I'm a newbie, I haven't done partitioning before. I used WUBI which is a file, it never partitioning for real, it has a kind of within itself thing going. So it doesn't change the HDD for Win XP.

that is why I liked it. It allow me to get a taste for Ubuntu without having to burn an ISO and no need to learn partitioning for me.

So now my big question

If I do a partitioning for Linux that then is a permanent thing?

The only way to undo it is to format and install win xp fresh?

Me being naive user, is it not possible to just resize them?

Suppose Linux need three partitioned chunks of HDD.

They are different in size. The smaller about one Giga and the biggest as big as one want. When I after playing with Linux for say a year or so decide that this is too difficult for a thumb in the middle of hand like me then I just resize all of them to one meg and then only lose three meg of space?

Is that the only way to regain the space? I guess I have to format these partitions to NTFS before resizing them? Or else it doesn't work.

Will it work?

No it is not a permanent thing. You shrink the Windows XP partition and leave one space for Linux to go into.
No you can remove the Linux partition and expand Windows XP to fill the whole space.
Yes it is possible.
Generally one distro needs one chunk. It will put in its root, swap and home.

If you can watch a short video have a look at Dual-booting Windows and Linux the easy way (Linux.com videos)By Robin 'Roblimo' Miller on http://www.linux.com/articles/114157, particularly Video 5. From memory the only thing he misses out is about fixing the MBR - Linux tends to load the Boot onto MBR but removing it is fairly simple.

I have found that the easiest way to dual boot a desktop is to have two hard drives - Windows goes on one and Linux on the other.

I have recently come across "Installing Ubuntu Or Fedora From A Windows Or Linux System With UNetbootin" at http://www.howtoforge.com/unetbootin..._ubuntu_fedora. I have not had need to try this method, but it might be useful to you.

Partitioning in any system is reversible. This is because a partition is created by defining the 16 bytes in the partition table and the partition interior is "untouched". You can create 12 partitions in any hard disk in Linux, completely fill every partition with data, write down the partition table, then delete every partition and reboot so that the whole disk is reported empty.

You can then follow the recorded partition table and then re-create every partition again and will find not even one byte of data would be lost in the process!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can download Parted Magic or Gparted to run it as a Live CD to "resize" and ntfs partitions reliably. On Vista it is recommended you use its own resizer inside "disk management".

Formatting and resizing are permanent and not reversible!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You could resize back to the original size but the process physically alters the filing indexing system each time.

Thanks to both of you. I get a bit confused. I read you two to say that it is and that it is not? I'm too noob I guess. I ahve to look at that fine video then. Yes I plan to use UNetbootin too. then I don't need to burn a CD or DVD with ISO cause I don't trust me to do such things. I've tried to burn video and failed every time. Not readable by other machines.

It is interesting to read a user needs to watch a video and go into a specialised arrangement of inside a Windows to dual boot a Linux.

In a standard installation of a Linux, with Windows installed first, both system will be arranged to dual boot automatically by the Linux installer.

If one examines how a Windows is dual booted in Linux, he/she can use the same "simple and standard" technique to boot another 200 systems of Dos, Windows, Linux, BSD and Solaris. I have done it with 145 systems this way.

Why is a "specialised" technique is preferred to the "simple and standard" technique I never know? A specialised technique is distro specific whereas the "simple and standard" technique is universal applicable to any PC system.

One thing to check is the filesystem you wish to modify. Most partitions can be expanded or shrunk but some cannot have their first byte sector moved so the beginning must remain where it is. Reading info on parted and other apps will mention what it can and can't do.

Brian

UNetbootin has a partitioner built in? Ot maybe it is GParted Gnome Partition Editor? I guess.

I plan to use UNetbootin, but being a newbie to partition and linux makes he difficult.

My HDD is H: in Windows so I have no clue on what name it get in GParted when I use UNetbootin?