Create Partition for Linux in Windows

[Neo]

hi

i am planning to install linux in my new laptop( a bit nervous after my previous bad experience )

what i am dubious is partitions

my Laptop has 320 GB of which around 20 Gb is for recovery disk of windows and rest all as c: drive


what i thought is necessary is u need to have free partition for installing Linux there...

so how do i make free partition

i think i would need some s/w like partition manger etc but when i Google i found that steps say "Shrink "... now what is this

i dont want to mess things

can anyone pls guide me

my disk managment view




for big image

]http://i54.tinypic.com/may002.gif

[johnshaw1917]

i think i would need some s/w like partition manger etc but when i Google i found that steps say "Shrink "... now what is this

Hi Neo,

When you shrink a volume, what you are doing is making the size of that partition smaller. The amount of space you are freeing up will then show up as unallocated. Then, when you install Linux and it asks you where you want the Linux partitions to be created, you can choose that unallocated space and it will install it there. There are a number of free partition softwares out there, but you can use the default Windows program just as easily. It can be found under computer management in the control panel, or if you are using "god mode" simply go to administrative tools and then create and format disk partitions. If you don't have god mode installed, you may wish to do so. I find it a very handy feature. Simply type god mode into your google search engine and it will take you to a site where it will show you how to install it. It's really easy. Hope this helps.

[Neo]

ok actually what i was thinking that i vud be required to create a free partition first and then install linux there

so shrinking can only give me some space i think , i vud still be required to do something to get a free partition of lets say 40 Gb, isn't it?

[hellnoire]

You could get away with ten gig... it all depends on how much you think you're going to use Linux.

[johnshaw1917]

ok actually what i was thinking that i vud be required to create a free partition first and then install linux there

so shrinking can only give me some space i think , i vud still be required to do something to get a free partition of lets say 40 Gb, isn't it?

No, you do not need to create the partition. When the linux installer asks where you wish to install the OS, simply choose to install it to the available free space. Linux will then create the partitions it needs using the free space you created. And like hellnoire says, 10 gig's of space is plenty sufficient for any Linux Distro.

[Alboguy]

You can create a partition even during the installation of Linux.

[johnshaw1917]

You can create a partition even during the installation of Linux.

True, but I install the Linux partitions to another HDD, rather than the one that has Windows installed on it. And I find it much simpler to create the free space on the HDD where I want Linux, before running the installer.

[Neo]

True, but I install the Linux partitions to another HDD, rather than the one that has Windows installed on it. And I find it much simpler to create the free space on the HDD where I want Linux, before running the installer.

actually i wont be able to install another hard disk in laptop though ... but i find this option as best

so to summarize what do i do ?

When the linux installer asks where you wish to install the OS, simply choose to install it to the available free space.

but there is currently no free space , thats what i am asking how to create it

what i was thinking was i got to resize c: and remove say 20GB and delete that 20GB so that it becomes free

[johnshaw1917]

actually i wont be able to install another hard disk in laptop though ... but i find this option as best

so to summarize what do i do ?

but there is currently no free space , thats what i am asking how to create it

what i was thinking was i got to resize c: and remove say 20GB and delete that 20GB so that it becomes free

Here goes, go into control panel, then administrative tools, then computer management, then storage, then disk management. Under disk management, right click on the partition you wish to shrink. In this case, it would be your C partition. In the menu box that pops open click on "shrink volume". When the shrink dialogue box pops up, it will tell you how much space you have available to shrink the volume. Where it says "enter the amount of space to shrink volume in Mb" type in 20,000 (20 gig's) if that is what you want. Then click on "shrink" and Windows will take it from there. Do not create a new partition in the free space you have just made, because when you install Linux, you are going to select the option to install it to "available free space" and Linux will be installed there. If you create your own partition, that option to install to free space won't be available. Hope this helps.

[Kees]

Doesn't he need a bootmanager?