Ubuntu
ubiquity package

Partition Size for Dual Boot

Asked by Paul Turner

Thanks for the answer to my earlier question. Having thought about it a bit more and read up a little I do wonder if a dual boot install will be better for me than a wubi install. My only query is about partition size. I understand that earlier versions allowed you to choose the partition size wheras more recent versions choose it for you unless you go manual which is stated as not advisable for novices like myself. How does Ubuntu decide the partition size, my hard drive is 250gb of which about 170gb is available. Don't want to end up with a tiny Ubuntu partition, equally don't want to end up with no space available for Windows updates etc.

Thanks.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

It will choose a swap space appropriate to your RAM and use the rest as one big partition. This is the default behaviour.

If you wish to manually partition then you can. If you set 10Gb formatted Et4 set for / the same amount of swap as you have RAM, and the rest for /home formatted Ext4 you will have a nice setup which lends itself easily to reinstalls and easy backups.

Plan your partitions out. What is windows for? what apps do you need, how much space do you need and so forth. Bear in mnd that windows cannot access ubuntu partitons, but ubuntu can access ntfs partitions so if you want to share media between the OSes then store it in Windows to accommodate te massive flaw in Windows.

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Paul Turner (pauldavid-turner) said : 		#2

Thanks but I am still at a slight loss. I appreciate that Ubuntu will create a small partition for the swap file but are you saying all my remaining 170gb will be partioned for Ubuntu with no space on the Windows partiton whatsoever if I use the auto install along side option.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

If you use the default partitioning and have free space then the installer will use it all. If you Don't have Windows installed, I suggest you install that but only to a portion of the space (The default is to use 100%). I suggest you leave at least 30Gb for Ubuntu at least which will give you 10Gb for /, swap space and a bit more than 15Gb for /home. You can access your files (and create new ones i your NTFS partition to allow a singular storage of data).

The alongside option will make a dual boot and use the space you choose.

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