partitioning a partition, already having data on it

[allmighty]

greetings ,

i wish to install pclinuxos minime on my hard disc but i have a situation..

i want to install linux on second hard drive (slave).....but the first partition on this drive has some data on it which i dont want to move any where else cause i dont have the space and i am too cheap and lazy to buy dvd and save stuff on it ....

so can i just shrink this partition and chop of chunk from it and make new partition ??? without loosing the data!??!

it has 29 gb total space and 15 gb free space....i want to seprate 10 gb from it...

and oh!! i want to make dual boot with xp ...xp on first drive on c:/..and minime on second drive's first partition d:/ (it used to be f:/ but after a format window made it d:/, does anybody know why ??)...

thaks guys...

[krishnandu.sarkar]

Yes u can shrink the existing partition widout lossing the data. Use partition manager to re-size tat partition. But wait take a backup coz thr is a risk of lossing data if sumthng goes wrong. So take a backup n b on safe-side. If everythng is ok u won't losse ur data while re-sizing the partition.

Windows assign drive letters serially/sequentially. So aftr format windows made it d:/
U can change the drive letter nytime from Disk Management or ny disk manager. U can also change it wid partition manager.

[Rahim]

Use GParted Live CD to shrink the partition. Its very easy and user-friendly. Always backup before doing any type of work on partitions, though GParted has never failed me

[allmighty]

one more thing guys ...

my hard disc already has 4 partitions ...if i make this one, there will be 5 ..also it seems that linux install will make 3 partition on its own ..so ill end up having 7 partition...but i read somwhere that u cant make more then 4 ....now what to do ???

[krishnandu.sarkar]

Ya u can't make more than 4 PRIMARY partition......but u can make ny no of SECONDARY partition......

Install the OS-es in primary partitions........and keep ur data in secondary partitions

[Rahim]

Do one thing, shrink the existing partitions and then make a logical partition with the free space, and then make any number of partitions in that logical partitions.

You need only 2 partitions for a Linux install: onefor the '/' root and the other for the 'Swap'. You can create a /home partition but this is optional as it helps to keep all your settings and documents intact if you want to install another distro.

[allmighty]

hey!! i think i have only one primary partition on each of my drive ...



i have pretty much emptied out d:/ so i think i am gona wipe it out and install on it ....

i thing guys...do the swap partion of linux needs to be an empty partition (with no data in it ) .... and can i change its location later .....lets say in e:/ drive ??...

[infra_red_dude]

Originally Posted by krishnandu.sarkar

Ya u can't make more than 4 PRIMARY partition......but u can make ny no of SECONDARY partition......

Install the OS-es in primary partitions........and keep ur data in secondary partitions

Originally Posted by a_rahim

Do one thing, shrink the existing partitions and then make a logical partition with the free space, and then make any number of partitions in that logical partitions.

Thats called "extended" partition with logical ones inside the extended.

Originally Posted by allmighty

hey!! i think i have only one primary partition on each of my drive ...



i have pretty much emptied out d:/ so i think i am gona wipe it out and install on it ....

i thing guys...do the swap partion of linux needs to be an empty partition (with no data in it ) .... and can i change its location later .....lets say in e:/ drive ??...

You are good to go. You can split one of the logical volumes into 3 partitions (I'd reco 3 - 1) root (/), 2) swap, 3) /home (to keep data safe even if you decide to switch distros or do a clean upgrade)

You can assign the swap partition afterwards. But its generally not a good idea neither possible to share an already filled partition as linux swap.

[Rahim]

Another thing while installing a distro it is preferable to use "Manual" Partitioning option and choose the partitions for root & swap apart from optional /home.