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ubiquity package

A New User of Ubuntu - Switching from WindowsXP

Asked by Jose Dennio P. Lim Jr.

My shipment of the free Ubuntu 10.04 LTS CD had just arrived last week and I'm really excited to try it out. I am quite familiar with how it works and how it looks like. But one problem that I have is that I'm switching from my current OS which is Windows XP to Ubuntu.

Here are my questions:

1. Do I need to reformat both of my hard drives? (I've got 2, drive C is basically used for all of my programs, the other one is an extra)
2. If I don't need to do that, can I simply back up my files on drive D so I can reformat my drive C?
3. If that won't be possible, if I install Ubuntu directly, will my files be still there?

That would be all. :) I'm not quite having problems with compatibility (ex. audio and video files) since I've read quite a number of articles on the net that enlightened me on what to do. My problem is basically on my above mentioned questions.

I do hope to get an answer. :)

Sincerely,

Jose Dennio Lim
Philippines

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

C and D are partitions, they may take up 100% of the physical drivesbut they are STILL partitions. Windows incorrectly names partitions, drives ad it causes huge confusion when you move to an OS that correctly names block devices.

You can resize the NTFS to make room for Ubuntu and it is part of the install procedure, make sure your backups are sufficiently up to date first. If the windows is windows 7 then use the windows 7 resize tool as this will be slightly more likely to be successful.

If you want to format you partition to accommosate the new OS then restore your user data then thats fine too.

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Jose Dennio P. Lim Jr. (josedenniolim) said : 		#2

So how will I back up my files (documents, images, etc.)? Basically this is my problem. I'm thinking of transferring it to the drive D. Will it work?

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

You can transfer them to the other NTFS partition. Ubuntu can read (and write NTFS), or you can use a USB storage device / SD card etc

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Jose Dennio P. Lim Jr. (josedenniolim) said : 		#4

Any other great suggestions that will lighten up my mind? :)

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Jose Dennio P. Lim Jr. (josedenniolim) said : 		#5

To actionparsnip:

I've read something in the Ubuntu documentation which says something like this:

"Partitioning does not occur until you finalize the installation, so you can decide to abort the installation at the very last minute if you require. After finalizing the installation, however, the hard disk will be re-partitioned and all existing data stored on it will be lost."

How can I make sure that the files I've saved on the drive D won't get lost? Some facts: My hard drive has only around 80GB of space - Drive C has almost 50GB while my drive D has almost 30GB.

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Stéphane Darriet (darriet-stephane) said : 		#6

If you saved your personnal data into your drive D of 30GB space, and if you don't want to keep your Windows OS, so you just need to delete the partition of 50GB (that was allocated to Windows) during the partitionning tool of the Ubuntu CD.

Do as follow during the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS installation :
   1. When you are on the "Prepare disk space" step, select "Specify partitions manually", and Forward
   2. You will see your two partitions, one of 50GB and the other one of 30GB. Select the 50GB one, and click on "Delete Partition"
   3. Now, you have free space to create your Ubuntu partitions. Select the "free space" line and click on "New Partition"
   4. Create the swap partition needed for a linux system. Select "Logical" size of 1000MB should be enough, its location at the beginning, select the use as "swap area", and click Ok
   5. Now create you Ubuntu partition. Select again the "free space" line and click on "New Partition"
   6. Select "Primary" with the maximum size as possible, its location at the beginning, select the use as "Ext4", set the mount point to "/" (without the ") and click Ok
   7. Now its finished, just click Forward

I hope it will answer entirely your question.

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