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I am trying to change from Windows 10 to Ubuntu entirely right now, but I get confused on the partition of the disks.

What I have in Windows 10:

  1. 4GB RAM
  2. 1TB HDD, C: drive ~600GB (Windows, desktop, program files, etc), D: drive ~400GB (For personal files, movies, music and backup, etc)

I researched some information of partition on the Internet.

I think I need 8GB /swap?, /boot (optional?), /root?, /home?

How many? and is it optional? When I change to Ubuntu, should /home be larger than /root?

*I want to format C: drive but keep D: drive

Thank you for you guys answering me.

Sammy
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  • There are probably a few different ways to do this. First, I'd recommend keeping Windows 10, and setting up a dual-boot configuration. Shrink your C: drive to make room for Ubuntu. Install Ubuntu with the default configuration, and don't worry about custom partitioning for /boot, /root, /home, etc. If you decide to do this, I can detail the process for you. – heynnema Sep 18 '17 at 13:27
  • I would advice you to use LVM. There is a small tutorial https://www.howtogeek.com/211937/how-to-use-lvm-on-ubuntu-for-easy-partition-resizing-and-snapshots/ how to use it during installation. Using LVM allows the user to be more flexible with partitioning. – M. Dm. Sep 18 '17 at 13:28
  • lvm is overkill for this, and would require a complete disk wipe to install. – heynnema Sep 18 '17 at 13:29
  • @heynnema, I have never used LVM for dual boot systems so don't know for sure. – M. Dm. Sep 18 '17 at 13:30
  • Sorry, I would like to keep D: drive. Also, I would like to remove Windows 10 entirely because it is so bad and I do not want to use it anymore, thanks. – Sammy Sep 18 '17 at 13:30
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    The reason that I recommend keeping W10 in a dual-boot config is because at times, you will need Windows to install things like BIOS/UEFI updates (some exceptions), run Windows-only apps, etc. Just because it's there, you don't have to run it... and I don't blame you for trying to switch :-) If the D: drive is also NTFS format, you can keep it, and share files between W10 and Ubuntu. Lastly, if you're going to need vendor support, you'll have to keep Windows, as they won't support Linux. – heynnema Sep 18 '17 at 13:33
  • @heynnema I get your idea, but C drive did not formatted. :( – Sammy Sep 18 '17 at 13:45
  • Sammy, I didn't format C: because I'm recommending that you keep W10 AND Ubuntu at the same time, in a dual-boot config. You can boot to which ever OS you want. – heynnema Sep 18 '17 at 13:47

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mandatory is just the root partition( / ); however, many like to have a seperate /home partition so they can do clean installs without losing data in /home.
The most common installations use a /swap partition, though a swapfile can be used instead. If you will use hibernate, 8GB swap is a common recommendation for 4GB RAM. If you won't hibernate less will work.

A good partitioning scheme would be:
/ 20GB
/swap 8GB
/home 40GB the remaining space can be divided into data, backup, and other partitions as you desire.

If you are completely removing windows, I would recommend copying the data from the windows data partition to a linux partition since NTFS error correcting support is weak in linux.

Data partition can be auto mounted or manually mounted as needed. An automount data partition can be setup when installing. You just have to manually define a mount point for it.

ravery
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From the comments...

There are probably a few different ways to do this. First, I'd recommend keeping Windows 10, and setting up a dual-boot configuration. Shrink your C: drive to make room for Ubuntu. Install Ubuntu with the default configuration, and don't worry about custom partitioning for /boot, /root, /home, etc.

The reason that I recommend keeping W10 in a dual-boot config is because at times, you will need Windows to install things like BIOS/UEFI updates (some exceptions), run Windows-only apps, etc. Just because it's there, you don't have to run it... and I don't blame you for trying to switch :-) If the D: drive is also NTFS format, you can keep it, and share files between W10 and Ubuntu. Lastly, if you're going to need vendor support, you'll have to keep Windows, as they won't support Linux.

I didn't format C: because I'm recommending that you keep W10 AND Ubuntu at the same time, in a dual-boot config. You can boot to which ever OS you want.

heynnema
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  • I know how to shrink C: drive, it will become unallocated space. What should I do then? – Sammy Sep 18 '17 at 14:10
  • @Sammy you shrink the C: drive using Windows own Disk Management app, yes? Then you just boot to the Ubuntu Live DVD/USB and install Ubuntu "along side Windows". Before doing anything though, make sure that you have good backups of your important stuff, just in case anything goes wrong. – heynnema Sep 18 '17 at 14:18
  • Be sure to back up d: drive/partition. Always safer to use gparted to partition in advance with / , and optionally /home. And with 17.04 or later swap file is default, but swap partition will be used if found. And then use Something Else to choose (change button) to select partition you want as / and format as ext4. Is system UEFI or BIOS. If UEFI you have gpt partitioning and can easily add partitions, but if BIOS you may have issues as Windows often uses all 4 primary partitions. https://askubuntu.com/questions/343268/how-to-use-manual-partitioning-during-installation – oldfred Sep 18 '17 at 15:08
  • One more question, now I have w10 and ubuntu. If I want to reformat windows then I should install at c drive and do not touch others, right? – Sammy Sep 19 '17 at 10:23
  • @Sammy if you've successfully configured a dual-boot with Windows and Ubuntu, you leave the Windows partition (C:) alone. You're done. Use either Windows or Ubuntu, your choice. – heynnema Sep 19 '17 at 13:17