# Paragon Alignment Tool v2.0 Special Edition



## starams5 (Jun 13, 2010)

Paragon has made their Alignment Tool free for download as part of a promotion, x86 and x64. Just fill in the data at the link below and they'll send you an email with download links and registration info.

Paragon Alignment Tool v2.0 Special Edition (Expires June 30, 2010):
http://www.paragon-software.com/landing-pages/WhitePapers/paragon_alignment_tool.html


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## 95Viper (Jun 18, 2010)

Not a bad deal, but I already got it free with some software I purchased from them.

It works and it is quick, too.


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## francis511 (Jun 18, 2010)

Anyone kno` if it works ?


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## Completely Bonkers (Jun 18, 2010)

If you want to read up on Alignment before downloading the tool, here is the link:http://dl.paragon-software.com/free/Paragon Alignment Tool - White Paper.pdf


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## Deleted member 24505 (Jun 18, 2010)

thx


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## starams5 (Jun 18, 2010)

francis511 said:


> Anyone kno` if it works ?



I just got around to aligning my partitions a few days ago and didn't have any problems.  The app worked as advertised and has a simple interface.  It can take a while to complete on a large partition with a lot of data.


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## Completely Bonkers (Jun 18, 2010)

OK, I'm running the software on my laptop (netbook with SSD drive).  The primary reason to do this is *not* to improve speed, but to avoid SSD write trashing which reduces the life of an SSD.   Since I am running W2K3 on the laptop, like XP, the original format is NOT aligned, so I have decided to run the utility.

1./ Install
2./ The software "analyses" the drives and reports back with traffic lights for the align status of each drive. Unfortunately, there isnt any info, data or statistics shown, which would have been nice
3./ On selecting OK, the computer freezes for a minute while it decides what and how to lock the drives for the "repartitioning" activitiy
4./ You will be asked to reboot and it will run a low-level partition utility
5./ It then copies data, cluster by cluster, and looks similar to a regular partition management tool, but without any options
6./ The "progress" on my laptop seems to predict a process time in about 15 mins on my SSD laptop 64GB. Let's see. Will report back later.

**edit**
7./ OK, it took 11.07 minutes to complete the alignment and ask for a reboot
8./ Windows has started up OK so far
9./ The Alignment tool boots and conducts and audit. SUCCEEDED on all 4 partitions of the drive
10./ I'll report back if there are any problems


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## Completely Bonkers (Jun 18, 2010)

WARNING

After running the utility and reboot, I couldnt access the internet. For some reason, the realignment has upset Avast! and it is blocking internet access. If I turn off Avast! then I can access the internet. I think an uninstall and reinstall of Avast! is required.

**edit**

Uninstalling and reinstalling Avast fixed the problem


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## johnspack (Jun 19, 2010)

Ran this on my raid array,  seems to have improved read performance.  Haven't checked seek time yet.  Took 3hrs and did 2 of my 4 partitions,  not sure why only 2 however.  When I get a spare few more hours,  I'll try it again.


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## 95Viper (Jun 19, 2010)

95Viper said:


> Not a bad deal, but I already got it free with some software I purchased from them.
> 
> It works and it is quick, too.





francis511 said:


> Anyone kno` if it works ?



I dunno, umm...maybe.

______________________________________________________________________________

As for it taking so long, that is odd indeed, as it completed a desktop and laptop in under 30 minutes each (that would be a raid setup - 2 WDVRs, three backup drives, a SSD and program\storage drive -last two are laptop's).  I do keep them defragged, so that may have something to do with it.


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## douglatins (Jun 19, 2010)

Ok, so i read the title and though this was some tool for Mass Effect, like to become a paragon etc. ROFLMAO"!


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## starams5 (Jun 19, 2010)

95Viper said:


> I dunno, umm...maybe.
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> 
> As for it taking so long, that is odd indeed, as it completed a desktop and laptop in under 30 minutes each (that would be a raid setup - 2 WDVRs, three backup drives, a SSD and program\storage drive -last two are laptop's).  I do keep them defragged, so that may have something to do with it.



Your hard drives are faster than mine.  One of the drives I aligned was a 1Tb Seagate USB 2.0 Expansion drive, being full of data didn't help much.  I aligned 2.5Tb+ all in all (two computers).


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## johnspack (Jun 19, 2010)

I got it to work on all partitions now,  good idea to run chkdsk /r on each part first!  Seeing improvement in read speed on my raid.


