DiskGenius User Guide
DiskGenius User Guide
User Guide
The information in this document is subject to change without notice. This document is not
warranted to be error free.
Introduction...................................................................................................... 5
Partition Management........................................................................................... 5
Create New Partition ....................................................................................... 5
Active Partition (Mark Partition as Active) ......................................................... 9
Delete Partition ............................................................................................ 11
Format Partition ........................................................................................... 13
Hide Partition ............................................................................................... 14
Modify Partition Parameters........................................................................... 16
Resize Partition............................................................................................. 18
Split Partition ............................................................................................... 22
Extend Partition ............................................................................................ 25
Add Free Space to Partition ........................................................................... 28
Assign Drive Letter ....................................................................................... 30
Partition Backup ........................................................................................... 34
Restore Partition from Image File .................................................................. 39
Explorer Partition Image File ......................................................................... 42
Clone Partition (Copy Partition)...................................................................... 46
Recover Deleted or Lost Files (File Recovery) ................................................. 51
Save Scan Progress ...................................................................................... 59
Recover Files By Type ................................................................................... 64
Load Current Partition Intelligently ................................................................ 68
Set Volume Name ......................................................................................... 70
Convert Partition Type Between Primary and Logical ....................................... 72
Erase Sectors ............................................................................................... 74
Erase Free Space .......................................................................................... 77
4KB Partition Alignment Detection ................................................................. 80
Disk Operation ................................................................................................ 81
DiskGenius is highly-efficient tool for data recovery, partition management and data
backup. It is designed with convenient user-interface and effective features, which
makes it easy to manage disk space, recover deleted files, clone partition, image
disk, etc.
Technical Specification
Supported file system: FAT, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, EXT2, EXT3, EXT4
Partition Management
You should decide partition type before creating new partition table. There are three
types of partitions, primary partition, extended partition and logical partition. Primary
partition is created on hard drive directly, which is generally used to install and boot
operating system. Due to the limitation on MBR partition table, there can be 4
primary partitions at most, or 3 primary partitions and 1 extended partition.
Extended partition is a kind of special primary partition, and it can contain several
EASSOS Technology Co., Ltd. https://www.diskgenius.com/ 5
logical partitions. Logical partition is created on extended partition, and the number
of logical partitions is not limited.
Step 1 Select free disk space on hard drive and click New Partition button from
Step 2 Select partition type, file system and partition size and click OK button.
To make sure the partition is 4K aligned you can select option "Align to Integral
Multiple of Sectors".
You can set partition's beginning and ending cylinder, beginning sectors and sector
numbers. As to GUID partition table, more partition settings are available.
Step 3 Click Save All button to save the partition to partition table and format the
partition.
The newly created partition is not saved to hard drive immediately, as it is created in
memory for the moment. Thus, you need to save the partition to partition table
manually before you can see it in Windows Explorer. Such approach is to prevent
data loss caused by improper operation.
menu.
Step 2 Enter partition size for these two partitions and click Start button.
An active partition is a primary partition on a hard drive set as the bootable partition
that contains operating system. Only one partition on each hard drive can be set as
an active partition.
To active a partition, please right-click on the primary partition and select "Mark
Partition As Active" from context menu.
It's easy to delete a partition from hard drive, removable disks or virtual disk with the
help of DiskGenius.
Step 1 Select the partition you want to delete and click Delete button from toolbar
Step 3 Click Save All button from toolbar to make the deletion take effect.
A newly created partition should be formatted before it can be used to store data.
Currently, DiskGenius supports formatting partition to NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, exFAT,
EXT2, EXT3 and EXT4 file system.
Step 1 Select the partition you want to format and click Format button from
Step 2 Select file system, cluster size, volume label and click Format button.
Also, you can select "Surface Scan" which will scan the drive for bad sectors during
formatting. However, surface scan takes long time and there is no need to do so on
most new hard drives.
If the partition to be formatted is primary partition and file system is set as FAT32,
FAT16 or FAT12, the option "Create DOS system" will be available. If it is selected,
the formatting process will create a DOS system in this partition, which can be used
to boot computer.
Step 3 Click Yes when DiskGenius asks confirmation for the operation, and the
Hide Partition
Hide partition
A hidden partition does not have a drive letter and it cannot be seen in Windows
Explorer, thus operating systems cannot access it. Files in hidden partition are not
lost, but they cannot be accessed in normal method.
Step 1 Right-click on the partition you want to hide and select "Hide/Unhide
Though the hidden partition cannot be seen in Windows Explorer, you can use
DiskGenius to access it.
Unhide partition
Step 3 Click Save All button to save changes to partition table. Then the partition
will be assigned a drive letter automatically by operating system and you can see it
in Windows Explorer again.
