Windows/Linux Dual Boot Partitioning Question

[nbob]

Hello. I have a pc running Windows XP and would like to dual-boot with Linuxmint. I went to defrag my c:\ drive in Windows and heres what the file structure looked like:

||||||______________|______________

^most of my files are nice and tidy at the front of the drive
......................................^ there is a small group of files sitting half way into the disk.

My question is this: Is there any way to move that "lone tree" to go alongside the
"forest"
Also, when I go to install Linuxmint, do I have to allocate half of the drive to Windows due to that lone "tree" sitting out there halfway into my disk. Or can I go with something a lot smaller since the vast majority of my files are in the beginning part of my drive.

thanks in advance.

[egan]

That 'lone tree' may be the MFT, which can be very difficult to move.

[devils casper]

We have to check Partition Structure of your Hard disk. Boot up from Linux Mint CD, open Terminal and execute this

sudo fdisk -l

Post output here.
* Its small L in fdisk -l.

Don't worry about File Structure. If you resize Windows Partition using any Linux based Partition Manager like PartedMagic or GParted, partition manager will defrag it before applying partition changes.