Helps Bootcamp users redistribute free space

Bootcamp users who need to expand their Windows partition on-the-fly can now do so without risk of data loss or rebooting, says Paragon Software of its new Camptune X for Mac. Paragon, well-known for its utility to allow Macs to write to NTFS-formatted external drives, applies the technology to the repartitioning of disk space for larger Boot Camp partitions, saving substantial time and difficulty.

The normal procedure for dual-boot users to reallocate free space to a Boot camp partition would be to back up the partition using a Windows clone tool, delete the partition, recreate the NTFS space and restore the Windows partition from the clone backup. Camptune X makes the process similar to the way users can "live repartition" OS X partitions on volumes with sufficient contiguous free space.

Likewise, users who initially set their Windows partition too large and would like to quickly reclaim the free space for OS X can use the program as well. Users open the Camptune program, set the desired volume sizes and execute the change. Because no rebooting is required, users can continue working while the operation is performed. While the program doesn't require backing up the Windows partition, it is of course good practice to regularly clone the Windows partition, since Mac backup programs do not.

Paragon Camptune X costs $20 and is available now. The program requires an Intel Mac running OS X 10.4.6 or higher with an existing Boot Camp partition of Windows (XP SP2 or later, Vista or Windows 7).

by MacNN Staff