Partioning on new installation

[Ari Torhamo]

On la, 2007-09-22 at 16:36 -0700, gks wrote:
> After rebooting and going forward with selecting install it processes
> up to portioning whereas it appears cryptic in verbiage.
> I don't want to overwrite my existing windows data/os 
> basically its a 60 gig drive with just windows on it now and the
> Ubuntu states it wants to partition 2 areas one being a swap area. I
> guess i need an explanation on what it is going to do in relation to
> data already on disk.


Do you see an option saying something like "resize [___], partition
[___] and use freed space". Your Windows partition propally occupies the
entire disk at the moment and the "resize" option is there to make some
space for Ubuntu to reside on. No harm is supposed to happen for your
Windows installation, but one should always back-up all personal data
before doing this kind of operations (well, one should always have
personal data backed-up).

You'll have to deside how much space you give Ubuntu from your Windows
partition. It depends on how much space you have left there and how much
space do you need for your personal data in Ubuntu. 10 gigabytes is
plenty for Ubuntu itself and the programs that come with it.

I don't have a Feisty installation disk at hand, so I'm not sure how
exactly the resizing is happening there, but anyway you'll have to give
the size of the new partition - propably as a percentage of the hard
disk - and then go on with the installation as normal.

BTW, I think it would be good to defragmet the Windows partition (from
Windows) before resizing it.

If you have more questions, just come back and ask :-) It might be a
good idea to write down the possible cryptic messages you get. It's
easier then for us here to know what's going on and help you.

Regards,

Ari Torhamo