Windows partitioning

[dunklegend]

If I use an Ubuntu Live CD to make a partition with Gparted on a hard disk that already has windows installed will the windows installation still work or I will have problems with it?

 

[fattony]

eh...rule of thumb is to have windows installed first then throw linux on a seperate drive and things should work, same partition tho, kinda risky but i've managed to get it to work before as well...but not in the exact senario which you're in right now, haven't tested it

 

[dunklegend]

The thing is that I don't want to install linux.
I just want to use the live CD to partition the disk without destroying the windows installation.

 

[drcroubie]

what exactly is it you want to do? are you resizing the windows (either system or data) partition(s), or changing free space to or from linux partitions?

anything to do with resizing windows partitions is a bit iffy. if FAT, defrag everything to the front of the drive before shrinking it, enlarging *should* be fine (but don't trust me, or win). NTFS, i have no idea. best doing this from within win (if you can).

if you're doing anything else, like deleting old/unused linux partitions (ie making free space), windows won't have a problem with that.

making new partitions is fine for anything, as long as it's already free space (see above). if you're making a new partition for win, best do it inside win (my win2000pro has a nice partitioner on it, dunno what you're using though)

 

[dunklegend]

I want to make a partition on the C: drive which has the windows system files in it.
Once I make that partition I can transfer all the files from My Documents to that new partition.
Then perform a clean windows install.

The reason I put the thread here is because I have the Ubuntu Live CD and it has a free partitioning program.
If somebody has a free windows partitioning program please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bmgoodman]

I just used Ubuntu's GPartEd to partition my new Dell's single primary partition into 1 smaller primary and 1 extended (with 2 logical partitions). I had no problems and lost no data. HOWEVER, partitioning or no, you should have a current backup of your data. And that backup should not be stored on the same physical hard drive. Hard drives fail and they are seemingly completely insensitive to any sad stories about how important your data is. One friend who knows better is now shelling out $1000 to a recovery service because her data was so valuable to her. But one good backup set would have saved her.

Anyway, back to your topic. It did seem to work great for me, with no loss of data. Keep in mind, I have only used it once. I will say that for years I have used Partition Magic and I've NEVER lost any data. (Of course, I always have an up-to-date backup just in case.)

Best wishes.

 

[bmouring]

I've done just what you're asking (resizing a Windows parition to make new paritions) using GParted many times without problem/data loss.

That being said,bmgoodman is absolutely right, backups are "A Good Thing TM"

 

[dunklegend]

Thanks for your replies guys.