Anyone recommend some free software that a newbie can use to make partitions? I've tried SwissKnife but it won't let me use any of the basic commands (the create button won't let me press it, and the slider for choosing space allocation won't let me change it). And all other software I've tried is Demo version only, meaning it doesn't do ****.
So, can anyone recommend a programme? Time limited shareware would be fine if it let me make a partition or two before the duration ran out.
Thanks

You can use an Ubuntu live cd to boot and then once inside Linux you can use a program called gparted to make partitions even on a hard drive that has windows installed, but make sure to defragment it first.

What's wrong with the partition manager that comes with the windows CD?

I too use the partition manager of the windows. It's the best one.

can it partition a hard drive with windows installed, without touching the installation?

No. It's just a basic partition manager. Very Basic.

But it does the job.

Use the one comes with Windows. It is simple but capable to solve most of our problems.
Newbie should not try difficult stuff.

While not free, Partition Magic is probably the best partitioning software out there and will work after Windows is installed. Have used it for years and the only time I had a problem was one when the power went out while I was using it, one reason why I know use a UPS, and every other time I did something stupid

I google partition manager find some freeware bellow:

paragon http://www.partition-manager.com/
I have not used,no comment!

easeus partition manager
I download from brother soft
http://www.brothersoft.com/easeus- [...] 51814.html

It worked OK, but failed when i tried to merge partition. so i have to allocated the free space to another partition. Partition magic may merge two partitions which will cost you $69.95