Mass storage and data management with Parted Magic
Disk Aid
It's really annoying when a disk suddenly dies on you or a typo in a command deletes important data. The free Parted Magic Live distro offers help.
The explosion of hard disk capacities in recent years, coupled with the ever-improving multimedia capabilities of conventional computer systems, has led to massive growth in volumes of data in many households. But HD video, lossless audio files, and elaborate games force you pay more attention to backing up your data. Many naive users invest in expensive, commercial software, often accompanied by a yearly subscription fee, to create backups of their mass storage.
However, the Parted Magic Live distribution [1] gives you a permanent answer to backup problems. Parted Magic bills itself as "a complete hard disk management solution." The Live system comes with a collection of useful tools for partitioning, backup, disk cloning, data rescue, and more. Although the maintainer has recently asked for a contribution to help finance the GPL-licensed distribution, the price of just under US$ 5 is something anyone can afford.
Variants
Parted Magic offers several start options in the GRUB boot manager. If you use the operating system on an older machine with only 512MB of RAM, choose the Start option Live with default settings 32 (for 32-bit machines) or Live with default settings 64 (for 64-bit PCs).
For more recent computer systems with more memory, opt for the Default settings 32 or Default settings 64 instead. This loads the entire operating system into memory and thereby accelerates the process enormously. If you see a black screen after startup, you can use Alternate graphical server 32 or Alternate graphical server 64, which load a VESA-compliant graphics driver and invoke a shell.
Parted Magic then boots into a somewhat antique-looking graphical system with a number of program icons on the desktop. The most important icons are Disk Cloning, Partition Editor, Erase Disk, Disk Health and – if you use Windows – Virus Scanner (Figure 1).
System Check
To help you troubleshoot hardware defects in case of inexplicable system behavior, Parted Magic offers a range of tools for checking system integrity. Pressing the System Profiler icon first shows you the details of the detected hardware. The program also supports benchmarking against specific routines (Figure 2).
For example, if you suspect – specifically for mobile computers – that overheating of individual components is causing problems, you can use Psensor to read the temperature sensors installed in the computer. If this still doesn't help you track down the root cause, you might want to check the disk integrity. To do this, press Disk Health, which in turn launches GSmartControl [2] (Figure 3). You can then view the faults in the Error Log tab. The Perform Tests tab lets you launch a storage medium test, if in doubt.
In the System Tools menu, you will also find a System Stability Tester (systester
) entry, which runs intensive system checks to identify hardware shortcomings. Finally, you can check your audio hardware using Multimedia | Test Audio.
Software Problems
Parted Magic also offers many routines for identifying software problems. The tools that catch the eye here are primarily for Windows systems. For example, the System Tools menu contains two programs: PCLoginNow and Change Windows Password. They allow you not only to change Windows passwords but also reset them if needed. The typical Windows tools include antivirus programs that will rid your Windows computer of malware. Clicking on Virus Scanner launches the ClamAV virus scanner [3]. When you first start the software, it automatically downloads the latest virus patterns.
Another Windows-specific issue is weaknesses of the NTFS filesystem [4], which tends to become inconsistent in cases of high utilization. To avoid loss of data, the program allows you to Resize NTFS with Bad Sectors in the System Tools menu – even if bad sectors are found. For Linux, Parted Magic offers the Grub Doctor tool, which allows you to repair a broken GRUB2 configuration.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.
-
ZorinOS 17.1 Released, Includes Improved Windows App Support
If you need or desire to run Windows applications on Linux, there's one distribution intent on making that easier for you and its new release further improves that feature.
-
Linux Market Share Surpasses 4% for the First Time
Look out Windows and macOS, Linux is on the rise and has even topped ChromeOS to become the fourth most widely used OS around the globe.
-
KDE’s Plasma 6 Officially Available
KDE’s Plasma 6.0 "Megarelease" has happened, and it's brimming with new features, polish, and performance.
-
Latest Version of Tails Unleashed
Tails 6.0 is based on Debian 12 and includes GNOME 43.
-
KDE Announces New Slimbook V with Plenty of Power and KDE’s Plasma 6
If you're a fan of KDE Plasma, you'll be thrilled to hear they've announced a new Slimbook with an AMD CPU and the latest version of KDE Plasma desktop.
-
Monthly Sponsorship Includes Early Access to elementary OS 8
If you want to get a glimpse of what's in the pipeline for elementary OS 8, just set up a monthly sponsorship to help fund its continued existence.
-
DebConf24 to be Held in South Korea
Busan will be the location of the latest DebConf running July 28 through August 4
-
Fedora Unleashes Atomic Desktops
Fedora has combined its solid distribution with rpm-ostree system to make it possible to deliver a new family of Fedora spins, called Fedora Atomic Desktops.
-
Bootloader Vulnerability Affects Nearly All Linux Distributions
The developers of shim have released a version to fix numerous security flaws, including one that could enable remote control execution of malicious code under certain circumstances.