UltraNewb- How to load Parted
 

This is my first day working with Linux, and my distro is Ubuntu (Drake). Because I am an Ultranewb I have no idea where things are.

I want to create a new partition via Parted so that I can make a system backup for my other HD, but can't figure out where Parted is nor how to open its GUI.

From the terminal, what can I do to find and open it?

Many, many thanks.

:newbie:

if you haven't already done this, try this in the terminal.

gparted is a graphical frontend to parted. You can then run via a menu entry (don't remember where it is) or simply typing sudo gparted in the terminal.

Perfect, that helps a ton.

Okay, now I've got it running, but I can't figure out how to get it to resize the main ext3 partition, the resize button is faded out. I would like to just get a large area of unallocated space. Suggestions? :)

I've read that using a live CD version will resolve this problem, and I have obtained a disc, but I don't know how to boot it from that disc.

Have you tried ???. What happened ???.
Hopefully you have the CD drive before the hard drive(s) in the boot list in the BIOS. Some machines (my Dell f'instance) require you to hit a key during boot to get a boot device menu. Watch the screen during boot.

I've been trying to find what to load from the liveCD. The best I can do is look at the files sitting there politely, since I don't know which one will take me to the GUI. If you can, please tell me what to put into the terminal command line or what to do from the window with the files in it.

I'd suggest you get the gparted livecd - just a small download. It boots straight into gparted GUI IIRC.
From there it should be obvious.

Aha, I found a way. I'll try that out, thank you very much for your time and patience.

Okay, the LiveCD makes everything work, and I have fixed my problem. Thanks again! :)

To clarify, what happened was that I was trying to partition the drive that the OS was currently running off of. Thus it told me I couldn't partition it. Using the LiveCD allows you to not be dependent on that drive, so you can partition any part of your computer freely.