Step 1 Select the partition you want to modify its parameters and
Changing system identifier does not change partition type or file system type.
Partition size changed by this feature may damage data in partition. Incorrect
settings may lead to corrupted partition.
Resize Partition
DiskGenius is able to change the size of partition without data loss, and you can use
it to extend, shrink or split partition as you like.
Step 1 Right-click on the partition you want to resize and click Resize Partition as
follows:
Place mouse pointer on the edge of partition and you can drag it to change partition
size; also, you can enter exact number in the column below. The disk space resized
from the partition can be merged to other partition, kept unallocated or created new
partition.
Step 4 Click Complete button when the programs finishes resizing partition.
If the partition resizing process involves operating system, DiskGenius will prompts to
enter DOS version to complete the task. If your operating system does not support
DOS system anymore, you can enter DiskGenius WinPE version to resize system
partition.
Please do not access the partition being resized in case of any unexpected issues.
The resizing process may take long time if there are too many files on the partition.
In that case, you can set operations after resizing finishes.
Split Partition
DiskGenius is able to split one partition into two partitions without affecting data on
the drive.
Step 1 Right-click on the partition you want to split and select Split Partition, as
follows:
Step 3 DiskGenius prompts operations to be done and things should be noted in the
This guide will show you how to extend partition without data loss, which can be
used to enlarge any partition and fix low disk space issue in Windows.
Step 1 Right-click on the partition you want to extend and select Extend
Partition option.
Step 2 Select a partition that contains large amount of free space and click OK.
click Start.
Step 4 DiskGenius lists operations to be executed and things you should be aware.
DiskGenius can help you add unallocated or free disk space to any existing partition
without losing data. Unallocated disk space can be added to partition no matter
whether it is adjacent to the free space.
Step 1 Locate and right-click on free disk space and select Allocate Free Space
To option. Then you can choose the partition to which you want to add the free
space.
Step 2 DiskGenius shows operations to be done and things you should note.
Drive letter can be assigned, changed or removed easily with the help of free
partition manager.
Step 1 Select the partition you want to assign or change drive letter, and
Step 1 Select the partition you want to delete drive letter and
Note: If drive letter is removed or deleted, the partition will be invisible to Windows.
Partition backup is able to back up all data and settings of a partition into a specified
file which is usually called image file. With the backup file, you can restore partition
when the partition gets damaged or data gets lost. DiskGenius provides three ways
to backup partition.
Backup partition by data storage structure: Back up valid data of the source
partition by file system structure to the image file without any changes. Sine this
mode only backs up valid data and it is the fasted. However, when you restore data
from image file, the destination partition should have the same size as the source
partition.
Backup partition by file: Backs up all files and other valid data of source partition
to image file, which does not backup invalid data and takes shorter time. The image
file can be restored to any partition whose capacity is able store these files. Files
restored from image file will be reorganized and there won't be file fragments.
The backup file can be compressed and you can set compression level from Fast,
Normal and High Quality. In general, image file with higher compression level is in
smaller size but takes longer time. In most cases, Fast is the default and best choice.
Full back up: Backs up all data no matter whether there is a backup.
Step 2 Click Source Partition button to select the partition you want to backup and
click Select Image File button to name the image file and set a location to save it.
When partition gets damaged, corrupted or files in the partition gets lost, you can try
restoring partition from the backup image file to rescue data.
Step 1 Click Tools menu and select Restore Partition From Image File option.
partition and click Target Partition button to select the partition you want to
restore. Then select a restore point for the partition and click Start button.
Note: Restoring partition will write data backed in image file to the target partition,
which removes and overwrites all existing data in the partition. Please close all
applications that are using the partition in advance.
DiskGenius is powerful data backup software which helps backup any partition to an
image file so that you can restore data when partition gets corrupted. Besides, this
program supports browsing and extracting data in image file without restoring
partition.
Step 1 Click Tools menu and select Explorer Partition Image File.
Cloning partition is the process that copies content of one partition on the disk to
another partition without any data loss. The destination partition will be loaded with
same data as the source partition. DiskGenius provides three ways of cloning
partition:
Copy all valid sectors according to the layout of the file system: This
partition cloning method copies all valid data of source partition to destination
volume in line with the layout of data organization structure. The cloning process
excludes invalid data but does not reorganize data. It is the fasted cloning method.
The destination partition and source partition should be in the same size.
Clone partition by files: Copies all files from source partition to destination
partition by analyzing data organizing structure. Files in destination partition will be
reorganized and there won't be fragments. The cloning works as long as destination
partition is able to hold files to be cloned in source partition.
Step 1 Select the partition you want to clone and click Tools -> Clone Partition.
