Norton PartitionMagic 8.0 - Create- Resize- Copy Partitions Description:

Norton PartitionMagic 8.0 - Create, Resize, Copy Partitions review:
3 stars (Partition Magic/Tragic) - Oh dear!

I've used PM since V.4 and was delighted with it until two weeks ago. Stupid me had not checked the Rescue discs and when they were required they were useless. Net result a useless PC.



Then to add insult to injury I used PM8 to partition my brand new laptop -I have a system that needs to access specific drive letters. Guess what? As is becoming increasingly common, laptops and PCs don't have floppy/frigid drives. Now, I knew my laptop didn't have one - it's pretty obvious - but I thought since I can boot from the CD drive surely I can create a Rescue disc on a CD. OH NO YOU CAN'T.



Now I'm in the predicament of having used PM, no rescue method and (apparently) no way to recover back.



It's the old adage - Buyer Beware.
4 stars (Beware of Parago rebate) - I've used PartitionMagic since version 5 and only suffered one fatal error when using version 7 to upgrade a 6GB drive to a 12GB drive. Oddly enough, it copied the entire drive before reporting an "internal error" and then crashed. The source drive was still intact, but I never figured out what it was due to the lack of detail about the actual error. I finally upgraded to version 8 when they offered a free upgrade after rebates, but these later versions of PM seem to contain more bug fixes and improvements to the user interface rather than any revolutionary new or improved hard drive management features. I consider the error I described a step back from previous versions when they actually prided themselves on data integrity and reliability during partition resizing.



My main complaint however, is regarding their rebate processor, Parago, which seems to be chosen time after time by more and more companies. In the past year, I've had 3 rebates for this and other brands of products that I submitted properly, yet were marked invalid by Parago for no apparent valid reason. In all instances, they noted that the UPC symbol was invalid or illegible, and luckily I kept copies of all submitted materials. They are unresponsive to fax and emails even when I asked that they acknowledge receipt. My only recourse has been to call them, and usually the rep ends up consulting his/her supervisor and they approve the rebate after a minute on hold. This has become so routine that there is obviously some policy in place to reduce rebate redemptions.


5 stars (Great service!) - It was a pleasure doing business with you. I look forward to buying from you again.