[ale] GParted & unallocated space

[Richard Faulkner]

Jim --

If you really did torch your Windows installation then the best bet
(IMHO) is to wipe the drive using the installer for 7 (if using M$ OEM
disks).  Specify a primary partition smaller than the actual drive
(leaving enough room for Ubuntu).  This space will be unallocated space
and the installer for Ubuntu recognizes such installations.  Once 7 is
in then you can boot from a Live Ubuntu disk, confirm functionality and
do your installation from the Live Desktop.  Otherwise you can just to a
normal installation of Ubuntu and GRUB2 (assuming you're using a modern
version of Ubuntu).  You can wipe the drive with GParted if you want to
but you should be able to do that same function from within the Windows
installer.  That would likely be the easiest and safest way to go.  

If you're using a CD Recovery Disk from the manufacturer to reinstall
the OEM build for M$ then you'll have to shrink the partition size after
the installation (unless that option is given to you during the
installation of course).  I would trend towards shrinking the
installation of Windows before doing the install for Ubuntu.  (I've not
done installations of 7 but that is a legacy option since long ago with
M$ so I'd think it should still be there).

I do know that the latest Live CD's I've been using from Ubuntu have a
side-by-side option, install to unallocated space and custom
installation options but I've been mostly installing 9.10 (not much for
the newer flavors yet).

If Ubuntu doesn't seem to be installing right or giving you the right
options -- perhaps you should try building a new live disk or try a
different version to see if you get what you're looking for.  I've done
this with success in resolving some h/w issues that I had run into
earlier on my now legacy box.

Cheers!   ---Rich in Lilburn


-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Philips <briarpatch.jim at gmail.com>
Reply-to: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts - Yes! We run Linux! <ale at ale.org>
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale at ale.org>
Subject: [ale] GParted & unallocated space
Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2010 09:58:31 -0400

I bought a new laptop and I'm trying to install Ubuntu on it. The firs
time around, I ended up destroying the Windows installation (which I did
not want to do). The second time I went in and looked for the "side by
side" option for installing from the live CD. It wasn't there. So, I
decided to try GParted. I shrank the nearly 475 gigs dedicated to
Windows in half. After that, I am left with 235 gigs of unallocated
space. The Ubuntu installer will neither format nor install to that
space. Gparted won't format it either. So, from where I am now, there is
nothing I can do with that space either with the Ubuntu installer or
GParted. The "Format to" option is just grayed out in GParted. I don't
remember my last install being this hard.

This is a Windows 7, 64 bit laptop.

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