<s>
Ranish	B-Application
Partition	I-Application
Manager	I-Application
is	O
a	O
freeware	B-License
hard	B-Application
disk	I-Application
partition	I-Application
editor	O
,	O
disk	B-Application
cloning	I-Application
utility	O
,	O
and	O
boot	B-Application
manager	I-Application
,	O
that	O
gives	O
a	O
high	O
level	O
of	O
control	O
for	O
creating	O
multi-boot	B-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
freeware	B-License
live	O
CD	O
SystemRescueCD	B-Application
and	O
the	O
Ultimate	O
Boot	O
CD	O
(	O
not	O
the	O
Windows	O
version	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
runs	O
under	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
PC	B-Operating_System
DOS	I-Operating_System
,	O
DR-DOS	B-Application
,	O
or	O
FreeDOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
editor	O
bundled	O
with	O
Windows	O
Vista	O
and	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
,	O
Ranish	B-Application
Partition	I-Application
Manager	I-Application
can	O
make	O
partition	B-Application
tables	O
where	O
both	O
Windows	O
XP	O
and	O
Windows	O
Vista	O
can	O
be	O
installed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
make	O
a	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
with	O
no	O
errors	O
in	O
RPM	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
Windows	O
XP	O
installer	O
cannot	O
install	O
XP	O
(	O
without	O
deleting	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
value	O
from	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Editing	O
this	O
type	O
of	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
with	O
Vista	O
's	O
partition	B-Application
editor	O
will	O
result	O
in	O
mixed	O
alignments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
latest	O
beta	O
(	O
v2.44	O
beta	O
)	O
provides	O
a	O
workaround	O
to	O
overcome	O
the	O
limitation	O
of	O
4	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
in	O
a	O
single	O
drive	O
,	O
thus	O
permitting	O
up	O
to	O
30	O
primary	O
(	O
and	O
therefore	O
bootable	O
)	O
partitions	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Allows	O
sector-precise	O
editing	O
of	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
,	O
logical	B-Application
drives	I-Application
,	O
and	O
EBR	B-Application
extended	B-Application
partitions	I-Application
(	O
type	O
05	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
particularly	O
rare	O
feature	O
of	O
RPM	O
is	O
that	O
it	O
shows	O
exactly	O
where	O
extended	B-Application
boot	I-Application
records	I-Application
are	O
,	O
advises	O
the	O
user	O
of	O
where	O
they	O
should	O
be	O
,	O
and	O
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
put	O
them	O
anywhere	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RPM	O
may	O
show	O
an	O
error	O
if	O
the	O
EBRs	O
are	O
not	O
on	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
a	O
head	O
(	O
relative	O
to	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
—	O
type	O
0F	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
partition	B-Application
alignments	O
of	O
this	O
sort	O
,	O
are	O
ignored	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
is	O
edited	O
by	O
Windows	O
XP	O
disk	O
manager	O
,	O
XP	O
may	O
delete	O
the	O
logical	B-Application
drives	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
can	O
happen	O
if	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
is	O
first	O
edited	O
by	O
Windows	O
Vista	O
or	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
RPM	O
shows	O
all	O
of	O
this	O
information	O
and	O
shows	O
the	O
entire	O
drive	O
in	O
a	O
CHS	B-Device
format	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
easy	O
to	O
see	O
whether	O
the	O
entire	O
extended	O
and	O
primary	O
partition	B-Application
tables	O
,	O
conform	O
to	O
a	O
standard	O
CHS	B-Device
alignment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
a	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
does	O
not	O
follow	O
a	O
consistent	O
CHS	B-Device
alignment	O
(	O
or	O
maybe	O
even	O
if	O
it	O
does	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
Vista	O
partition	B-Application
is	O
resized	O
or	O
imaged	O
,	O
using	O
certain	O
tools	O
,	O
these	O
tools	O
may	O
"	O
correct	O
"	O
the	O
start	O
of	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
(	O
sometimes	O
by	O
placing	O
it	O
on	O
a	O
cylinder	O
(	O
or	O
track	O
?	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
also	O
makes	O
it	O
easy	O
to	O
write	O
down	O
the	O
location	O
of	O
a	O
partition	B-Application
(	O
in	O
cylinders	O
)	O
,	O
delete	O
it	O
from	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
,	O
and	O
later	O
re-add	O
it	O
to	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
,	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
visible	O
again	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
used	O
in	O
multi-boot	B-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
,	O
where	O
more	O
than	O
four	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
are	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
this	O
technique	O
it	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
convert	O
logical	B-Application
