VolumeWorks (version 1.5 - Universal Binary) is an extremely powerful OS X software application for managing the partitions on your hard drive. VolumeWorks is designed to allow the end user the ability to:
- Rebuild a partition table,
- Add partitions to a device,
- Hide partitions,
- Shift partitions, and
- Resize partitions.
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Quick Tip: Safety First
VolumeWorks is not intended for resizing Bootcamp partitions. The use of VolumeWorks will retain all the files but will render the Windows partition unbootable (The OS X partition is not effected). Devices must be partitioned with GPT partitioning (the new standard on intel Macs) or with PDisk partitioning (traditional Mac format) to work with VolumeWorks
Prior to using VolumeWorks, it is advised that every user should make a good backup of the data on the drive he or she is about to alter. Though VolumeWorks can manage partitions and leave data in tact, it is possible, for whatever reason that a partitioning process may not complete, and therefore leave the drive unable to mount. Using CopyCatX, or other such software, to make a restore image of the drive is highly recommended.
VolumeWorks was the first mac software in the world to allow you to
resize an OS X partition without erasing it.
System Requirements
VolumeWorks is programmed to run on the following minimum specification:
- Apple PowerPC or Intel Macintosh CPU, that is capable of running
- Mac OS X (version 10.3 or above), with at least
- 256MB of RAM
- Hard Disk
- CD/DVD-ROM Drive (for CD Installation or Boot CD)
Getting Started - The Basics of VolumeWorks
The Main Window
Immediately after start-up, the user will be presented with the VolumeWorks splash screen. Once this has disappeared, he or she will then be taken to the “Main” Window. The “Main” window is the starting point for performing any task and thus provides the user with access to the core areas of functionality.
The Layout
The layout of the window can be divided into 3 sections:
The first part is the device list to the upper left side of the window. It is from the device list pane that the user will be able to select the device with which VolumeWorks will work to “Repartition”.
The second portion of the window, to the upper right hand-side, contains a variety of information. To the top of the window section, appears information regarding the selected item in the left-hand device list. This information includes, but is not limited to: mount point, device size and volume names. In the middle of the section is the VolumeWorks icon, below which is the title. Under the title is a section of text that will change when rolling over the buttons in the buttons bar below. At the very bottom of the panel there is a progress bar, this of course simply denotes the progress of any given task as and when it is performed, such as rescanning of the bus.
The third and final part of the window is the buttons bar at the very bottom. This contains buttons that allow the user to access help files, rescan the bus and to proceed to the “Repartition” window.
Rescanning for a Device
If the user attaches a device to the host computer after the “Main” window reached, it may or may not appear automatically in the device list. If this is the case, the user can click
Rescan from the buttons bar and VolumeWorks will be forced to search for all available devices and their respective volumes, this includes devices that contain partitions cannot be mounted, and are therefore not visible through the desktop to the user.
Repartition - Device Management
The Repartition Window
Having selected the desired device in the device list of the “Main” window and pressed the Repartition button from the buttons bar, the “Repartition” window will come to the fore. At the same time, a little progress dialog window will also come to the fore, as VolumeWorks attempts to unmount the partitions of the selected device.
If the process of unmounting the various partitions fails, then the user will be presented with an error dialog box. Clicking OK will close this error window and the user will be taken to the “Repartition” window, but with limited functionality.
The Layout
The “Repartition” window is, for the most part, identical in layout to the “Main” window, though the device list is replaced with the selected volume’s partition list, the information panel contains more data about the current window, which is also contextual in nature, and the buttons bar has been expanded to include increased functionality.
The Repartition Functions
The repartitioning functionality of VolumeWorks is split into the following core areas:
Rebuild
When making a drive-to-drive copy using hardware such as DiskJockey, there are times when the source device is smaller in size than the target device, for example when a 100GB drive is copied to a 250GB drive. As a result, when the copy process is complete the partition map on the 250GB drive will reflect that of the 100GB drive, which means, unless the partition map on the drive is rebuilt, the user will be sacrificing 150GB of perfectly good drive space. In order to rectify this issue, VolumeWorks can update the current partition map to reflect the correct amount of available drive space and partitions on the target device.
Add/Delete
Portions of a drive that are NOT currently assigned to a working partition will appear in the partitions list marked as “Free Space”. This means that the blocks comprising that space can be reassigned by VolumeWorks to create a new working partition. By the same token, if the user selects a volume that is currently a working partition on the device, the button will flip and become a delete button, thus allowing the user to remove any unwanted partitions.
