qn about partitioning

[iamroot 0]

I've got a friend who wants to install GNU/Linux but his hard disk is entirely occupied by 1 NTFS partition, as it is with all default Windows installations. How can I extract space from his NTFS partition and format it in ext3 for GNU/Linux. Planning to install Ubuntu btw.

[danleff 0]

See the Ubuntu wiki installation guide, located here.

 

Make sure to defrag the Windows drive first, to make sure that no files are stray close to the end of the NTFS partition.

 

Or, you can use a tool, such as PartitionMagic to resize the NTFS volume and make an ext3 partition before the installation.

 

Another tool is 7Tools Partition Manager which should do the job.

[iamroot 0]

Urm. Are there any free tools that can do the job? Credit card payment is a non-option for me.

[danleff 0]

I never used Ubuntu, but the link I gave you to the wiki speaks about custom partitioning. If it is like most distros, you can choose "custom" for partitioning and do a layout the way that you want, or tell it to use freee space on the NTFS partition. However, I don't know how Ubuntu handles NTFS volumes, so I can't comment on it. You may want to check the Ubuntu forum and check this out.

 

Most allow options to use available free space on the NTFS partition. But I always use PartitionMagic to set them up ahead of time, then point the install to the previously created ext3 or whatever partition that I made for the installation.

 

Personally, I don't trust qtparted, which comes on Knoppix and Mepis. I've had some problems with it in the past and don't know if they resolved them.

 

Better to use a proven tool to be safe and always defrag NTFS first within Windows first and back up any important data, just in case.

 

Anybody got a free utility that handles NTFS safely?

[Justbill 0]

Would discdruid in Fedora do the job?

[danleff 0]

I always err on the side of caution. The Ubuntu users should be able to answer iamroot's question directly.

 

Yes, Fedora's install disk can do this for him by just taking the installation far enough to format an ext3 partition.

 

But remember the NTFS fiasco in Mandrake 10 and Fedora Core 1-2 when folks were finding that their NTFS filesystems were experiencing geometry problems after using the installation utility to format the partitions next to an NTFS volume?

 

He can also use the Windows built-in utility to free up some space and then tell Ubuntu to take over that space. Again, specific advice from their users would be best - those who have trid it and can advise him on how to do it safely with their utility.

 

I always use something that I know works, in my case PartitonMagic. At some point, you have to shell out some cash for a product you know works well. Especially when you are messing with someone else's system.

 

Iamroot can share the cost of a utility with his friend. The friend gets a new Linux system with continuous free support and iamroot gets a nice utility.

 

I recently worked on my sister's in-law's computer. A real mess of spyware and viruses. I spent severl hours cleaning it up, but did not expect to be paid for my time. They insisted and I charged them $30.00 for the utility that I bought (Spysweeper) which was the only one that rid the system of all the recurrent spyware on the system.

 

But, I know, we all want a free utility. I have an older copy of 7Tools Partition Manager that is fully functional and free. I guess they changed their policy!

 

Let me look around some more.

[Justbill 0]

Personally, I also use Partition Magic. I used to resize my NTFS partition, and then used Fedora to create my swap, and Ext3.

 

Justbill

[danleff 0]

Yes, use one utility for all Linux partitioning needs, especially if you do as I do and have multiple distros on your system.

 

I would see if the Windows XP utility will allow a resize of the NTFS volume, leaving enough empty space for the Linux installation. Then tell Ubuntu to use the free space.

 

If iamroot knows what brand hard drive is in the system, he could also use the Ultimate BootCD utility. It assists with Samsung, Seagate and Maxtor drives, as it has the manufacturer's partitioning utilities for each of these drives on the cd. I just downloaded a copy and have not tried it yet to see if it allows resizing, or just creating partitions.

[iamroot 0]

The hard disk is a Maxtor 120 GB 7200 RPM.

[mherring 0]

Another option---use a separate hard drive for the Linux---this minimizes the chances of screwing up the Windows install. You can get 40GB REALLY cheap.