I just spent the last week installing Ubuntu in my WinXP laptop and making sure it dualboots properly (with some help from LQ) .

Now that I finally have them both running perfectly, im free to experiment with Ubuntu. But then i noticed I have way way too little HD space left. I only made a partition of about 3.5 gigs for linux, and with Root and Swap, I now only have 420 left! And Ive only tried installing a few files!

The reasons why I only used so little space for the Install are:

1. I read somewhere 3.5 gig is enough space (now i realized i read an older, outdated article)

2. My old laptop only has 40 gig, and at the time i didnt delete more space from my Windows. I could make more space now.

3. Since I used a 2 gig flashdisk as a livecd and it boots and runs fine, I assumed 2 gig is the minimum and I had an extra 1.5 gig to play with.

4. I did not expect I will need a SWAP partition (only read about it AFTER i made the repartitioning from Windows)

5. I dabbled in Linux distros a few years back,and i remember i was using 1 gig to 2 gigs space (since I was using older machines, one even with only 10 gig hd space). I thought before that Linux is all about "breathing new life in old machines". I realize now that it evolved to so much more now these days...

Anyway, whats done is done. Now my questions are:

* Is it advicable to repartition (resize) everything again? Or will it mess up the system (especially the sensitive Windows MBR and GRUB parts)


* Should I use Gparted in Linux, or a Partion Manager (such as Easus or Paragon) in XP?


* I will need to make a larger EXT4 partition, how about a larger Swap partition, or MAKE a 3rd partition for Home (I only made the 1st 2). HOME is optional right?

OR...


* It will be easier to just redo everything, delete the Linux partition from WIndows, resize partitions, and reinstall Linux again?


* If so, what is the recommended MINIMUM Size I should allocated. (I did more research and a more recent article says 6.5 gigs is enough.. concur?)


Keep in mind I only have 40 gigs and I'd still want to keep as large a size as possible for Windows. I plan to put all my media files (music, picture, vids) there since I can access Windows files from Ubuntu anyway. No need to save them in Linux HOME right?

* What is the MINIMUM FREE Space needed for Ubuntu to run ok? right now I only have 400mb left and Im amazed Im still browsing faster and smoother than when Im in windows. (in fact I find browsing in Ubuntu much more pleasant than in XP). If Windows XP only has 400mb free space left it will be crawling by now...


* In case the suggestion is to reinstall, while Im at it, Im thinking of installing Linuxmint this time rather than reinstalling Ubuntu again. Any thoughts on this?


Sorry for the long questions.. Any comments would be welcome and appreciated..

To be honest another reason why i only set aside a small space for Ubuntu install is I thought I was just gonna dabble in it from time to time, experiment. I didnt expect I'd be liking it so much that i end up using it more often than I thought I would. Who knows, maybe in the future Ill end up doing away with dual boot and just make a dedicated install of Linux :P...

Thanks!

that must have been a very old thing you read that said 3.5 gig

a good average set up for partitions
/boot --------( 100 meg to 1 gig - fedora needs 500 to 750 meg)
SWAP ------2 gig or about 1.5x ram )
/home -------most say 5 gig min. i use 25 gig )
/ --------------( the root directory - 9 gig min and 20 gig average )
-- this one i use to make life WAY EASIER --
/DATA ------( a very very big partition i put NON operating system files,programs, music,videos,... 500 gig )

so a minimal install 20 to 30 gig

how are uoy booting ?
using the windows bootloader? or grub ?

1 members found this post helpful.

Hello kyleryner,

you've not mentioned your amount of RAM, if you need swapspace and how much depends on the size of your RAM. If it's less than 2GB I'd recommend to create a swappartition, for example 512 MB.
The size of your Linux rootpartition depends on how much programs you want to install. Be aware that if you (as an example) download a DVD image of 4.5 GB, you'll need the space anywhere.
I would say about 8GB for / and additional 5 GB for /home and 512MB for the swappartition will meet you requirements.
But then there are about 25 GB for Windows, maybe you'll have to uninstall some programs from Windows and delete old files. If you consider which jobs you want to do with Windows and which with Linux, you may find out which programs you will no longer need in Windows and respectively which programs you don't have to install on Linux.

Markus

2 members found this post helpful.

That's a lot of questions

I usually like to start with a /boot partition, but don't move the start of your Windows partition. Doing so causes an odd bug preventing XP from booting.

Don't worry too much about swap. Swap partitions are recommended, but Linux does support swap files. It's just slightly less efficient. You can have several of them, and use them in conjunction with swap partitions. If you discover that you need more swapspace, just steal some from the filesystem.

To create a simple 1GB swapfile:
And then add another swap line to /etc/fstab so it gets picked up when you reboot.

Oh, and the RAM x 1.5 thing is just an urban legend. RAM + swap must be more than you ever, ever intend to use, and you'll be just fine.

1 members found this post helpful.

If you want only test Linux and you have no too many free space you don't need to partition drive. Just one partition for whole Linux is sufficient. If you also have more RAM no swap file is needed (it depends which applications you will be running). I work on Ubuntu with 2GB RAM without swap space. The indication of lack of memory there is forced logout. If you encounter this, you will need swap. Default installation of Ubuntu contains many unnecessary applications. Remove what you don't need or during install select only what you need, using alternative CD or netboot. KDE and GNOME are some big. For laptop I suggets you to use some less resource needed desktops like XFCE(Xubuntu), LXDE(Lubuntu) or similar. Of course more free space is better. Look for requirements.

1 members found this post helpful.

thanks for all the helpful insights.