Hide/Reveal
Having selected a visible partition from the partitions list, it is possible to use VolumeWorks to flag the volume as hidden. This allows use of the partition, just as any regular partition, however, for all intent and purpose, when the drive is connected to a computer, the partition will not mount on the desktop and therefore cannot be seen or used without flagging it as visible again and mounting it. As with the add/delete functionality, when a partition has been hidden, the user can select the partition and the button will flip function to ‘reveal’.
Shift
Shifting partitions lets the user to move data contained within a particular partition forwards and backwards on the drive, thus allowing the user to merge the unassigned blocks on a drive. Once unused blocks have been merged, the user can then resize an adjacent partition or create a completely new one; when shifting working partitions, the processes of data defragmentation and copying are performed. The user should bare in mind that once a partition has been defragmented, the total amount blocks required for all the data must fit into the portion of unassigned space he or she is asking VolumeWorks to move the partition to.
Resize
When a partition becomes too small, or it has too much space and the user wishes to divide it up, resize allows the user to downsize partitions or to augment them. The ability to do this depends both on the available space and/or the percentage of space used within an existing partition. Upsizing a partition requires free space in whichever direction the user wishes to expand the partition, whilst when downsizing the user can only reduce the partition as much as there is used space within the confines of the existing partition.
Quick Tip: Securing Data
As with any repartitioning procedure it is important for the user to ensure that he or she has a good backup of the data on the target device. Data can be lost due to many different reasons, and interruption to some of the procedures in VolumeWorks alone, may potentially render the drive and it’s partition map useless, requiring a full format and new setup.
Rebuilding a Partition Map
When a disk-to-disk copy using different sized devices causes the partition map to become out of sync on the target device, the user can rebuild the partition map with VolumeWorks. This simply entails opening the “Repartition” window and then clicking Rebuild. Doing so will bring a drop down options panel to the fore, such as that displayed below:
VolumeWorks provides the user with the ability to rebuild the drive’s partition map in either PDISK format for use with older PPC-based, Pre-Intel Mac systems, or in GUID format for newer Intel-based Mac systems.
Neither format is mutually exclusive, and both formats work with both types of Mac systems, however, in choosing the right format for the drive in question, the user should bare in mind that if the drive is to be used with mostly one kind of system versus another, it would be preferable to pick the format of partition map that is suitable for that system.
Having selected the format, simply click OK, and the process of rebuilding will begin; after a series of unmount and processing actions by VolumeWorks the user will be taken back to the “Repartition” window.
Adding a Partition
If a “Free Space” has been selected and the user wishes to create a partition on top of this, the user should then click the Add button. VolumeWorks will then displaying a partition settings screen, within which the user can do the following:
- Select an available icon for the partition in the Finder, using the left and right blue arrows.
- Set the partition formatting type (Apple HFS, Apple HFS+, etcetera) from the drop down.
- Set the partition size (in megabytes) either manually or using the available slider – this will default to the maximum available size.
- Set the partition’s name in the text input field.
When ready the user should click Start, and the process will begin. After a series of unmount and progress actions, VolumeWorks will return to the “Repartition” window, ready for the next action.
Deleting a Partition
When a working partition is selected the user should click the Delete button, to which VolumeWorks will bring up a warning, stating that this procedure cannot be undone and that data will be lost as a result.
Having confirmed his or her understanding of this, the user than then click OK and the process of deletion will begin. After a series of unmount and process actions, VolumeWorks will return to the “Repartition” window.
Hiding and Revealing a Partition
Users can hide partitions in order to avoid unwanted access by other users of the same computer. Hiding a partition means that it will not appear under normal circumstances and that it will not automatically mount when the device is connected.
Quick Tip: Hiding a Partition
It is NOT possible to hide a boot partition on a drive, and so any data that needs to be put onto a hidden partition must be moved out of the users folder or elsewhere from the OSX boot partition.
Having selected the partition the user wishes to hide, simply click the Hide button. This will take VolumeWorks through a series of actions, all of which are marked by various progress bars.
Upon completion the user will be returned to the “Repartition” window and the hidden partition will be displayed as such in the partitions list, as above.
Quick Tip: Mounting a Hidden Partition
Without VolumeWorks a partition cannot be revealed again. Other users will be able to see the partition in such applications as Apple’s Disk Utility, but selecting and attempting to mount them will not work.
