boot sequence).
• add of a check that first chosen file cannot have the same name than another file when using automatic naming to avoid it to be erased.

10- V2.70

Evolutions made are:

• saving/restoring floppy disk is available.
• saving/restoring DOS devices that can be accessed using sectors is available.
• parts of code that use floating point unit have been modified to no more use if such as program can be used on 386 and 486SX that do not have a floating point unit.
• in case a unexpected error appears, error message has more data such has I I can find where error comes from.
• add of check that files are correctly written (by use of DOS VERIFY flag).
• add of -nvd and -nvf options (and their equivalent into option file) to disable the check that sectors and files are correctly written.

11- V2.80

Evolutions made are:

• for disk with extended access, use of standard access parameters when modifying boot sector of a FAT or NTFS partition instead of extended access parameters. This correction can explain why in some cases, running SYS.COM program is needed after restoring a FAT partition and why "NTLDR missing" message appears after restoring NTFS partition.
• correction of an error when restoring partition table: not only partition table part of restored sectors is set, but also signature that signal it as a partition sector. This can avoid the good reading of partition table.
• correction of an error when restoring NTFS partition on a partition with a different size: size of file telling which sectors are occupied was updated only at one place, when it is present at 2 places. This seemed to have no influence on Windows behaviour.
• add of -bui option that allows having an user interface similar to the default one but with a better compatibility. Counterpart it is slower.
• add of -cm and -pm options to have two way to use mouse: -cm is the default one and use a specific function of mouse driver (function that cannot be present), -pm use a method with a better compatibility but that can miss some double click events (it is the default method for Windows NT/XP).

12- V2.90

Evolutions made are:

• modifying Windows 2000/XP registry to update partition definition when a partition is moved is available.
• modifying the BOOTSECT.DOS file to update it when a bootable partition used into Windows XP multiboot is moved is available.
• a correction when restoring a NTFS partition on a partition with another size to update size of file listing bad clusters. The fact that this file does not have a correct size previously seems to have no consequence on filesystem. Warning: only size is updated, file is not modified to reflect bad clusters in more or less.
• add of "automatic_naming" option into option file that allows getting automatic naming when using option file.
• add of use of environment variable into option file.
• maximum filesize can now be given in kB if free space on drive is less than 10 MB. This case can be useful to save small elements (MBR, partition table) on floppy disk. Option file is modified to be able to add unit of size (in MB as default).
• change of a parameter into file header when saving a floppy disk to set it compatible with driver use. This parameter is only used in this case, so compatibility is insured with file created with previous versions for others program options.

13- V2.91

Evolutions made are:

• support of very fragmented NTFS partitions. These partitions can now be saved with saving occupied only sectors when the whole partition should be saved before.
• change of update of backup descriptor sectors on ext2 partitions. Update is now done with using original sector definition instead of their own definition because it seems not to be updated when using partition.
• change into interface when updating registry entries for the ask of driver lettre to set to chosen partition. Instead of having to give the drive letter, program shows you list of drive letter it can modify.
• a correction to avoid option file creation to be asked when doing a save with an option file using the "automatic_naming" option.

14- V3.00

Evolutions made are:

• saving file can now be written on NTFS partitions by using mounting mechanism. By using this option you can also save a NTFS partition on itself. File must have been created before from Windows because program is not able to create files on NTFS partitions.
• add of option to create files on NTFS partitions from Windows to be able to use them when performing save.
• not saving swap files contents is now available for FAT and NTFS partitions.
• add of all options into option file to take into account these new features ("mount=", "nb_files=" and "swap_dir="). Add of "max" value for "max_size=" option to use minimum size between free disk size and 2047 MB.
• add of forcing of FAT16 and FAT32 partitions check after restoring them in case they were saved on themselves. This is not available for FAT12 partitions, so you have to perform this check by yourself. This is not needed for NTFS partitions.
• a correction to avoid creating option file to be requested when performing a save with option file in which filenames are not absolute pathname.
• use of zlib compression library 1.2.2.
• some changes into user interface.

