How to dual boot Windows XP and Ubuntu.

Soldato
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12 Jun 2004
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Hi all.

I would like to start using Ubuntu, but I still do quite a bit of gaming so I would also like Windows XP.
My HDD is roughly 100GB.
I have a rough idea of what to do, but I am not sure about the partition's and how best to set them up.
I have read THIS guide but I am still unsure.

I like the idea of this:
partitioning5.png

so that I can access my files from both OS's, but then what size would the NTFS and Ubuntu / EXT3 partition's need to be?
 
well, traditionally that shared /home partition would best be formatted as FAT32 but with current advances you can use EXT3 IFS driver to read and write to EXT3 under Windows and NTFS-3G to do the same under Linux.

I'd still keep your /home separate from your Windows data partition (meaning an extra partition in there) and then using the above methods to facilitate access to the other filesystems from either OS.
 
M0KUJ1N said:
well, traditionally that shared /home partition would best be formatted as FAT32 but with current advances you can use EXT3 IFS driver to read and write to EXT3 under Windows and NTFS-3G to do the same under Linux.

I'd still keep your /home separate from your Windows data partition (meaning an extra partition in there) and then using the above methods to facilitate access to the other filesystems from either OS.

Thanks for the replay.

I am still really confused about all of this and I tried installing Ubuntu today but got stuck on the partition's again.
It doesn't help the fact that my Dell laptop already has about 3 partition's for MEDIADIRECT, backup, etc. It just makes it all even more messy and confusing.

Basically, here is how my partition's look at the moment:
/dev/sda1 FAT16 78.41MB
/dev/sda2 NTFS 86.44GB
/dev/sda3 EXTENDED 2GB
/dev/sda5 FAT32 2GB
Unallocated Unallocated 4.64GB

I booted Ubuntu from the live CD and went into GParted. I then right clicked on the NTFS partition and clicked to resize it. I planned to let windows have roughly 17-18GB.
I then right clicked on the Unallocated space and clicked "new", then chose EXT3 (for the shared /home partition) and gave it about 60GB or so.
Then when I tried to create the Ubuntu partition, it said "It is not possible to create more than 4 primary partitions".
Apparently, if I make an extended partition from the unallocated space, I should be able to do it, but the option to chose "Extended" is greyed out, so that is not possible.

Everyone is telling me to do different things and I am left so confused I am just about to give up on Linux, if I can't even install the thing I think it's probably best I stick with Windows... :(

EDIT:
I am basically having the exact same problem as this guy: http://gparted-forum.surf4.info/viewtopic.php?pid=2978

How do I delete the extended partition already on my drive, or how do I add new partition's inside the extended partition that already exists?
 
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