How to find out the partitions and drives on your linux system

I'm no expert, so I can only say this works on Ubuntu linux, I don't know if this tip applies to everything else. Give it a try..

I often run into commands trying to do things with linux..

Such as trying to use Shred

The question is, what is the name of my disk, and what form does this command want it in?

This may help:

Get to a Command Line and type in:

sudo parted

You should get
[sudo] password for makerspace: 
GNU Parted 2.3
Using /dev/sda
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.

Then Type:

(parted) print devices                                                    

You should get something like:

/dev/sda (80.0GB)
/dev/sdb (15.6GB)
/dev/mapper/mint--vg-root (75.7GB)
/dev/mapper/mint--vg-swap_1 (4081MB)

Warning: Windows hates your data

If you install Windows 7 or 8 on a machine with multiple drives,

And those multiple drives have partitions that windows doesn't recognize,

Windows installer will do you the favor of writing a system partition over the start of your drive (aka: unpartitioned space) without asking. 

This will wreck your day!

You will wish to never see windows again!

Personally it makes me want to (physically) destroy some hard drives...got a few on the shelf...