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Copyright © 1999-2012 D. Guibouret

Welcome to the Partition Saving home page !


What's new?

05/05/2012 A new version of Partition Saving (V4.00) was released on May 5th. This version adds support for raw files and detection of more kind of devices in Linux version.
Other changes are detailed into file giving list of changes.
27/02/2011 I have added a small tutorial on how to use the Windows installation DVD to use the Windows version of Partition-Saving. You can read it here.
03/09/2010 A new version of Partition Saving (V3.90) was released on September 3rd. This version adds support for GUID partitions table (new partitions table format to take into account disk of more than 2 Tb).
Another major change is that disk identifier stored into MBR is now restored when restoring partitions table instead of being restored when restoring MBR (this is to have same behaviour between MBR partitions table and GUID partitions table).
Linux binaries use now ".run" extension instead of ".exe" to avoid mess with some distributions that consider ".exe" files are compressed files.
Other changes are detailed into file giving list of changes.
12/07/2009 A new version of Partition Saving (V3.80) was released on December 7th. This version adds support for ext4 filesystem and a correction to update the resize inode of ext2/ext3 partitions when restoring to a partition bigger than saved one. A new way to choose the partition to save and the one having backup file has been added with scanning all partitions to find some marker files (see chapter 21 of manual). A change has also been performed to allow updating drive letter into registry of Windows 7. Some other changes have been done and are detailed into file giving list of changes.
02/27/2009 A new version of Partition Saving (V3.71) was released on February 27th. This version corrects a problem that disallows creating files when using DOS version within Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista (as to pre-create files on an NTFS partition). It adds also a workaround to the DOS network redirector that removes distant directory in case this one is empty. Thanks to Sébastien Willemijns and Dirk F. Kapelle to have signaled this two problems.
01/18/2009 A new version of Partition Saving (V3.70) was released on January 18th. Major change is that it is first Linux version (DOS and Windows versions still existing). There is some constraints on this version (see chapter 27 of manual), notably Linux version cannot save an active partition (for this you need a LiveCD). I cannot test this version on all Linux distributions and versions, mostly for 64 bits versions.
All versions are into the same file that does not need any installation (just uncompress it into a directory).
Others evolutions are:
  • availability to save partitions table and all sectors of an hard disk in Windows version (you need at least Windows XP).
  • availability to load options file from interface with viewing it before. A comment can also be added to options file when it is created.
  • take into account of file extended access rights on ext2/ext3 partitions to allow their opening into explorer (this did not disallow their saving/restoring).
  • availability to force disk size detection with depending on partitions table content. This will only concern DOS version with using the "-tds" option (note: for less than 8 Go disk, this can lead to a difference of detection with previous versions).
  • remove of some checks that could disallow detection of some USB disks (note: this can lead to changes in disk numbering if USB disk is found before other ones).
  • some changes into user interface (see changes list).
05/31/2008 The BartPE plugin has been updated to avoid menu entries to be disabled in case test for directory existence fails (it seems to depend on versions). Thanks to Phil Charlestek to have signalled this problem to me.
Another change is the HTML documentation is opened with default browser instead of using firefox plugin (obviously an HTML browser is needed and shall be configured to open HTML files).
You can get this version with reading this page.
05/11/2008 An ISO version of the boot floppy disk is generated to create a bootable CD-ROM with spartbdk content. So you have choice between using this version (CD is already created but adding files is not easy) or using the .img file published with spartbdk (you need to know how to create bootable CD with your CD burning software).

A plugin for BartPE is also created to easily integrate the Windows version of program into this software. You can get more details on it with reading this page.

