partitions created without formatting in 8.04 install?

[arvsr1988]

can partitioning of drives be done during the installation of ubuntu 8.04 without formatting an existing partition?? right now i have a NTFS partition with windows xp..

[Pumalite]

Get Gparted Live CD: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php
Burn to disk and boot from it.
'Shrink' XP (right click on XP), choose resize from the menu. In the new space, make 3 'New' partitions:
10 GB for '/'
1 GB for /swap (/swap=RAM in laptops)
The rest for /home.
Install Ubuntu, go Manual and choose the already prepared partitions.

[housam]

can partitioning of drives be done during the installation of ubuntu 8.04 without formatting an existing partition?? right now i have a NTFS partition with windows xp..
Yes the installer can do it automatically , but manually as pumalite sujested is giving you a full control on your HDD.

[Rallg]

As the above replies suggested, it is probably better to first create your partitions (using GParted) before you begin the installation process, even though the installer can do it for you.

The reason is that during installation, there are places where a new user might misunderstand the instructions. But if you create your partitions first, then require the installer to use only the partitions you specify, then it will be easier to recover from a mistake.