GParted on a USB Fob From WinXP?

Hi everybody,

I've decided that I've pretty much had it with Windows & Microsoft in general, so I'm in the process of readying my Dell XPS M1210 (specs below) for a WinXP SP2/Ubuntu dual boot (well, actually tri-boot if I can shoehorn OSX in, but that's neither here nor there *grin*).

I'm a complete n00b when it comes to Linux, but I've read a lot and know that I need GParted to shrink the main XP/NTFS partition. I've downloaded it and have the .iso sitting on my hdd and can burn the CD on a moment's notice, but I've already got a ton of coasters/used once & now gathering dust CDs as it is.

I know that GParted can be put on a USB fob, but from everything that I've read, you have to already be running linux to do it. Is there anyway to do it in my current WinXP SP2 environment?

BTW, yup, I've already set up my BIOS to boot from the CD/DVD and USB before the hard drive.

Thanks!



Hokkaido Hillbilly

edit: Just wanted to say thanks to the entire Ubuntu community. I just d/l'd the Japanese Ubuntu 6.10 distro via BT in about 7 minutes, hitting 1.0MB/s, which for me is crazy. Makes me even more anxious to get my feet wet w/ Ubuntu!

 

the easiest would be to burn a CD with the gparted LiveCD ISO, and boot from it. it runs totally from the CD, and you get the full meal deal of GParted. Once you have carved up your free space, you can remove the gparted CD, put the Ubuntu CD in, reboot, and the Ubuntu LiveCD will load up and you can start checking things out.

Having a gparted liveCD kicking around is a good idea, you can help fix or set up your friends' computers, and it's free.

if you need help on determining a partitioning scheme or anything, let us know.

 

Gparted is on the Ubuntu LiveCD. Just stick it in and go (make sure you burn it as an image, and not a file on the CD. Common mistake.). You shouldn't need a separate USB key or anything.

 

Sweet! I didn't realize that it was already on the live CD, so thanks, Pitabred! Oh, and yeah, I made sure to burn the image, so roger on that.

Ok, now that that's outta the way, question #2.

As you can see I've gotta Dell M1210, but I'm a bit confused about the whole Media Direct partition. When I first got this little beauty, I made sure to wipe the hdd and got rid of the WinXP recovery partition, but kept the MD & diagnostic bits.

Now that I've used the system for the last 9 months though, I realize that I really could care less about MD (seriously...I've played with it literally only once or twice), but is it possible to have a dual boot (WinXP Pro SP2 / Ubuntu) set up and a) keep the diagnostic partition but b) not have a MD partition?

I'm more than a bit confused, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

(BTW...mods, if you feel that this should be put in a separate thread, just lemme know or feel free to move at will)

Thanks, you guys're the greatest!



Hokkaido Hillbilly

 

That unfortunately, I can't answer. I don't have a Dell, so I don't know anything about it. I'll leave that to others here.

 

Yes, I deleted the MD partition from my Dell. It was largely useless as my XP install booted faster and used less battery life. Now that Vista is around though, I could see why people would want to keep it.

I deleted the diagnostic partition too. Most Linux LiveCDs include tools like memtest86 for looking at your hardware health.

That being said, if you really want to keep it, just make sure when you install Linux, not to have the Linux install touch it, just leave the diagnostic partition alone.