03/29/2008 When creating Windows version, documentation was only partially updated to take this version into account. Documentation has been modified to better take it into account.
Note:
Only HTML version of documentation has been updated, text version delivered with program will be updated with next version.
03/16/2008 A new version of Partition Saving (V3.60) was released on March, 16th. Major changes are:
  • the MBR can be saved/restored with the Windows version.
  • add of an option to know why a partition cannot be chosen as destination of a restoration.
  • add of an option to fix the first sector number of a FAT/NTFS partition into its boot sector.
  • add of read/write of compressed file on NTFS partition (this does not change anything about their saving/restoring that was always available, but it is to access them when mounting a NTFS partition).
A new tool (drivinfo.zip) is also released. It allows getting DOS/Windows drives information if you get some difficulties on their detection.
08/25/2007 A new version of Partition Saving (V3.50) was released on August 25th. Major change is that it is first Windows version (DOS version still existing). There is some differences between these versions (see chapter 26 of manual), notably Windows version cannot save full disk or active system partition (for this you need a WinPE or BartPE CD). I cannot test this version on all Windows version, but, less for the 64 bits Windows for which I cannot perform any test (it is better you perform some try before if you want to use the Windows version on these Windows versions), differences between versions shall not be a problem. Both versions (DOS and Windows ones) are into the same file that does not need any installation (just uncompress it into a directory).
Others evolutions are:
  • add of an option to replace a boot sector or a superblock by its copy (it can be useful when your drive suddenly appears as "RAW" in Windows).
  • add of an option to modify disk physical definition into a boot sector (it can be used in case you have some boot problem as NTLDR is missing and the file is here).
  • 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.
05/04/2007 A bootable floppy disk based on FreeDOS and with Partition Saving is available since the 4th of May. You can read its documentation to get more details and go to the download page to load it.
04/01/2007 A new version of Partition Saving (V3.40) was released on April, 1st. Changes are:
  • Add of an option to update Windows Vista boot configuration. This option was tested only on Windows Vista RC1, but I do not expect there was something modified here into final version. This option is needed only if you move the Windows Vista or boot partition.
    For saving Windows Vista itself, there is no change since Windows XP (it is the same NTFS version). You must be aware to cleanly reboot it, not to let it into hibernation mode (default Vista shutdown mode). For this, you have to choose menu having detailed shutdown options (button like an arrow near the default button).
  • Add of options into options file to be able to copy a partition with using it (see source_xxx and dest_xxx options).
  • Take into account of some FreeDOS incompatibilities in how to detect language and available drives.

What Partition Saving is?

Partition Saving is a DOS, Windows and Linux program that is used to save, restore and copy hard-drive, partitions, floppy disk and DOS, Windows or Linux devices.

With this program you could save all data on a partition to a file (such as you could save this file on a CD for example). Then if something goes wrong, you can completely restore the partition from the backup file. You no longer have to reinstall every piece of software from scratch. All you have to do is restore the partition from the backup file and then update any software that was modified since the backup was created.

Note: beware of software which installs or modifies files on multiple partitions (e.g. Windows programs which update the registry or DLLs that may be on other partitions). If one partition is saved or restored, you must include others (otherwise, inconsistencies could prevent software from running).

Partition Saving is able to compress data (using the gzip compression algorithm) and split it up into several files (e.g. if you need to save a 2 Gb partition onto a CD, this can be done by compressing it and, if necessary, splitting it up into 650 Mb files). Most partition types are supported. In the case of FAT (12, 16 and 32), ext2/3 and NTFS partitions, you can choose between saving all sectors or in-use sectors only.

For more information, please read documentation (a current text version is included in the program files, but the FAQ section may be more recent).

To download Partition Saving click here.

If you need help, you could email me (I will update the FAQ page with comments and questions received). If you do not receive a reply after some time, please try again, perhaps your email or the subsequent reply became lost or the mail title was not explicit enough.

Official website of Partition Saving is http://www.partition-saving.com. If you put link on some web pages, please use only this address, not the one this one is redirected to.

Thanks to all those who discovered bugs and helped me to resolve them, to those who asked me questions and to all who sent emails with encouragement or advice to improve this program.

D. Guibouret <>

All trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective holders.