iPartition 1.5.2 – hot-swap partitioning

reviewed by Ted Bade

iPartition is a useful utility that can be used to manipulate partitions on your Macs hard drives. More then just partitioning the drive, it can re-partition a drive, moving free space from one partition to another. Which means you donÕt have to back up, reformat and repartition. A real time saver.

Conceptionally, iPartition is designed to access hard drive partition information and allow you to make modifications to the existing partition information without reformatting the drive. This is very useful if you decide that the way you partitioned a drive doesnÕt make sense and you donÕt want to back up all the data and reformat/repartition the drive to get it right. I have made some less the optimal partition decisions in the past and a solution like iPartition would have been very useful.

However, iPartition cannot help me with my most recent partition error. I created a Fat32 partition to run XP on my Intel-based MacMini. I didnÕt realize just how much space XP kills and I created a Windows partition that is smaller than optimum. While iPartition doesnÕt currently provide this feature, there is a good chance that it will be released in a later version. However, because Apple protects the Boot partition on a Macintosh, using iPartition on the boot drive requires booting off a different drive.

You might already have a second bootable drive or partition with a version of Mac OS X on it. If not, the iPartition package includes a utility called CDMaker that will allow you to make a bootable CD. You can download a CD template from Coriolis Systems, which contains the files necessary to boot either an Intel or PowerPC Macintosh. These are larger files (261MegaBytes for the Intel boot disk and 175 MegaBytes for PowerPC), which means you will need a good Internet connection. Alternatively, you can use your own CD template if you have one. You can use the Mac OS X Install CD as a template (or I guess you could just boot from it).

When you build the bootable CD with this application, you can include other applications you might want to use. The Intel template from Coriolis Systems includes a copy of iPartition and iDefrag Lite.

iPartition has a simple and easy to use interface, which makes working with it a breeze. When you first run it, by default, four information areas open. The main window provides most of the controls. A side drawer lists the hard drives connected to your Macintosh. The ÒInspectorÓ window provides a variety of information about a partition you select. And finally the ÒPending OperationsÓ window keeps a log of what you have set iPartition up to do. The information windows are dynamic, in that they change as you insert or remove a drive.

The main iPartition window either provides an overview of a drive, on the ÒDiskÓ tab, an overview and control of partitions on the drive selected in the ÒPartitionsÓ tab, and finally a whole lot of detail about the partition map in the ÒDetailÓ section.

Manipulation of any partition can be accomplished in two easy ways. First of all, if you view the ÓPartitionsÓ tab in the main window you can click on any partition shown on the pie chart there (see diagram), then grab the partition handles and change the size as you desire. Obviously, you need to have free space in order to increase a partition size.

The other easy method of changing the partition is to go to the ÒInspectorÓ window. Here all you need to do is to type in a value for the partition size. iPartition can show the size of a partition using a variety of parameters. By default, block size is used, (which can be a bit confusing), but you can easily change this to something that makes sense, such as MBytes or GBytes. Just remember, if you choose a smaller unit method, such as Bytes (rather then GBytes), the Inspector window doesnÕt update its size, so part of the new number is hidden behind the parameter button.

If you intend to use iPartition with an older drive, that is not one just freshly formatted and that has been in use for a while, you will need to run a disk-cleaning program to get things started. iPartition doesnÕt include a built-in feature that will let you de-fragment a drive. Coriolis Systems provides a lite version of its iDefrag program, called iDefrag Lite. (It is included with the iPartition download.) You can use this or, if you like more controls and abilities, you can purchase the full version for $30 USD. The Lite version worked quite well and was easy to use. Jt cleaned up my external drive without a glitch.

While iPartition is relatively easy to use when things go right, it can be a bit confusing when they donÕt. When I tried to first use it, I tried it on my Intel MacMiniÕs boot volume. I clicked on the partition I wanted to shrink and discovered that all the controls were grayed out. Which led me to believe I was doing something wrong. Reading the manual (!), I discovered that I was using the controls correctly, but was trying to do something illegal. The same thing happened when I tried to repartition my slightly fragmented external drive. The point is, iPartition would be a lot better if a handy information window popped up to let you know there was a problem. Better yet, it could explain the reason and a suggestion of what you need to do.

I should note that their Tech Support people provided me with this information when I explained what I was doing. But one shouldnÕt need support on a typically common issue like this.

Overall, iPartition is a handy program that lets you easily partition and control the size of partitions of your hard drives. Its ability to change a partition size of the fly, would be useful if you decided you need to change a partition size, once it has been created. AppleÕs Disk Utility does provide some basic partition support, but doesnÕt provide the ability to repartition without reformatting and doesnÕt have as nice an interface. iPartition provides all the tools necessary to get your drive partitioned to your satisfactions. If you are looking for a program to help control a variety of partitions, than you wonÕt go wrong by considering iPartition. It is easy to use and offers a clear and easy to understand interface.