15- V3.01

Evolutions made are:

• display order of partition is modified: they are now ordered as they appear on disk instead of being displaying in partition table order (this does not change their numbering into options file, it is only screen displaying that is modified).
• a buffer overflow correction when displaying DOS devices list.
• NTFS driver correction to take into account some files that are into a zone that was considered as being reserved to filesystem until now.
• opening of file that are only read in read mode instead of opening them in read/write mode.
• use of zlib compression library version 1.2.3.
• update of documentation (use of corrected version of english manual done by Ralph Ball and rewrite of HOWTO).

16- V3.10

Evolutions made are:

• reset of bad sectors information in case a partition is restored on a different partition than source one.
• add of option to perform manually this reset in case partition seems strictelly the same despite a disk change.
• mount of FAT/ext2 partitions in read/write mode with availability to create files on them.
• availability to save an ext2 partition on itself.
• add of on-line help.
• correction of a bug in case of a NTFS V1.2 partition (NT <= 4) transformed to NTFS V3.x (2000/XP) that is restored to the minimum allowed size partition authorised for this restoration: last cluster was changed from occupied to free.
• regression correction that did that file names were requested instead of media change when restoring a partition from several removable medias.

17- V3.11

Evolutions made are:

• correction of a bug when restoring a NTFS partition to a partition different from source one but with a similar size: several clusters can wrongly be marked as occupied. This error exists since version 2.91 and for those having used one of these versions into these conditions, problem can be corrected with executing chkdsk on partition. It shall be noticed that files created with versions 2.91 to 3.10 are correct, it is restoring phase that was erroneous.

18- V3.20

Evolutions made are:

• add of explorer to view content of an existing partition, edit or copy its files.
• add of -e option that corresponds to previous change.
• add of -tuix and -buix options to use video mode with more lines (43 or 50 instead of 25).
• a correction such as file modification date on NTFS partition is updated when this file is modified.
• a correction to avoid program to terminate abnormally when entering a wrong directory name on a mounted partition.
• some changes into interface.

19- V3.30

Evolutions made are:

• add of option to explore backup files.
• add of option to extract only a partition or occupied sectors of a partition when copying a backup file in case it contains all sectors.
• computed saving time is based on only occupied sectors when this option is chosen (restoring time is still computed as if all sectors are occupied).
• add of "vmmhiber.w9x" (Windows Millenium hibernation file) as a swap file for FAT partitions.
• add of sparse file support when exploring ext2/ext3 filesystem.
• add of "gmt", "max_mem_size", "empty_files", "ask_first_media" and "stdaccess" options into configuration file. The last one shall not be used unless you know what you do (you can loose the content of a whole disk in case it is badly used).

20- V3.40

Evolutions made are:

• add of option to update boot configuration data (the way boot is managed into Vista in replacement of BOOT.INI).
• add of -e option corresponding to previous change, with associated options into options file.
• add of options to be able to copy elements trough options file.
• some changes to take into account some FreeDos incompatibilities in how drive existance is checked and automatic language detection.
• change to avoid using 100% of CPU when waiting for some input from user.

21- V3.50

Evolutions made are:

• it's the first available Windows version (that does not mean that DOS version disappear). It shall be noticed that it can save system partition only if this is done from another Windows installation or from a WinPE or BartPE CD.
• add of an option to replace a boot sector or a superblock by its copy.
• add of an option to modify disk physical definition into a boot sector.
• add of an option to avoid checking free drive space when creating backup file (if you have a driver that reports a wrong free size).
• add of option to save boot sector or superblock only of a partition.
• add of command line and options file options to take these new functions into account.
• a better search and handling of boot sector copy for NTFS 1.2 partitions (NT <= 3.51).
• bad sectors are no more saved when saving occupied sectors only for NTFS and ext2/ext3 partitions (this was already the case for FAT partitions).
• when saving a partition on itself, using DOS drive letter of saved partition to create backup file is no more available, you have to use the mount mechanism for the saved partition.

