Partitioning Questions

[kiran1247]

Hi friends ,

So finally here's the story what happened regarding my partition issue -

Though HP vendor provided the default 4 "primary partitions" to my new laptop.. i was unable to make any new partition there after.

So as suggested , I burned the "recovery(d drive to DVDs and deleted this partition.

Now i'm able to create/label new volume as extended partition only - this was fine!

Actually my plan / or my requirement was - to have one more OS on my laptop , means want to install linux..

Then while trying to install ubuntu.. I was NOT allowed to install it , though to have new OS.. i can do it on primary partition only.

After reading on some blogs , came to know that i need to delete one more primary partition from my laptop - then decided to delete HP_TOOLS which has less priority , so deleted this partition after taking backup for future reference.

---

So now i have only 2 primary partitions on my laptop, so finally allowed me to install ubuntu successfully without any issues...

Now happy to have 2 Operating Systems on my laptop... nice!!!

One final issue/problem was -

Currently C: Drive occupying 220GB , i mean it was allocated 220GB out of which currently in use was 50GB - so 170GB un-used.

Though i'm NOT going to install anything on my C: drive further , so just thought of assigning max 100GB for safe side..

But now i'm unable to shrink any space out from 220GB , not sure why ...

As Catilley asked me to defrag C drive first , and using partition manager can do shrink.. i tried , but no luck.

Tried this way -
1. De-fragmented the C drive
2. Then i tried shrinking the c drive , but not allowing me to shrink any space out out of 220GB.

Do i need to use / or have c drive with 220GB forever ?

I'm bit frightened to do anything on my c drive without knowing anything.. and dont want to disturb my windows 7 operating systems..

So now do i have any solution for this c drive space issue , or suggest me as leave it.. as it is?

Thanks for everything here , always appreciated!!

Thanks
Kiran

 

[Trimegisto]

Why exactly can't you shrink it?

 

[Nibiru2012]

One should really set their desired partition sizes prior to the install of the OS. Trying to mess with it after install is nothing but asking for problems and not being able to shrink the partition to the desired size. Remember that Windows places certain files and folders all over the partition during install, even if one uses PerfectDisk it has to be done in a certain order.

First you must run the SmartPlacement option, first as a Boot Defrag then run in the Windows 7 environment. It may take more than one time to do it properly. Then you'll notice the files and folders are all placed at the front end of the drive. Then do a Consolidate Free Space run after that. That will compact the files and folders as best as possible, but still Windows possibly MAY NOT allow you to shrink the partition any further. That's just one of the quirks of Windows.

 

[Kalario]

I totally agree with Nibs, trying to mess with the partitions sizes after the install is asking for trouble.

 

[kiran1247]

So better i stop shrinking any-more , and keep the C drive as it was currently for safe side ?

Thanks
Kiran

 

[Nibiru2012]

Yes, most definitely!

 

[kiran1247]

Hmm.. Okay thanks..

Anyways i've enough space elsewhere to use/work , but small thinking why should i keep/use/allocate so much un-used space for C drive.. , ok np.

Thanks
Kiran

 

[catilley1092]

You should be OK with what you have, most Linux OS's doesn't require a lot of space to run (around 10-12GB is fine). The smaller you keep it, the better it'll run.

Ubuntu is one of the more user friendly Linux OS's to run, I run Mint 9 myself, it's basically a customised version of Ubuntu.

As far as your "C" drive goes, in time, it'll grow, so it's not like it's a total waste. Plus you can give yourself a larger cushion for System Restore, I allow 30% of my "C" drive for it. That'll give me a lot of restore points, should I need them.

Cat

Cat

 

[Trimegisto]

There is one other option; you can create an image of your your current c: partition, delete it, recreate it with the size you want (100 Gb) and then restore the image.

I have done this before, it will work but I strongly advise you to have full backups before even thinking about it

 

[yodap]

There is one other option; you can create an image of your your current c: partition, delete it, recreate it with the size you want (100 Gb) and then restore the image.

I have done this before, it will work but I strongly advise you to have full backups before even thinking about it

Some of the more popular imaging programs will not let you do this. Please specify which ones have worked for you.
Ditto: back up all your data if you try this kiran1247.

 

[catilley1092]

Paragon has an free backup program called "Paragon Backup & Recovery 2011 (Advanced Free). With this, provided you know what you're doing (I don't), you can resize backups to fit smaller drives.

I have the program installed, but never have used it.

This version of Paragon can be found at:

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/br-free/

It appears to be an excellent offering, considering it's free.

Cat