Not sure what to do!

[Hal343]

See if Vista will reallocate the partition you removed. That will allow us to partition one big partition, into two-One for linux, the rest for Windows.

[everyonedoesit]

See if Vista will reallocate the partition you removed. That will allow us to partition one big partition, into two-One for linux, the rest for Windows.

No it won't, irritatingly. I was following this guide:
apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_f irst.htm

So i shrank my D drive by 15 gigs, but didn't have the "use continuous free space" option in the installer. Not sure why

[Hal343]

I think we will do the least harm by deleting /dev/sda4, but I would like to try to copy it to /devsda3 first.
From the live cd, see if you can access the filesystem, and try copy/paste first. I doubt that will work, but its worth a try. If it doesn't work, open a terminal:

su.
cd /dev/sda4
cp  *.* /dev/sda3/backup.exe

Let me know if that works before we try anything else.

[everyonedoesit]

I think we will do the least harm by deleting /dev/sda4, but I would like to try to copy it to /devsda3 first.
From the live cd, see if you can access the filesystem, and try copy/paste first. I doubt that will work, but its worth a try. If it doesn't work, open a terminal:

su.
cd /dev/sda4
cp  *.* /dev/sda3/backup.exe

Let me know if that works before we try anything else.

Nope i get cd: /dev/sda4: not a directory.

Also that is a bit small, i was planning to eventually install XP under a virtual machine so i need at least 10 gigs total for ubuntu. Is it easy to allow ubuntu access to more after install?

[Hal343]

Yes, I was planning to shrink /dev/sda3 and run LVM in order to have a lot of real estate for any later changes.

[everyonedoesit]

Yes, I was planning to shrink /dev/sda3 and run LVM in order to have a lot of real estate for any later changes.

In Gparted at least i get a few options. When i try and "add" to the unallocated space i get "It is not possible to create more than 4 primary partitions, if you want more you should first create an extended partition"

Is there any way to find out exactly what sda4 is? Assuming it's not needed and deleting it wouldn't matter, would it then let me do something to the unallocated space?

Sorry if my logic is off, and thanks a lot for your patience and help thus far

[Hal343]

Get this program.GParted -- Welcome
It is much more complex than the one on the cd and may allow moving the information on sda4 to sda3, then shrink sda3 to about 40 Gb, so you have someplace for over runs from your full partition.
Following that, delete sda4, and the rest of sda3.Make 1 extended partition of all 3 deleted parts, then divide the extended partition into whatever sizes and filesystem types you like.

[Hal343]

The full Gparted may allow you to find out what is on sda4, but I don't remember for sure. I should run it on another computer and see.
EDIT
Gparted may allow you to merge sda3 & sda4. That would make sure that you don't lose any information.

[everyonedoesit]

The full Gparted may allow you to find out what is on sda4, but I don't remember for sure. I should run it on another computer and see.

Google has told me! After searching i found this

"Partition 1 is your recovery partition. The eRecovery program will burn the contents of it to DVD. It'll be ~10GB.
Partition 4 is your Acer Arcade Instant-On partition (the thing that opens up if you turn on your laptop using the Arcade key). It has a Windows directory on it because it uses Windows XP Embedded."

I don't mind about wiping 4, i uninstalled most of the junk they threw on my laptop anyway. Does this make things simpler?

[Hal343]

Yes-shrink sda3 so that its a bit bigger than the info on it. Delete the rest of it, and delete sda4. Make an extended partition of the one Vista wiped out and those two. Then partition the extended one into however many partitions you want. I have 8 in all.

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 2490 20000893+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 * 2491 2988 4000185 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 2989 3112 996030 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda4 3113 30401 219198892+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 3113 5602 20000893+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 5603 8092 20000893+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 8093 29529 172192671 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 29530 30401 7004308+ 83 Linux
sda1 holds AntiX 8.2 testing
sda2 is Ubuntu /
sda5 is /usr
sda6 is /var
sda7 is /home
sda8 is Mepis 8.0
I have had installs paralyzed when /var fills up if it is in /
I put /usr in its own partition just to see if it was necessary. It doesn't appear to be.