Shifting a Partition
When a user wants to join free space on a drive together, shifting partitions gives him or her that option.
Once a partition with “Free Space” space adjacent to it has been selected the Shift button will become enabled. Clicking on the Shift button will then drop down an options panel with a series of buttons:
If space is available after the selected partition, the down arrow will be enabled, if free space is available in front of it then the up arrow will be enabled.
Once either arrow button is clicked VolumeWorks will generate a warning dialog alerting the user that the process of shifting partitions must not be interrupted.
Having clicked OK, the process will begin and a progress bar, along with stats, will be displayed.
When the procedure is complete the user will be returned to the “Repartition” window with the adjusted partitions list.
Resizing a Partition
Increasing a Partition
The user can increase the size of a partition if there is free space below it, therefore allowing VolumeWorks to increase the length of the partition forwards.
Quick Tip: OS 9 and Windows Boot Disks
When using VolumeWorks to resize a drive containing a partition that functions as a OS9 or Windows boot disk, the user should bare in mind that the function of resizing partitions on such a disk will render it unable to boot with OS9 or Windows. This is NOT the case of an OSX boot disk.
The procedure of increasing the size of a partition is a two-step process, and starts with the user defining the new size of the partition when combined with a portion or all of the available space.
Having clicked the Resize button, VolumeWorks will bring a drop down options panel to the fore pre-filled with the existing data of the partition to be resized. To expand the partition to the full extent of the available space, simply pull the slider to the farthest point on the right-hand side.
Once a new size has been specified the user can proceed by clicking OK. This will produce an alert regarding the loss of ability to boot from partitions containing Mac OS 9 or earlier. Having accepted this and again clicked OK, the VolumeWorks will proceed through a device integrity check. If the device passes the integrity test, then VolumeWorks will proceed to alter the partition map on the disk drive, otherwise an error is generated and the user will be taken back to the “Repartition” window.
Decreasing a Partition
When decreasing the size of the partition, the above-described procedure will be combined with a defragmentation process to make sure that all data contained within the existing partition will remain within the confines of the new partition once the perimeters of the existing partition are redefined in the partition map.
Support
Registration Number
In order to complete the full version installation of the software properly each user is required to have a registration number, otherwise known as a serial number. Whether the software has been purchased online or through a third party retail channel, the user must have the registration number to hand when preparing for installation of the software.
Online Purchase
When purchasing the software online at:
http://www.subrosasoft.com/ the registration number is automatically emailed as part of the purchase confirmation. If a confirmation email is not received, please ensure that it has not mistakenly been placed in the email client’s junk folder before requesting technical support. Having received the email, please make a print out of the email and store this paper in a safe and secure place for future reference.
Retail Purchase
If the software was purchased through a retail channel, the registration number should be inside the case next to the CD (or attached to the upper right hand corner of the jewel case). Please be sure to keep these details in a safe and secure place.
No Registration Number - Demo Mode
Without a registration number it is only possible to start using a version of VolumeWorks with limited functionality. For full partition management functionality, the user must register his or her version of VolumeWorks. To do this, purchase a the software online or via a retail channel, and then simply select “Register” from the VolumeWorks drop menu and enter a valid registration number in the dialog screen.
Updates and Upgrades
A single registration number is valid for incremental updates to the purchased version of VolumeWorks. When upgrading between versions the purchase of a new registration number will be required. For information on upgrades, please email
sales@subrosasoft.com.
Lost Registration Numbers
Please ensure that you keep your registration number in a safe and secure place. Print off confirmation emails, or back them up. Store CD/DVD jewel cases in a secure place. SubRosaSoft, Inc. cannot guarantee the ability to re-issue serial numbers for our users once they have been lost, misplaced or stolen.
Site Licenses
Site Licences can be purchased online via
http://www.subrosasoft.com/. For volume discounts please contact us directly via email:
sales@subrosasoft.com.
Contacting SubRosaSoft, Inc.
Comments & Questions
If you have comments, problems, or questions about this product, or if you are interested in a site license, please contact us via email:
info@subrosasoft.com.
Using WebCheck
VolumeWorks has an in-built web-enabled version checker. This is invoked at application start-up and will make a single web request for a text file, stored on SubRosaSoft’s servers, that contains the most up-to-date version number of the software. This is solely for the purpose of comparison with the version on VolumeWorks ’s host computer. At no point does SubRosaSoft collect any identifying information and the request to our servers is no different from making a similar request in your web browser, and browsing our web site.
