Due to some mishaps, I am unable to boot into Kubuntu at all. However, my data is still on the hard drive.

I managed to get one of the other two computers to which I have access to read the disk by booting into a liveCD session of kubuntu. The only storage medium to which I have access is a 30 GB data stick.

Here's where the trouble starts: In music alone, I have to back up about 60 GB. Obviously this is going to have to be split into chunks and moved over to the second spare PC until I can reinstall Kubuntu on my laptop. All of the data that needs backed up is behind a permissions wall, so while I can view it, I can't interact with it directly.

I know copying and moving through the terminal can get around this with sudo cp or sudo mv, but is there a way to first compress multiple folders in a single archive, then move it? (While we're on the subject, what compression method would be best for large volumes of music in MP3, WAV, and OGG format?)