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## 95Viper (Jun 29, 2010)

Bump... for, not much time left!!!!

Free ain't bad, considering it is 29.95 USD regularly... Link to normal page.  Use link in first post for freebie.

Why Paragon Alignment Tool

1.  The only tool that alligns partitions in a single operation
2.  Guarantees safety for the on-disk system and data
3.  Boosts performance of disk subsystems up to 3 times
4.  Significantly increases endurance of SSD drives
5.  Aligns partitions inside virtual containers and the host
6.  Aligns partitions on ultra high-capacity 4K hard disks


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## AsRock (Jun 29, 2010)

I tried it on 3 computers and changed nothing as all 8HDDS and 2 SSD's were already aligned.  Thank god it was FREE as i would of been pissed.


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## starams5 (Jun 29, 2010)

AsRock said:


> I tried it on 3 computers and changed nothing as all 8HDDS and 2 SSD's were already aligned.  Thank god it was FREE as i would of been pissed.



That's cool you didn't have to use the tool because you never know what could go wrong.  

@95Viper
Thanks for bumping the thread, like you said time is running out and its not a bad tool to have in your toolbox.  I have the latest addition of Paragon Partition Manager as well which has the PAT utility, but I had no idea what it was until finding the link above.  If I find some more goodies I'll post.


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## CJCerny (Jun 29, 2010)

Kinda scary that they've misspelled the word "alligns" in their first bullet point. You would think that a proper business that does nothing but align things would be able to spell it correctly.


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## NdMk2o1o (Jun 29, 2010)

What does it actually do?


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## 95Viper (Jun 29, 2010)

CJCerny said:


> Kinda scary that they've misspelled the word "alligns" in their first bullet point. You would think that a proper business that does nothing but align things would be able to spell it correctly.



Not really.  Have you not noticed, that there are numerous mis-spellings now-a-days.  Web sites, TV news, hard copy newspapers, this forum(and others); all seem to have forgotten ,or don't care, there is a spell check function or down-loadable options.  

Hey, how about teaching the kids how to spell, again.  There is a novel idea.

Sorry, I am ranting, again...

So, to the point. IMO, Paragon makes great software and there spelling should not scare you.  I would bet the person\persons who do the web site are not the ones who code the software they make\sell.  Just, that they have a pitiful or lazy person\persons who tend the web site.

And, every HR Dept. should give spelling tests to the people the hire.  My opinion, also.





NdMk2o1o said:


> What does it actually do?



Not trying to be mean...but,

Read this site and get the white paper at this site.  It explains it.


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## starams5 (Jun 29, 2010)

95Viper said:


> Not really.  Have you not noticed, that there are numerous mis-spellings now-a-days.  Web sites, TV news, hard copy newspapers, this forum(and others); all seem to have forgotten ,or don't care, there is a spell check function or down-loadable options.
> 
> Hey, how about teaching the kids how to spell, again.  There is a novel idea.
> 
> ...



"Sorry, I am ranting, again..."  That's okay, I do it all the time.  My ranting turns into a full blown story, a story I'm sure no one wants to hear.


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## isolaligree (Jul 2, 2010)

*Paragon Alignment Tool v2 0 Special Edition*

Most shops who know what they are doing do not need the rear toe alignment tool. Most shops just use pry bars which work just fine. You can get the tool at any local dealership for around 80.


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## twilyth (Jul 2, 2010)

offer has been extended to July 31st.


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## 95Viper (Jul 2, 2010)

isolaligree said:


> Most shops who know what they are doing do not need the rear toe alignment tool. Most shops just use pry bars which work just fine. You can get the tool at any local dealership for around 80.



WTF?  Was this meant as humor?



twilyth said:


> offer has been extended to July 31st.



Thanks for that info, twilyth.


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## Static~Charge (Jul 3, 2010)

Microsoft has a good article about the effects of partition alignment in RAIDs:

Disk Partition Alignment Best Practices for SQL Server

While this article is geared towards SQL Server, it also applies to any RAID setup in general.


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## twilyth (Jul 3, 2010)

Not sure this means anything since I don't really see why alignment is so important.  I sort of get it, but then again . . .

Anyway, I ran the utility on a Samsung 1.5T with 554 byte sectors.  Not 512, 554.  Ran it twice and basically said it couldn't be aligned.

Just FYI.


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