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Based on the results shown below, I believe that my next step would be to shrink the C/: volume from within Win7 and install Ubuntu in the free space. Any thoughts?

The output of sudo parted --list is:

Model: ATA TOSHIBA MK5056GS (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 500GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End    Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  210MB  209MB   primary  ntfs         boot
 2      210MB   480GB  479GB   primary  ntfs
 3      480GB   500GB  20.5GB  primary  ntfs
 4      500GB   500GB  108MB   primary  fat32        lba


Warning: Unable to open /dev/sr1 read-write (Read-only file system).  /dev/sr1
has been opened read-only.
Model: Unknown (unknown)
Disk /dev/sr1: 1044MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 2048B/2048B
Partition Table: mac

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name   Flags
 1      8192B   24.6kB  16.4kB               Apple
 2      42.3MB  51.8MB  9568kB               EFI

I am trying to Installing Ubuntu 14.04.2 as dual boot with Windows 7. The installation process is not prompting me to re-partition my Windows 7 Hard Disk. Should I do this manually from within Windows 7 or Is there a utility I can use from the Ubuntu DVD?

How can I partition my Hard Disk?

23/03/2015 Thank you for your reply David. I am attempting to install Ubuntu on a HP Pavilion dv4 with 4GB of RAM and 500GB HDD. The fdisk -l, gdisk -l, and parted -l commands yielded no results (although I'm not sure what you meant by (MBR)?).

From the Win7 Computer Manager screen I see the following volumes:

Unnamed:  NTFS 199MB;
(C:)  NTFS  446.38GB;
HP-TOOLS (E:) FAT32 99MB;
RECOVERY (D:) NTFS 19.08GB.

All of these Volumes are 'Simple' and 'Basic'. These Volumes were also shown on the Ubuntu Desktop running from the Live CD.

If I shrink the (C:) volume from the Win7 Computer Management screen, will Ubuntu be able to install in the free space?

Fabby
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Paul
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  • It would help to know, how your disk is currently partitioned. Please boot the Live DVD, choose "Try Ubuntu", open a terminal, run fdisk -l (MBR), gdisk -l, or parted -l (either), and post their output in an [edit] to your question. – David Foerster Mar 22 '15 at 10:59
  • Welcome to Ask Ubuntu! ;-) Could you please go to a terminal by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][T] and type sudo parted --list. Then [edit] your question and copy-paste the output of the command into your question. – Fabby Mar 25 '15 at 19:02
  • Fabby, I have resolved the hardware issues and I have posted the results of the sudo parted --list command above. What should be my next steps? – Paul Mar 27 '15 at 04:11

3 Answers3

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There is no such thing as 'not prompting to re-partition the HDD' in a OS installation. Even if your HDD wasn't detected, the setup would warn you about it.

At the Installation Type screen, you can choose Something else and define your own partitions for Ubuntu setup. It would be best to use this option rather than choosing to install Ubuntu alongside Windows.

Besides, without sufficient information, we cannot help you any further. Post some screenshots of each step starting from the Welcome prompt.

Surya Teja Karra
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  • The installation instructions shown below indicate that I will be asked how I want to partition my hard drive. This question does not appear when I boot from the Ubuntu DVD.Install Ubuntu 
        Insert the LiveCD into your CD-ROM drive and reboot your PC.
    Proceed with installation until you are asked this question: "How do you want to partition the disk?".
If you have already partitioned the disk and left space for Ubuntu, install it to that and then follow the rest of the steps.
Otherwise, choose one of the next two steps.
    – Paul Mar 22 '15 at 04:18
  • Then, boot the Ubuntu DVD, select "Try Ubuntu" and wait for it to boot. Now, open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and type: sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdx where x=1,2,3... Here, we are trying to check if your HDD is detected properly. – Surya Teja Karra Mar 22 '15 at 04:21
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You've got 4 primary partitions, so shrinking one will not allow you to create an additional one as you've got an msdos partition table and 4 is the maximum.

So you've got to:

  • make an image backup of the entire disk
  • delete one of the partitions (I would take the HP-TOOLS)
  • resize your partitions as needed
  • create an extended partition (sda5)
  • create a partition inside the extended partition (sda6)
  • restore the deleted partition (sda6)
  • install Ubuntu in the free space of the extended partition (I would create 2 partitions: one for / and one for /home )

Alternatively, (not recommended) you could also take an image backup of only one partition and restore that...

Community
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Fabby
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Success :) I now have a dual boot Win7/Ubuntu PC. For those of you who are like me and only somewhat technical, and are experiencing similar difficulties in installing Ubuntu on a Win7 PC, let me outline the steps that I took to solve this problem.

As Fabby noted, the problem was that my HP Dv4 PC already had 4 primary partitions and no unallocated space for Ubuntu to use. To resolve this I navigated to Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management in Win7. I then deleted one small partition (HPTools in my case) and shrank the largest partition (C:) by roughly half. This created roughly 200 GB of unallocated space.

I then rebooted the PC from the Ubuntu Live CD. When prompted, I chose Install Ubuntu and Install together with Win7. The installer created an extended partition and two additional partitions inside the extended partition automatically. Once the installer was finished I was able to restart the PC and choose whether to boot in Win7 or Ubuntu.

One other small thing to note. When you are presented with the boot dialog where you select Win7 or Ubuntu, if you do nothing, the system automatically boots in Ubuntu after a few seconds. So if you want to boot in Win7, don't dilly-dally :) Good Luck.

Paul
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