Disk Partition after Ubuntu is installed

You will need the liveCD. You can then resize the ext4 partition. I suggest you make sure your backups are up to date first. Youo will also need to reinstate grub2 to the MBR as Windows will blindly overwrite it.

Thanks for the prompt reply!

Hmmm not sure I get your answer though (sorry)..

what do you mean by liveCD - The Ubuntu installation CD?

.."reinstate grub2 to the MBR.." I don't get this as well. Is MBR Master Boot Record? If so, what do you mean by reinstating grub2?

Maybe this is a silly question, but what is the "Erase/Partition drive" for in Disk Utility? I clicked on it, and it gives me a couple options but was reluctant to proceed as I didn't want to reformat my entire drive.

Thanks!

> The Ubuntu installation CD?

Yes.

> Is MBR Master Boot Record?

Yes. MS-windows will overwrite MBR if gets installed after Ubuntu, this is why Grub, which is installed in MBR, has to be reinstalled.

Partitions which are worked on have to be unmounted.
You need to backup all important data, otherwise they're lost.

Since Ubuntu is using the whole disk, you might lose data anyway.
MS-windows needs to be on first primary partition, otherwise you'll be in trouble.
It's recommended to have a plan ready before partitioning a disk.

Common setup example:
MS-windows on sda1 (primary)
rootfs / on sda2 (primary)
or
rootfs / on sda5 (logical)
/home on sda6 (logical)

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DrivesAndPartitions
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DiskSpace
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation#Other%20installation%20guides
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RecoveringUbuntuAfterInstallingWindows
http://ubuntuguide.net/how-to-restore-grub-2-after-reinstalling-windows-xpvistawin7

Thanks for the info. Although your answers were informative, considering my newness to Ubuntu/Linux I'm thinking this might be a bigger project than I estimated.

I only have some docs and pics as far as data is concerned, since I've only been running Ubuntu for a few weeks. I had to install it as an emergency when my laptop broke and had no Windows install disk.

I'm wondering if I should just backup the docs (which I have already), and then install WinXP fresh with partitions, and then reinstall Ubuntu afterwards in the second partition?

It would be the easiest way. In case you don't want to uninstall Ubuntu, and then reinstall it, you can use gparted to resize the partition, and install Windows in the blank space that is remaining.

Forgot to say that, as mentioned before, you will need to reinstall GRUB with LiveCD. Here you have a guide on how to do it: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RecoveringUbuntuAfterInstallingWindows