22- V3.60

Evolutions made are:

• availability to save MBR and first sectors of disk in Windows version.
• availability to read/write file using NTFS compression mechanism when mounting NTFS partition (but modified part of files is not compressed).
• add of option to know why a support cannot be chosen as destination to restore a backup.
• "reboot=" option into options file works with Windows version when used from Windows NT/XP/....
• add of "386spart.par" as swap file (used by Windows 3.1).
• availability to change the first sector value in boot sector if this value is wrong when choosing option to fix FAT or NTFS boot sector.
• add of "fix_first_sector=" option into options files.
• change of way drives are detected in DOS version to avoid an error message in case floppy drive is used through the B: letter.
• a correction in Windows version to disallow mounting a partition both as a partition and a Windows drive.

23- V3.70

Evolutions made are:

• it's the first available Linux version. It shall be noticed that as for Windows version it can save system partition only if this is done from another Linux installation or from a liveCD.
• availability to save partitions table and all sectors of disks in Windows version. This can be done only if the used Windows version is at least Windows XP.
• availability to load an options file from user interface with being able to view it before. Once the file is loaded, you come back to the screen to choose what you want to do.
• availability to add a comment into options file when it is created.
• when the maximum file size is requested on backup, you can choose this size into a list with some predefined values.
• add of searching maximum disk size with relying on partitions table content. Depending on used OS, disks size can be slightly different. In this case, previous program versions could find partitions table to be wrong in case it defines some partition bigger than disk size (if it was created from an OS where disk seems to be bigger than for current OS). With this new mechanism, program tries to read last sectors to check if partitions table is valid or not (note: because of way disk are managed depending on OS, this modification will certainly change something only for DOS version). This search is not on by default (see "-tds" options to enable it).
• add of "-tds" option to enable disk size detection with relying on partition table content. This is needed only if no partition appears when getting list of what can be saved/restored.
• add of "test_disk_size=" option into options file that is similar to using "-tds" on command line.
• remove of a check when detecting disk that could lead to not see some USB disk accessed through BIOS. Depending on order of declaration of disks in BIOS, this can modify disk numbering (if USB disk is before other disks).
• add of "only_if_same=" option into options file to perform a restore/copy only if destination seems to be similar to the source (it has same physical definition).
• files using extended access rights on ext2/ext3 partition can be read (this changes something when exploring partition only, saving/restoring does not have any constraint with these files).

• Because of -tds option add, disk size can be different from the one found by previous versions for disks using standard access (those of less than 8 GB used on old motherboards) because in previous versions, default mode was as if option is used. If you cannot restore a backup done with a previous version on this type of disk or if partitions do no more appear, you have to use this option.
• Less for above constraint, this version can restore files created with previous versions. Reverse is true also.

24- V3.71

Evolutions made are:

• A correction to a regression that disallow opening files when using DOS version within Windows NT/2000/XP/...
• Add of a workaround to a problem in DOS network redirector that remove the distant directory if this one is empty.

25- V3.80

Evolutions made are:

• Add of ext4 filesystem support.
• Change to allow updating drive letter into registry on Windows Seven.
• Add of a new way to designate partition to save/restore and partition where to put backup file (-fp, -fd, -ff and -fnc options).
• Change to disable write verification as a default on DOS version. This does DOS version to be similar to Windows and Linux ones, improve speed and avoid getting errors with some USB drives. You can enable this option back through the -vd and -vf options.
• Change to have a better estimation of remaining time when performing restoration when restoring a partition where only occupied sectors were saved (with counting saved sectors only instead considering whole partition size). This change is active only with files created by this version (with files created with previous versions, remaining time estimation will still be wrong).
• Change to no more complain in case it remains less free size on disk than requested maximum size but this free size is enough to store the remaining size to save (only when using options file or automatic naming and when several files are needed).
• Correction of restoration of ext2/ext3 partitions using the resize inode feature when this partition is restored to a partition bigger than source one. Until this version, the resize inode feature was not updated leading to its corruption. If you have done this type of restoration, you have to run e2fsck to check your partition. You can use this version to restore a partition saved with a previous version without encountering this problem (problem is linked to restoration, it is not inside backup file).
• Correction of Linux version to allow using partition with number between 10 and 19 when saving first partition (or between 20 and 29 when saving second partion and so on) (ex: hda10 could not be used to store backup files when saving hda1).
• Correction of Linux version to have a correct free memory size in case having more than 4 GB memory.
• Correction to avoid first file to be 20 bytes more than requested maximum size.
• Add of -beep option to do regular beeps during backup.