To answer your comments/questions (I really need to learn how to multi-quote in this forum.. I only see 1 quote button..lol )

* yes, i probably read an older article. But I noticed different articles say different reqmnts. And as I said, I did dabble (briefly) in Linux a few years ago where I used older machines. Back then I tried Ubuntu, Debian, PCLinux, Puppy, Knoppix.. but fast forward to today and Ubuntu and Linuxmint looks and runs quite differently from back then! (as opposed to Windows XP w/c I still use till now)

* Wow, some of the reqmnts given are HUGE. Almost for Windows Vista!

* Im using an old IBM Thinkpad X40. I like it bec its the size of a Netbook with almost the same specs. Pentium M 1.5 Ghz, 512 mb (for some reason windows report I only have 504mb) and 40 gig HD. Its partitions , including the ones I created for Linux, are...

+ Windows XP System - 29GB
+ Hidden IBM Recovery Partition - 4 GB
+ Linux EXT4 Partition - 3.2 GB
+ Linux SWAP -- 660 MB


* I installed Ubuntu on the XP machine, it uses GRUB2. It gave me problems at first but I think now I got the hang of it. I think I can survive another reinstall of Linux then be able to still dualboot to Windows by doing a FIXBOOT like I did last time.

* I dont think Ill need such huge space to install DVD images etc (I have a Desktop PC with 1.6 TB HD space for all the heavy stuff). This is just for hobby or travelling, like a netbook. I was kinda hoping to be able to keep the nice interface of Ubuntu GNOME or even use LinuxMint, instead of the lighter UBUNTU or LUBUNTU, but Ill check them out anyway. As I said, even with my present setup, I find Browsing the Internet on Ubuntu with 400 mb space left to be much faster than when I browse WinXP with a few gigs space left! I just dont want to run out of space for some minor installs.

* I think based on your inputs I will just add maybe 2-3 gigs overall, keep the swap file or expand it to 1 gig. Will not make HOME and will not make BOOT partitions.

* I take everyone is saying I should just REINSTALL and not bother repartitioning the existing Linux install and expect it to still work?

* thanks again everyone for your inputs!

[QUOTE=John VV;4180270]that must have been a very old thing you read that said 3.5 gig

a good average set up for partitions
/boot --------( 100 meg to 1 gig - fedora needs 500 to 750 meg)
SWAP ------2 gig or about 1.5x ram )
/home -------most say 5 gig min. i use 25 gig )
/ --------------( the root directory - 9 gig min and 20 gig average )
-- this one i use to make life WAY EASIER --
/DATA ------( a very very big partition i put NON operating system files,programs, music,videos,... 500 gig )

Hi John (from newbie first post on this forum)
Can you explain /DATA and how it interacts(?) with /home. In what way does it make life easier eg back ups?

the DATA partition is a labeled partition -- most of one of the hdd
so all the os's ( suse11.3,CentOS5.5,and Arch )see it by it's name DATA
and can mount it by that name
it holds programs that I build
Celestia
Nip2/vips
Gimp
Cinepaint
openEV
GRASS
ISIS3 ( from NASA& USGS ) about 100 gigs of data
cspice( NASA's Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility )

things like this along with my planet and there moons maps and imaging data ( about 200 gigs at the moment - a big project-)


by not installing things i do not want to lose during a OS install or reinstall on the same partition that the os is on i can wipe out one of my OS's and not loose my files

it Basicly a large storage partition that all 3 os's can use


some people like to have a very large /home partition and store all the bought and paid for mp3's in it. BUT if you really mess up the install you might loose all that cash you spent for the music .

Thank goodness John that experts such as you are ever willing to help the needy! Always appreciated. Want another question lol . . . if I wanna keep my imminent partitioning project simple, should I set up /root before /home so that program material loads faster than user files from the HD?

by faster do you mean the few MILLISECONDS difference

most installers will have the set up order as
/boot
/
swap
/home

or just
/boot
LMV

Thanks again John. The 'hot shots' out there, those users that put speed at top of their must-have list, seem generally per blogs to put SWAP on the outside of the drive. Anyhow, at least I see the normal config is to put /home nearer the centre of the HD. Cheers!

If I want speed on my system, I will add so much RAM that swap is never used. I don't see the point in making swap a few milliseconds faster.

back in the 80`s and 90`s the drives were s l o w
and inside or out did make a small difference

but as TobiSGD said add ram
some even go as far as NOT using a swap partition . If you have 4 gig on a 32 bit os or 8+ gig on a 64 there really is no need for the average??? user .

me well i do work on VERY large imaging data sets 24gig so need a large swap

I actually only use swap for hibernation, besides that I have seen that swap is used by my systems only in seldom cases.

kyleryner,

Linux Mint is good option. I tried both 9 Isadora and 10 Julia standard versions (using GNOME) with old ThinkPad T40 using Pentium M 1.5 GHz CPU, 512 MB of RAM and 40 GB HDD.

Mint together with a few added programs takes about 3.3 GB in the case of Isadora and about 3.5 GB in the case of Julia.

Isadora is LTS (Long Term Support) version – it’ll be supported for three years: up to 2013-05-18. Julia is standard version supported for 18 months: up to 2012-05-12.

Both these distributions in versions using GNOME are slightly slow with Pentium M CPU and 512 MB of RAM. In the case of Isadora you’d choose Fluxbox or Xfce versions instead of GNOME one. Julia’s Fluxbox and Xfce versions aren’t prepared yet.

As for your HDD: to try Linux Mint prepare Linux partition of at least 5 GB. Swap size is right. As for memory: it’d be nice to buy another 512 MB.