When VolumeWorks determines the version of the software to be out-of-date, the user will be prompted to download a newer version of the software by a dialog box that will come to the fore. Of course, should the user not wish to update at that point in time he or she can cancel the prompt, and review the update again next time VolumeWorks is started.
If the user prefers to disable this functionality, and ignore update requests, he or she should simply select “Disable WebCheck” from the File drop menu.
Installing & Updating VolumeWorks
Prior to starting installation or updates and upgrades to VolumeWorks, the user should ensure that he or she has logged into OSX with administrative capabilities. When preparing to install the necessary files, VolumeWorks will prompt the user for the admin password. If a valid password is not entered, the installation will be unable to proceed and VolumeWorks will quit when Cancel is clicked.
Installing From the CD-ROM
Once the CD has mounted on the user’s desktop and the CD volume has been opened into a window, the user should see a folder named “Applications”. To install VolumeWorks to the host computer, open the said folder and drag & drop VolumeWorks to any desired location on the new host computer, though we strongly recommend placing it in the host computer’s “Applications” folder. Having done this the user is ready for the initial setup.
Installing or Updating via Download
Once the software has been downloaded from the site and decompressed, the user should simply drag & drop VolumeWorks into the Applications folder, or to the previously selected desired location. If prompted to replace the existing version of the file, click
Replace. When updating to the latest version, the user may be prompted with an install dialog window after application start-up. If so, click the
Install button and proceed as usual.
Initial Setup
The first time the application is launched the user will be asked accept the End User License Agreement (EULA – see Appendix C) and then to enter his or her email address (optional) along with a valid registration number.
Having done this the user will be asked once more if they wish to accept the installation of files to the host computer. Simply click Yes to accept and finalize the process, at which point the admin user password will be requested. Once correctly entered, a progress bar will run marking the progress of the installation of files. When the necessary files have been added to the system, the user will then be taken to the ‘Main Window’.
Uninstalling VolumeWorks
Removing VolumeWorks from a system is an easy 2-step process. Once VolumeWorks is up and running, select ‘Uninstall’ from the “VolumeWorks” drop menu. This will initiate an uninstall procedure and the necessary files will be deleted from the file system. Having done this VolumeWorks will quit and all that is left to be done is for the user to locate the VolumeWorks application in the Applications folder, or other desired location, and drag & drop it into the Trash, ready for eventual deletion.
Using the PowerPC/Intel OS X Dual Boot CD
Using the VolumeWorks boot CD can be extremely useful when trying to manage a computer system with only one hard drive. The boot CD is a quick and effective way to get the Mac system running without having to run through the entire Mac OS installation procedure on an external boot drive just to perform the salvage procedure on the internal drive.
Via System Preferences
To get the process started the user has to insert the VlumeWorks Boot CD and wait for the CD volume to mount in the Finder. Once it has appeared, he or she should go to System Preferences > Start-up Disk, using “System Preferences…” from the Apple menu. When the window has loaded, the user must select the Boot CD as the desired Start-up Disk and then simply close System Preferences window and restart OSX.
Holding down the C Key
When starting up the Mac system, hold down the C key on the keyboard immediately after the start-up chime has been sounded. The user must continue to hold down the C key until the computer has begun to boot into OSX. The C key at start-up essentially forces the Mac to search for a valid System Folder on the CD before looking to boot from any internal disk drives.
Finding Help & Technical Support
Should the user need assistance whilst working with VolumeWorks, there are a number of sources through which to get help:
Help within VolumeWorks
The user can find help in 3 different possible places. The first is from the Help drop menu, which offers the options of “Showing Help” or taking the user other relevant web pages on the SubRosaSoft web site. Secondly, the user may click the
Show Help … button from the Main or other Task Windows.
Finally, the user may also use the arrow cursor to hover over elements within each window of VolumeWorks. This will invoke Help Tips and provide the user with a brief description or other information regarding what that element of the window represents.
Technical Support
Our technical support is free via email and can be accessed at the following address:
support@subrosasoft.com.
The support hours are 9am to 5pm Pacific Standard Time Monday to Friday (GMT -8).
In addition to any support question(s), the user must include ALL of the following pieces of information:
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Valid registration number.
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System configuration(s) – hard drive make, model etc.
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System OS version.
System related information can be found by using the “System Profiler” application in the /Applications/Utilities folder.