drives	I-Application
to	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
and	O
vice	O
versa	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
technique	O
only	O
works	O
with	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
install	O
Windows	O
XP	O
it	O
may	O
be	O
necessary	O
to	O
delete	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
from	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
(	O
in	O
the	O
master	B-Device
boot	I-Device
record	I-Device
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
if	O
you	O
delete	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
value	O
in	O
the	O
master	B-Device
boot	I-Device
record	I-Device
then	O
you	O
try	O
to	O
add	O
it	O
back	O
,	O
RPM	O
will	O
delete	O
the	O
first	O
extended	B-Application
boot	I-Application
record	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
,	O
this	O
can	O
be	O
done	O
with	O
a	O
disk	B-Application
editor	I-Application
such	O
as	O
hexedit	B-Application
on	O
System	B-Application
Rescue	I-Application
CD	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
value	O
for	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
is	O
copied	O
to	O
a	O
file	O
and	O
deleted	O
from	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
installing	O
Windows	O
XP	O
,	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
value	O
is	O
copied	O
back	O
and	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
becomes	O
visible	O
to	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RPM	O
can	O
create	O
bit-identical	O
partition	B-Application
clones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SystemRescueCD	B-Application
(	O
at	O
the	O
first	O
prompt	O
select	O
"	O
Run	O
system	O
tools	O
from	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
image	O
"	O
(	O
version	O
1.6.0	O
)	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
version	O
2.8.1	O
and	O
above	O
SystemRescueCD	B-Application
does	O
not	O
include	O
RPM	O
anymore	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RPM	O
can	O
be	O
installed	O
to	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
from	O
the	O
TUI	B-Application
(	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
require	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
command	O
line	O
as	O
is	O
required	O
to	O
save	O
a	O
text	O
file	O
of	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RPM	O
can	O
be	O
installed	O
to	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aside	O
from	O
tools	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
run	O
from	O
the	O
regularly	O
used	O
operating	O
system	O
,	O
RPM	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
fastest	O
ways	O
to	O
partition	B-Application
a	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
,	O
or	O
to	O
restore	O
,	O
clone	O
,	O
or	O
move	O
an	O
operating	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
It	O
is	O
unknown	O
whether	O
it	O
works	O
with	O
a	O
dynamic	O
disk	O
or	O
a	O
large	O
sector	B-Application
drive	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Formatting	O
partitions	B-Application
with	O
RPM	O
sometimes	O
seemed	O
to	O
result	O
in	O
problems	O
in	O
Windows	O
XP	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
makes	O
it	O
impossible	O
to	O
add	O
a	O
partition	B-Application
when	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
has	O
approximately	O
3	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
,	O
plus	O
an	O
"	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
"	O
with	O
28	O
logical	B-Application
drives	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Logical	B-Application
drives	I-Application
require	O
two	O
lines	O
minimum	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Re-sizing	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
(	O
type	O
0x0F	O
)	O
can	O
only	O
be	O
done	O
manually	O
so	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
could	O
not	O
be	O
re-sized	O
beyond	O
cylinder	O
65535	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Take	O
for	O
example	O
a	O
disk	O
(	O
and	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
)	O
that	O
uses	O
a	O
sector	B-Application
size	O
of	O
512	B-Application
bytes	I-Application
,	O
a	O
head	O
size	O
of	O
63	O
sectors	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
largest	O
(	O
and	O
probably	O
the	O
most	O
common	O
)	O
cylinder	O
size	O
,	O
that	O
is	O
,	O
255	O
heads	O
per	O
cylinder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
this	O
disk	O
,	O
Ranish	O
PM	O
could	O
re-size	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
,	O
to	O
anywhere	O
less	O
than	O
about	O
502	O
GiB	O
from	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
the	O
disk	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
a	O
disk	O
that	O
is	O
the	O
same	O
except	O
the	O
cylinder	O
size	O
is	O
240	O
heads	O
per	O
cylinder	O
,	O
the	O
maximum	O
location	O
for	O
the	O
start	O
of	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
would	O
be	O
roughly	O
472	O
GiB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Generally	O
the	O
only	O
time	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
