BackTrack is a Linux-based penetration testing arsenal that aids security professionals in the ability to perform assessments in a purely native environment dedicated to hacking. Regardless if you’re making BackTrack your primary operating system, booting from a LiveDVD, or using your favorite thumbdrive, BackTrack has been customized down to every package, kernel configuration, script and patch solely for the purpose of the penetration tester.

Official BackTrack 5 R1 change log:

1. This release contains over 120 bug fixes, 30 new tools and 70 tool updates.
2. The kernel was updated to 2.6.39.4 and includes the relevant injection patches.

According to the guys at OffSec, This release is their best one yet! Some pesky issues such as rfkill in VMWare with rtl8187 issues have been fixed, which provides for a much more solid experience with BackTrack.We’ve have Gnome and KDE ISO images for 32 and 64 bit (no arm this release), as well as a VMWare image of a 32 bit Gnome install, with VMWare Tools pre-installed.
We are mighty excited and are already downloading this release just as we speak!

BackTrack Clean Hard Drive Install:

This method of installation is the simplest available. The assumption is that the whole hard drive is going to be used for BackTrack.

1. Boot BackTrack on the machine to be installed. Once booted, type in “startx” to get to the graphical interface.
2. Double click the “install.sh” script on the desktop, or run the command “ubiquity” in console.
3. Select your geographical location and click “forward”. Same for the Keyboard layout.
4. The next screen allows you to configure the partitioning layout. The assumption is that we are deleting the whole drive and installing BackTrack on it.
5. Accept the installation summary and client “Install”. Allow the installation to run and complete. Restart when done.
6. Log into BackTrack with the default username and password root / toor. Change root password.
7. Fix the framebuffer splash by typing “fix-splash” ( or “fix-splash800? if you wish a 800?600 framebuffer), reboot.

BackTrack Dual Boot Install with Windows (Tested on Win 7)

This method of installation is the simplest available. The assumption is that the you have a Windows installation taking up all the space on your drive, and you would like to resize and repartition your drive to allow a BackTrack install alongside your Windows. BACK UP YOUR WINDOWS INSTALLATION FIRST.

1. Boot BackTrack on the machine to be installed. Once booted, type in “startx” to get to the KDE graphical interface.
2. Double click the “install.sh” script on the desktop, or run the command “ubiquity” in console.
3. Select your geographical location and click “forward”. Same for the Keyboard layout.
4. The next screen allows you to configure the partitioning layout. The assumption is that we are resizing the Windows 7 partition and installing BackTrack on the newly made space.
5. Accept the installation summary and client “Install”. Allow the installation to run and complete. Restart when done.
6. Grub should allow you to boot both into BackTrack and Windows.
7. Log into BackTrack with the default username and password root / toor. Change root password.
8. Fix the framebuffer splash by typing “fix-splash” ( or “fix-splash800? if you wish a 800?600 framebuffer), reboot.