Hi everyone...tried looking for help on this at ubuntuforums but no clues as to whats wrong so lemme try here.

Trying to setup dual boot system win xp/ubuntu 904. Deleted all partitions including this restore partition (probably) I had... Now it looks like Im missing the space thats around same size as that restore partition....thats a side issue but I'm mentioning it becos it may have to do smth with the problem Im having.

So I delete all partitions and I create one big one for windoze.... I install windoze there. I figure I can always resize it when I add ubuntu....not so.

First I tried this guide

https://help.ubuntu.com/9.04/switchi...titioning.html

When I right-click on the said windows partition, there is no resize option, there is only edit/delete. According to other guide here

http://www.easy-ubuntu-linux.com/res...partition.html

It said right click windoze partition then pick new...but I dont have that option either....

This windows partition is named sda 1 not hda like it said in ubuntu's guide. I also have one other partition named just sda that looks like has no space allocated to it. I didnt make this partition. I only made the windoze one.

Here's the rest of the details for the windoze partition...from disk management in windoze... type basic...file system ntfs...healthy (system)

When I go to properties for the whole hd.... under volumes I get extra bit of info partition style master boot record. Which seems weird.

Thats all the info....basically tried to install ubuntu by going under manual partitioning...then I cant resize the windoze partition. Tried it few times...nothing. Also I cant see a way to resize the partition when I'm in windows. Ive even done defragmenting just to make sure even though I just installed windoze...

A bit later I posted this...

Just entered gparted using live cd. I cant resize the partition either. Now the option is there, but I can only change the partition by 8mb. Under information about the partition I get this ........at least 128 bad sectors. what does that mean? Is that at least like it found 128 and then stopped looking lol or is it an aproximation of how many are there? Total sectors 80 mil so doubt this should make much problems.

I'm stumbed by this find. I did clean windoze xp install, so during that it should check and repair or bulk those bad sectors together so they're not a problem. In windoze, Ive also went under properties/tools used error checking....no errors found.

Here's what gparted suggested....

run chkdsk/f/r and reboot twice.

Is this different to the error checking under tools? Should I go ahead and do this? The partition holds my windoze install so need to be carefull here. What does that command do?

And I did have some issues with my HD few years ago, but since then its been ok and I havent lost any data to my knowledge. It couldve just been too much stuff on it or smth bak then.

Starting to think this maybe a bug inside ubuntu 904 live cd or the partitioning software it uses...bunch of other people reported similar issue on ubuntuforums...how they cant resize the windoze partition...

Thanks for the help. Any idea whats wrong here and how to fix it?

I am in the middle of writing a thread showing how to use Linux to move Xp in a PC.

Here is the part on how to prepare a XP for movement.

Also use the Partition Editor from the Ubuntu CD or the gparted Live CD.

------------------------------------------
(1) To prepare Xp for migration - This includes to defrag the partition, reduce its footprint and disable the virtual memory links to other partitions.

(1.1) Defrag a Xp partition - It is not mandatory to have the Xp partition defragged but it is advisable especially if the partition is resized to a smaller boundary. Another important factor is during defragging immovable files will become apparent. These immovable files can be removed if the pagefiles are temporarily disabled. A smaller Xp is quicker to copied and easier for move around between hard disks. The commands in Xp involve clicking
(1.2) To remove virtual memory files - The temporary removal of these page files is essential to a successment movement of Xp because they may be linked to partitions not available or renamed in new location. The virtual page files are to enhance the performance only and they can be restored in the new location. The commands in Xp is by clicking
(1.3) Resizing a Xp partition - It is not mandatory but if Xp has a smaller footprint then it requires less space to move to. The amount of data transfer is corresponding smaller. Thus it is a smart move to resize the Xp partition to remove the empty spaces. If this is desirable and I repeat the operation is optional then there are at least two easy ways to resize a Xp partition.

The easiest, quickest and safest way is to use the "disk management" shrink volume facility available in every Vista and Win7. The Win7 is currently available for free trial by M$. Since the resizer is M$'s own product it is therefore bomb proof.

The other reliable resizer I have tested is the Open Source program "gparted" in Linux. It is shipped with many Live CD, say Ubuntu, and available as a stand alone Live CD from the gparted web site. The other partition handling Live CD is Parted Magic which uses the same engine. Gparted or "Partition Editor" in Ubuntu is a graphic tools like Vista/Win7's disk management. A user simply highlight the affected partition, right click for altering the partition bounday and to specify the new size. Resizing software normally work in unit of Mb.

Looks like they've changed the UI for the (installer) partitioner - again. Must admit I didn't take much notice. I guess you're supposed to use the "edit" option and just type in a number.
ntfsresize (part of ntfsprogs) does all the work under the covers - for gparted as well. It won't touch a (NTFS) partition it thinks has errors. Do the chkdsk (from Windoze), and keep doing it until you get a clean report.
Only M$oft (at this point in time) can fix errors in NTFS.

Once you get a clean run, retry the install.

Thanks for the reply...have few newbie qs.

Does it have errors or is it a bug/bad read in gparted?

Ive done clean install of xp which should fix the errors then I ran chkdsk again...how many times will it need?