are	O
required	O
(	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
logical	B-Application
drives	I-Application
)	O
is	O
to	O
install	O
certain	O
operating	O
systems	O
(	O
like	O
Windows	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
472	O
GiB	O
is	O
probably	O
plenty	O
of	O
space	O
for	O
this	O
purpose	O
,	O
even	O
with	O
multi-boot	B-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
can	O
usually	O
be	O
used	O
with	O
partitions	B-Application
that	O
do	O
not	O
follow	O
a	O
single	O
CHS	B-Device
alignment	O
,	O
but	O
this	O
can	O
be	O
awkward	O
for	O
these	O
reasons	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
RPM	O
allows	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
to	O
be	O
viewed	O
as	O
CHS	B-Device
or	O
sectors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
sector	B-Application
mode	O
,	O
drives	O
over	O
maybe	O
250	O
GB	O
or	O
so	O
,	O
have	O
so	O
many	O
sectors	O
they	O
push	O
the	O
lines	O
to	O
the	O
next	O
line	O
on	O
the	O
display	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
you	O
only	O
know	O
the	O
sector	B-Application
you	O
want	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
on	O
,	O
you	O
may	O
need	O
to	O
convert	O
this	O
to	O
a	O
CHS	B-Device
value	O
for	O
this	O
reason	O
:	O
In	O
sector	B-Application
mode	O
,	O
the	O
max	O
size	O
possible	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
partition	B-Application
in	O
sectors	O
,	O
was	O
somewhere	O
over	O
268,435,433	O
but	O
under	O
268,435,550	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Partitions	B-Application
of	O
at	O
least	O
one	O
terabyte	O
have	O
been	O
created	O
,	O
when	O
entering	O
the	O
values	O
in	O
cylinders	O
(	O
in	O
CHS	B-Device
mode	O
using	O
the	O
wizard	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
But	O
in	O
CHS	B-Device
mode	O
it	O
does	O
n't	O
allow	O
just	O
any	O
head	O
or	O
sector	B-Application
address	O
to	O
be	O
typed	O
in	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ranish	B-Application
Partition	I-Application
Manager	I-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
(	O
manual	O
)	O
backup	O
of	O
both	O
the	O
primary	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
and	O
the	O
"	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
"	O
(	O
table	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
RPM	O
it	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
convert	O
logical	B-Application
drives	I-Application
to	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
RPM	O
this	O
is	O
done	O
by	O
"	O
deleting	O
"	O
the	O
logical	B-Application
drive	I-Application
,	O
moving	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
the	O
"	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
"	O
(	O
type	O
0x0F	O
)	O
forward	O
,	O
recreating	O
a	O
primary	O
"	O
partition	B-Application
"	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
location	O
as	O
the	O
logical	B-Application
drive	I-Application
,	O
then	O
saving	O
the	O
changes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
process	O
is	O
reversed	O
to	O
convert	O
a	O
primary	O
partition	B-Application
to	O
a	O
logical	B-Application
drive	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
before	O
or	O
after	O
these	O
conversions	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
must	O
deviate	O
from	O
a	O
standard	O
CHS	B-Device
alignment	O
,	O
because	O
logical	B-Application
drives	I-Application
usually	O
start	O
on	O
the	O
second	O
head	O
(	O
head	O
1	O
)	O
while	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
usually	O
start	O
at	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
a	O
cylinder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
modern	O
operating	O
systems	O
probably	O
would	O
not	O
have	O
problems	O
reading	O
and	O
editing	O
the	O
files	O
on	O
a	O
converted	O
drive	O
but	O
some	O
software	O
used	O
for	O
re-sizing	O
or	O
imaging	O
partitions	B-Application
,	O
may	O
decide	O
to	O
silently	O
"	O
correct	O
"	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
by	O
moving	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
(	O
perhaps	O
to	O
conform	O
to	O
a	O
standard	O
CHS	B-Device
alignment	O
)	O
or	O
to	O
conform	O
to	O
a	O
1-MiB	O
alignment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
re-sizing	O
would	O
not	O
prevent	O
Windows	O
XP	O
from	O
booting	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
might	O
prevent	O
Windows	O
Vista	O
from	O
booting	O
,	O
if	O
the	O
starting	O
sector	B-Application
is	O
moved	O
without	O
updating	O
Vista	O
's	O
boot	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Secondly	O
,	O
if	O
the	O
user	O
is	O
unaware	O
that	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
has	O
been	O
moved	O
,	O
they	O
may	O
not	O
realize	O
that	O
an	O
old	O
backup	O
of	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
,	O
will	O
be	O
obsolete	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
another	O
possible	O
problem	O
with	O
converting	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
into	O
logical	B-Application
drives	I-Application
,	O
unless	O
