Creating live media and running GParted (Must know)

We will need a copy of the GParted software for all of the recipes that follow. As such, we will start by downloading GParted Live, burning the image to a CD, and then booting from the CD.

Getting ready

You will need a blank CD-R or CD-R/W disc, a CD burner, and CD writing software.

How to do it...

Follow these steps to create a Live CD:

1. Download the disk image file gparted-live-w.x.y-z.iso for the latest stable release of GParted Live from the GParted website, http://gparted.org/download.php.

2. Optionally, verify the integrity of the downloaded file by running a program to determine the MD5SUM of the .iso file and ensuring that this value matches the MD5SUM checksum listed on the above mentioned web page.

3. Insert a blank CD and use the CD writing software to "burn" the .iso file to the blank CD as an image. The .iso file must be burned as an image. If the .iso file is written as data then the CD will not boot up a computer.

Now, boot your computer using the Live CD:

1. Reboot your computer with GParted Live CD in the CD tray of your computer.

2. Press the Enter key when the GParted Live boot screen is displayed:

   

3. Press the Enter key to use the standard US keymap:

   

4. Press the Enter key to use the US English language:

   

5. Press the Enter key to start up the default graphical environment:

   

6. You are now ready to begin using GParted.

   

How it works...

The best way to use GParted is from Live media, such as GParted Live burned to a CD or written to a USB flash drive. When your computer is booted from the hard drive, the operating system has access to the partitions. To prevent this access and hence enable all supported partition editing actions, boot your computer using GParted Live removable media.

By downloading and using the latest stable release of GParted Live, you will have access to all the latest features and bug fixes.

There's more...

In this example we used all of the default settings for GParted Live. However, several other options are available. For example if you choose the mode to load GParted Live to RAM then you will have access to your CD tray, which can be useful for making data backups to CD. Other options allow you to choose a different keyboard layout or select a different language.

Missing MD5SUM

If the MD5SUM program is not available on your computer, you can locate this software on the Internet with search criteria such as md5sum download.

Missing CD writer software

If you do not have CD writing software, you can locate this type of software on the Internet with search criteria such as cd burning software.

Additional help

The GParted website contains additional resources to help you. See http://gparted.org/help.php.

For example, you can learn how to install GParted Live on a USB flash drive, on a hard drive, or on a PXE server.