Filed under: Utilities, Linux, Open Source
GParted: Free, non-destructive disk partitioning tool
by Jordan Running Jul 14th 2006 at 9:00AM
Looking for a fast and free non-destructive, graphical disk partitioning tool? Yes, such a thing does exist: Its GParted, short for Gnome Partition Editor, an open-source tool for Linux. Okay, so most of you aren't Linux users--why should you care? Well, because GParted will resize your FAT32 and NTFS partitions (as well as about 10 other formats) and it comes in install-free LiveCD and USB drive versions. That means you can stick it in your CD-ROM or USB port, make your partition changes, reboot, and be done with it. The LiveCD and USB versions weigh less than 29MB, or if you're already running Linux, GParted by itself weighs in under 500kb.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Peter said 9:48AM on 7-14-2006
This is a fabulous tool. I have a copy of Partition Magic, and if you already have it installed I find it a bit easier to use. But when you have to partition a system with no tools installed, this works just as well. There seem to be a few odd situations it can't handle, but 99% of the time it does the job and does it well.
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Grant Robertson said 10:18AM on 7-14-2006
The LiveCD rocks. I just used it about 2 weeks ago to squeeze the vanilla install of XP down to a few gigs so I could install Ubuntu on my laptop. Yep, it even does NTFS! Quite well, might I add.
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php
Hint, it's much easier to work with the LiveCD, since that way none of your partitions are mounted. Running Gparted under X while your working on other stuff won't allow you to do much, in my experience.
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George said 10:39AM on 7-14-2006
A couple of weeeks ago I wanted to install Vista Beta 2, but I only had one partition. So rather than download a pirated version of Partition Magic, I decided to check out the open source alternatives and found GParted. Well, suffice to say, after finally getting it to work (something in windows had locked the partition and wouldn't let GParted work) it seemed to have worked. But, when i tried to boot into windows though, the entire drive had some file allocation problem! I was able to do an inplace Windows XP Repair installation, and boot back into Windows, but it ran like crap. I saved a couple of files that were on my desktop that I had not backed up the week before, then I wiped the disk and used Gparted the second time to create 3 partitions, and on this empty drive, it seemed to work well. So... My biggest advice is to BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP!!!!!! Luckily I didn't lose any data. You Might!
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Jonathan Harford said 11:44AM on 7-14-2006
George...
I did.
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The Tick said 2:16PM on 7-14-2006
GParted is included in Ubuntu. Once again, what an invaluable resource.
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