1 Topic by bondyacc

  • bondyacc
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Topic: USB boot drive for disk management

Hi. I typed this all out earlier and when I came back from looking for the name of the developer it got lost...LOL. So if this is a duplicate please disregard it.

I'm trying to install Windows onto a formatted M.2 drive and need to tweak my drive. Since I don't have an OS installed yet I cannot do what is needed. So I downloaded 'gparted-live-1.5.0-6-amd64' onto my USB stick so I could open 'disk management'. Then I plugged the USB into my new computer and set my boot order to boot from it. When I activated I got an error: "An operating system wasn't found". So I went on the GParted site and clicked a help link. I don't feel that I'm computer illiterate but the instructions were above my experience capabilities.
Didn't know if I was supposed to open something before plugging it into my new computer and not even sure that I had downloaded the right folder.
If you can offer some (layman terms) help I'd be quite appreciative.
Thanks so much

2 Reply by class413

  • class413
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Re: USB boot drive for disk management

How did you make the USB? You don't have to just copy the iso file into the USB. You have to make a bootable USB.
You can look in the GParted web site for details. There are detailed instructions in the page:
https://gparted.org/liveusb.php

furthermore, you can write bootable USB sticks with the free program "Rufus" in a ms windows computer (it is a single .exe file that runs without any installation, so you can do it even on a friend's computer).

The message "An operating system wasn't found" means that the USB has been written as a data device, not as a bootable device. Or the download wasn't good (for this you have to check the checksum of the downloaded iso with the correct value from the GParted download page.

Next, be sure that the computer looked into the USB to boot.
Sometimes there is a key to press during power on, that goes to the boot device selection page. E.g. in the Asus laptop it is the ESC key (this can differ with other brands). I have to plug the bootable USB in a USB port, and then press the power on key and then the ESC key keeping it pressed. Some seconds later I get a screen with the bootable devices. It is better to keep the CD/DVD drive empty, so that the USB remains the only bootable device.

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