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I just purchased a new Dell Inspiron 5558 laptop with built-in installed Ubuntu 14.04, that has a single partition and I have only one problem: I want to shrink my 1TB drive partition; this Partition has installed Ubuntu and all of my user data installed in it. I want to make a second 500GB partition.

How do I create a second partition from this single one without losing any data?

See the attached image of <code>gparted</code> output.

Byte Commander
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Mohiyo Deen
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  • Which file-system are you using on root? ext4, btrfs? – We are Borg Nov 04 '15 at 15:51
  • I am using ext4, this is by default, bro – Mohiyo Deen Nov 04 '15 at 16:01
  • Then check the duplicate question I have given. it has the answer you require. – We are Borg Nov 04 '15 at 16:04
  • @WeareBorg bro that duplicate answer is something else, – Mohiyo Deen Nov 04 '15 at 16:05
  • Why do you think so? – We are Borg Nov 04 '15 at 16:06
  • @WeareBorg My problem is I am a Windows professional , I dont know Linux Partitioning and its System, There are many folders in My Computer, I dont know which is the main Folder/Partition, and how can I shrink or create another partition from the Root Partition in which Ubuntu is installed, I dont want to Damage my Ubuntu O/S I dont want to re-install it. I just want to create another 500GB partition. – Mohiyo Deen Nov 04 '15 at 16:09
  • You wont damage the OS, you will wipe it out. If you are not familiar with linux based file-systems, I would not recommend moving ahead with shrinking your root drive as it already carries risks and many users warn about and suggest to avoid it for users who have knowledge. Reconsider!!! – We are Borg Nov 04 '15 at 16:10
  • @WeareBorg Can you please just guide me that by watching Attached Image of Gparted Software, – Mohiyo Deen Nov 04 '15 at 16:13
  • I cannot be responsible for your system, and even I can make mistakes. Reinstall with proper settings and less hard drive space. Over and out. – We are Borg Nov 04 '15 at 16:14
  • @WeareBorg they can resize it via the LiveUSB and it shouldn't nuke their OS. They should, however, backup critical data first (see my answer). – Thomas Ward Nov 04 '15 at 16:35
  • @ThomasW. : I agree, but this carries risks, you also know that. And the guy has already said he/she does not know about it that much. I don't wanna suggest someone to try out something complex that can just stop their system from booting and many people panic at that point, my only concern. – We are Borg Nov 04 '15 at 16:36
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    @WeareBorg They don't want to reinstall. Only option left is resize. They don't want to do that, they can just leave things as is instead. (They should be backing up data *anyways*). And what "risks" do you speak of? I've safely resized ext4 partitions multiple times from a gparted disk without any issues whatsoever. – Thomas Ward Nov 04 '15 at 16:50
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    @ThomasW. +1 --- I really can't understand how someone can live without a backup. That simply means their data is not important at all. Puzzled. (And BTW --- never had a problem with a resize also --- but You Never Know --- cat pushing the power switch anyone?) – Rmano Nov 04 '15 at 18:26

1 Answers1

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You have to boot to a LiveUSB in order to safely resize the partition. Using gparted on the LiveUSB, you can shrink the existing ext4 partition down to make room for another partition. You can then add a new partition for storing data there (if Windows needs to read it, then that new partition needs to be NTFS).

Back up your OS before messing with the partitioning though, sometimes you can lose data, although you should be OK if all you're doing is shrinking the partition (and the process doesn't get interrupted).

Thomas Ward
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