Help with parted magic or gparted

Hello, I am trying to run Parted Magic and it did not work. Restarted the computer and boot from CD/DVD drive. I got the welcome screen, chose the default settings, it begins to load but I got a black screen while it was doing : "Settings up system devices". I hear the CD still working but I still have the black screen. After a while the CD tray opens I took out the CD but still nothing. The computer is still on but with the black screen. I tried it many times. At first I thought it was a bad burning but I tried the same CD on another computer and it worked just fine. I also tried Gparted with the same result. What the heck is wrong with my computer? Can somebody help me? Thanks.

 

Hello,
As both programs on based on linux, you may have a hardware compatibility problem. If you need a bootable partition manager, you can try Partition Wizard which does the same thing. If this does not boot, then you cannot use a linux based bootable disk on your computer.

Partition Wizard Bootable

http://www.partitionwizard.com/partition-wizard-bootable-cd.html

 

Well I need to use the Secure Erase utility to wipe my hard drive. Does Partition Wizard Bootable have the secure erase? One time I used the DrWeb live cd and the Norton live cd and they ran just fine, are they Linux-base also? Thanks.

 

No it does not but you can try downloading the SecureErase iso file here.

http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml

 

I already did but it does not work. I download the file, and I found the .iso file with other files. I took the iso and burned it on a CD. I put the CD, restarted the computer and I got the following:
Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu
1.Boot with emm386 (most compatible)
2.Boot with emm386 (max memory)
3.Boot without emm386
4.Clean boot.

I tried to find the guide online with no success. I tried the 4 different options but it never runs. Do you know what to do next? Thanks

 

You could not boot the linux based disk and you cannot boot this Dos based disk. I am kind of at a loss on what the problem is other than you have some kind of hardware issue. Hopefully somebody can jump in here and give you there thoughts. If you can boot the CD on another machine, maybe the only way to do a secure erase is to install the hard drive in the other computer and erase it there.

Another option you might try is to create a bootable CD or usb flash drive of the following.

http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm

 

Does this disk have the same great effect as Secure Erase? Will it really wipe my hard drive clean with nothing on it? Is this program like dban? Cause dban also cannot run on my computer and I have read that dban is not as effective as Secure Erase. Thanks

 

Yes, this is like dban. But, secure erase can delete sectors marked as bad while kill-disk cannot. Also, there can be areas on the hard drive called HPA and DCO.I do not think kill disk can handle that. The only other one that can do that besides secure erase is a paid software called BCWipe Total WipeOut. I would not be too worried about deleting the HPA though as that is usually data put on by the OEM companies.

There is a linux command that can do the same thing (hdparm) as secure erase but you seem to have a problem with linux.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_protected_area

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Device_configuration_overlay

As to if Partition Wizard has a Wipe Disk function. Yes it does but I do not know if the bootable version has one. I would have to check that out.

http://www.partitionwizard.com/help/wipe-disk.html

 

How can that be possible? I have ran drweb live cd with no problem. There must be something else.

 

Maybe it uses a different linux kernel. There is a bootable linux CD called UBCD that has many tools including hdderase which is basically secure erase. You may want to try burning an iso of that and see if it works.

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

 

Ok I am trying it right now. I'll let you know how it went.

 

It worked man. Thank You very much. I found the secure erase tool. You saved me a lot of time.:-D:-D Thanks

 

No problem and thanks for the feedback.

 

Alright hey guys, ive been doing some research for about 2 days now with some tests and stuff. im having the EXACT same problem this dude is having and ive tried everthing but the UBCD4win thingy. I downlaoded it and im trying to make an iso file but it gives me this. Idk what to do.

Some backround:
I have same problem with partedmagic and Gparted so i tried to use different version of the software.. still black/blank screen, so i tried the HDDerase.iso.. still doesnt work gives me error.

Heres a pic

 

The problem is you are trying to create a UBCD4 windows boot disk with the UBCD linux disk. This cannot work. In order to do what you are doing, you would need an XP install disk.

Download the iso file of UBCD. You need to burn the iso file with Imgburn at 4X speed.

How to write an image file to a disc using ImgBurn

Edit: to avoid downloading UBCD, try burning the iso file of HDDerase and see if that boots. Unzip the file and burn the iso file. If your HDD is SATA then the only way HDDerase will see it is if you can change the BIOS to IDE mode.

 

My last post was assuming you want to erase the hard drive. Is this correct?

 

For my machine I needed to download the Parted Magic pmagic_2012_2_27_x86_64.iso, otherwise I just get the black screen.