26- V3.90

Evolutions made are:

• add of support for GUID partitions table (GPT). This type of partitions table will be needed for more than 2 TB disks.
• a change when restoring MBR and MBR partitions table: the disk identifier stored into MBR is restored when restoring the partitions table (previous versions restore it when restoring the MBR). This is because disk identifier is linked to partitions table (as it is used to identify partitions) and to have the same behaviour between MBR and GPT partitions tables.
• add of -force command line option to disable some checks done by program on restoration, but this option shall be used with care as it can result in wrong result.
• add of check_files_exist= option in options file to check that files exist before restoring a backup (thus avoiding getting an error in middle of process in case a file is missing).
• use of 1.2.5 zlib version.
• launch of new console at start of program in Windows version to disable the quick edit mode (thus allowing using mouse). This can be disabled with using the "-term no" command line option.
• change of Linux binaries extension from ".exe" to ".run" as some distributions treat ".exe" files as compressed files.

27- V4.00

Evolutions made are:

• add of raw files treatment: some files could be considered as image of supports (as obtained through "dd") and be saved and restored. The corresponding options have been added.
• taking into account that disk can be not partitioned (as not partitioned USB key that are too big to be considered as floppy).
• change of Linux version to support terminal with UTF-8 display and add of the corresponding option.
• add of support of more support in Linux version: use of block devices: /dev/ataraid, /dev/iseries, /dev/ccisss, /dev/mapper, /dev/md/md_d, /dev/md/d, /dev/md_d, /dev/sx8, /dev/md, /dev/rd in addition to already supported ones. If /etc/auto.master or /etc/autofs/auto.master file exists, it is used to get a list of automatically mounted supports (with considering only simple mount, not network nor scripted ones). If /dev/fuse file (automatic mount in user space) exists, all devices are displayed without them to appear in /etc/fstab.
• change of UTF-16 characters displaying: instead of being <code based on value>, it is <numeric value of character in hexadecimal>. This does that if an option file uses a name with old format, it will no more be supported (such a coding can appear in filenames and in boot entry name). This does not change anything to backup files.
• change of "beep" option to allow defining delay between 2 beeps.
• change of "fix_first_sector" option to allow defining the first sector value.
• change of "force" option for it to allow testing all filesystem types on a partition even if they are not one coherent with partition type.
• add of a check box when filling options file comment to not store full path to created files such as options file can be used even if files are moved as long as Partition-Saving is launched from directory where backup files are.
• add of logging capability to store all error messages in a file. There is no real reason to use this in most cases as it will slow down copy and could generate a very big file in case of damaged disk.
• change of behaviour when "quit=yes" option is given in options file: previously in case of fatal error, user had to click on "Ok" to end; now program exits. If you want to keep previous behaviour, you have to use the "quit=nobadsector" option instead. Please note that on Linux and Windows versions you will still need to press "Enter" key else the terminal could be closed before you can read the message.