Note: the cloning process deletes all data of destination partition and writes data of
source partition. Please make sure the destination partition does not contain
important data.
Step 5 DiskGenius is cloning partition and you should wait for the process to
complete.
This feature can be used to recover deleted, lost or formatted files from any storage
devices which are formatted as NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, FAT16, FAT12, Ext2, Ext3 and
Ext4 file system. The recovery process is read-only and does not write any data to
original device. Note: if you want to recover lost or deleted partitions, please refer to
lost partition recovery.
Step 1 Select the partition where deleted files were stored and click File Recovery
File Types" and click Start button to let the software search for lost data.
In some cases, deleted files cannot be recovered even though they are deleted just
for a while. That's because vital data information of deleted files has been destroyed
by operating system or users' improper operations. Such operations are usually
generated inadvertently, for example, some user continues accessing or editing files
in Windows Explorer, which usually causes large amount of cache files. Such
operations are able to destroy virtual information to successful file recovery. On this
occasion, it is necessary to search for lost files by file type. Though files recovered in
this way are named by numbers, users can preview files to identify file content.
Step 4 Select files and folders you want to recover, right-click on them and
select Copy To from context menu. Then you can set a location to save recovered
files.
Recovery)
Step 1 Select the partition from which you want to recover data and click File
Recovery button from toolbar (or click Tools menu and select Recover Lost Files).
This opens up file recovery window.
If the partition being recovered data is badly damaged, you should select "Search For
Known File Types" option and select desired file types. This option performs a deep
scanning on the drive so that more recoverable files can be found out. Besides, if you
also want to recover files that had been deleted before the partition got corrupted or
formatted, you can select Recover Deleted Files option.
You can preview recoverable files from scanning result and locate what you want to
recover. Then select files and folders you need and right-click on them to select
"Copy To" option from context menu. Then you can select a location which is
different from the partition to save recovered files.
DiskGenius facilities the feature of saving scanning result of the recovery process so
that you can resume previous recovery without scanning from the beginning. In
general, this program saves scanning progress automatically to the folder where it is
located. Besides, you can export the scanning result as a .dgrp file to a specified
location and import the file when you restart the recovery.
Step 2 Name the progress file and set a location to save it. Please note that the file
Step 1 Select the partition for which you have saved scan status and click File
Sometimes lost files may get damaged or partly overwritten, and they cannot be
recovered properly via traditional method; on this occasion, you can try recovering
lost data based on file type.
This function performs a deep scanning on selected disk space and finds out lost
data via recognizing data layout, so that it is able to recover as many files as
possible. This file recovery solution is effective and safe. Currently, more than 100
Step 1 Select the partition which needs recovering data, and click Tools menus to
properly restored.
Step 4 Click OK and DiskGenius starts to searching for lost files and restore them to
Note:
Files recovered in this do not keep original name, and you can filter data via file size,
type or file preview.
This function can be used to retrieve files and folders from damaged or corrupt NTFS
partition directly without performing any scanning. For instance, a partition turns to
RAW or reports error message like "The file or directory is corrupted and
unreadable", lost data will be displayed together with original directory structure
after loading the NTFS partition. Note: if the partition is badly damaged, you may
need to scan it using File Recovery function to get back lost data.
Step 1 Select the inaccessible NTFS partition, click Tools menu and select Load
location.
A volume name, also called volume label, is a drive name assigned by an end user in
order to make it easier to recognize.
Step 1 Select the partition you want to rename and click "Set Volume Name" under
"Partition" menu.
Step 1 Right-click the primary partition you want to convert and choose "Convert
To Logical".
Note: Since logical partition is 63 sectors bigger than primary partition, there should
be at least 63 free sectors in front of the primary partition when changing it to
logical.
Step 1 Right-click on the logical drive you want to convert and select "Convert To
Erase Sectors
This feature helps permanently wipe data on any partition or disk sector by sector.
Files erased by this function can never be recovered by any data recovery software.
Erased sectors can be filled with 00, FF, random data or characters specified by
users.
Step 1 Click "Tools" menu and select "Erase Sectors" option as follows, and the
message box:
Click Erase and OK button to confirm operations to be done and DiskGenius starts to
erase data on selected disk space.
It is known to most Windows users that when a file gets deleted from computer, it is
not completely removed from disk and can be recovered by data recovery software.
Deleted files are not truly gone and they stay on hard drive before they get
overwritten by new data. If you want to completely wipe out deleted files and make
them unrecoverable, you can erase free space. This feature only wipes free disk
space and leaves existing files intact.
Step 1 Right-click the partition you want to wipe recoverable data and select "Erase
Free Space".
Partition 4K alignment is important to improve hard drive performance, and you can
check if partitions on your computer are 4KB aligned according to following steps.
