Help defining root system

[wolfman1221]

I am trying to define the root system for ubuntu. I loaded ubuntu to the live desktop and I am currently on the partition editor. I have three partitions that look like this.


/dev/sda1 ntfs 109.79 mib

/dev/sda2 ntfs iso device 55.78 GIB used: 54.51 GIB unused: 1.26 GIB boot



unallocated 784 MIB



If someone could help me, I would really appreciate it.

[dstew]

I assume you have a Windows system on that disk that you want to preserve, and dual-boot Windows and Ubuntu. You will need to create two new partitions for your Ubuntu installation. It looks like you can shrink the /dev/sda2 partition, and then create the new partitions out of the space you free up. You should create at least one 10 Gb partition for the Ubuntu root file system, and a 1 Gb swap partition.

To shrink the /dev/sda2 partition, if you have Windows XP, you defragment first using the Windows defragmentation tool, and then use the Ubuntu partitioner to shrink it down by say 12 Gb. If you have Windows Vista, you should probably use the Vista partition management software to shrink. After shrinking, you will have 12 Gb unallocated space, which you can use to create a 11 Gb partition, format ext3, and mount point '/' for the root partition, and 1 Gb partition "use as swap" (no format, no mount point for a swap partition).

I find it easier to partition before installing, using GParted from an Ubuntu Live CD system, or using a GParted Live CD (http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php). Then, when installing, the partitions are already there, and it is less anxiety provoking.

[cariboo]

You're going to need a lot more free space on the hard drive, if you want to install Ubuntu. My full installation of Jaunty takes up 3.6Gb on my / partition.

Jim