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I am new to partitioning and allocating memory and storage. I downloaded the Ubuntu ISO and ran it on Rufus USB wizard and it created the Ubuntu file on my USB drive. I finished the process, and restarted my computer. I booted up into Ubuntu from the USB drive and Ubuntu is running 10 times faster than windows and it is just fantastic. I don't know if I had an option to allocate disk space to my drive, but if I did, I would have added 20gb to the boot drive. My USB stick holds 60GB and now I am out of memory from downloads on Ubuntu. I have lots of storage left on my computer and the USB stick only holds a very small amount. Is there a way I can put more storage onto the Ubuntu OS?

I have tried understanding allocating space and partitioning videos but I don't really have a clue as of what's actually happening.
If I make a partition, that will only be for what is on my Windows OS right?

Unless, there is a way to partition between booted OS. Someone help me figure out what I am doing wrong or what I need to do next.

Thank You!

abu_bua
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Jared Nott
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  • It seems to me, that you want a persistent live drive with a big part of the drive space for persistence. You can do that with a casper-rw partition (instead of a casper-rw file), and you can install and use mkusb for this purpose. See this link (general info about mkusb) and this link (for details about persistent live systems) – sudodus Nov 04 '18 at 20:36
  • Will it delete my data already on my usb? – Jared Nott Nov 04 '18 at 20:39
  • Yes, you should start by copying everything that you want to keep to another drive. – sudodus Nov 04 '18 at 20:40
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    It's not important things. Just some basic software from Ubuntu Software. No files or documents that are important. I am just experimenting and getting acquainted with pc skills. I need a faster inferface so I want to use Ubuntu. I mainly want to dual boot, but I am trying to understand how – Jared Nott Nov 04 '18 at 21:09
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    Rufus does not make Persistent drives, the only thing of use on your flash drive is the Ubuntu OS. You can use the Rufus flash drive to fully install Ubuntu to a second flash drive. https://askubuntu.com/questions/1080362/how-to-keep-files-on-usb-after-rebooting/1080474#1080474 – C.S.Cameron Nov 05 '18 at 03:25
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    With Rufus you can create a casper-rw file (and home-rw file), up to 4GB each using dd and add it to the root directory, then add the word persistent to /isolinux/txt.cfg after splash --- – C.S.Cameron Nov 05 '18 at 04:06
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    Normally, dual boot means that you reduce the size of the Windows partition (C:) using Windows tools, leave it unallocated, and then boot into your Ubuntu live drive (made by Rufus, mkusb or Unetbootin), and install Ubuntu into the internal drive. But it is possible to install Ubuntu into a USB drive (pendrive, SSD, HDD) too. If you want it portable, you can do it according to this link. The alternative is a persistent live drive as discussed earlier. – sudodus Nov 05 '18 at 05:43

2 Answers2

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It sounds like you are considering a dual boot machine.

The Ubuntu installer will help you to resize your Windows partition and creating another partition for Linux to boot from without data loss. (YMMV). At this stage you can select the size you want to allocate or even use partition magic afterwards. This may also be the option you are looking for.

After you've installed Ubuntu, you also have the option to mount another partition for extra space afterwards. You could use the USB disk that you mentioned as a storage drive. If you don't have access to another drive to install in your system.

In the case of Linux you can add a persistent mount option to /etc/fstab. Look for examples when you get to this stage. Note the different file systems you need and what has to be where and how big you need them to be. [Be aware, adding an external (USB) disk to fstab can cause problems if if it's not found when fstab is loaded. ]

Starbuck
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DanieW
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  • I am considering UNetbootin as the below comment recommends. Is this the same as a dual-boot? If not, how do I dual boot without a disk or drive to install it on. All I have downloaded is the file directly from the Ubuntu website containing the iso. – Jared Nott Nov 04 '18 at 21:07
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If you want a portable linux instalation, UNetbootin (no affiliation) is a great tool for creating live USB linux drives via windows, OSX, or linux. It will allow you to setup persistence on your live disk, without having to setup partitions yourself. It provides download links for various distros and has the ability to write any ISO as a boot disk.

This would require you to write a new live disk, so backup any data you want to keep on another drive first. If your current live disk isn't already setup for persistence, you'll lose any data on it when you shutdown anyways.

  1. Download the ISO for the distribution you want a live USB for, then load the ISO.
  2. Choose the drive you want to use, and how much space you want available for persistent storage. If you don't see it in the dropdown menu, it may not be FAT32 format.
  3. Click OK and wait for all files to be copied from the ISO.
Starbuck
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  • Can I use the portable installation for Ubuntu like normal? Is that like virtualbox or will it run correctly and directly from the iso file. Also I downloaded UNetbootin, so where do I go from there? Can i allocate as much space as I want and change it later if I need more? – Jared Nott Nov 04 '18 at 21:06
  • I am downloading the files from the iso on the unetbootin program and the only drive available was my E: drive which I assume it my ejectable usb drive. this drive only has 60gigs so how will this program allow me more space and how is it different than the physical usb drive I have right now? – Jared Nott Nov 04 '18 at 21:29
  • It would be using the USB drive, to create a system that you can boot on multiple computers. If you want an ubuntu setup that you can add more storage to later, it would be best to install ubuntu alongside windows.

    If you don't intend to use this Live disk on other computers, Installing it is likely your best option to allow for adding additional storage. Personally, I use one SSD for Linux, another SSD for Windows 10, and a separate 3Tb HDD for media storage and backups.

     – Starbuck Nov 05 '18 at 00:28
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    UNetbootin Linux version is not working with 18.04. For Windows use YUMI or Universal, they will make persistent files over 4GB. Use mkusb when making a persistent drive from Ubuntu. – C.S.Cameron Nov 05 '18 at 03:09
  • We already know that Jared is using Ubuntu on a live system. So it would not make sense to install another live system on that same USB drive (presumably the only one available) via Ubuntu. So, can you provide links to YUMI or Universal C.S.Cameron? – Starbuck Nov 05 '18 at 13:54
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    @starbuck: https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/ , https://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/ . UNetbootin now seems to be working, sort of, from terminal using: sudo QT_X11_NO_MITSHM=1 /usr/bin/unetbootin. – C.S.Cameron Nov 06 '18 at 02:14