Step 1 Select the disk for which you want to check partition 4KB alignment, and click
How to easily recover lost or deleted partitions? There is an easy method that
enables you to recover partitions that are lost due to deletion, disk failure, virus
attack, system malfunction, disk repartition, etc. DiskGenius has an easy-to-use GUI
which is easy to understand and it supports to recover deleted or lost FAT, NTFS,
exFAT, Ext2, Ext3 and Ext4 partitions.
Step 1 Select the disk which needs recovering partition and click Partition
Recovery button.
If you just want to search for lost partition from unallocated disk space, then select
free disk space before clicking "Partition Recovery" button.
All Free Space: Keep existing partitions and search for lost partition from all
unallocated space.
The Selected Space: Search for lost partitions from free space of select space only
and reserve existing partitions.
Custom Cylinder Range: You can set cylinder range to improve scanning speed if
you are sure lost partitions are aligned by cylinder.
The scanning process is read-only, and DiskGenius does not write any data to
original disk while searching for partitions. Lost partitions found by the software
won’t be saved to partition table until you click "Save All" button. Therefore, if
scanning result is not correct, you can repeat searching.
When DiskGenius finds out a partition, it asks whether to reserve it or not. If you
want to restore the partition, click Reserve button to keep the partition, otherwise
click Ignore to skip this partition. You can preview files in the partition so that you
can easily decide whether it is one of the partitions you want to restore.
Note:
Since the scanning process is read-only, the partition you choose to reserve is just
saved to memory only. You need to save it to partition table by clicking "Save All"
button after scanning so as to finally get the partition recovered. Choose "Reserve"
or "Ignore" for each partition found by DiskGenius until scanning completes.
Method 1: Select files and folds you want to recover, right-click them and choose
"Copy To". Then you can recover files to a different drive.
Rebuild MBR
MBR, short for Master Boot Record, is a special sort of boot sector, which is located
at the beginning of system partition. The function of MBR is telling the boot process
as to what is about to follow. Besides, it usually includes some lines of executable
Step 1 Click Disk menu and choose "Rebuild Master Boot Record", as below.
Step 2 Click Yes from the pop-up message box and DiskGenius commits the task.
Disk cloning refers to copying all partitions and data from one disk to another. During
disk copying process, DiskGenius creates partitions on destination disk first and then
clones data for each partition. Partitions created on destination disk are identical to
those on original disk. There are three disk cloning modes available:
Copy all sectors: Copy all sectors of the disk to destination disk without considering
whether sectors are in use or not. This clone mode may copy a large amount of
invalid data and takes longer time. However, it is the most complete copy method
which can copy all the data of the source disk to the target disk.
Copy all valid sectors according to the layout of the file system: Copy all
valid data of the source disk to corresponding partitions on the destination disk in
line with the layout of the file system. Data structure on destination partition will be
exactly the same as source partition. Cloning process gets rid of invalid sector, so it
is quite fast.
Copy all files: Copy all the data of source disk to destination disk by analyzing file
system layout of the source disk. When copying data, files will be rearranged
according to file system layout. There won't be file fragments and it is very fast.
Note:
It is required that the size of destination disk shouldn’t be smaller than original disk.
Step 2 Select the disk you want to clone and click OK.
Step 6 Wait for the clone process to finish and click "Complete" button once it is
done.
DiskGenius provides the function to back up and restore partition table, and it is able
to back up partition table and boot sectors of all partitions on the disk to a file. When
partition table gets damaged, you can recover data from the backup file.
Step 1 Select the disk for which you want to back up partition table, and click "Disk"
Step 2 Set a name for the backup file and select a location to save it.
Step 1 Select the disk that needs restoring partition table and click "Disk" to choose
backup.
DiskGenius is capable of creating USB bootable disk and USB-FDD, USB-ZIP and
USB-HDD boot methods are supported. This function can converse USB flash disk (or
Note: If you have any files on the USB disk (or memory stick), copy them to a hard
disk first as they will be destroyed by the following process.
Select the USB drive and click "Tools" to choose "Convert To USB-FDD Bootable
Mode" option.
Select file system and click "Convert" button. Then DiskGenius starts to convert disk
and copy DOS boot files to it. Besides, you can also set cluster size, volume label,
driver letter before converting.
Select the USB disk you want to make bootable disk, click Tools and
choose Convert to USB-ZIP Bootable Mode.
The HDD mode is the regular hard drive boot mode. When you start a computer, it
loads hard drive master boot program which looks for active partition; and the
control right is transferred to operating system of the active partition. Normally, the
conversion is not necessary, and what you should do is to create a partition and
format it on which you create a DOS system. If the current disk is working in FDD or
Select the USB disk to be created bootable disk and choose "Covert To HDD Mode"
From Tools menu.
