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Deleting Windows 7 Partition while keeping Ubuntu 11.10 Partition

Asked by Michael F. Vignola

I have two operating systems. One is a corrupted (or has been rendered unbootable due to a virus) Windows 7 partition and the other is a Ubuntu 11.10 partition. The WIndows 7 is occupying 120GB while the Ubuntu 11.10 is occupying 40GB of the total 160GB hard drive space. I have 53GB of files (mostly music) that is currently on the Windows partition that I would like to salvage.

I have a few questions, depending particularly on the complexity of the solution:

Would i be able to condense or shrink that 53GB into an amount that could fit and then be transferred into the 40GB Ubuntu partition and then safely delete the Windows 7 partition without risk of losing any of my files/music data?? Or do I necessarilly need an external hard drive to back it up while I manipulate the partition? If the external hard drive is indeed necessary, my roommate has one, but it's formatted for a Mac, how do I change the read/right permissions?

For any of these routes, do I need a hard copy of a bootable Ubuntu disk? How can disk utility help? What is GParted? And what all can I do in the "terminal" that will help this situation?

Thanks so much in advance,

Michael

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houstonbofh (leesharp) said : 		#1

Yes, you can do this. Consider this the usual warning about taking backups before you start, and that you can delete all your data, and the sky may fall. It is true, but I have never had an issue.

To start, mount your Windows partition from Ubuntu and star cleaning up. Delete all the garbage, system files, and anything else you do not want.

Now, you need to boot a live environment. This is because you can not shrink or expand partitions you are inside of. (Like while running from) So boot a Ubuntu Live CD, and run gparted. It is a graphical partition editor. Start by shrinking your now mostly empty Windows 7 partition. However, do not shrink it to the point that it has less than 50% free space. It can be done but it is SLOW! Once this is done you can expand your Ubuntu partition into the newly created free space.

Now boot back into Ubuntu. Mount the Windows partition and grab your stuff. Now you can either make a secondary partition, you your can boot back into the live cd and delete the Windows partition and expand your Ubuntu partition to the full disk.

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Michael F. Vignola (mvigno2) said : 		#2

Where is a good place for me to burn/download a Ubuntu CD? Does it have to
be the same version (11.10)?? I already downloaded GParted, do I need to
download it again on the "live environment"??

Thanks

On Sun, Jan 22, 2012 at 11:10 AM, houstonbofh <
<email address hidden>> wrote:

> Your question #185454 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/185454
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> houstonbofh proposed the following answer:
> Yes, you can do this. Consider this the usual warning about taking
> backups before you start, and that you can delete all your data, and the
> sky may fall. It is true, but I have never had an issue.
>
> To start, mount your Windows partition from Ubuntu and star cleaning up.
> Delete all the garbage, system files, and anything else you do not want.
>
> Now, you need to boot a live environment. This is because you can not
> shrink or expand partitions you are inside of. (Like while running from)
> So boot a Ubuntu Live CD, and run gparted. It is a graphical partition
> editor. Start by shrinking your now mostly empty Windows 7 partition.
> However, do not shrink it to the point that it has less than 50% free
> space. It can be done but it is SLOW! Once this is done you can expand
> your Ubuntu partition into the newly created free space.
>
> Now boot back into Ubuntu. Mount the Windows partition and grab your
> stuff. Now you can either make a secondary partition, you your can boot
> back into the live cd and delete the Windows partition and expand your
> Ubuntu partition to the full disk.
>
> --
> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
> know that it is solved:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/185454/+confirm?answer_id=0
>
> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
> following page to enter your feedback:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/185454
>
> You received this question notification because you asked the question.
>

Revision history for this message
houstonbofh (leesharp) said : 		#3

Download it from Ubuntu.com and it can be whatever vesion you want. I lkie 10.04.3, but almost any version will do. And most come with gparted on the CD.

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