hard drive partiton

[mke_12]

Hi im a windows user and im going to linux im all ready and stuf but i just realized that my hd is partitoned in one big partition c:. I want to dual boot but i used all my hd and reformating my windows and buying a new hd is out of the question. Im just wondering how do i get my linux kubuntu dapper drake onto my 30 gig hd without remving my windows os that alot
i need a free product ploease

mike

[machoo02]

Re: hard drive partiton

Hi Mike,

First thing, I'd like to congratulate you on making the effort to move away from windows. The installation CD can partition your hard drive for you. The first thing that you will need to do is to boot into windows and clean it up a little bit (empty recycle bin, remove temp files, etc.). Then you will need to defragment your hard drive. It's important to defragment so that all of your windows data will be at the front of your hard drive. Do it 2-3x just to be sure. Make a note of how much space (in Gb) your data takes up. Also, it's a good idea to back up your system if you are going to alter partition size. Once you are set, pop in the Dapper install CD, and reboot. Boot into the live cd, and click on the install icon on the desktop. Follow the instructions, and step 4 or 5 (can't remember off the top of my head) is the partitioning step. Select manually edit the partition table, and the graphical partitioning tool will be started. You can then shrink your windows partition down to make space for Kubuntu. Make it slightly larger (1-2 gigs) than the space already taken up by your data. Next, you can create linux partitions. Minimum you will need one for the root file system (/) and one for swap. If you want to share data between windows and kubuntu, then I would recommend making an additional one that if formatted as vfat (a.k.a. FAT32). I hope this helps, and feel free to ask any additional questions...that's what the boards are here for!

cheers,
-m