Parted Magic
Encyclopedia
Parted Magic is a computer operating system
based on GNU/Linux and is distributed as free and open source software
. It is named after GParted
, an open source partitioning tool, and the distribution
is primarily designed for the purpose of disk partitioning
and data recovery
.
on PC
hardware, and does not require installation, or the presence of an installed operating system. This allows its use as a recovery tool, as well as a tool to configure new systems. Unlike most Linux distributions, it does not include a method for permanent installation (although this may be performed manually).
Although originally designed for mechanical hard disk drives, Parted Magic is suitable for use also with solid state drives and can perform a secure erase (a method to return a drive to its factory state). Corsair
, a major SSD manufacturer, recommends its use as "the most common and user-friendly tool" for performing a secure erase on its drives.
Parted Magic supports reading and writing to a variety of modern file systems, including ext3
, ext4
, FAT
and NTFS
, and as such is able to access disk drives formatted for use under Microsoft Windows
and GNU/Linux systems.
The distribution includes local network and Internet support, and comes with the Firefox web browser.
noting in particular ability to recover data from multiple operating systems and its free cost, "About the only other thing I can say about Parted Magic, besides that it's a must-download for your toolkit, is that it's free".
processors natively, and requires a computer with at least an i586 Intel-compatible processor and 175MB of RAM
.
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
based on GNU/Linux and is distributed as free and open source software
Free and open source software
Free and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
. It is named after GParted
GParted
GParted is a GTK+ front-end to GNU Parted and the official GNOME Partition Editor application.It is used for creating, deleting, resizing, moving, checking and copying partitions, and the file systems on them...
, an open source partitioning tool, and the distribution
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
is primarily designed for the purpose of disk partitioning
Disk partitioning
Disk partitioning is the act of dividing a hard disk drive into multiple logical storage units referred to as partitions, to treat one physical disk drive as if it were multiple disks. Partitions are also termed "slices" for operating systems based on BSD, Solaris or GNU Hurd...
and data recovery
Data recovery
Data recovery is the process of salvaging data from damaged, failed, corrupted, or inaccessible secondary storage media when it cannot be accessed normally. Often the data are being salvaged from storage media such as internal or external hard disk drives, solid-state drives , USB flash drive,...
.
Features
The distribution is directly bootable by CD or USB flash driveUSB flash drive
A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
on PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
hardware, and does not require installation, or the presence of an installed operating system. This allows its use as a recovery tool, as well as a tool to configure new systems. Unlike most Linux distributions, it does not include a method for permanent installation (although this may be performed manually).
Although originally designed for mechanical hard disk drives, Parted Magic is suitable for use also with solid state drives and can perform a secure erase (a method to return a drive to its factory state). Corsair
Corsair Memory
Corsair Memory is a computer peripherals and hardware company headquartered in Fremont, California. Corsair designs and sells a range of products for computers, including high-speed DRAM modules, ATX power supplies , USB flash drives , CPU and memory cooling solutions, computer cases, solid-state...
, a major SSD manufacturer, recommends its use as "the most common and user-friendly tool" for performing a secure erase on its drives.
Parted Magic supports reading and writing to a variety of modern file systems, including ext3
Ext3
The ext3 or third extended filesystem is a journaled file system that is commonly used by the Linux kernel. It is the default file system for many popular Linux distributions, including Debian...
, ext4
Ext4
The ext4 or fourth extended filesystem is a journaling file system for Linux, developed as the successor to ext3.It was born as a series of backward compatible extensions to ext3, many of them originally developed by Cluster File Systems for the Lustre file system between 2003 and 2006, meant to...
, FAT
File Allocation Table
File Allocation Table is a computer file system architecture now widely used on many computer systems and most memory cards, such as those used with digital cameras. FAT file systems are commonly found on floppy disks, flash memory cards, digital cameras, and many other portable devices because of...
and NTFS
NTFS
NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7....
, and as such is able to access disk drives formatted for use under Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and GNU/Linux systems.
The distribution includes local network and Internet support, and comes with the Firefox web browser.
Reception
Parted Magic has received positive reviews from mainstream technical magazines and websites, PC WorldPC World (magazine)
PC World is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal-technology products and services...
noting in particular ability to recover data from multiple operating systems and its free cost, "About the only other thing I can say about Parted Magic, besides that it's a must-download for your toolkit, is that it's free".
System Requirements
As of version 11.11.11, Parted Magic supports Intel x86 and x86-64X86-64
x86-64 is an extension of the x86 instruction set. It supports vastly larger virtual and physical address spaces than are possible on x86, thereby allowing programmers to conveniently work with much larger data sets. x86-64 also provides 64-bit general purpose registers and numerous other...
processors natively, and requires a computer with at least an i586 Intel-compatible processor and 175MB of RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
.