I started out by making my linux swap partition 1 gb, but now I am finding I dont need that much(I already have 512 mb ram). I am trying to figure out how to shrink this partition to 512 mb, but I cant figure it out. Thanks in advance.

in a console as root type in"fdisk /dev/hda" if it says that fdisk can't be found then type in "/sbin/fdisk /dev/hda" that will open fdisk and the /dev/hda partition table...hit "p" to figure out your partitions and to figure out which one is the swap...then I forget what the key is to resize a partition...should be able to hit "m" to get a list of all the commands...if it's not in the first list hit "x" to get to an advanced fdisk, then hit "m" to get the advanced help list...just search through there for a way to resize a partition.

I couldn't find the command to resize. The linux swap is hda3, linux is hda2, and winxp is hda1.

try downloading "Ultimate Boot CD" there are sevral partition managers on it...inluding "Partition Resizer" ....ya think that might help?

I will try that later, but I am low on CD's and I dont have any cd-rw's so I would like to avoid that if possible.

ok, then try running "/sbin/fdisk /dev/hda" again and delete the swap partition...but before you do that...hit "l" (L) key to list all the usable file systems...I forget what you have to do to make a swap partion...but before you do delete the swap partition make sure you know how you make another swap partition.