Click Yes button to continue if files on the disk have been well backed up. Then
DiskGenius converts the disk to HDD mode immediately.
Click No and DiskGenius won’t create a partition after conversion, and you can use
the disk normally; if you choose Yes, and "Create New Partition" dialog box pops up.
Bad sectors on hard drive or other storage devices are not accessible or writeable
due to damage on the disk. If you suspect there are bad sectors on your disk, you
can use DiskGenius to check or repair bad sectors.
Step 1 Right-click on the disk you want to check or repair bad sectors and choose
Disk conditions are presented by blocks in different colors, for example, red block
with "Damaged" means bad sectors, and "Severe" blocks are likely to turn to bad
sectors.
Checking bad sector is read-only, but repairing bad sector destroys data saved on or
near bad sectors. Please backup or recover data before trying to repairing bad
sectors.
Not all bad sectors can be repaired by software, such as physical bad sectors are not
repairable.
In consideration of data security, it is not advised to use a disk that contains bad
sectors even after bad sectors get repaired. Do not save important data on that disk.
Step 1 Click "Repair" button when DiskGenius finishes bad sector scanning.
Step 2 Click "OK" button if you’ve backed up all data on the disk.
Step 3 Click "OK" button if there is no need to recover data from the disk. Then
DiskGenius, freeware for hard drive diagnostics, can test storage device for errors
such as bad sectors, modify HDD parameters and show S.M.A.R.T. attributes. You
can perform regular hard drive rest to predicate potential problems so that you will
be able to protect data against loss due to hard drive damage.
Step 1 Select the disk you want to check its S.M.A.R.T. information and click "View
This function is designed to quickly partition a new disk or repartition a hard drive
that contains partitions already. A hard drive can be partitioned via a few simple
operations. If you do not want to change default settings on partition count, size,
type, label, etc. open "Quick Partition" window and click OK button, and the disk will
be repartitioned and formatted. Note: Disk repartitioning removes all existing
partitions on the disk and quick formats each new partition.
Step 2 Set partition table type, partition count, size, label, etc. and click "OK"
button. Then DiskGenius starts to partition the disk and format new partitions.
If the disk contains partition, the following message box will show up. Click "Yes" to
continue, otherwise click "No" to cancel.
Select disk
You can click the disk shown under "Current Disk (Click to Change)" to reselect a
disk to partition without going back to the home interface. DiskGenius does not allow
to partition system disk under Windows environment, but you can create a bootable
disk to boot computer and partition system disk. Warning: please make sure you are
selecting the correct disk, as the partitioning process deletes all existing partitions on
selected disk.
Both MBR and GPT disk style are supported to partition your disk. MBR is the default
setting if the disk capacity is less than 2TB. Besides, Rebuild MBR (Master Boot
Record) is selected for MBR disk and it is recommended to leave it checked if there is
boot manager based on MBR on the disk and it needs to be reserved. If you select
GUID partition table style, you can choose whether create ESP partition or MSR
partition.
Partition Count
You can either press "3, 4, 5 or 6" key from keyboard or use mouse to set partition
count. Besides, you can also custom partition count by selecting Custom option.
Once selecting a partition count, the corresponding partition number changes on the
right side of the pane.
Partition Parameters
File System: NTFS, FAT32 and exFAT are available here to choose. If you want to
format the drive to other file system such as EXT4, you can reformat partition with
DiskGenius after the disk is partitioned.
Volume Label: Each partition is set a volume label by default, and users can modify it
by typing a name or selecting from the drop-down list.
Partition Type: Select Primary and the partition will be a primary partition. This
option is not available for GPT disk.
Align Partitions to Integral Multiple of Sectors: The role of this option is 4K alignment
and the default value meets 4K alignment requirement.
Step 3 Click "Save All" button from toolbar and click "Yes" button.
To prevent data loss due to improper operation, the delete partitions operation will
not be saved to disk immediately, it is kept in the memory until you save partition
table.
For DiskGenius, reserved sectors refer to sectors from the second sector (behind
MBR sector) to the sector that is in front of the beginning sector of the first partition.
In most cases, a track has 63 sectors and the first partition usually begins at the
63rd sector (it numbers from 0), so, excluding MBR sector, there are 62 sectors to be
cleared.
As to the case that sectors are not 63 or the first partition doesn't begin from the
63rd sector, DiskGenius automatically calculates sector number to be cleared so that
it won't clear other sectors except reserved sectors. This function doesn't apply to
GPT disk with GUID partition table.
Step 1 Select a disk you want to clear reserved sectors, then click "Disk" and
DiskGenius supports both MBR and GPT disk, and it is able to change an MBR disk
into a GPT disk or convert a GPT disk into an MBR disk. The converting does not
cause any data loss.
