Solved Where to go from here

[80yearold]

where to from here

I hope this is it

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello again.



You can use the info in this tutorial to shrink the C: partition and the only partition that will be created will be an Extended partition and you should be on your way.

It would be better for Windows to use Windows disk management to shrink the C: partition rather than Partition Wizard, click this link below.

How to Shrink a Partition or Volume in Windows 7

How to Create a New Partition or Volume in Windows 7

 

[whs]

Ted, Have you ever seen such a disk layout. What on earth is this 1.46GB recovery partition - that is far too small to hold a system iso. And then that 10.03GB primary with no designation.

My suspicion is that the 1.46 partition is the boot partition that boots both the system and the recovery partitions - somewhat like the 100MB boot partition. And the recovery data is really on the 10.03GB partition.

Any other ideas?

 

[GEWB]

It is a new unit Toshiba L670
Yes I still have my old HP on line infact.
Out box this has 3 primary Capacity Used Unused
System NTFS 1.46 GB 190.96MB 1.28.GB
CT1105838 NTFS 286.59 38.05 GB 248.54
Recovery NTFS 10.03GB 9.44GB 610.95MB

To restate my needs, I want an extended with 3 logical for 3 different linux OS

OK, thanks for the info.

First off, how do you stay so fit when you work around such wonderful food all the time?

Back to the business at hand. I too have been down this road of trying to add Linux to a laptop pre-installed with Windows - same initial partitioning. I found two areas that I didn't like:

1) Adding Linux second mean using GRUB as the boot loader, which is ok but know what you're getting into (sounds like you already know)
2) You can only create one more partition with the current scheme - thus adding more than one version of Linux could be a challenge - may need different formats (say Reiser4 and ext3) to differentiate the installations but the \boot sectors may be a problem (I'm not sure)

I would make life a LOT easier (and safer) by installing each Linux distro to a bootable flash drive - one flash drive per distro. 16GB flash drives are fairly inexpensive and almost all distros have utilities to make bootable flash drive installations.

Then I would use Windows to shrink your Windows C: drive to yield a 50GB free space. Format as NTFS and use that for storage and common use between all OSes. Or format as ext3 and use it as a linux storage partition.

NOTE: If you ever have to use the Toshiba factory "restore" function, EVERYTHING on your laptop will be reset as you fisrt purchased it - new partition will be gone.

Like I said, been here and done that. Make it simple and keep it simple: boot Linux from a flash drive.

Regards,
GEWB

 

[GEWB]

Ted, Have you ever seen such a disk layout. What on earth is this 1.46GB recovery partition - that is far too small to hold a system iso. And then that 10.03GB primary with no designation.

My suspicion is that the 1.46 partition is the boot partition that boots both the system and the recovery partitions - somewhat like the 100MB boot partition. And the recovery data is reall on the 10.03GB partition.

Any other ideas?

I'm not Ted but that is a common partition scheme for new laptops - boot section, main Windows partition, "hidden" partition for recovery software (gets called by the BIOS for a restore). Same scheme on my Compaq / HP laptop.

Regards,
GEWB

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Ted, Have you ever seen such a disk layout. What on earth is this 1.46GB recovery partition - that is far too small to hold a system iso. And then that 10.03GB primary with no designation.

My suspicion is that the 1.46 partition is the boot partition that boots both the system and the recovery partitions - somewhat like the 100MB boot partition. And the recovery data is really on the 10.03GB partition.

Any other ideas?

That's what I was thinking; the OEMs sure are making life difficult for the casual users.


... and yes, we're aware that the OEM are making it difficult; whoever you are.

 

[whs]

Ted, Have you ever seen such a disk layout. What on earth is this 1.46GB recovery partition - that is far too small to hold a system iso. And then that 10.03GB primary with no designation.

My suspicion is that the 1.46 partition is the boot partition that boots both the system and the recovery partitions - somewhat like the 100MB boot partition. And the recovery data is reall on the 10.03GB partition.

Any other ideas?

I'm not Ted but that is a common partition scheme for new laptops - boot section, main Windows partition, "hidden" partition for recovery software (gets called by the BIOS for a restore). Same scheme on my Compaq / HP laptop.

Regards,
GEWB

Yeah, I know. But with one twist. The boot partition is usually 100MB and the Recovery partition can boot by itself. This particular scheme I had never seen. You live and learn.

 

[whs]

@GEWB, I saw you recommend Linux from a flash drive. I sometimes run Fedora from a flash drive which I have set up over 2 years ago. Problem with that is that every download or setting I make during the session is gone when I end the session. Nothing remains on the drive other than my initial setup.

Is there a more "modern" flash drive version where the evolution of the system is being kept?

For that very reason I run Ubuntu in Virtual Box. There I have an environment like a real machine. And it runs beautifully (both Ubuntu and the Win7 host together) on a relatively modest system (3GB RAM, 2.5GHz duo core) - which, however, runs off a SSD.

 

[80yearold]

While I appreciate the analysis of my HD configuration I am left with wonfering even with the sale less then $600 did I make a monumental purchase error?????
If I am to use flash drives to to access Linux then the 320 GB HD is actually just a whole bunch window dressing!!!!
So allow this old man to throw a 149 GB USB external into the mix. I have one with gparted I can partition it into (3) ext 3 partitions of 40 GB each, then a reasonable swap and 5th into a data partition for remainder of the unallocated.
Will that work??>?
Then when I insert the live CD I trust I will have an opportunity to se the partition. Dumb question but what about grub and MBR
Just looking for a solution besides selling this damn thing and staying with my HP

 

[whs]

I don't know whether the $600 are an OK expense. For that I would have to know the complete configuration of your box. But 320GB disks are considered small these days. Even laptops come now with 500GB and desktops often have 1TB,

I do not think booting from the external disk will work. And on USB sticks you will need a stick per distro. I still think you would be best off with Virtual Box ( VirtualBox ). There you can install as many distros as you like. And we have at least one top expert (Kari) who knows everything about it and can help you if you get stalled.

The double/triple booting scenario is paved with trouble. A lot of people had problems with that - especially the Grub. But if you feel comfortable with it, go ahead. The partitioning of the disk as we described above - real simple if you follow the rules.

 

[80yearold]

Ok from all the suggestions I take it the logical course of action is to download virtual box and see how far I get e I yell help. I considered this way back when and for the life of me have no clue why I did not follow up. So away I go

 

[whs]

There is a PDF manual on this page (3d entry on that page) End-user_documentation - VirtualBox

There are also manuals here: http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/End-user_documentation

 

[80yearold]

First and foremost I am posting this to aid the great folks here and not because I went against advice and partitioned anyway.
First off I used the provided program within win 7 to do the partitioning. While I was at it I created an additional partition should I want to play around with another distro.
I loaded Ubuntu 10.04 because it was the live CD I had.
As an additiomal point reference after updates it immediately recognized wireless.
Again thank each of you who was part pf this process, I came away knowing more and appreciating 7 more. See attachments before and after

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello again.



Good to see you got it running and thanks for the update.