the	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
are	O
made	O
for	O
this	O
purpose	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	O
XP	O
Disk	O
Management	O
is	O
known	O
to	O
delete	O
"	O
nonstandard	O
"	O
extended	B-Application
partitions	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
must	O
be	O
at	O
least	O
63	O
sectors	O
before	O
the	O
primary	O
partition	B-Application
,	O
to	O
allocate	O
for	O
an	O
EBR	B-Application
,	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
conversion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
these	O
reasons	O
,	O
it	O
may	O
be	O
preferable	O
,	O
for	O
any	O
primary	O
partition	B-Application
which	O
may	O
be	O
converted	O
to	O
an	O
extended	B-Application
partition	I-Application
,	O
to	O
start	O
them	O
on	O
head	O
1	O
,	O
instead	O
of	O
at	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
the	O
cylinder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
space	O
from	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
this	O
cylinder	O
,	O
to	O
head	O
1	O
,	O
should	O
be	O
free	O
space	O
;	O
the	O
previous	O
partition	B-Application
should	O
end	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
last	O
complete	O
cylinder	O
(	O
or	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
an	O
earlier	O
cylinder	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
on	O
head	O
1	O
(	O
instead	O
of	O
head	O
0	O
)	O
has	O
another	O
advantage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
allows	O
bit-identical	O
cloning	B-Application
of	O
these	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
,	O
to	O
logical	B-Application
drives	I-Application
,	O
making	O
completely	O
normal	O
(	O
usual	O
)	O
logical	B-Application
drives	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
is	O
,	O
the	O
EBRs	O
of	O
the	O
logical	B-Application
drives	I-Application
are	O
at	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
a	O
cylinder	O
,	O
the	O
logical	B-Application
drive	I-Application
begins	O
on	O
the	O
very	O
next	O
head	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
logical	B-Application
drive	I-Application
ends	O
on	O
a	O
cylinder	O
boundary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
this	O
author	O
has	O
not	O
tested	O
installing	O
or	O
booting	O
operating	O
systems	O
from	O
primary	O
partitions	B-Application
beginning	O
on	O
the	O
head	O
1	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
not	O
the	O
first	O
partition	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
The	O
first	O
partition	B-Application
usually	O
begins	O
on	O
head	O
1	O
because	O
this	O
cylinder	O
begins	O
with	O
the	O
master	B-Device
boot	I-Device
record	I-Device
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
most	O
graphical	B-Application
partition	B-Application
editors	I-Application
,	O
GParted	B-Application
is	O
not	O
sector-precise	O
,	O
meaning	O
it	O
will	O
not	O
show	O
the	O
numbers	O
of	O
the	O
sectors	O
or	O
cylinders	O
where	O
partitions	B-Application
are	O
being	O
created	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
it	O
does	O
a	O
few	O
things	O
RPM	O
cannot	O
:	O
GParted	B-Application
can	O
resize	O
partitions	B-Application
with	O
data	O
on	O
them	O
(	O
NTFS	B-Application
,	O
FAT	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
and	O
it	O
can	O
format	O
NTFS	B-Application
partitions	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
RPM	O
is	O
able	O
to	O
format	O
FAT	O
partitions	B-Application
,	O
Windows	O
XP	O
had	O
an	O
error	O
on	O
a	O
partition	B-Application
formatted	O
with	O
RPM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ranish	B-Application
Partition	I-Application
Manager	I-Application
and	O
GNU	B-Application
Parted	I-Application
(	O
parted	B-Application
)	O
can	O
display	O
all	O
partitions	B-Application
in	O
one	O
CHS	B-Device
format	O
,	O
and	O
both	O
are	O
sector	B-Application
precise	O
,	O
but	O
parted	B-Application
does	O
not	O
show	O
the	O
locations	O
of	O
the	O
EBRs	O
or	O
all	O
the	O
values	O
they	O
contain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Linux	O
,	O
all	O
this	O
information	O
can	O
be	O
displayed	O
by	O
using	O
sfdisk	B-Application
-us	O
-l	O
-x	O
but	O
the	O
format	O
requires	O
more	O
scrutinizing	O
and	O
does	O
n't	O
indicate	O
errors/warnings	O
with	O
color	O
,	O
as	O
RPM	O
does	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
the	O
command	O
line	O
tools	O
parted	B-Application
or	O
sfdisk	B-Application
,	O
RPMs	O
text	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
move	O
the	O
cursor	O
anywhere	O
on	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
table	O
to	O
select	O
what	O
values	O
to	O
change	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Parted	B-Application
is	O
riskier	O
and	O
less	O
efficient	O
to	O
use	O
,	O
because	O
it	O
saves	O
every	O
change	O
as	O
soon	O
as	O
it	O
is	O
made	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
takes	O
time	O
to	O
update	O
certain	O
things	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RPM	O
can	O
create	O
partitions	B-Application
manually	O
or	O
using	O
a	O
wizard	O
.	O
</s>
