System crashed while using parted

[Michael Wendell]

Hello,

    I was attempting to use parted version 1.4.13 to copy partitions on an existing hard disk to an additional attached hard disk.  However, I had a couple of other windows opened.  I had gnome running and was attempting to copy while running this as well as a few other applications.  I am assuming this was a poor way to go about things, since the machine locked up entirely and the only way I could clear out was by rebooting manually (resetting the machine).  Now at every boot of Red Hat 7.0 2.2.16.ert, the machine locks up and fails its self test on /dev/hda7, which is a linux partition on the drive I was attempting to copy from.  This machine has vital information on it and I need to get this hard drive copied in its entirety in order to have a backup of this OS for a very crucial job here at work. 

    On another note, what would be a best bet suggestion to accomplish this? Is parted the right program to be using? I am rather new to Linux and I have read pages upon pages of How-To's, but nothing seems to come closer than Parted.  Will parted successfully copy the boot sector so I can use my copy to run a system standalone without the Mother hard disk?  Any help or suggestions (suicide?) would be very much appreciated.

Michael J. Wendell

Systems Engineer

Binghamton Simulator Company

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