<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 TRANSITIONAL//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; CHARSET=UTF-8"> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="GtkHTML/4.6.6"> </HEAD> <BODY> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> Thanks everyone for the advice given. It would seem that the Data partition is the only candidate for a Linux installation. I've searched the Internet for the purpose of the Data partition in Windows 7 but I'm still uncertain of its purpose. The four partitions that I now have are: BIOS-RVY 8 GB System 100 MB Windows 274 GB Data 183 GB The Data partition shows as empty under Windows 7 while Gparted shows 3 GB used. Perhaps those 3 GBs are hidden files? If they're important hidden files, how do I move them to the Windows partition while I'm creating an extended partition? If the Data partition is only for user data then I can safely delete the partition and create an extended partition in its place. Of course, I don't want to delete the partition without knowing it purpose. So, is it safe to delete the data partition or not? -- Regards, Phil </BLOCKQUOTE> My advice would be to boot from the Linux dvd and select TRY Ubuntu. After it loads up you should be able to see all the partitions on the hard drive and what is on them. You can then move the files to the windows partition if you need to. This is what I do when I need to recover data from a crashed Windows hard drive. <TABLE CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" WIDTH="100%"> <TR> <TD> -- Scott Blair -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: BCPG C# v1.6.1.0 mQENBFQwU0ABCACYmgYk8vqRF2UhpciWf2osR3VCk/ZHZFtVA0PzDQiP6ul+QxTv kHqVEZfBMPb3wVt6ja0EQhemBqtzbvLKqCXNPjFmVqzucDCI9TzlDNfkxHwy+aRb KOAw2c/u31wlGzvQy6XDwSMkrOMQJqzfb9Pqone9uOErFtwk2s8ZtnAsvCydBDek 1baH9P/N3IHsC3QqUiqO41CmAezCFO9DguNHRpqWJPjlc8mnH/jCsgM2c/IRFASH XVhiW+V0jKgKE0OiwRsIearmqbzCPkjV4J+gjNAyCD3V9Ffvx2zwDHHuz6XYGa79 BmnsV4bUZJfxwqvsGZl8UvTmXUOnSeg4JPlRABEBAAG0FXNjb3R0LmJsYWlyQGdt YWlsLmNvbYkBHAQQAQIABgUCVDBTQAAKCRB13lYhhbr46wH0CACFjAYFQMyIfWP1 y71UbUXZIZxGR5sYSY7eJoaRgzIobcYqUtlxA0jzK+BK9PoWGmcnZiQsRPG92xIs w9XHt7oUaNUb5571YavTxOT9NrkDfCXhKM70Abc+ko2nJqYXPt7/etTDOFLbyqy+ 7pDN4mswo5n5alqvA65r4xBoIO3zLUTqTCKGJ0LCAAjjAKmzVS13D4PsQDFQfmvx +o+gnwq/PP/UvuEWNpRuFZaKqKcqly+U+TXm3Sd/fcFUFrMBzF7FN7nVzrv+cUVT hVo0kubxYj19Hvh0CSALQan3pjDul5Si1Hha9KOffqvG078G/hq1is0vValI7B/N lKA+ehCu =3/Ol -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- </TD> </TR> </TABLE> On Sun, 2014-10-05 at 11:16 +1000, Phil wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE> <PRE> On 10/04/2014 10:03 PM, Liam Proven wrote: > > What is in the other 3 partitions aside from the Windows C drive? > > EFI diagnostics? You need those. A recovery partition? An empty > primary data partition? > > If you want to keep Windows and keep it operable, you only have 1 > choice, really. You need to delete 1 of those 4 primaries and create > an extended partition in its place. Once you have an extended > partition, in it, you can create as many logical drives as you want, > for Linux, for Windows or both. > > If there is a data partition that you can get rid of, you could move > its contents onto the C drive, remove the data partition, make an > extended, make a logical drive in the extended, and move the contents > back into that. The setup will look the same at the drive-letter level > to Windows. > > Then you could use some of the remaining space to make logical > partitions for Linux, inside the extended partition. > Thanks everyone for the advice given. It would seem that the Data partition is the only candidate for a Linux installation. I've searched the Internet for the purpose of the Data partition in Windows 7 but I'm still uncertain of its purpose. The four partitions that I now have are: BIOS-RVY 8 GB System 100 MB Windows 274 GB Data 183 GB The Data partition shows as empty under Windows 7 while Gparted shows 3 GB used. Perhaps those 3 GBs are hidden files? If they're important hidden files, how do I move them to the Windows partition while I'm creating an extended partition? If the Data partition is only for user data then I can safely delete the partition and create an extended partition in its place. Of course, I don't want to delete the partition without knowing it purpose. So, is it safe to delete the data partition or not? -- Regards, Phil </PRE> </BLOCKQUOTE> </BODY> </HTML>