Trouble partitioning when installing Ubuntu

[Shady2175]

Hi.. I'm new to Ubuntu.. upon installation, when I get to the partitioning of my drives.. I have no way to delegate GB to XP and to Ubuntu. I don't know how to set my percentages.. as the slider option doesn't show up.. this is on my laptop and desktop both. It shows up that Ubuntu wants to use 100% of space leaving XP with none. I can't figure out how to set my personal preferences as to percentages for each. I am not too good with alot of this computer lingo and don't understand some of it. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling.. to no avail. Can someone please help me? Oh.. and please use baby language as far as computers cuz I'm not a whiz yet.. lol Thanks & Peace Out Shady :KS

[Therion]

So do you have Windows XP installed already, and now you want to add Ubuntu so you can dual boot both operating systems?

What version of Ubuntu are you trying to install?

[Shady2175]

ubuntu 8.10 yes XP was already installed on both computers, also yes to dual boot.

[kahlil88]

Can you access the hard drive from within the Live CD at all? I think your Windows partition is locking you out due to an unclean shutdown. Try booting into Windows, then restart the computer and try the Ubuntu installer again. You should also download the Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference (http://www.ubuntupocketguide.com/).

[Therion]

How to Dual Boot Windows XP and Ubuntu (XP Installed First):

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_windows_xp_and_linux_xp_installed _first.htm

[Shady2175]

I went to the link you provided Therion, but the issue I am still tending with - is on step 3 of your link.. I do not show during my partitioning the orange and white blocks with the slider inbetween. All my screen shows is a before and after bar.. with Ubuntu taking 100% of room. There is no option for adjusting the GB for each one. If I place the cursor on one of the bars and press enter, it wants me to manually designate it in megabytes.. (which is apparently for experts..) and I have no idea how to do that. I don't know why my screen doesn't show the Guided Resize option with the slider inbetween, (which from the Ubuntu Pocket Guide & Reference - is the default) like on step 3 but I really need to know how to manually do this, unless there is something else I need to do to get it to show up. Could it be because something isnt burning right on my cd disk after downloading it from the Ubuntu website? I just do not understand why a default setting is missing.

[kawika molon labe patriot]

yeah I am having the same problem. I have compaq athlon 64 and 200 gb hdd. when i try and install ubuntu. i only get 2 choices to partition the drive, guided or full. when i use gparted it error 364 which if I am correct is a bad sectors error. have been messing with this for three days and still failing. I have defraged, chkdsk. and I even used hdtune to find out I have 9 bad sectors/blocks. I bought the cheapo with a 100.00 upgrade so no xp disc.I have a game that I lost the install cd and just not sure about dropping windows yet( even though I am furstrated with the constant script errors and browser having to close). really just wanted the daul boot so I know I can get on my computer! so come on computer wizs is their anything I can do!