A guide on partition a hard drive

[GTraymond2820]

Is there any guide here on how to do that, i tried searching on google but it seems kinda confusing and it looks like you have to buy a special software to do that. I want to experiment with something

 

[ignatzatsonic]

You may or may not need special software, depending on your current partitioning and what exactly you intend to do.

If you have a simple partitioning requirement, you may be able to do it with Windows built in "Disk Management".

If not, you would need "Partition Wizard bootable disk".

The best thing you can do is post a screen shot of your current partitions as seen in Disk Management and describe your intentions as it relates to that screen shot.

Access Disk Management by typing those two words into the start button search box.

 

[GTraymond2820]

Well all i want to do is install Ubuntu

Oh how do i post a screenshot

 

[ignatzatsonic]

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html?ltr=S

 

[GTraymond2820]

http://www.sevenforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=225202&stc=1&d=1344295435

Lol took me a while to figure it out

I found this neat looking tool, what do you think?

http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html

 

[ignatzatsonic]

You now have 3 primary partitions on that drive.

The maximum allowable is 4.

You should be able to shrink C by using Disk Management.

That will generate some "unallocated space", which you can then convert to another primary partition.

Do not, DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT accept any choice that offers to change partitions to "dynamic".

If you are offered dynamic, say NO, and report back.

I know little about Linux. I don't know if it requires a primary partition.

 

[GTraymond2820]

Ok what about the software any word on that?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I found this neat looking tool, what do you think?

Best Free Partition Manager Freeware and free partition magic for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista and Windows XP 32 bit & 64 bit. MiniTool Free Partition Manager Software Home Edition.

That's an excellent tool, but you may not need it.

If you do, the preferred method is to use the bootable disc version, which you can get here:

Free download Magic Partition Manager Software, partition magic alternative, free partition magic, partition magic Windows 7 and server partition software - Partition Wizard Online

See if you can shrink C and make your new Linux partition with Disk Management WITHOUT converting anything to dynamic.

 

[GTraymond2820]

So should i use it or not because i dont want to mess up sorry if i seem annoying

 

[DeaconFrost]

If you really don't want to mess with partitions, virtualize Ubuntu using something like VirtualBox.

This way, you'll have no effect on your system as it runs today, and if you decide to stop using Ubuntu for any reason, you won't have to mess with partitions, removing boot loaders, repairing Windows 7, etc.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

So should i use it or not because i dont want to mess up sorry if i seem annoying

Use Partition Wizard if you have to or if you want to.

No reason to use it if you can do the job with Disk Management.

Only you can tell if Disk Management will do the job. You'd just have to try it.

Or take Deacon's advice and virtualize Linux.

 

[GTraymond2820]

ok can someone do some converting for me, how much would 160gb be in mb?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Figure 1000 MB equals 1 GB.

So 160 GB is 160,000 MB. Just add 3 zeroes.

 

[GTraymond2820]

Thanks alot

 

[GTraymond2820]

Ok so i created my partition, please take a look and see if i done it correctly:

 

[ignatzatsonic]

It generally looks OK, but.....

I think you will have to reformat the Linux partition to another file system. It's now NTFS which is used for Microsoft operating systems. There are several Linux file systems, but I don't know which you should choose.

You should confirm that Linux can be installed in a logical partition as you now have.

 

[SIW2]

Yes, it can.

You might be better leaving it as unallocated - then you can find it easily from Linux install cd.

Linux will format for you.

Better look at the instructions on your Linux Distro site as to how to do that.

I have mine set up like this:

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello.


It may be better to use WUBI Linux to start with instead of doing the install. It actually installs into Windows and can be booted as usual but does not create any confusion when/if it ever needs uninstalled/removed.

Wubi - Ubuntu Installer for Windows
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[GTraymond2820]

One more thing is there a limit to how many partitions you can have because since my C drive is fairly large i am thinking it would be a good idea to split it up, is it safe or leave it as it be?

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

The Windows Master Boot Record (MBR) partition structure supports a total of only four (4) partitions per Hard Disk Drive / Solid State Drive, they can be either 4 Primary partitions or three (3) Primary partitions and a single (1) Extended partition,​

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Partition / Extended : Logical Drives



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