windows reinstallation on a linux machine?

[killer62491]

i didn't realize how much trouble my laptop would give me w/o being dual booted with windows XP, and now i've finally decided to reinstall windows on a separate partition, which i have yet to create. the reason i 'need' a separate windows partition is to contain and play my games on, which WINE is acting up on me worse and worse with each new release... hence my reason for two partitions being necessary. im positive i want to use a windows partition for all my games, while keeping my work on the ubuntu partition, crazy though it seems, with all those good fps/WINE-runnable (actual ones that work) MMO's. although i do have enough data space for probably just barely the few good open-source games i actually like. anyone have any ideas on how to *repartition* my already fully partitioned ubuntu HD, without needing to format, which will, of course delete all of the ubuntu contents? i have seen talk of a program called GParted, but haven't ever used it, so i'll look into that for a bit.
thanks beforehand ubucrew!

[sikander3786]

Post the output of



df -h


for a better idea of your disk space and partition setup.

[killer62491]

heresthe output, and i've never used close to half of the whole darned thing...
austin@ubuntu:~$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 108G 31G 72G 31% /
none 371M 280K 370M 1% /dev
none 375M 240K 375M 1% /dev/shm
none 375M 188K 375M 1% /var/run
none 375M 0 375M 0% /var/lock
none 375M 0 375M 0% /lib/init/rw
none 108G 31G 72G 31% /var/lib/ureadahead/debugfs

[sikander3786]

Boot into an Ubuntu Live CD, use gparted to shrink the "/" partition and free up some space for Windows. Create a new NTFS partition in the freed up space. Install Windows in it and then restore Grub2 for dual booting. See point # 13 in this how-to.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1195275

This will also help.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2#Reinstalling%20GRUB%202

[killer62491]

where is gparted? will it be in the booted .iso, or outside of it? and is it simpler to just simply run it via terminal once booted?
just for easier reference once i'm done, also so i can more easily hide little things from certain people who shouldn't even know about said 'little things'.....
also, what do i do once gparted is active in order to "shrink" the "/" partition?

[sikander3786]

It is present in the live CD. You can type gparted in a terminal or by pulling up the Run Application dialog by using Alt + F2 and typing in it. It also appears under Applications > Accessories I think.

I couldn't understand 'little things' statement. What did you mean by that?

You'll see the options to shrink the partitions as in any other partitioning software.

[killer62491]

that statement was a test... the fact you noticed means you're a candidate for a neuro-atypical diagnosis. just something to start a conversation, i guess...
enjoy that little tidbit while i get this rolling.

[sikander3786]

neuro-atypical diagnosis? Whats that? I think I should Google it :-)

[killer62491]

a neuro-atypical diagnosis is a less biased way of saying "autistic"... which in a sense i am a "high-functioning autistic", meaning i can function as well as a neuro-typical person, yet i still display many attributes of the autism spectrum of disorders. its an interesting thing... especially seeing as how almost everyone in modern society could be considered a high-functioning autistic in some way or another...

p.s. sorry i didnt post back on that right away. got caught up in the work i do, and ended up being very involved in it for the last few days. feel free to post back whenever, as i always check up on old posts within the forums here.