Is running chkdsk multiple times standard procedure? I mean it is the system partition.

How can I tell if it fixed errors? after its done it goes away too fast to see anything.

Also is chkdsk/f/r the same as going under hd/properties/tools then to error checking and ticking those 2 boxes fix system errors and bad sectors.

I honestly don't know if they're the same utility. The beauty of chkdsk is that it gets done at the next reboot, with nothing allocated. The following re-boot is just to ensure things got (completely) cleaned up.
It's still the old DOS-mode chkdsk from yore.
Doing it multiple times is just me being paranoid.

I thought it would give you a status panel, but I just tested and it ran straight through - the /f/r tells it to fix things automagically. Did you retry the Ubuntu install ?.

Did chkdsk 3 times in the gui...then 2 more with cmd....they look the same.
Every time on the final report I would get 512kb of bad sectors, so no idea if it helped.

Then I tried both gparted and installing ubuntu....same problem.

Under info about the windoze partition it said after I ran chkdsk/f/r I could resize ntfs without problem by using -bad sectors in ntfsresize?

Ive got no clue how to do that, new to linux. I only got ubuntu 904 live cd no linux distro installed....can I ran that from the cd?

Also if all fails would clean windoze install help? Is the problem the fact that gparted cant resize ntfs that has errors?

Could I install on ntfs partition that has errors on it? If thats possible how would you recommend partitioning the hd? Ideally I would like 2 windoze partitions, 1 system 1 data and 3 linux partitions so 5 total. But I can only have 4 primary partitions so dunno if that would work well...Guess I could only have 1 windoze partition if I can only have 4...

This is starting to get very frustrating, spent lot of time on this past few days...I may just go ahead with another clean install if that would work.

If you got bad sectors that is a hardware fault! That could mean the days you can run the hard disk may be numbered because hard disk corruption grows with time.

You are advised to migrate the systems to a healthy disk first before resizing the partition.

Well I'm aware that it might be hardware issue. According to reports its only 512kb of bad sectors so its not massive as of now. I dont plan to get new hd at this point. Also I had no problems with data loss afaik the past few years so I doubt things are very bad. And Ive done backup.

Can you or smone else adrress the other qs in my post about installing on partition with errors and the clean xp install and its partitioning. Thanks.

You will waste a lot of time on forcing an software to go over a bad sector. The hard disk will keep trying to read the corrupted areas repeatedly in a hope to success. It may manage at one time and then stuck at most of the times. An OS must ensure the integrity of the filing system so if something isn't right in the hardware every program will have an issue with it.

I agree that you should consider replacing the hard drive.
If you can not do that, the boot up the Windows install CD and delete all partitions. Then reinstall XP to the size of partition that you want. Leave the rest of the hard drive unaloocated. Then boot up the Ubuntu live CD and see if you can then partition and install to the unallocated space. You can make 2 primary partitions for your system and data partitions for Windows. Then when you install Ubuntu you can make 1 more primary partition for Ubuntu, or make logical partitions if you want. Linux can be installed to primary or logical partitions.

What does this do...

using -bad sectors in ntfsresize?

isnt that suppose to resize it minus the bad sectors? How can I start this? Where is ntfsresize? Cant find it on live cd.

Thats prolly the last option I have before doing clean xp install.

I run a hdd of about 40Gb that has some 15Mb of bad sectors, with no real troubles.
to be safe, I ran scandisk every month, followed by a defrag of the hdd.

the drive is still in use today ....

if you can do both of these - it may take a whole day - to complete both.

then try Gparted again.

Let me see.

The last couple of 1.5TB hard disks I bought were £120 per unit approximately. This averages 12.5Gb storage per Sterling pound. At today's exchange rate of £1=US$ 1.5925 a 40Gb hard disk storage worths US 5.1 Dollars or £3.2 Sterling or 3.64 Euro.

Thus the amount of money that I save by running a 40Gb dodgy hard disk everyday can hardly buy coffee for the wife and I in most places we go for lunch.

In my case the data in that dodgy 40Gb hard disk worths more than 2 cup of coffee to me, so I would give up two coffee. I don't about the others though. To waste a whole day of my life just to keep the bad disk going is something I would contemplate only if I am doing a life sentence in a prison.

Oh Im so very glad about the hi standard you and your wife have there in the uk...

You can buy my hd with a cup of coffee oh boo hoo...How many centuries of having a colonial empire did it take to buy you that standard of living which is dwindling fast now btw?

Seriously dude you dont know who I am or where I'm coming from. if you're not going to help just stop posting. I can not afford new hd. They're neither easy to find nor cheap here.

And I'm certanly not buying hd just becos some live cd decided not to install when xp installed just fine...You're on my ignore list now.

Now does anyone know where's ntfsresize and how can I turn on -bad sectors option?

Modern harddisks copy information from bad sectors into some reserved space and avoid using the damaged sectors. Only when that reserved space runs out will you even notice bad sectors after running chkdsk. So when you actually learn that your harddisk has bad sectors, it is already much more damaged than you think. This is the moment you really should get a replacement. Anything else is Russian roulette with your data.

Robin