Installing Ubuntu on a laptop that has Windows 7 and Linux Mint

[Liam Proven]

On 2 March 2012 21:08,  <taodoe9.amabel at recursor.net> wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 2, 2012 at 9:55 AM, Pongo  wrote:
>>> 3. What's the proper way to make room for Ubuntu? What must I click on
>>> the screen?
>>>
>>> Also, I'd like the 2 distros to share the same "home" folder. By this,
>>> I mean that I want both of them to point to the same place for where I
>>> save my stuff (same Downloads folder, same Photos folder, same
>>> "Recent" stuff, etc)
>> This can be very problematic.  If you do this you will have competing
>> and conflicting configuration files (often in the form of hidden
>> directories in your home).  A better (but somewhat more complicated) way
>> to do this is to have a small separate home for each distro and a
>> common /data partition with things like Documents and Pictures linked
>> with simlinks.  You need to learn more about the basics of partitioning
>> before you try any of this.  Please visit the PartedMagic forums as
>> indicated above.
>>
>> In the first instance I'd shrink the Win7 sda2 down to 50 GB or so and
>> expand the extended partition to take up the new space.  Then I'd make
>> two 20 GB or so partitions for the linux systems and use the rest for
>> the two homes.  The swap partition seems about right and can be shared.
>> Then install the distros.  Win7 may have to be booted in recovery mode
>> the first time after you shrink it.  GRUB will handle the booting.
>
>
> Thanks again. Ok. I won't bother with having the 2 linux distros
> sharing the same home folder. I'll go with your suggestion of having a
> common "/data" partition/folder
>
> I'm trying to implement your advice to shrink Win7 sda2 down to 50 GB.
> I'm trying to do the shrinking within Win7, using Win7's own Disk
> Management. Please see http://i.imgur.com/wCcUe.png
> Which is sda2 in this pic?

Windows doesn't use the /dev/sda?? notation. The question isn't really
meaningful.

However in this instance it looks like the main Windows drive, C, is
the one you've highlighted - that is, I think, /dev/sda2 in Linux
parlance. It is your main C drive you're trying to shrink, yes.

Before you decide to how much, you should try to work out what OSs you
will use and how much data you will keep where.

You have nearly 200GB given to Windows - that's a lot, but it is about
half used. So, you may need all that room.

Me, what I would suggest is that you remove Mint and start afresh.

Make 2 small root partitions for Mint and Ubuntu. 16GB is plenty, the
suggestion from "Pongo" that 20GB is about right is good, perhaps even
over-generous. Me, I always try to stick to powers of 2 - 2, 4, 8, 16,
32 etc.

What I would do is this:

Windows - lots of room, it's big. Maybe take some space off it for a
shared data partition. Look and see how much data you have in Windows
& in Mint already.

After the C: drive, then (e.g.) 16GB for Mint.

Then (e.g.) 16GB for Ubuntu.

Then (e.g.) 32GB for a shared /home - but use differently-named user
accounts on the 2 distros, to avoid trouble.

Then any remaining space for a FAT32 volume that can be read and
written from all the OSs. It will be E: in Windows, after your optical
drive, unless you reassign the drive letters. That is, I think, more
help than a Linux-format "data" partition that Windows won't be able
to read or write.

Remember to install the older version of Linux first and the newer one
subsequently. That way you have the newest version of GRUB in your
MBR.

-- 
Liam Proven • Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile
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