Install on 40gig shows 12.3 gig.

[capt-zero]

Just noticed your comments. My OS is still running on the lower sized of the two partitions. My first question was, will it hurt anything to reformat the unused partition and resize the other?

In the US there is only one river system for licenscesure purposes, Western Rivers. The Mississippi and all its tributaries.

capt-zero

[Snowhog]

You don't want or need to reformat the 40 GB HDD. Linux uses a 'root' partition where all the 'system files' are kept. The user (you) can't muck with that partition and its files without 'root privileges', which you, as the installer of the OS, can give yourself -- when required. The other 'large' partition is your users 'home partition'. This is where you, as the user, have full access. You can read and write and modify anything that gets put there.

[capt-zero]

Sorry for not responding sooner, but our connection shut down for a bit. Anyway, I guess I'm not understanding something. When I look at the two partitions in Dolphin, MOST of the files are exactly the same, but all of my downloads only show up on one partition. There is also a file on only the larger partition that is called initrd.img.old. Not sure what that means. I did install this over an older version of 12.04, but I assumed it would overwrite, it always has in the past when I reinstalled. I have the HDD size widget and it shows only 11 gigs left when it should show about 31. Both partitions show a 'home' file, but only the smaller of the two shows any activity. If this is a bug, as you mentioned earlier, it's a very big bug indeed. Instead of an installation taking 4.8 gigs it's using about 29 gigs. More unwieldy even than openSuse.

[Snowhog]

Here is what I'm describing:

You are looking at the same partition (folder). On the left, root (from Places), and on the left, the 17.1 GB 'root' partition (from Devices).

[capt-zero]

I suppose that I've got that, but what worries me is that the whole installation has taken up over half of my usuable drive space (an installation that was supposed to use 5 point something gigs); leaving me with about 10 gigs of usable space. If I install what I need, Gimp, spreadsheets, ect., I wont have much space left for working files. Is this going to be the new standard? If so, the only way around it will to completely rearrange my system, a daunting task as I was preparing this machine for resale. It might even be a deal killer for 12.10 and me.

[vinnywright]

Here is what I'm describing:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3653[/ATTACH]
You are looking at the same partition (folder). On the left, root (from Places), and on the left, the 17.1 GB 'root' partition (from Devices).

IDK they look different to me ...I think he still has the old install and the new one on that drive ?

[Snowhog]

You said that this is a new installation? So you haven't invested a lot of time (yet) customizing it? If you want to 'start over', then we can help, and get you setup with a partitioning scheme for the 40 GB HDD that is more to your needs.

[Snowhog]

IDK they look different to me ...I think he still has the old install and the new one on that drive ?

Hmm. Guess we can tell for sure by a listing of whats in the boot folder for each.

[capt-zero]

I haven't gone over each file with a fine toothed comb, but on the surface, they are identical (the notable exceptions being the initrd.img.old and download files). If it was an old installation, the download folder would have a fair amount of things in it, wallpapers, youtube files, ect, instead of being empty. Also, after I'm in an installation for a bit, I generally make some new folders for those things in my home folder. I buy and sell things online and use a seperate folder for pictures of the stuff I'm trying to sell, that folder is not there. However, that being said, tomorrow I'll reformat the HDD (something I haven't had to bother with in the last two versions) and try a reinstall using the second option in the installation process using the entire disk instead of resizing. Hopfully that will solve the problem.

I know I'm sounding resigned at this point, but I really do appreciate the help.

thanx,
capt-zero

[capt-zero]

To Whom It May Concern,

I did a fresh install this morning. Apparently the problem I was having is related to a new feature in Kubuntu 12.10 (I'm assuming). The devs have changed the install feature, where if it sees an OS already on the disk to install to, it won't automatically overwrite the old OS unless you choose the feature "use the entire disk". Instead, it creates a new partition and places 12.10 there. I suppose I can understand the rationale for this feature, having overwritten good data unknowingly myself in the past. However, it no doubt will cause some consternation if one isn't aware of this beforehand. I hope this is mentioned in the install instructions online for newbies. Anyway I appreciate the assistance of Snowhog and vinnywright last night. My new installation appears to have fixed the problem.

Thanks,
capt-zero

[Snowhog]

Cool. Glad you got it sorted out.

I agree, that doing what the installer did, given that you didn't explicitly state to 'use the entire disk' is a "safe" way to install.

[capt-zero]

I do wish, however, that were at least a hint of that in the instructions. I suppose though, one can't make everything dummy proof.