is there a way to create a bootable USB that will allow partition management?

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jordan12

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I need to know a way to create a bootable USB drive that will let me use partition programs.

Anyone have an idea on that??
 
are you saying diskpart doesn't work with your current boot drive, or are you asking for a GUI type modern partition program like partition magic or something?
 
Parted Magic is what I've used for several years now, always had success with it, never had issues of any kind. It used to be free of charge and if you go looking around you can probably find the last old version that was free, but for the last 2 years or so it's been a pay-to-use product.

There are many such partition editing tools available, that's just one of them. You can also just boot off a Linux LiveCD/DVD/USB and use Gparted as well but since it's Linux-based it can be somewhat trickier to use than Windows-based tools so, as long as you're paying attention to what you're doing every step along the way you should be ok.

And yes you can use Diskpart from a Windows installation disc but the commands can be somewhat discouraging to some people, and yes using a GUI is what most folks want these days so, Parted Magic could be just what's desired depending on the circumstances.
 
Tiberian said:
Parted Magic is what I've used for several years now, always had success with it, never had issues of any kind.
Click to expand...

Agreed, that's a good tool.
Another option as mentioned is Diskpart - which I would use via Windows PE, booting from USB.
Win PE is free to use and very useful as an emergency tool (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/download-winpe--windows-pe).
In terms of USB media creation, I tend to use either the Universal USB installer (https://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/) or YUMI, which supports multiple ISO's through a boot menu (https://www.pendrivelinux.com/tag/multiboot-iso/).
Both are very flexible and support a lot of different operating systems (and they get updated regularly to support more).
 
The tool which keeps being mentioned is GParted. This is present on UbuntuLive{CD,USB} or PartedMagic.
This is a very, VERY powerful tool and can resize/move/etc a large number of partition formats.

May I just add to the mix: SysRescueCD
This also contains GParted but the benefits of SysRescueCD are:

1. Smaller download
2. simple instructions how to "install" to a USB
3. comes with loads of tools specifically for rescuing systems: change nt password, file recovery etc...
 
naib said:
The tool which keeps being mentioned is GParted. This is present on UbuntuLive{CD,USB} or PartedMagic.
This is a very, VERY powerful tool and can resize/move/etc a large number of partition formats.

May I just add to the mix: SysRescueCD
This also contains GParted but the benefits of SysRescueCD are:

1. Smaller download
2. simple instructions how to "install" to a USB
3. comes with loads of tools specifically for rescuing systems: change nt password, file recovery etc...
Click to expand...

As a tech, this is interesting. Gonna add this one to my toolkit.
 
And there's always Hiren's BootCD too - now before anyone decides to lambast me over the fact that some modified versions of Hiren's BootCD do contain pirated software, the original Hiren's BootCD concept was not one that used copyrighted software at all and that one (even updated) is still available and has nothing illegal on it but useful tools and utilities and freeware that still prove useful to this day:

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

There are dozens of such CDs/DVDs/USB/ISO tools out there nowadays, there always have been to be honest, it just requires one to figure out which one has the mix of tools that best supports your particular workflow or needs.
 
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GPARTED FTW.

Been using this for years on Windows and Linux machines. It's awesome. Just be aware that moving your boot partition may cause some minor issues that you need to fix with bootrec /fixmbr /fixboot, etc.
 
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