Portable Active@ Partition Manager Free 26.0.0
Active@ Partition Manager Free Portable is a robust, no-cost utility from LSoft Technologies designed for precise disk partitioning and logical drive management on Windows systems, empowering users to create, delete, format, resize, and attribute partitions across HDDs, SSDs, USB flash drives, and external storage without mandatory reboots or complex command-line interfaces. Supporting an extensive array of file systems including FAT16/FAT32/exFAT, NTFS (with EFS encryption awareness), Linux ext2/ext3/ext4, macOS HFS+/HFSX, Unix UFS, BtrFS, ReFS, XFS, and JFS, this lightweight application (under 10MB installer) scans all connected devices on launch, displaying a intuitive graphical layout of physical disks, partition tables (MBR/GPT), volumes, unused space, and attributes like active/bootable flags, enabling quick operations via right-click menus, toolbar buttons, or wizards that preview changes before applying them live for most tasks.
Perfect for system administrators optimizing dual-boot setups, home users reclaiming space from bloated partitions, data recovery prep by isolating volumes, or preparing USB drives with multi-partition schemes (e.g., FAT32 + NTFS for cross-OS compatibility), the Free edition delivers enterprise features like rollback protection (auto-backups critical changes such as initialization, create/delete/format), boot sector editing/synchronization, FAT32 volumes beyond 32GB (up to 1TB+), and advanced properties viewing (S.M.A.R.T. status, cluster size, serial numbers) without watermarks, ads, or limitations.
The program’s hallmark is its immediate-effect policy: unlike reboot-heavy tools, it leverages Windows Volume Shadow Copy and low-level APIs to enact resizes, formats, and attribute flips online, with safety nets like pre-operation scans for errors and optional backups of partition tables/boot sectors stored in XML for instant Rollback via a dedicated tool, ensuring no data loss from mishaps during live tweaks.
Disk Detection and Visualization
Launch reveals:
Device List
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Physical disks (Disk 0-99): Model/capacity/interface (SATA/NVMe/USB/SCSI).
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Logical volumes: Letter/size/FS/label/status (healthy/raw/unknown).
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Pie charts: Used/free per partition; color-coded (NTFS=green, FAT=blue, ext=orange).
Properties Panels
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Partition: Type (primary/logical/extended), active flag, hidden, serial.
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Volume: Cluster size, bytes/sector, used clusters, MFT records.
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Disk: Sectors/track, heads, cylinders, GPT/MBR style.
Hex viewer for boot sectors; surface scan for bad blocks.
Core Partitioning Operations
Right-click a partition/unallocated space:
Create Partition
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Wizard: Primary/logical/extended; size/position (MB/GB/%); align (1MB/4K); FS (NTFS/FAT32/exFAT); label/cluster (default/auto).
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NTFS quick-format (sparse/compressed); FAT32 >32GB enforced.
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Multiple on USB (e.g., 4GB FAT32 + remainder NTFS).
Delete Partition
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Quick (data loss warning) or secure (zero-fill preview).
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Merge unallocated.
Format Partition
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FS convert (FAT→NTFS); quick/full (zero MFT).
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Volume label/change; cluster optimize (4096 default).
Resize/Move
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Shrink/grow sliders; preview shrink max.
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Non-destructive move (data copy for NTFS).
Attributes
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Mark active (bootable for MBR).
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Hide/show volume.
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Surface test/fix.
Boot Sector Management
Advanced panel:
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Edit: Hex editor for boot code (FAT/NTFS/ext boot records).
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Synchronize: Copy MBR to all primaries; fix corrupted.
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Install: Write clean boot sector.
Disk Initialization and Conversion
Initialize Disk
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MBR (legacy BIOS) or GPT (UEFI >2TB).
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Rollback safeguards layout.
Convert
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MBR↔GPT non-destructive (resize first).
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Fix damaged tables.
Rollback and Safety Features
Auto-captures:
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Disk init, create/delete/format.
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Restore via XML selector; one-click undo.
Pre-flight checks: Locks, space, overlaps.
USB and Multi-Boot Prep
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Multi-partition USB: FAT32 boot + NTFS data.
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Active flag for PXE/rescue.
Supported Scenarios
Dual-Boot: Shrink C:, create Linux ext4.
Reclaim: Delete recovery partition.
USB Ready: Multi-FS thumb.
Recovery Prep: Raw partition for tools.
Performance and Compatibility
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Windows 11/10/8.1/7 (x64/x86).
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UEFI/BIOS; dynamic disks partial.
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1GHz CPU; 256MB RAM.
Portable ZIP option.
Limitations and Pro Upsell
Free: No imaging/cloning (Pro Disk Image).
No RAID/virtual disks (Ultimate).
Active@ Partition Manager Free: Live tweaks, rollback safe, FS universal. Essential disk mastery.