28- V4.10

Evolutions made are:

• it is the first 64 bits version for Windows and Linux. There is no major difference with 32 bits version, less fact that 64 bits Windows version is not compressed (so binaries are bigger).
• use of 1.2.8 zlib version.
• add of "swapfile.sys" file into list of swap files to ignore (added by Windows 8).
• clear to 0 of begin of swap files when restoring backup done with ignoring swap files. In case Windows is in hibernation mode when the restore is done, this avoid incoherence because Windows restarts from its hibernation state and disk content was modified. This does not change anything on backup files: restoring a backup created with previous version will reset begin of swap files and restoring with a previous version a backup created with this version will not reset begin of swap files.
• a correction to avoid program to block in some cases in case of execution cancel during a backup/restore.
• some minor changes into interface as:
  • pre-filling of file name and maximum size when several files are needed (as if automatic naming is used but with letting user capability to modify these values) as suggested by Barry Akin. In command line interface, pre-filled values appear between square brackets and hitting Enter key allows validating this pre-filled value.
  • display of directory content when asking for filename in command line mode if enterred filename contains wildcards characters or is a directory name.

29- V4.20

Evolutions made are:

• capability to explore a partition or backup file with console interface mode,
• capability to execute a script when exploring a partition or a backup file,
• capability to remove files and directories when exploring a partition,
• capability to resize terminal size in Linux and Windows cases when using the -tuix or -buix display mode,
• size units in options file have been modified from kb or Kb to kB and Mb to MB. That leads to the fact an options file created with this version cannot be read by previous versions (reserve is possible because this version allows reading old unit display).

30- V4.30

Evolutions made are:

• support of different location for Windows boot configuration data file to adapt to fact they are located in another place when using UEFI BIOS,
• add of option to give the boot configuration data file location,
• support of additional kind of entries in boot configuration file (for recovery environment option),
• support of some of the new ext4 filesystem features (sparse super2, inline data, metadata checksum, checksum seed, multimount protection),
• add of capability to change boot partition,
• add of capability to update disk number in FAT and NTFS boot sectors,
• do no more try to continue reading a file as soon as a bad sector is found as the read will necesserally end in error. This does not change anything for backup as backup does not work at file level, it will just speed up copy for people using explore mode to retrieve files content on a damaged disk,
• avoid potential computation overflow when displaying progress bar in console user interface.

31- V4.40

Evolutions made are:

• correction of a restriction introduced in V4.20 leading to unavailability to restore MBR and first sectors of a disk in Windows and Linux versions,
• add of treatment of blkid information when parsing /etc/fstab file to detect devices on Linux,
• add of option to not exit program in case of checksum error in backup file,
• add of full support for indexed directories in ext2 driver (previously they were used without index information). This has no influence on backup/restore process as this one does not need to enter in such detail in filesystem structure,
• improvment of memory management, mostly for DOS version with trying to avoid DPMI memory manager to exit program in case it cannot get enough memory,
• use of 1.2.11 zlib version.

32- V4.50

Evolutions made are:

• add of detection of hibernated Windows or Linux such as you get a warning is such a system is encountered. As the data were not flushed to disk and system will ignore any change done to disk when it is restarted, performing a backup or modifying the disk should be avoided in that case. A good way to ensure a system is not hibernated is to choose to restart it instead of shutting it down,
• update console handling on Windows to take new console mode in Windows 10 (console can be resized as on Linux with using "-tuix" option),
• add capability to reuse a raw file such as you could access several partitions in the file if it contains a partitionned disk,
• add capability to use "main_part=" and "ext_part=" options with raw files in options file in case raw file contains a partitionned disk,
• treat "heads_sectors=parttable" option in DOS version to use physical definition deduced from partitions table as in Linux and Windows versions such as backup files use the same physical definition. This avoids getting difference in backup file content depending on used OS,
• add "cylinders=" option in options file to force number of cylinders (useful only for the same reason than previous change),
• add "-termopt" command line option to give the flag used by Linux terminal to execute a command. It is "-e" as default to match flag used by xterm.

33- V4.60

Evolutions made are:

• detect more devices on Linux version with taking into account all block devices less those known as CD/DVD drives,
• add of detection of administrator's rights on Windows and Linux versions to display a warning message in case they are not granted (as devices will not be accessible). The "-noroot" option disables this check,
• add capability to keep source file date when copying a file during backup or partition exploration,
• display size in GB instead of MB as default.