Access Linux hard drive

[PMFAN]

Hello
After I upgraded my Ubuntu 8.10 to 9.04 I can’t access Gnome.
I would like to use Knoppix to move some files to a USB hard drive before I reinstall Ubuntu.
My Ubuntu hard drive is called
/media/sdb1/home/fredriks-files/
My USB drive is called
/media/sdc1/fredriks-recovery-files/
I have tried the graphic file browser and the command line but I do not succeed.
sudo cp /media/sdb1/home/fredriks-files/* /media/sdc1/fredriks-recovery-files/
I know my root password in Ubuntu and know I have to be root to have access to the files.
How do I set the root password to be able to use the graphical file browser?
How do I set the root password to be able to use the cp command from the command line?

Best Regards
Fredrik Andersson :D

[iki]

Go to menu, then Accessories>Root Terminal . There you'll be able to use the command line as root and if you type 'pcmanfm' (without quotes) you'll enter the file browser as root.
regards.