[plug] New Installation- question.?

Sun Apr 5 10:39:03 WST 2009

Thanks Paul for that prompt and very detailed reply, which helps enormously.

Just two remaining queries as my Partition Magic is older than yours, 
version 7, and it only seems to have the ability to create and Ext2 
partition, not an Ext3 as you suggested.

QUESTION 1
Would it be possible to use the Ubuntu 'Partitioner' in step 4 to achieve 
the same results.  Perhpas if I go back into Partition Magic first and:
1.  delete the Ext2 partition and Swap partitions;
2.  move the NTFS partition to the front of the drive;
3.  shrink the NTFS down to 100 GB;

and then boot from the Ubuntu CD and use the Ubunutu 'Partitioner' in step 4 
to :

4.  Re-create the Swap partition of 2 GB;
5.  Create an Ext3 partition in the remaining space

Can steps 4 & 5 be done using the Ubuntu 'Partitioner' in step 4 of the CD 
installation process?

QUESTION 2
My Partition Magic suggested partitioning the disk the way I did - ie 
putting Linux in an Extended Partition, I think that was mainly to keep the 
drive numbers as they were - not sure.  If I shrink the NTFS partition to 
100 GB, that will leave me with unallocated space of approx 150 GB - what 
sort of partition would you create in this unallocated space? - an Extended 
Partition or a Primary Partition?  As you can see, I am a  bit 'rusty' in 
this area ... years since I used Linux! (but I want to get back into it).

Many thanks

James

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Antoine" <pma-la at milleng.com.au>
To: <plug at plug.org.au>
Sent: Sunday, April 05, 2009 7:55 AM
Subject: Re: [plug] New Installation- question.?

> Hi James,
>
> Q1:  Yes, you're going to need quite a bit more space for Ubuntu.  I would 
> suggest booting the computer using the Partition Magic CD (assuming it's a 
> recent v8 of PM).
>
> Having booted from Partition Magic I would:
>
> Delete the current Ext2 and Swap partitions
> Move the NTFS partition to the front of the drive
> Shrink the NTFS partition down say 100GB?
> Re-create the Swap partition of 2GB
> Create an Ext3 partition of the remainder
>
> I use PM a lot and it's safe provided you think through each move :-)
>
> Once PM is done, reboot to Ubuntu.
>
> Q2: The Ubuntu installer has to know where to put the Linux filesystems. 
> To do this it wants to either create its own partition table (automatic) 
> or get you to specify where things go manually.
>
> It will NOT make any changes without first forewarning/confirming with 
> you!
>
> Having done the above in PM you should tell Ubuntu's partitioner that you 
> will do partitioning manually.
>
> When the partition is displayed you will want to right-click on the Ext3 
> partition and tell Ubuntu to use this partition and that it will be used 
> for the root (/) filesystem.
>
> When you click continue the installation the partitioner will create a 
> filesystem there without changing anything else.
>
> Q3: When playing with partitions, which in your case you have to do to 
> make room for Ubuntu, you always run the risk of making a mis-step so it's 
> wise to have a backup!!
>
> Better yet, get another hard drive and practice on that first to get a 
> feel for it.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Regards,
> Paul
>
>
> James Elliott - WA Rural Computers wrote:
>> I am installing Ubuntu 8.10.
>>
>> I have re-partitioned my 250 GB hard disk and it now looks like this:
>>
>> *.........................Unallocated ........... 8 MB  (used: 0)
>> *.........................Extended ........ 2134 MB (used: 2134)
>> Ubuntu ..............Linux Ext2 ........... 86 MB (used: 3)
>> Swap Space ...  Linux Swap .....2047 MB (used: 0)
>> C: C Drive ........ NTFS ........ 236,311 MB (used: 53)
>>
>> I used Partition Magic running under Windows XP to re-partition the disk 
>> and followed all the suggestions and defaults applicable to setting up a 
>> new partition for the Linux operating system.
>>
>> The spaces allocated to Linux seem small compared to those used by 
>> Windows.
>>
>> QUESTION #1
>> Would it be advantageous to re-size any of the above Linux spaces?
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>> When running the Ubuntu installation from CD, I quit at Step 4, because 
>> that launched the "Partitioner" which apparently wanted to re-partition 
>> my hard disk.
>>
>> QUESTION #2
>> If the hard disk is already partitioned, whey does the Ubuntu installer 
>> want to do it again?
>>
>> QUESTION #3
>> Is there any chance of losing my Windows installation and all the data I 
>> have saved over the years, by making the wrong choice in the Ubuntu 
>> installation?
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>> I would be very much obliged for your help, so that I can continue with 
>> my installation.
>>
>> Many thanks, James
>> _______________________________________________
>> PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.org.au
>> http://www.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
>> Committee e-mail: committee at plug.linux.org.au
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> http://www.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
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