Step 1 Right-click the MBR disk you want to change partition table type and choose
Step 3 Click "Save All" button from toolbar and click "Yes" to save changes to the
disk.
Note:
It requires there is some free space (dozens of sectors) on the two ends of the disk
before converting.
Please make sure the operating system on the disk supports GUID partition table
after converting, otherwise partitions might become inaccessible.
Step 1 Right-click on the GPT disk and select "Convert To MBR Partition Table"
option.
Step 3 Click "Save All" button from toolbar and click "Yes" to save changes to the
disk.
DiskGenius provides the function to check and correct errors on partition table. If
partition table on the disk contains serious problem, DiskGenius will reports errors
immediately after being launched.
Select the disk for which you want to check partition table error, then click "Tools"
and choose "Check Partition Table Error".
Hard drive geometry is the organization of data on disk platters and it decides how
and where data is stored on the surface of each platter. This function is used to
appoint hard disk geometry such as sector size, heads, sector per track, cylinders,
total sectors and boot record (DBR) of each partition.
Step 1 Right-click the disk you want to change geometry and choose "Appoint Disk
Geometry" option.
Step 2 Enter parameters on the following dialog box, and click "OK".
This function allows to format multiple USB drives at a time. When you insert a USB
drive which matches settings in the software, DiskGenius starts to format it
automatically.
Step 1 Click "Tools" menu and choose "Batch Format USB Disk" option.
Settings under "Select Target Disk" can be used to define conditions for USB disks
you want to format. Only when the inserted USB disk meets all conditions you set
up, can it be formatted automatically by DiskGenius; otherwise the disk will be
untouched.
Step 1 Right-click on the dynamic disk you want to convert and select "Convert
To Basic Disk".
Note: After converting, the disk cannot be converted to dynamic disk by the
program.
This function enables you to safely remove USB disk, which works the same as the
way operating system eject removal devices.
Select the USB disk you want to remove and click Disk menu to select Safely Eject
Disk.
DiskGenius supports to create VMware virtual disk file and manage files and
partitions on it.
Step 1 Launch DiskGenius and select menu "Disk" -> "Create New Virtual Disk
Step 2 Set file path, name, capacity, etc. and click "Create" button. Then the virtual
DiskGenius is capable of creating Virtual PC virtual disk files (".vhd" file) and
operating its partitions and files. Operation steps of creating a virtual disk file are in
the following:
Step 1 Click "Disk"-> "Create New Virtual Disk File"-> "Create Virtual PC
DiskGenius allows to create VirtualBox Virtual Disk File (VDI) and manages files and
partitions on the disk without running the virtual machine.
Step 1 Click the menu "Disk" -> "Create New Virtual Disk File"->"Create
option "Allocate all disk space now". Click "Create" and the virtual disk file will be
created.
DiskGenius supports uncompressed image file of disk and partition. It is able to open
and operate all kind of image files as long as it is in compressed format, such as
".img", ".ima", ".vfd" and ".flp". The following steps show how to create .img image
file.
Step 1 Click "Disk" → "Create New Virtual Disk File" →"Create '.img' Image
File", as follows:
You can select a capacity from the five built in standard floppy image size: 360K,
720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88M; also, you can specify a capacity by yourself and then
you can select an image type, "Disk Image" or "Partition Image". Disk Image is just
like a real disk which can be repartitioned; Partition Image is similar to floppy disk
image which can only be formatted not repartitioned.
By default, DiskGenius builds bootable DOS system in the image when it is created.
Thus, this bootable image file can be used to boot a virtual machine or make
bootable CD. Due to the software copyright, DiskGenius adopts FreeDOS which is
DiskGenius opens the image file once it is created. Besides, you can add other files
to the image by using the function of copying files.
DiskGenius is able to load virtual disk files and ".img" disk image without launching
virtual machine. Once virtual disk is loaded, you can recover lost data from the disk
as well as manage disk space, for example, create partition, resize partition, image
disk, copy partition, etc. It supports VMware, Virtual PC and Virutal BOX virtual disks.
Click "Disk" menu and select "Open Virtual Disk File", as below:
The virtual disk is loaded in DiskGenius instead of operating system, thus it is not
visible in File Explorer and its partitions cannot be assigned drive letters.
After opening a virtual disk, you can operate it as a regular disk. All functions, except
assigning drive letters, can be performed to the disk, for instance, format partition,
copy files, file & partition recovery, clone disk, image partition, resize partition, etc.
Detailed operations to partitions and files are the same as operating a regular disk.
DiskGenius can manage partitions, recover deleted files and backup data for virtual
disks including VMware (".VMDK"), Virtual PC (".VHD") and Virtual Box (".VDI"). It is
an efficient converter to convert virtual disk format without data loss.
