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I tried to follow this question but not very clear what to do? In my case my partition looks like this enter image description here

I want to free up some space from /dev/sda4 which is mounted as "/" and ext4 partiton. Once i get this free space I want to log into Windows to allocate the free space to Windows parition(C:) /dev/sda3.

Right now my "/" has 234 GB. I want to reduce it to 100 GB only so that remaining 134 GB can be added to the Windows partition.

When i am using gparted I am not getting the options to push the resize button as it is greyed out...why? enter image description here

Do i need to unmount it first..will Ubuntu will work in that case?

Do I really need to use the live USB for this work. As this is Linux partition I would like to do it from Linux only...When adding more space to Windows..in that case I will use the Windows tool(please suggest something).

Thanks everybody for your advice/suggestions. I was also following this link After using live USB, gparted Shrink the /dev/sda4 Now when increasing windows(/dev/sda3) - i got issues and i have to move shrunk /dev/sda4 to make adjacent space for Windows(/dev/sda3)

Doing both the operations, got one warning message also... enter image description here enter image description here

Let's see what happens?

Update Was able to shrink Linux's(/) to 111 GB and move it right side to make way for Windows(C:). Also able to expand Windows(C:) to add this remaining GB.

After this my grub was not working which required me to make use of boot-repair. During this step - i need to execute these commands:

sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt-get install -fy
sudo apt-get purge -y --force-yes grub*-common grub-common:i386 shim-signed linux-signed*
sudo apt-get install -y --force-yes grub-efi-amd64-signed shim-signed linux-signed-generic

And finally the paste-bin contents

Got a lot of un-necessary EFI entries which I can fix following my strategy.

and then grub-customizer to fix the boot order

Everything is working fine now. Here it looks like after this operation enter image description here

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Ashu
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  • It has to be unmounted but you can't do it from running system (because it is root partition). Boot from gparted live – EdiD May 14 '16 at 16:50
  • @EdiD...thanks for the comment...when you say gparted-live do you mean this? If i am not wrong it is already bundled in USB-live-USB, right? I need some more details i think. – Ashu May 14 '16 at 17:33
  • Yes this is what I meant and yes gparted is also included in ubuntu live – EdiD May 14 '16 at 17:55

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Neither Linux nor Windows will operate on live partitions, they need to be unmounted. So, you cannot grow or shrink a partition from the OS on the partition itself.

If you need to boot from another partition, a good choice is to boot from the Ubuntu Live medium and start gparted from there because you won't have to deal with much differences to your day-to-day Ubuntu.

Boot from the Ubuntu Live medium, start gparted, shrink your Linux partition and also grow your Windows partition from gparted. Do it in one step - it helps avoiding mistakes by booting to the Windows Recovery and working with diskpart from Windows. This is a OS-agnostic step. gparted is actually the best program to deal with since it has more options and is more user-friendly than diskpart.

After this, you can reboot into the system of your choice with the new size.

emk2203
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  • I have upgraded from 15.10 to 16.04 LTS...Getting the Bootable live USB for 16.04 LTS and will use that.for this purpose. I got it that i need to have this unmounted to resize it...just to be on the safer side...i will only shrink Linux(/) and come out of it...boot everything...if everything is fine..then get into Windows to use the diskpartition utility of Windows to extend Windows C: or make a D: in Windows...one thing at a time is better than trying everything in one go in these kind of scenerios. – Ashu May 14 '16 at 17:38
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    No, you can't. If you boot Windows, the Windows partition is locked for the same reason as in Linux with the Linux partition. You NEED to have another OS from another disk or partition do this step. You could do it from Linux or choose the Windows PE rescue environment. But NOT by booting Windows.

    Look at this as one step, not two. There is no harm in shrinking one partition and growing another with the same tool. It is less error-prone.

     – emk2203 May 14 '16 at 17:41
  • If i am not doing any operation on Windows partition how it is locked? sorry couldn't get this. – Ashu May 14 '16 at 17:43
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    If you get into Windows, you cannot use the diskpart utility on the Windows partition itself. Boot the Windows PE (Windows recovery), you can do it from there because it's a different partition. – emk2203 May 14 '16 at 17:44
  • Sorry some more detailed information is needed. As it's related to disk partitioning...somewhat more clear and detailed reasoning is provided. Please provide a detailed answer and I will mark it as a solution. – Ashu May 14 '16 at 17:48