 

Tgell thanks for the response. Ok yea my post was a little outdated because it takes a while for the admin to approve of my post. But yes i got the actual iso file of UBCD and i used poweriso to create an iso image. so i gave that a try, i tried the HDDerase, Gparted, and Partedmagic all from that CD....and still did not work. and yes i want to secure erase my SSD. Ive also already tried the HDDerase by itself on a iso image and that didnt work either.... and nullptr thanks for the response ill give it a try.

 

Update: i tried the version of PArted magic Null referred me but it still didnt work...

On another forum site someone told me to do this


-return AHCI back to COMPATIBILITY in the BIOS
-format the entire SSD using KILLDISK
-install Windows 7
-return COMPATIBILITY back to AHCI in the BIOS
-update firmware (do this only if your REALLY have to)

what do you think?

 

Try this method using Gparted and hdparm. Are you saying you could not get the Gparted Live CD to boot. Latest version is .12 You may have to download an older version in order for it to work. I think you can also do the same using terminal in Puppy. I will have to confirm that though.

Did you try booting the HDDerase iso file. It is only about 1mb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpZwTaOHdT4

 

Yes ive tried the 1 mb HDDerase and it just froze at the screen where it asked me if i wanted to continue i press y or n. Ive tried the latest version of Gparted and it gave me this error.

 

I can confirm that Puppy 5.28 has hdparm. I assume you are trying to boot from a CD, correct? If you have an available USB flash drive and your computer supports booting from USB, try Tuxboot to create a bootable usb with the Gparted iso.

http://tuxboot.org/

The USB drive should be formatted FAT32. Use this utility.

http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=197

If you cannot do this than try burning the Puppy ISO at 4X. I would use Imgburn. It may work where poweriso fails.

http://majorgeeks.com/ImgBurn_d4870.html

Edit: there is also a bootable partition manager called Partition Wizard that can wipe a drive.

http://www.partitionwizard.com/help/wipe-disk.html

 

alright so what in order should i try first?
And partition wizard it doesnt have secure erase does it?

Ok i shld try booting from USB. Cant i just use windows to format the USB? because if i click my computer and right click my USB and click format it gives me the option of "fat32" so cant i use that?

 

Partition Wizard writes zeros to the drive. Not really a secure erase as such. I would try the USB boot of Gparted and see if that works. If that does not work then I would try booting with Puppy on a CD. I do not think the problem is with Debian but I will double check and see if Puppy Slax also has hdparm which I think it does. The link I provide for Puppy is Ubuntu based (Debian).

 

what do you think of using Killdisk?

 

Kill Disk writes zeros to the drive also. It depends on how secure you want to wipe the drive. I would think that writing zero's would be sufficient. HDDerase does the same thing only it can zero out area's of the drive that Kill Disk cannot.

HDparm does the same thing as SecureErase (HDDerase) as it uses the internal erase command of the hard drive.

 

So i tried the Gparted on the USb from using tuxboot and still black screen...Im about ready to pick up my 1400 dollar computer and throw it out the window.... ima try puppy.iso right now and see if that works..ill get back to you with results... does partition wizard have secure erase?

 

Partition Wizard writes zero's like KillDisk. I do not think it will erase sectors marked as bad. I can confirm that the Slax version of Puppy also has hdparm. Also, some people have had more success booting v5.7 of Parted Magic.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/partedmagic/files/partedmagic/Parted Magic 5.7/

 

can i have the link for puppy? or slax?

Btw i appreciate all your help and time man.

 

Puppy Slax

http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/puppylinux/puppy-5.3.1/slacko-5.3.1-SCSI-MAIN.iso

Edit Lucid Puppy (Ubuntu-Compatible Build) Debian

http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/puppylinux/puppy-5.2.8/lupu-528.004.iso

 

alright so i tried the second link you gave me and it gave me this error... Now ima try that version of parted magic you gave me...if that fails ima just gonna cut my losses and use killdisk... Ive been working on this issue for 3 days idk what the hell is the problem and why i cant boot any of the programs.

http://imgur.com/mRt0T

 

just tried parted magic 5.7 and this is what i f****** got..

http://imgur.com/hoyXC

 

Last chance. Download Yumi and try to boot Parted magic 5.7. Since you have already downloaded the iso, just scroll down in the drop down box for Parted Magic and then browse to your iso in step 3. If this does not work, I am out of ideas. I never had Yumi fail me. I would check your BIOS to boot from USB. I am afraid to say Good Luck.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/

 

Hey tgell so i just use killdisk and installed my New OS. I have one more question. On the bottom right where it has the USB icon with the green checkmark as if a USB drive or a SD card is plugged into my computer which is not i click it and it asks/gives me a choice to eject my Primary solid state drive. This wasnt here before what does it mean and how can i get rid of it?>

 

Check out this thread. Normal for an SSD in AHCI mode.

http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware...-remove-hardware-eject-media-crucial-ssd.html