question about fdisk -l

[valemon]

So the output of fdisk -l is

Disk /dev/hda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 6374 51199123+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda2 6375 6505 1052257+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hda3 6506 9729 25896780 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda5 6506 7795 10361893+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda6 7796 9729 15534823+ 83 Linux

My question is

/dev/hda3 6506 9729 25896780 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)

what is this?

[MikeTbob]

It's an Extended Windows partition, probably a fat32 partition.
/dev/hda3 6506 9729 25896780 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda5 6506 7795 10361893+ 83 Linux
The weird thing is, they both start on the same block and I would bet that it's an invalid partition.

[valemon]

I don't have a fat32 partition. hda3 also ends on the same block of my home partition. Would it be safe to delete it?

[MikeTbob]

I don't have a fat32 partition. hda3 also ends on the same block of my home partition. Would it be safe to delete it?

I am not sure if it's safe to delete or not and I'd be stupid to suggest that you delete it. I think it could be a problem if you delete it, because it's sharing start/end blocks and also because it's an extended partition, you might hose the other partitions in the process.
Maybe someone else could clarify this for you.

[devils casper]

Partition Structure is correct and *dont* delete any partition. Extended Partition ( hda3 in your case ) is just a block/pointer that contains Logical Partition ( hda5 and hda6 ).

hda3 block starts from 6506 and ends at 9729.

6506 ------------------hda3---------------------- 9729
6506 ----hda5----7795/7796----hda6-------- 9729

EDIT: you can create as many Logical partitions as you want between 6506 -- 9729 block. there is no limit for the number of Logical partitions. ( its 63 partitions actually and i dont think anyone would create that many partitions).