Partition the hard drive.

[srChubs]

I was wondering if someone could help me out, I want to partition my hard drive so I can run Linux on part and Windows 7 on the other. Can someone walk me through the steps on how i can do this?
Thanks.

[raymondh]

I was wondering if someone could help me out, I want to partition my hard drive so I can run Linux on part and Windows 7 on the other. Can someone walk me through the steps on how i can do this?
Thanks.

welcome to Ubuntu and the forums.

Is your HD empty now or do you have an operating system in it? Do you have the liveCD downloaded and burnt? Have you checked the liveCD for MD5 (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM) and/or defects?

In the meantime, some reference materials for you.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=282018&highlight=separate+%2Fdata+partition
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/larry/resize/resizing.htm (using gparted)
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/gparted.html
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Install-more-than-one-operating-system-multiboot

Simply, you can install windows and then install Ubuntu ... or you can create the partitions beforhand and then manually install unto them. What you can do efficiently depends on what you have in your HD now.

Here is a sample of a poster creating partitions beforehand and then installing unto them. Relevant posts begin in #6

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1175277

[jkjuk]

As a newbie to Linux, I was having Ubantu 9.04 installs fail under Windows 7 (from within Windows) with error:22 so checked this form. Used the instructions in the last link and created 3 partitions in unused space and installed successfully. As an IBM mainframes and Windows users, I face steep learning curve but appreciate all the advice in here to start with.

Initial impressions - Initial O/S load and web browsing on my Dell D620 laptop is much faster than Windows 7.

Thanks all.

[tommcd]

Here is a tutorial on dual booting Ubuntu with Windows 7 if Windows 7 is already installed:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~herman546/p23.html