Partitioning Guidance

[Guest]

I am looking to install kubuntu on my Acer laptop which already has a partition. Half of the disk ( C:/ ) is Vista and the other half ( D:/ ) is pretty much free except some recovery software from acer which I would like to keep, I'd also like to keep as much space free as I can in D:/. What I am planning to do is use Windows Disk manager to shrink D:/ and make some unallocated space on the disk. If I understand correctly the Kubuntu installation should allow me to put Kubuntu on this unallocated space. Or should I name the new partition and then let Kubuntu resize it

Also will 12Gb be enough room to run kubuntu? And do I need a swap? I am primarily doing this to get acquainted with Linux as I would like to eventually make a dedicated Linux system out of an old desktop and I have gotten tired of booting from the .iso.

Thanks!

[Snowhog]

Re: Partitioning Guidance

Use the Windows Disk manager and shrink the disk as much as it will allow. Then do your self a favor and download/burn the GParted LiveCD and use it to setup the unallocated space the way you want for use with Linux. Then boot the Kubuntu LiveCD and proced with installation.

[Guest]

Re: Partitioning Guidance

Thanks! I'm going to try that. Just wasn't sure and wanted a little reasurance.

[kapil]

Re: Partitioning Guidance

and do make a set of windows recovery discs using the software which came along with acer.

[oshunluvr]

Re: Partitioning Guidance

You need swap if you're going to use suspend, but likely not otherwise, since you're really just testing out linux. BTW, you can create a swap file, rather than a swap partition if need be.

12gb will be enough for your trial period but if you decide to start really using linux, you'll want more space for /home.

I suspect both C: and D: will be primary partitions. The significance of this is there is a limit of 4 primary partitions available. I would recommend creating an extended partition with all free space you can muster. Then create as many logical partitions as you desire for linux. Usually, 3 is the typical partition count for a good basic install - /, /home, swap.

With only 12gb - I would create a 2gb swap, 8gb for /, and 2 for /home.

Another thing to note: you will be able to access your windows files from linux, but not the other way around.

[efflandt]

Re: Partitioning Guidance

You do NOT need swap to suspend (which is a low power state that keeps RAM alive). But you do need swap a little larger than your RAM (to be on the safe side) if you want to hibernate, because hibernate saves RAM to swap and totally shuts down. By default hibernate uses a swap "partition" or would need additional configurating to use a swap "file" instead.

If you do not have swap on a laptop, make sure that Power Management is set to to "shutdown" instead of "hibernate" on low battery.

You should really make a snapshot (save the output of) sudo fdisk -l (small L) and sudo fdisk -lu before you start changing things, so you have a better chance of fixing things if something does go wrong. And do pay attention to what kapil said about making recovery disks if you have not done that yet.

[oshunluvr]

Re: Partitioning Guidance

Thank you for the correction. Also, I often recommend a backup copy of the Master Boot Record if you're playing around with your partitions.

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3113977.0

see reply #6