Step 1 Click "Disk" menu and select "Convert Virtual Disk Format", as below.
Step 2 Select virtual disk to be converted, choose virtual disk format and set path.
Click "Convert" button and DiskGenius starts to convert virtual disk format.
Convert: Click the dropdown list to select a virtual disk format you want to convert.
Save: Click "Select" button to name the converted virtual disk and set a location to
save it.
This function serves construct a virtual RAID from its drives and then you can search
for lost files or partition from it. Data can be recovered in the same way that they
would from normal storage devices.
Please note that the constructed RAIDs are just virtual objects and DiskGenius does
not do any writing actions to it. Before starting, you should detach disk from the
RAID controller and attach them to computer as individual drives.
RAID.
Summary
DiskGenius includes a hex editor which can be used by advanced users to fulfill
various tasks such as data recovery, file analyzing, editing data structure, cloning
disk, etc. If you do not have a good command of related knowledge, do not try this
function in case any improper operation damages data.
Run DiskGenius, select a partition and click the tab "Sector Editor" to launch sector
editor.
From left to right: save, copy, paste, undo, find hex values, find text, go to offset, go
to sector, last sector, next sector, go to first sector, go to last sector, last cursor,
next cursor, interpret as partition start, endian convert, calculator and directory
browser.
2. Directory browser
This part shows files and folders of the partition whose sectors are being edited. The
place of currently selected item can be reached by using context menu (e.g.
beginning sector of file, file record, index, parent directory record, directory entry
and beginning sector of parent directory). Double click the folder to visit its files and
click the mark ".." to return to parent directory.
3. Interpreter
1) Signed and unsigned (8 bit, 16 bit, 24 bit, 32 bit, 40 bit, 48 bit, 56 bit, 64 bit).
3) Time and date: C Date is a 32-bit integer value, representing seconds since
January 1, 1970; DOS Date is used by several DOS function calls and by all FAT file
systems, and the lower word determines the time, the upper word the data;
FILETIME is a 64-bit integer value representing the number of 100-nanosecond
intervals since January 1, 1601. Used by the Win32 API.
4) Binary number.
4. Edit area
This area divides into three parts: offset area, hex edit area and text edit area.
Mouse dragging is supported. Changed part will turn red, otherwise keeps black.
2) Hex edit area: user can enter characters (0-9 and A-F).
5. Status bar
Sector Editor
1. Sector location
b. Find text
c. Go to offset
Values in the drop-down box can be saved after the jump, so that they can be
selected next time when the drop-down box is opened again.
d. Go to sector
f. Go to cursor quickly
2. Edit sectors
Locate the cursor to set the beginning sector and drag the mouse button to the end
of a certain data area, and the selected area turns light blue.
locate cursor to the beginning of target area and click the button "Paste". The
Those operations to sectors don't actually modify data on the hard drive before you
click the button "Save", and operations can be canceled after clicking the button
"Undo".
Warnings: Data will be modified forever after clicking "Save" button, and it can't turn
to previous state, so be careful!
3. Others
This function interprets the current sector where cursor stays as partition start. If the
sector's data conforms to the data feature of partition beginning, system will identify
partition size automatically; otherwise, system will ask you to input partition size.
b. Endian conversion
The endian conversion affects data interpreter which is interpreted as little endian by
default.
1). Little-Endian means that the low-order byte of the number is stored in memory at
the lowest address, and the high-order byte at the highest address.
2). Big-Endian means that the high-order byte of the number is stored in memory at
the lowest address, and the low-order byte at the highest address.
c. Calculator
d. Directory browser
This menu includes commonly used functions as well as functions about sector edit.
b. File record (enabled when file system is NTFS): go to the sector of file record
where the current selected item stays.
c. Index (enabled when file system is NTFS): go to the sector of index record where
the current selected item stays.
d. Parent directory record (enabled when file system is NTFS): go to the sector of
parent directory record where the current selected item stays.
e. Directory entry (enabled when file system is FAT): go to the sector of directory
entry where the current selected item stays.
a. Data selection
1). Beginning of block: when selecting data, take the current cursor as the beginning
block.
2). End of block: when selecting data, take the current cursor as end block.
2). Into as new file: save selected data area as a new file.
4). Editor display: copy sectors to a text file keeping the style in sector editor.
Click the status bar in the bottom of the interface to perform corresponding
operations:
a. Sector: click this area to go to sector and right click to copy current sector number
or sector count.
Browse Files
DiskGenius can browse any files of partition which isn't restricted by operating
system. Normally, operating system hides many files with the purpose of protecting
important files and maintaining system's stable operation. When displaying files
DiskGenius, adopts a way of analyzing file system type and reading and writing disk
sectors directly, which is totally unrestricted by operating system. Therefore,
DiskGenius can show all the files of the partition.
