1 Topic by KaBone

  • KaBone
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Topic: Gparted won't launch

Full disclaimer - I'm a noob.  I can't seem to get Gaparted to launch from CD.  I downloaded the latest stable version 0.12.5 (?) iso file to my desktop.  First shot was to drag and drop to the optical drive (read disclaimer).  That just copied the iso file.  Next I double clicked the icon and Roxio launched and prompted me to burn the image to CD, which I did.  The CD now has folders and a couple other files.  From what I've read Gparted is supposed to launch when you put the CD in.  Didn't happen.  Searched through the folder to find an executable application, a command prompt window opens for half a second and then went away.  I looked at the manual and it tells me I can launch from the Application menu (don't know what that is exactly) or type gparted in the Command line.  I assumed that was the cmd window, but it tells me gparted is not a recognized command.  Tried changing the drive to the optical (i.e. 'cd d:'), gave me the D:\ line but then went right back to C:\.

I've tried this on 2 laptops, Dell Vostro 3450 w/ Win 7 Pro 64-bit and Lenovo T400 w/ Win XP Pro SP3, same result.

Background - I'm switching the HDD on the Dell to an SSD.  I'm following the procedure from online articles. One of them (lifehacker) tells me I need to align the front end partion to 64 sectors instead of 63 to fully optimize the SSD.  As you can guess by now I cloned the HDD instead of a fresh install because I don't think Dell gave me enough CDs to do a fresh install.  Lifehacker's procedure to realign the partition is using Gparted.  That's how I got here.  First I did a forum search of Gparted won't start and Gparted won't launch.  The returned results were way above my IT skills hence I felt compelled to put a disclaimer at the beginning.

What do I need to do differently?

2 Reply by class413

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Re: Gparted won't launch

From what you write, I am not sure that you burned the CD as ISO image or just as data cd. The default cd/dvd-writing software doesn't support Image burn. Be sure on this point first.
Furthermore, GParted isn't supposed to launch when you put the CD in. You have to reboot the computer with the cd in the tray and the boot order already set to the optical drive in priority.
(In case of more that 2 optical drives connected, be sure to select the right one). To change the boot priority, you have to enter the BIOS setup (F2 in many systems) or press some other special key.
When the cd boots, it shows a first screen from where you can select the default boot procedure (good for most computers) or some of the alternate boot ways.


On the system migration subject, it is right that it is better to align the partitions to a 8 sector multiple in SSD drives. On the other hand, the usual alignment in many recent operating system versions is the MiB alignment (that is sector 2048 for 512byte/sector drives). This covers the requirements of every manufacturer and model, because the various models write data in segments of 512 or 256 or 128 KiB. To do so, you need to select the partition, select the MiB align option in the resize window (in fact it is the default option in recent GParted versions), select 1 MiB before the partition and apply.

However, changing the start sector of the system partition will need to readjust the boot function, and for this you need an install cd/dvd. It can be from another installation (e.g. from a friend). So, keep the old hard drive safe to be able to revert and retry, untill everything is fixed. (I am not expert in fixing win7 boot).


(Topic moved to the live media section)

*** It is highly recommended to backup any important files before doing resize/move operations. ***

3 Reply by lbeck (edited by lbeck 2012-10-19 17:02:50)

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Re: Gparted won't launch

MY disclaimer - I'm not a noob in general but I don't use ISO discs often, so I'm a noob in the iso file usage arena.  I think I used an ISO image a few times to make a program disc that contains a program executable, but haven't used an ISO disc the way that it is described here.

If I understand correctly, I need to boot from the CD that has the iso file on it by changing my boot priority in the BIOS options.  Then the Gparted program launches?  I haven't tried it yet since the computer and drives are at another location.  I just made the iso CD and I'm just trying to understand prior to my GParted session.  Let me know if there is a different procedure or direct me to a URL that explains how to run programs from an ISO file on CD.

My other question is whether I'll be able to work with partitions on an external hard drive (EHD) .

The problem I'm trying to solve is this -- I cloned a 750GB EHD to a 1.5 TB EHD.  The clone works fine but shows the same capacity as the source EHD.  Windows Disk Management shows about 700 GB in an "unallocated" partition so I tried using a little program called “Minitool Partition Wizard Home edition” to delete or merge that partition to gain the unallocated space.  I then found that all of the partitions on the cloned EHD are Linux Ext3 which are not handled by the Minitool program or Windows utilities.  With a little searching I came across GParted and from what I’ve read I’m encouraged that it’ll work for my needs.

4 Reply by gedakc

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Re: Gparted won't launch

lbeck wrote:

If I understand correctly, I need to boot from the CD that has the iso file on it by changing my boot priority in the BIOS options.  Then the Gparted program launches?

Yes, that is correct.

lbeck wrote:

I haven't tried it yet since the computer and drives are at another location.  I just made the iso CD and I'm just trying to understand prior to my GParted session.  Let me know if there is a different procedure or direct me to a URL that explains how to run programs from an ISO file on CD.

See the GParted Live Manual on the documentation page for more instructions on booting from a Live CD.

lbeck wrote:

My other question is whether I'll be able to work with partitions on an external hard drive (EHD).

Yes, GParted works with both internal and external drives.  External drives do tend to be very slow since the USB interface is not as fast as SATA.

5 Reply by lbeck

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Re: Gparted won't launch

Thanks Gedakc.  The software worked for me and solved my problem.

Lee