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GPARTED (Ubuntu)

At IsardVDI, when we create a desktop we give it hardware and software features. These characteristics can be changed once created, if the need arises.

At the hardware level, we can change values of CPU, RAM, Storage, GPU used, etc.

In a storage memory, in this case a virtual hard disk. We can manage its different characteristics.

Installation

Notice

To be able to use GParted, you must be clear about several concepts:

  • GParted is a very powerful tool for managing partitions on Linux. In order to be used on Windows, different steps must be followed to those explained below.
  • It is advisable to use GParted through a USB drive or through an ISO that we can upload to Isard.
  • There are irreversible actions that, without a backup, can cause you to lose information from your drive if not done correctly. Inform yourself or ask for support before taking any action, if you are not sure.

Steps to follow:

  1. First we need to download the GParted Live ISO. Follow this link - https://gparted.org/download.php - and select the latest version.

It doesn't work?

In the event that we get an error when uploading the ISO. One way to solve this is by uploading the file we have downloaded to the following link (trusted link within Isard): https://isos.isardvdi.com

In the section where we see the + symbol, we will upload the file we have downloaded.

We will put the retention for 1 hour and we will click on the button where it says "upload" and we will wait for it to be downloaded.

Once downloaded, we will have to left-click on the link. Then we can copy the file. We will have this file on the clipboard and we can upload it to IsardVDI in the media section as a normal ISO.

  1. With the ISO already in Isard, we will go to our desktop and by clicking on the edit button, we will add the GParted ISO.

    We change the parameters set and save it.

  2. At this point we will be able to start the desktop with GParted.

    We start it with SPice

    We follow the steps below:

    1. ENTER to access with the first option.

    1. ENTER in the second option, which will come out by default.

    1. We will have to specify in which language we want to access. By putting the number of the language we want. (If we just press Enter, it will choose US English by default)

    1. ENTER to enter directly into the system.

    1. Once finished, we will be able to perform operations on our disk memory.

Resizing a partition

On your system, there may be different memory partitions, which can be used for various uses.

One of the many operations that we can perform with GParted is the resizing of these partitions. Always with free space without consumption.

We can either increase or decrease them if necessary. With the GParted tool it is much easier for us to make these changes.

To resize a partition, we have to take into account that we cannot reduce it more than the space occupied in it. Likewise, we cannot increase a partition to more than the maximum allowed by the disk.

To perform this operation we will follow the following steps:

To explain the procedure, we will join 2 partitions. One in use and the other with free space.

  1. We detected the partition in use. Left-clicking on it will mark it.

  2. We will right-click on the line that you have marked when selecting the partition. It can also be done with the graph above.

  3. Select the option that tells us "Resize/Move".

  4. Within this section we can see different options:

    • Free Space Preceding: Here we can tell you how much free space we want to create, from this partition, to the left of it.
    • New size: Where we can assign the size we want to give to this partition, always being higher than the minimum and lower than the maximum allowed.

    • Free space following (MiB): Here we can see the free space that we have to the right of this partition.

    • Align to: There are several options:

      • Cylinder: Designed to maintain compatibility with operating systems published since 2000. This setting aligns partitions at the start and end at the boundaries of a disk cylinder.
      • MiB: for modern operating systems. This setting aligns partitions at the start and end within the boundaries of a precise megabyte (1,048,576 bytes). MiB alignment provides improved performance when using RAID systems and with solid-state disks, such as USB flash disks.
      • None: Use None if you have a thorough understanding of disk structure, partition tables, and boot records. This setting places the relative boundaries at the end of any immediately preceding partition on the disk device. This setting is not guaranteed to reserve or respect the space required for boot records.

    • Maximum and minimum size:** This is the maximum and minimum size to which the partition can be reduced or enlarged. It is important to keep these in mind when determining partition modification parameters.

  5. We will leave this dialog as follows.

    • There are two ways to generate this change:

      1. On the graph, take the arrow on the right and drag it until you have the size of the new partition you want.

        Attention

        Make sure you don't move the partition instead of expanding it. If you want to make sure, you can check the number in the "New size" section and if it has changed and/or matches the maximum size allowed, you have done it right. In case it is still the same size, you can try to set the desired size and in the ‘Free space Preceding (MiB)’ section make sure, that you set a 0.

      2. Simply calculate the new size in MB (MegaByte) units and enter it in "new size".

  6. Once the desired size is set, click on the "Resize/Move" button

  7. Then left click on the green tick and wait for the operation to be performed. It may take a couple of minutes, depending on the size of the partition and the data in it.

    It should look like this:

  8. Click on the close button and the operation is done. You can now close GParted and restart the desktop normally. To do this we will have to edit the desktop again with the following parameters and hit submit:

  9. We start the desktop again and we will be able to see that the operation has been done correctly. We can check it simply by seeing that we have increased the available space from the disk manager of ubuntu.

SystemRescueCD

SystemRescueCD is a complete system recovery and repair tool, including partitioning, diagnostics and data recovery options. Although it can also manage partitions, it has a broader focus and offers both graphical and command line tools. GParted, on the other hand, focuses exclusively on disk partitioning, providing a simple graphical interface for creating, resizing and moving partitions. Whereas SystemRescueCD covers a wider range of needs.

Last update: April 17, 2025