How to Use the GParted Live CD for Partition Management
There are many different partition managers available on the market for PCs, but many can be expensive and somewhat limited in their abilities. The GParted Live CD, however, is free, open-source software, running on top of a custom Linux distribution. GParted offers full partition management in a package that does not need to be installed to use it. Because it runs entirely off the CD, it also is a great tool for diagnosing hard disk problems on a PC that will not boot properly.
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Instructions
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Download the ISO image of the GParted Live CD from the GParted website (see Resources below). There will be several versions available. Look for the most recent release labeled “Stable,” and download that.
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Burn the image to disc with a CD-burning program that supports ISO images. If you do not have such software installed, there are many freeware programs available on the Internet that can handle ISO images.
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Insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive and reboot. Many computers are configured to boot from CD before booting to the hard disk. If your computer does not boot the GParted Live CD, however, you may need to enter the BIOS or Setup menu of your computer. This can normally be done by pressing the “Del,” “F2,” or “F12” key at the first screen in the startup process. Then find the boot priority settings, and ensure that the CD-ROM drive is checked before the hard disk.
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Press “Enter” at the GParted Live CD bootloader. This will boot the CD with the default settings, which will work for most computers. A keymap settings screen will then be displayed.
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Select “Don’t Touch Keyboard Map,” if it is not already selected, and press “Enter.”
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Choose the correct language to use at the next screen. The default language is U.S. English, and if that is your preference, simply press “Enter.” Otherwise, type the number preceding the correct language, and press “Enter.”
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Press “Enter” when asked about the video settings. Most computers will be able to use the default settings. After a few moments, the GParted Live CD desktop will appear, and GParted will already be started.
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Perform your desired operations on the disk partitions. GParted allows you to add, delete, format, resize, copy and move partitions, and it also includes tools to check the data structure for errors. GParted can also read and write to a variety of file systems, including EXT2, EXT3, FAT16, FAT32, HFS, HFS+ and NTFS.
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Click the “Apply” button to commit the changes to the disk.
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Exit GParted after you are finished editing the partitions, and then double-click the “Exit” icon in the upper-left corner of the desktop. Select “Reboot” and press the “OK” button. A black screen will appear, asking you to remove the CD from the drive. Press “Enter” after that is done to reboot the computer.
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Tips & Warnings
Back up all important files before using any partitioning software.
