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I have windows 7 already installed and I am trying to install ubunutu using USB installer. I am unable to find available partition , i have read many forums saying i can have only 4 partition , I am attaching the screen shot of the avaialble partition , please help me. I think sd3 is not used since its just 126kb can i format and use that partition? On my windows I have three drives c d and f(which i created for ubuntu but its not shown up while installing) All my drives are shown as Simple Volume. Is wubi Windows installer safe to try in this case

sudharsan
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2 Answers2

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Firstly, you really want to forget using Windows to create drives for Ubuntu, it can't. The '4 partitions' is talking about physical partitions - this can be extended by using 'logical partition', but you don't have to worry about that for now.

Windows calls partitions drives, using letters to denote them, and "simple volumes" - these are all nonsense in the Linux world, drives are drives and partitions are partitions - segmented data within an actual drive. The actual system can be spread around these more-or-less freely, so as a user you no longer see drives as such.

Delete your D: & F: drives & let the Ubuntu installer have the free space on the drive to install in, it will cope with keeping Windows in place (obviously, use the option to install alongside, not "use the whole disk") - the way you have it now, the installer is respecting at least 3 Windows drives & has nowhere left to go..

Mark Williams
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  • Thank you mark for quickly respnding am not able to post image, it says i need atleast 10 reputations to post the image. – sudharsan Feb 28 '15 at 13:39
  • It's a textual environment; why not copy & paste the text & not worry about images? – Mark Williams Feb 28 '15 at 13:40
  • i uploaded the image over here http://javaeesolutions.blogspot.sg/ – sudharsan Feb 28 '15 at 13:46
  • OK: With sda3 highlighted as it is in the image, click the '-' button (lower left). Repeat for sd2, sda4 (but NOT sda1, assuming that's your existing Windows installation!) Then click the '+' & add a partition of type ext2, mount point '/', around 10-15Gb should do; then add another, type ext4, mount point /home, using the remaining space, then 'Install now'. – Mark Williams Feb 28 '15 at 13:51
  • I uploaded screenshot of my Gparted, here looks like sd4 is my F drive which i created but confusing , on windows i shrink volume from D (which was 350gb) and carved F: for 60Gb, and created label F ,but on gparted it shows 97gb. urL :http://javaeesolutions.blogspot.sg/ – sudharsan Feb 28 '15 at 13:58
  • Regarding addint partition, should i first go to windows and free up some space i mean unallocated space? If i select sd3 and click on - is that going to format/remove that particular partition? – sudharsan Feb 28 '15 at 13:59
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    Check VERY carefully which you want to keep! Do you have data on drives other than C: in Windows? It goes without saying a backup is a good plan, before proceeding further! If I were you, I'd go into Windows, check what's in which drive & write the capacities down. If they aren't matching, you have a problem - copy your important data to a removable HDD now. If they are, then yes, try a resize / remove. Ubuntu will cope with just one partition if necessary, but 2 is safer. – Mark Williams Feb 28 '15 at 14:03
  • Looks like I messed up something I selected sd4 and clicked - .I can see free space now but am worried if it deleted anything or formatted – sudharsan Feb 28 '15 at 14:09
  • Mark I uploaded screenshot of my Windows disk management.you get any clue ?luckily my d drive is intact I can see my files But will it effect anything if instart installing ubuntu – sudharsan Feb 28 '15 at 14:18
  • OK, you have data in C: & D:, + a ridiculous small recovery volume. I would move the contents of D: to the external drive, remove all the unused bits, expand C: to take the extra 20G that was on D:, move that back to C:, then go back to the Linux installer & let it "use the unallocated space" – Mark Williams Feb 28 '15 at 14:35
  • Mark, i can see free space now..but not sure if thats part of D or F ,what will + or - do? am not able to chat so posting comment – sudharsan Feb 28 '15 at 17:15
  • How much free space? You're looking for 'unallocated space' - what was 'unusable' on the gparted screenshot - it isn't unusable, except for the unwanted partitions being in the way - once D: &/or F: are gone, it's all usable. – Mark Williams Feb 28 '15 at 17:49
  • Gparted and Disk Management are showing entirely different information.on gpart F is not f drive that I see on Windows rather c drive where Windows 7 is installed.Am confused where F and D drive are mapped on Gpart.Is there a way without loosing data on D I can install Ubuntu.Just for installing I carved out F,but I do not see it on Linux.I can see a partition of very little size 26kb.you know how to create extended partition in my case? – sudharsan Mar 01 '15 at 00:07
  • Yes; Remove F: & the silly little partition, from whichever partitioner you can see them in & be confident of their ID. This gets you 2 free partition ID's and a ton of room. – Mark Williams Mar 01 '15 at 07:43
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Mark's answer is very good, but I would personally recommend using Gparted. It will let you see all of your partitions, and if you use it from a live CD or USB, you shouldn't have any errors. If you are new into linux (like me) it would be a good idea to burn Hiren's Boot CD to a CD, it has got many useful tools, and some partition managers amongst them. Going back to the topic, from Gparted you can get a clear view of your hard drive, and therefore choose what's best. And about primary and logical, nevermind, it's not so important. If you feel brave enough, try to get a separate home partition, to avoid copying back and forth for updates. And be sure to NOT create partitions for Linux from Windows, they don't get along well. And most of all, just enjoy learning and never leave Linux.

Collado
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  • Thank you user383376 , I have installed ubuntu installer on my usb and am able to load with out installation but i want to install it on a drive – sudharsan Feb 28 '15 at 13:41
  • gparted is great - but if you haven't actually got Linux installed, a bit problematic :) Granted you could run it off the USB but if you're just on day one.... – Mark Williams Feb 28 '15 at 13:42
  • Yeah... You are right. Just an idea though, glad it kind of helped. :) – Collado Feb 28 '15 at 13:51