Will I struggle creating partitions for dual booting Linux?
- Thread starter vinushka
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Ijack
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- Jul 30, 2008
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There are a couple of misconceptions here:
1. The 4 primary partitions limit only applies to MBR partitioned disks. If your disk if GPT partitioned then you can have as many primary partitions as you like.
2. If you have 4 primary partitions on an MBR disk then you can't also have an extended partition. It has to replace one of the primaries, so it's 3 primary partitions and an extended one.
The fact that one of the partitions on your disk is an EFI system partition indicates that it may well be a GPT partitioned disk. But it's not guaranteed, so you should check the disk properties to see how it is partitioned. If it is a GPT disk then just let Linux create whatever partitions it wants to. If it is an MBR disk then create an extended partition and install Linux in that partition; it will then create whatever logical drives it needs. In either case you will have to first shrink the large partition to make space for the new ones.
Before doing this ensure that you have backed up any important data and that you have the means to repair/reinstall Windows if needs be. These operations are normally safe but things can go wrong.
1. The 4 primary partitions limit only applies to MBR partitioned disks. If your disk if GPT partitioned then you can have as many primary partitions as you like.
2. If you have 4 primary partitions on an MBR disk then you can't also have an extended partition. It has to replace one of the primaries, so it's 3 primary partitions and an extended one.
The fact that one of the partitions on your disk is an EFI system partition indicates that it may well be a GPT partitioned disk. But it's not guaranteed, so you should check the disk properties to see how it is partitioned. If it is a GPT disk then just let Linux create whatever partitions it wants to. If it is an MBR disk then create an extended partition and install Linux in that partition; it will then create whatever logical drives it needs. In either case you will have to first shrink the large partition to make space for the new ones.
Before doing this ensure that you have backed up any important data and that you have the means to repair/reinstall Windows if needs be. These operations are normally safe but things can go wrong.
Yes I have a GPT partitioned disk. So the fact I have three partitions means little because I can have many partitions? So I need to shrink the C drive partition (obviously), then leave how much unallocated space to allow Linux to install?
Ijack
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The size to allow for Linux depends upon what you are going to use it for. As a rough rule of thumb I would allow 32 GB for the OS (that's being very generous) and then add on whatever data space you think you will need. 50 GB would be plenty for an average install where you are not going to be storing a lot of videos and music.
Disk manager shows disk as "Basic" (for as long as I can decipher the screenshot). So, shink your last partition as much as you can (as as much as you want allocatd for Linux-only), create extended partition there, and within that extended partition create one partition for root (the size as discussed), 2-4gb swap partition, and rest for Linux data partition.
Keep in mind you cannot (easily) access data on Liniux partitions from within Windows, so if sharing between Windows and Linux is important, dedicata a NTFS partition for that.
Keep in mind you cannot (easily) access data on Liniux partitions from within Windows, so if sharing between Windows and Linux is important, dedicata a NTFS partition for that.
stillblue
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- Nov 30, 2012
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The point about an extra ntfs partition is a good one for data storage because it is accessable by both windows and Linux and gives you an extra layer of protection for when you update an OS or your OS just plain gets screwed up. Makes backing up data a breeze as well.
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