Setting up partitions

[angellus]

I want to dual boot Vista and Kubuntu on my laptop.This is how I want to set up my partitions but I am not so familiar with partitions so I would like some help as to how to go about it.
These are the partitions I want to create:
1. Vista System
2.Parttiton for storing my documents and other files
3./
4. Swap
5./Home

My research shows that a hard disk can have only four primary partitions and I have heard of logical and extended partitions but I dont know how to create a logical or extended partition I have read of creating an extended partition and putting the logical partitions in them but I am at a loss as to how to do it.Could anyone please provide me with a step by step guide as to how to create these partitions?
So could you please help me out as to which partitions I should make primary,logical or extended and how to go go about it.

[jankushka]

Re: Setting up partitions

due to bios limitations in personal computers, you're only allowed 4 primary partitions on a hdd.
out of these 4 primary partitions, though, 1 can be an extended partition.
and into the extended partition you can create as many logical partitions as you want.
basically, the extended partition is just a "container" for logical partitions.
so, to avoid any risks, i'd maybe do something like:

1 (primary partition): swap
2 (extended partition)
3 (logical partition): vista
4 (logical partition): /
5 (logical partition): /home
6 (logical partition): shared documents

as to how to build these partitions, choose "manual partitioning" during the linux
installation. when creating partitions you have a choice as to whether you want
a given partition to be a primary or a logical one. the extended partition (if i remember
well) is created automatically upon the creation of the first logical partition.

now, 3 things...

a) the size of swap: my suggestion is to have at least 1:1 with the size of ram.
rule of thumb is 2:1 (some even have it 2.5:1 or 3:1). reality is that it really depends
on what you run on your pc and how likely you are to need more than your physical
ram...in linux, the swap partition is also the place where the hibernation image will
go by default.

b) the file system to choose for the shared documents: ntfs is supported under linux
and ext3 is supported under windows. there may be people around with experience
that can help with the choice.

c) making a dual boot with vista: i never did it myself, but i keep reading about
people running into troubles. microsoft has apparently changed their boot loader.
so, if building a dual boot with linux and xp was straightforward, it seems to be very
less so now with vista. i've seen several threads on this topic, so it shouldn't be
difficult to find help.

hth
cheers

[GANDOLF]

Re: Setting up partitions

@januschka: I am not sure but I believe vista still likes to be on the 1. primary partition in old ms tradition. So just to be sure and safe I would "swap" the vista and swap partitions

[dibl]

Re: Setting up partitions

I want to dual boot Vista and Kubuntu on my laptop.

So could you please help me out as to which partitions I should make primary,logical or extended and how to go go about it.

Here's great guidance on planning as well as the step-by-step:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/partitioning

HTH

[jankushka]

Re: Setting up partitions

@jankuschka: I am not sure but I believe vista still likes to be on the 1. primary partition in old ms tradition. So just to be sure and safe I would "swap" the vista and swap partitions

good.
yeah.
sorry.
agree.
thanks.