[SOLVED] Need help with partitions

[Crimsonfire]

I recently started using Linux Mint 7 and liked it so much that I didn't see any sense having ubuntu on my hard drive if I never use it. That and I want to reinstall windows soon after a little laptop spring cleaning I did that went horribly awry.

I thought I had cleared the partition on which ubuntu resided but it still shows up in the grub loader. I also would like to reorganise my drive with just two partitions. Maybe this is all common sense but I'm stumped as to how to resize a partition in partition explorer or create new ones without deleting everything on the hard drive. Is the built-in partition manager in mint just too basic or what?

[saivin]

I recently started using Linux Mint 7 and liked it so much that I didn't see any sense having ubuntu on my hard drive if I never use it.

Makes sense as both are same code base.

I thought I had cleared the partition on which ubuntu resided but it still shows up in the grub loader.

Grub loader's list (menu.lst or grub.conf) is just that, a list. It does not dynamically edit the entry if you delete or add a new OS (unless may be if you do grub-update ?). So, grub showing Ubuntu in the selection list is normal. When you are in Mint, edit /boot/grub/menu.lst to remove entries of Ubuntu.

I also would like to reorganise my drive with just two partitions. Maybe this is all common sense but I'm stumped as to how to resize a partition in partition explorer or create new ones without deleting everything on the hard drive.

If you want to have Windows you better put it in the first primary partition. Not that you cann't do otherwise but its unnecessary headache. While you have to decide how you want to organise parititions, below is my favorite partition structure for dual-boot system:

/dev/sda1 - Windows XP/Vista (NTFS partition); 40-50 GB
/dev/sda2 - Extended partition; Rest of the HD space
/dev/sda5 - Swap partition ; usually twice the RAM or max of 2GB. Doesn't make sense to have more than 2GB for swap.
/dev/sda6 - Linux partition in your eg: Linux Mint(ext3 partition); Usually 20-30 GB.
/dev/sda7 - Data (FAT32 filesystem; this helps in sharing data between Linux and Windows); Rest of the HD space.

Is the built-in partition manager in mint just too basic or what?

Don't know about Mint but Ubuntu has GParted which is really good. You may try GParted LiveCD, Parted Magic LiveCD...

[Crimsonfire]

Thanks for the help Salvin. One problem though, when I try to resize the partitions or create a new partition table it says i will lose everything on my hard drive. I'm using GParted yes.

[computerophil]

Thanks for the help Salvin. One problem though, when I try to resize the partitions or create a new partition table it says i will lose everything on my hard drive. I'm using GParted yes.

With GParted you can easily see which partitions you have and also change them

[oz]

Thanks for the help Salvin. One problem though, when I try to resize the partitions or create a new partition table it says i will lose everything on my hard drive. I'm using GParted yes.

It's always wise to backup anything important on your drive before working with partitions, but simply "resizing" them shouldn't cause you to lose everything (or anything for that matter) on a hard drive if it is done properly. There is always a chance that some glitch might cause a problem, but gparted has always been reliable for me and I've never lost any data due to using it. It is my personal preference to always run it from a liveCD such as one of those listed above.

[saivin]

...when I try to resize the partitions or create a new partition table it says i will lose everything on my hard drive.

That warning is natural, don't you think? Its kind of 'caveat emptor'.

But I doubt whether you get that warning when you are creating a 'new' partition. May be you are trying to reformat already existing windows or linux partition.

As for resizing, mere resizing will not destroy your data. But,...NEVER stop a resizing process; even if it looks like hung, its not...depending on size of the partition, the resizing may take a long time. You need to be patient.

In any case, as ozar said, its good (smart) practice to have a back up.

I would also suggest using a GParted or PartedMagin 'LiveCD' instead of the gparted/partedmagic program provided inside a distro. I feel its more convenient that way.

[Crimsonfire]

I just backed up my data and reinstalled Mint. Now it has the run of the hard drive and life is good.