Can I save Guest user settings, data?

[RLynwood]

ISO file: An ISO file is an image file of a CD/DVD or other disc. It contains all the files from the disc, neatly packed into a single .iso file. This allows users to burn new copies of the disc, or they can open the ISO file to browse and copy its contents to their system.

This is a very clear description, which I appreciate but generally understood. My question was, specifically, what is an image? How does that differ from a copy?
This is important to me because the fellow who helped me over the holidays merely copied my Home folders from the old Mints 17.1 & 17.3 to a back-up folder on the 1T hdd being confident that it contains all personalized system modifications, especially those of/for my web browsers. (I'm most concerned about the tab stacks, saved passwords, bookmarks, & history, but also all other system settings including all installed & removed programs.) I was sure that making an image of the entire partition would preserve every detail of it, as is, bit for bit, and I could store that as a backup on the 1T drive. The problem was, neither of us knew how to make an image of the partition and properly place it for backing up. I have Clonezilla on a usb stick, but, since we had limited time and neither of us knew how to use it, I allowed us to proceed according to his choices.

[RLynwood]

A partition is a partition. A separated portion of an entire drive.

This much I know--generally. Here's the distinction I need to understand:
/dev/sdb is listed as /dev/sdb1 and contains .../sdb5 and .../sdb6. /dev/sdb1 is the extended partition, and I can't find any listing/description of it as GPT, which I thought I'd established. And I'm pretty sure that I saw it listed as a GPT somewhere, but now I can't find where I saw that.
Right now, I'm using a Live usb of Kubuntu 20.04 which has only KDE Partition Manager, and it doesn't give the partition type (FAT or GPT) of the first partition, just that it's extended.
Within /dev/sdb, it has .../sdb5, the beginning 487 Mb FAT 32 partition(?) and .../sdb6, an almost certainly mistakenly installed Kubuntu installed with btrfs.


Rats, I can't figure out how to remove/delete the extra images. What I want to know for now is, is the FAT 32 section a partition or a sub partition (a partition of a partition)? Let's clear this up before we continue.



I believe I understand your points here.
How did you clip/remove the frame around this shot?

[claydoh]

/dev/sdb is the entire drive.
sdb1,2 etc are the individual partitions. There are no 'logical' partitioning used like there would be in the old MBR scheme, as that has a very small limit in the number of physical partitions (4). So forget all that.

Spectacle and most other screenshot tools have options to grab resizable sections of a screen, or a specific window, as well as the entire screen. Open it from the menus, or krunner instead of a keyboard shortcut to see the full gui. There are also keyboard shortcuts to call specific modes, as well

I'll take a peek at how to see the drive info you are looking for once I'm near a computer.

[claydoh]

Like so:

[RLynwood]

/dev/sdb is the entire drive. sdb1,2 etc are the individual partitions.

I think of he SSD as the drive--that is an actual device, like an hdd or a usb stick--and any partitions on it as the various sdxys. My screenshot shows that my SSD has four partitions, the first of those, sdb1, is the extended partition with two sub-parttions, sdb5 & sdb6--this is the part I need clarity on,*--the second of which is described as unknown (1 Mb), and the third (sdb3, Swap) and fourth (sdb4, Mint 20) of which are ext 4.

*What do you call the FAT 32 sub (?) partition?

There are no 'logical' partitioning used like there would be in the old MBR scheme,

I would swear that just the other day, I saw KDE Partition Manager's listing my first partition as logical, but I don't see it now. It doesn't say whether its FAT 32 or GPT, just that it's extended. It says the device's partition table is msdos, but that refers to only the first partition, sdb.

as that has a very small limit in the number of physical partitions (4).

I know that.

Spectacle and most other screenshot tools have options to grab resizable sections of a screen, or a specific window, as well as the entire screen. Open it from the menus, or krunner instead of a keyboard shortcut to see the full gui. There are also keyboard shortcuts to call specific modes, as well.

Ok. I'll learn this.

[jlittle]

... /devsdb1 is the extended partition with two sub-parttions, sdb5 & sdb6...

That's MBR terminology, implying the device has an MBR partition table. GPT does not have "extended" partitions.

...msdos...

yes, that means MBR.

IMO in 2023, unless you have a pre-2010ish computer, all that BIOS/MBR stuff should be avoided. I'd wipe the device and start again.

Entanglement with MBR can arise from booting an OS hybrid iso; they still support booting in BIOS or UEFI mode, and typically you get a choice. Once the computer is booted in BIOS mode it can't do a UEFI/GPT install. So when booting the iso one must be careful to choose the UEFI boot from the USB, or disable "compatibility" mode in the UEFI settings.

[RLynwood]

Gee, I thought I had made it GPT, but you're right: the entire device is msdos, even though I made the Mint partition ext4 and the Kubuntu partiton btrfs. So now I have to figure out how to--is it clone?--the entire contents of the partition containing Mint 20+ to another device so I can reassign the device to GPT. I think it will be best to clone it to my new 1Tb hdd which is a GPT device where I have another copy of it; it's just a litteral copy, perhaps only of the Home folder, not an image clone. Can you or someone else there walk me through that? KDE Patition Manager in the Live usb of Kubuntu 22.04 shows a lock symbol, seeming to imply that I cannot display its contents.
I totally agree that I should be using GPT; as I said, thought that's what I had done.

[RLynwood]

I know what a partition is, and now I know what the difference is between a partition table (MBR, GPT) and a file system (FAT, ext4, btrfs, etc.), so I realize that every partition must have its own fs. I'm posting this reply now and will try to learn what Clonezilla does (you didn't answer this). I'll post my next question when I get to it. Thank you both for all your help.

[oshunluvr]

Gee, I thought I had made it GPT, but you're right: the entire device is msdos, even though I made the Mint partition ext4 and the Kubuntu partiton btrfs. So now I have to figure out how to--is it clone?--the entire contents of the partition containing Mint 20+ to another device so I can reassign the device to GPT. I think it will be best to clone it to my new 1Tb hdd which is a GPT device where I have another copy of it; it's just a litteral copy, perhaps only of the Home folder, not an image clone. Can you or someone else there walk me through that? KDE Patition Manager in the Live usb of Kubuntu 22.04 shows a lock symbol, seeming to imply that I cannot display its contents.
I totally agree that I should be using GPT; as I said, thought that's what I had done.

This seems confusing to me. The Partition Manager doesn't display "contents" of any partition, only it's file system type and size, etc. A "locked" symbol means the device is mounted and thus dangerous to access with Partition Manager.

You can, rather easily and safely, convert an MBR partition table to GPT using gdisk. Simply open the disk with gdisk and it will prompt you to convert the partition table. Obviously messing with a drives partition structure is inherently dangerous, but having said that, I've done this many times in the past without issue.

As far as how to use Clonezilla and how it works - there's a website for that. It's not a Kubuntu program.

[RLynwood]

My Kubuntu Live usb says gdisk is installed, but the application launcher doesn't show it. Right now I have only KDE Partition Manager on the Live usb I'm using to access my drives. Can the KDE Partition Manager do this, or can I download and use gdisk to a Live usb (remember, Muon says it's already installed)?
I didn't mean the real contents, I just meant the partition as it is.
Now that I understand what a partition table is, I understand your confusion; I didn't say it right.
My help with Clonezilla really belongs in another post I've made. I'll pick up there