File properties shown by DiskGenius include icon, name, size, file type, properties
shown by letters, short file names, modify time and create time. Files with properties
like hidden, system, compressed and encrypted are in different colors to distinguish
with each other. The meaning of letters in "File Attributes" is shown in the following
picture:
Files and folders displayed in DiskGenius can be saved and copied to a specified
location. Select data you want to copy and right-click it to choose "Copy To".
DiskGenius is able to write files to NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, FAT16, FAT12, Ext2, Ext3
and Ext4 partitions without considering whether the partition is hidden and whether
it has a drive letter. The operation is compulsory and it may not fit operating system
or software using the partition, thus this operation is kind of risky. Please be cautious
when carrying out this operation.
Select the partition to which you want to write data, click Files tab, and right-click
the file list area to choose "Copy Files To Current Partition", as below:
This method cannot copy folders. To copy a folder and its files, please refer to the
following method.
After selecting a target partition and folder, please select files (or folders) in
Windows Explorer. Then drag files (or folders) by mouse's left button to the target
folder in DiskGenius’ "Partition and Folder Tree" or "File List" window. DiskGenius
shows the following message. Click "Yes" button to start the copying process.
First select files ( or folders) in Windows Explorer and then press keys "Ctrl_C"; then
go back to DiskGenius, find out and select target partition and folder and press keys
"Ctrl_V" DiskGenius will show the same dialog box as above; click "Yes" and it starts
to copy files.
This feature is designed to forcefully delete files and folders that cannot be deleted
by Windows in normal way. It skips file system driver and deletes files via writing
disk directly, thus it is able to delete files on any partition except system partition.
Step 1 Select and right-click files or folders you want to delete and select "Delete
Note: DiskGenius deletes files directly from disk regardless the file access mechanism
of operating system. Improper deletion may cause application error or system crash.
When you delete a file in Windows, it goes to Recycle Bin which allows you to restore
deleted files in case that you change mind. If you empty Recycle Bin or delete files
using Shift + Delete key combination, you can still get them back easily with the help
of data recovery software. How to delete files permanently from storage device?
DiskGenius enables you to delete files permanently so that nobody can recover them
by whatever means. It deletes and overwrites both the entry and data itself, thus
deleted files are no longer recoverable.
Step 1 Select files you want to delete permanently and right click to choose "Delete
Files Permanently".
Step 2 Select characters to overwrite data and click "Permanently Delete" button.
Create Folder
DiskGenius has full access to partitions formatted in NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, FAT12,
FAT16, EXT2, EXT3 and EXT4 file system. It is able to read and write data on these
partitions, such as create folders. You can follow steps below to create folders:
Others
DiskGenius supports to make bootable USB disk based on Windows PE so that you
can recover lost data, manage disk or backup data without booting system.
Step 1 Insert a USB drive and launch DiskGenius. Click "Tools" menu and choose
Note:
This function requires the USB disk be formatted to file system exFAT, FAT32 or
NTFS, and it should have at least 800MB free space.
This function won’t format the USB disk or damage files on the USB drive.
Step 1 Click "File" menu and choose "Reboot To DiskGenius WinPE Version",
as follows:
Step 2 Click OK button and computer will restart to boot to DiskGenius WinPE
version.
Some functions are not available in Windows system and they can be carried out in
DOS system. DiskGenius provides a function that even in Windows you can boot to
its DOS version without using boot CD, bootable USB Flash Disk or installing DOS on
the hard drive. Disk partitions displayed by DiskGenius in DOS version are the same
as they are in Windows version. When you restart the computer, it boots to the
current Windows system.
Step 1 To boot to DiskGenius DOS version, click "File" → " Reboot to DiskGenius
DOS Version".
Note:
The master boot record of the disk will be modified temporarily. If it is stopped by
security software, please select "Allow".
When you finish operations in the DOS version, you can turn off or restart the
computer; the computer will boot to Windows system automatically.
Register DiskGenius
This article includes step-by-step methods to register DiskGenius. You can register
the software online or offline easily after getting the license code. If you do not have
license code, you can buy one from here: https://diskgenius.com/buy.php.
Online Activation
Register" button.
Offline Activation
Step 1 Enter your license information and click "Offline Register" button.
Step 2 Click "OK" button on the popped-up message box which prompts DiskGenius
Step 3 Copy all three of them to a computer which has access to the Internet. Then
and replace the existing one. Then the software will be registered successfully.
If you have any question or need any help about DiskGenius, you can visit our
https://www.diskgenius.com/support.php
Besides, you can contact DiskGenius technical support team directly via email: