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**Qqmike** · Feb 25, 2009, 10:26 PM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

Partitioning—how to, Rog131:
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3090704.0

Use Vista's own partitioning tool to shrink Vista.
The use GParted Live Cd to set up partitions for Kubuntu.
Recommend a separate /home, as you already have figured out.
Use Live Kubuntu CD installer.
Step 4: Manual method of partitioning.
Step 5: You should then see the partitions you set up (using GParted Live CD).
swap and two ext3's.
Unless you want a shared Data partition for Windows and Kubuntu, then FAT 32 for that (something I've never done, but others here do it).
As for how your PC will dual-boot Windows and Kubuntu, see:
How To GRUB Methods - Toolkit
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081671.0
"/" usually refers to the top of the Linux directory tree, the topmost directory, under which everything else in Kubuntu resides. You will use that symbol, "/", during your Kubuntu installation (actually, the installer may use that symbol, you just have to click to accept).
"/root" indicates the home directory of the user "root."

Others here will have other tips.
BTW, Welcome to the forum!

**KB3NRY** · Feb 25, 2009, 10:35 PM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

Qpmike, thanks for the tips!

Unless there are big issues to worry about, I think I'll shrink Vista with gParted. That is what I did when I did this install over the weekend and everything seems to work find. (Though I did have to do a repair with the install CD afterward because it couldn't use WinLoad.exe or something like that which I would assume is for booting).

Thanks for telling me to partition manually during the install.

You say, to set up a swap and two ext3s. What are the two ext3s? Is one of them /root and one /home or is one for my shared documents? I'm a little confused because I figured the shared partition would be Fat32 like you say in the next sentence.

As for the Kubuntu partitions, what would be good sizes? I have 4GB of RAM, how much swap should I have? I thought I heard no more than 1GB should ever be needed.

What is a reasonable size(s) for the /root and /home partitions? I want plenty of room for installing plenty of applications.

I'm not worried about how it handles dual-booting, I've never had a problem with that. I'm doing that currently, but thanks for the info.

Now, with all those partitons, I believe I remember that I can only have 3 or maybe 4 primary partitions. I would assume Vista is one primary, my shared will be one primary, and then I'm not sure how to handle the 3 Kubuntu partions. Please guide me with that as well.

**IndyTim** · Feb 26, 2009, 05:04 AM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

You say, to set up a swap and two ext3s. What are the two ext3s? Is one of them /root and one /home or is one for my shared documents? I'm a little confused because I figured the shared partition would be Fat32 like you say in the next sentence.

The 2 ext3's are for:
"/" avg size 5-7G - you will need to "flag" this partition for formatting while doing the manual partition setup in the install sequence.
"/home" size 2-infinity at a minimum, this location will contain your settings. A lot of people use it also for document storage, so size appropriately.

As for the Kubuntu partitions, what would be good sizes? I have 4GB of RAM, how much swap should I have? I thought I heard no more than 1GB should ever be needed.

I would recommend no more than 2G RAM.

Now, with all those partitons, I believe I remember that I can only have 3 or maybe 4 primary partitions. I would assume Vista is one primary, my shared will be one primary, and then I'm not sure how to handle the 3 Kubuntu partions. Please guide me with that as well

You will need to branch out to an extended partition which will contain partitions within it. My recommendation would be to leave Vista intact where it is (this will make Vista very happy). Build your /swap partition as partition #2. Create the extended partition to cover the remaining available space on your hard drive. Once the extended partition has been created, then create the new ext3's for "/", "/home". Note the sda id #s for each of the these partitions.

IndyTim

**dibl** · Feb 26, 2009, 05:33 AM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

I don't use Vista, but I believe it's recommended strongly that you use Vista's built-in partitioning tool, rather than an external tool like GParted:

http://vista.blorge.com/2007/11/03/h...vista-machine/

Otherwise the advice looks right.

**Qqmike** · Feb 26, 2009, 06:15 AM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

Agree with dibl.
There ARE ways to shrink Vista using GParted (google it), but why bother?
More advice here:
Vista *** The definitive dual-booting guide: Linux, Vista and XP step-by-step
http://apcmag.com/dualboot

Good to see IndyTim back here @Kubuntu

**Qqmike** · Feb 26, 2009, 07:07 AM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

GParted FAQ re Vista
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/faq.php

9 : After resizing my Vista partition, Vista won't boot. How can I fix this?
The following article by the How-To Geek contains useful information regarding resizing your Vista partition, and getting it to boot again.
Using GParted to Resize Your Windows Vista Partition
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windo...sta-partition/

If your PC did not come with a complete Vista installation CD, you can download a Vista Recovery Disc at the following link:
Windows Vista Recovery Disc
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/window...disc-download/

**KB3NRY** · Feb 26, 2009, 10:19 AM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

Thank you all so much for your help and fast replies.

Originally posted by Qqmike

9 : After resizing my Vista partition, Vista won't boot. How can I fix this?
The following article by the How-To Geek contains useful information regarding resizing your Vista partition, and getting it to boot again.
Using GParted to Resize Your Windows Vista Partition
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windo...sta-partition/

That is what I did last time. But I will take everyones advice and try resizing Vista with its own partitioning tool.

Originally posted by IndyTim

The 2 ext3's are for:
"/" avg size 5-7G - you will need to "flag" this partition for formatting while doing the manual partition setup in the install sequence.
"/home" size 2-infinity at a minimum, this location will contain your settings. A lot of people use it also for document storage, so size appropriately.

I may go with 10 GB for "/" just to be safe because I think I can spare that.

I'm still not quite sure how to handle the size of "/home." Is /home used for something else besides storing documents? Does it store Kubuntu OS settings? I guess my question is do I need /home after all if it just stores documents since I will have a shared partition that will store them. Or is there other important info in /home? Would it be ok to make /home my shared partition with my documents or will that cause problems in either OS. If so how would I set that up and what file type ext3 or FAT32?

Originally posted by IndyTim

I would recommend no more than 2G RAM.

Do you mean no more than 2GB for the swap? I wouldn't think you would mean I have too much physical memory...

Again, THANKS EVERYONE! I hope to get on this soon. If I get replies soon enough today I'm going to go for it. (I'm off today.) I want to get it set up more permanently so I can add more applications and such and not have to worry about reinstalling them. I also appreciate the quoting of my questions and then your answers or at least you picking out a specific question to answer. It makes it much easier for me. Thanks all!

**flarson** · Feb 26, 2009, 12:04 PM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

Suspend to disk usually goes to your swap partition, so on a laptop there is good reason to follow the old adage of "As much swap as RAM".

8.10 has read write to NTFS capability, so your shared documents directory could be on your Vista partition.

A $HOME directory is pretty essential, as it is where all your customizations will be stored, among other things. The advantages of having it on a separate partition are probably negligible in your case and lead to all the questions about "how much is enough" and if you get that wrong it just means more work to change it later. On the other hand it is a good learning experience.

**KB3NRY** · Feb 26, 2009, 12:27 PM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

Thanks.

Well, I'm kind of up in the air about where to keep my files. Even though I can read them from Vista in Kubuntu (which is what I'm doing now), I think I'd rather have them separate. That way when I open the drive/partition I will see just my documents and not all the Windows files and such. If anyone else has an opinion on this, I'm open to idea.

I think I'll go with 2-3 GB on the swap...

I will go with creating a separate home partition as IndyTim suggested above.

I'll try to figure out my exact partition sizes and whether or not I'll use a separate partition for my documents or not. Hopefully, I can do my installing tomorrow sometime or Saturday at the latest.

Thanks again for all the input and I'm very open to everyone's opinions and suggestions as I try to finalize what I want to do. Thanks.

**Qqmike** · Feb 26, 2009, 12:55 PM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

dibl has talked a lot about making a separate data partition(s) and symlink-ing it.
Search around--there's been dozens of posts of separate home philosophies.
Like: symlink to separate data partition:
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...action=search2

As flarson pointed out, your home is important because it contains personal settings/configurations; e.g., Firefox profile, Thunderbird profile, application settings, etc.
If you damage your root partition, you could re-install it, and during the re-install, do NOT touch your existing separate /home, and be OK, go right back to work.

Look for dibl's posts on making a separate Data partition and then making symlinks to it (and recording that fact, I think, in /etc/fstab = your filesystem table).

**IndyTim** · Feb 26, 2009, 01:47 PM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

The separate data partition really depends upon what you're going to use your PC for. For example if you just compose casual letters etc. in Oo, you could certainly contain this in /home. If on the other hand, authoring the next great American Classic novel is in your plans, you'd probably be well served to put that in a separate partition. If you're into mulit-media then separate partition(s) are also probably good.

As an example, in addition to my core operating systems (5 operating systems and associated /homes, dedicated GRUB partition) on my primary hard drive, I have an additional 320G HD that contains all of my data. This includes dedicated partitions for Music, Photo's and DVD Slideshows, a partition dedicated to Backup Material (weekly full image's etc). My /home is used primarily for storing the app settings for the stuff I'm running.

If you're uncertain which direction you're going to head, I'd recommend leaving the space as un-allocated at the end of the drive. I'm sure over time, you'll figure out how to best utilize it for your situation.

IndyTim

**KB3NRY** · Feb 26, 2009, 03:04 PM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

I think I may go with the separate partition after all. It worked well for me before. I just like it being neutral between the two OSs even if that doesn't make any difference. Also, if I get rid of, modify, or reinstall either OSs, that can be left alone. Thanks for the input.

I'll have to look into symlink a little more. It looks like that is something I can do even after I create a separate partition for my "Shared Documents", right?

Also, if Kubuntu can read ntfs, is that what type I should make my shared partition or should I just stick with FAT32, or is there another type I should use?

Any other, comments, suggestions, criticisms are more than welcome.

**KB3NRY** · Feb 27, 2009, 01:38 PM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

Hey again everyone!

I was going to install Kubuntu again today, but have a few problems/questions. First, I went to resize my Vista paritiont which is 58.7GB and it is showing I can shrink it to about 58.6GB and that is it. Currently I'm using 25 GB for Vista and have 33.7GB free. This does not make sense to me. I didn't expect to be able to shrink down to 25 GB, but I though I should be able to do more than that.

This brings me to my next predicament. I decided to put in GParted and see how far that would let me shrink Vista. I wasn't planning on doing it yet, I just wanted to see what it would allow. Anyway, I didn't get that far when I see GParted is showing 2 bad sectors on that partition. Vista seems to be functioning fine, but I don't want to lose anything down the road. How serious are these bad sectors. My laptop is still under warranty until July. I am wondering if this is worth contacting Dell to get a new or refurbished HDD. I'd rather not install Vista again because I don't want to have to reinstall all my software again, but I'd rather do that now, if I have to, than have the operating system, or even HDD crash on me.

What do you all think? Are 2 bad sectors nothing too important? I've read about just marking them "unreadable" or something and then they just won't be written to. But at the same time, if I can get a new HDD now, I'd rather do that than have more go wrong a little after warranty. Your thoughts please? Thanks.

**KB3NRY** · Feb 28, 2009, 11:54 AM

Re: Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

Anyone have an idea what the "bad sectors" means for my situation? Thanks.

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Partition Sizes and How to Set Them Up

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