I'm trying to install mint 19.3 on a machine that has vista on it. I DON'T get the option to install mint along side of vista. I have searched with no luck. I get to the installation type stage.When I go to create a partition I can't make it bigger than 4010 mb. It goes back to 4010 mb when I try to make it bigger.It does this if it's the primary or logical type of partition. If I enter / as the mount point I get a message saying the space may be too small and installation may not work. under use as I have Ext4 journaling file system chosen.I need to install to my hard drive so I don't ruin my tv as the os from my usb drive doesn't save my resolution settings I'm trying to install with a usb drive. Thanks for any help..

Well first off.. did you shrink the windows partition to allow more room for Linux?

Linux cannot install on NTFS let alone the same partition as Vista. They can coexist on the drive, not a single partition.

4gb of room is probably 1/3 of what you'd need if you plan to install software post-OS setup.

Added:

In regards to resolution, most operating systems (Windows included) will not bother with detecting your resolution till after it's installed. Instead, they'll use a standard low resolution to insure that basically any monitor/screen can display the installer.

After installation you shouldn't have any issues getting a full resolution.

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I don't think I need to shrink vista; I have about 200 gb free on my internal hard drive.Yes many devices assume 1080p as the resolution, not only mint.I've only been able to make a partition (I think)with 4010mb even though I'm trying to give it 100 gb. It always reverts back to 4010 mb.Then I get the message that it's too small.None of the tutorials explain about which device to mount. Do I need to mount anything? I just ran the installation program again and it says /dev/sda disks have mounted partitions.It must be reading the usb drive for that info.Should I unmount the /dev/sda partition? I was trying to get to the deeper settings but ran into this.The default resolution is higher than my tv supports. Thanks for helping.

Run the Mint USB in "try Linux" mode (whatever Mint calls it these days), open a terminal (<Ctrl>-<Alt>-t) and enter this command. Post the output here using copy-paste.

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I was able to get the all the info through the terminal but I only see copy OR paste choices in the terminal.I have to learn to copy and paste the terminal info to the forum.I should be able to figure it out.EDIT: or not.

While in the liveUSB mode, connect to your network then login to LQ. Then it's just a normal copy-paste.

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I tried to insert the terminal info into a LQ post but only have the option to add a URL to my post.I've only had to use copy and paste a very few times in all my years online,believe it or not.That's maybe coming back to haunt me . I know it's a very basic computer skill.

After a few more hours trying to figure this out I'm still lost.The only thing I can see is to put the terminal info on the desktop and use the advanced function when posting a thread and using that to post the info here.I cant find a way to put the terminal info in a file to place on the desktop to grab it using LQ posting advanced options. I suppose you guys need all the info from the terminal to help me figure this out? This is f**king frustrating.

Is that free space shown on the windows C: drive?
If so you need to shrink the vista drive with windows disk management.

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Yes my C: local drive says it has 194 gb free. I thought I could assign 100 gb to the mint partition and be ok. Do I still need to compress my C: drive? What am I missing,I thought 100 gb for the mint part would be plenty.The one time I tried to compress the C: drive it acted like it would take a REALLY long time to compress C:.I appreciate all the patience and help you guys have given me.

You will have to shrink you c: volume by 100GB with disk management. If asked to format the 100gb by windows, do not format. Boot the mint usb
The free space you see is unused space on a ntfs partition. Linux doesn't install to a ntfs partition

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After you have done the "copy" function in your terminal, just click in the post area and use <Ctrl>-v to paste whatever is on your clipboard.
You can send the output to a file like this - the first command creates the file, the >> on the second command appends to the file.

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Compressing the C: drive is the same as shrinking it right? Now I'm starting to understand. I was thinking only the used part of the drive was ntfs, when the WHOLE drive is ntfs. I think I did the copy function in the linux terminal but it simply loaded more info into it.The text in the terminal does switch to a white background when I hit copy (or select).I can't see the option to put the linux terminal info onto a clipboard.EDIT;it seems compressing and shrinking are different things.

Would shrinking vista and making a partition be easier through vista? After much searching I'm still confused as hell.

All that needs to be done from vista is shrink the c drive/volume. When you run the mint installer at the setup stage select alongside windows and the installer will take care of the partitioning.