Partition & HDD advice.

BoomAM · 25 Jan 2007 at 12:30

Hi.
My Laptop, in a factory fresh state, has a 90Gb Windows Partition & a 5Gb restore partition. I plan on putting Ubuntu back on it, but not until the next major release.
I was wondering, would you lot resize/partition it NOW, while the systems relativly bare?

Im guessing that the startup shortcut to access the recovery area just looks for the 2nd partition to access the recovery area, is it possible to resize the windows partition to like 30Gb or summit, move the recovery area so its 'next' to that partition, leaving me the rest of the drive for storage area and linux partitions?

Thanks in advance all.

toosepin · 25 Jan 2007 at 13:06

EDIT: Reading your question again:

I might be wrong - but to resize partitions in Windows don't you have to format the existing partition? That would mean that it doesn't matter about the current system state, because you'd have to reinstall Windows anyway?

Oh and remember: as long as you have the original Windows discs and/or have some way of restoring Windows back onto the laptop then its probably safe to remove that partition.

dirtydog · 25 Jan 2007 at 13:11

Doesn't the restore partition contain essential data for reinstalling Windows though.

BoomAM · 25 Jan 2007 at 13:15

dirtydog said:
Doesn't the restore partition contain essential data for reinstalling Windows though.

Yes. But i have the same data on the restore CDs that came with the system.

toosepin said:
I might be wrong - but to resize partitions in Windows don't you have to format the existing partition? That would mean that it doesn't matter about the current system state, because you'd have to reinstall Windows anyway?

Linux + Gparted = Partition resizing whilst keeping the data intact.

Oh and remember: as long as you have the original Windows discs and/or have some way of restoring Windows back onto the laptop then its probably safe to remove that partition.

I dont have the original windows disks. The only windows disks i have for this laptop are the IBM one that comes with all the chafff, and nukes the entire HDD to the current layout.

artaxerxes · 25 Jan 2007 at 13:45

Do not mess with the partitions if you hope to use those restore disks. They often times assume an exact partition size.

Make an exact note of the partition sizes, then try running the restore disks to see if they have any such partition dependant nonsense

BoomAM · 25 Jan 2007 at 13:56

The disks dont care about the partition sizes already on the HDD.

Steve Watford · 26 Jan 2007 at 23:30

Using program like Acronis and PartitionMagic let you mess about with the partitions but also let you keep the data.

artaxerxes · 27 Jan 2007 at 00:14

BoomAM said:
The disks dont care about the partition sizes already on the HDD.

I once tried to restore a desktop with these joyous 'restore disks' - it refused because the replacement hard drive was the wrong size.

Once I matched the partition size to the previous drive (hidden partition and then primary) it worked like a charm.

Of course this was in the dark ages - you are likely right. However I suggest you test first.

BoomAM · 27 Jan 2007 at 02:47

The restore disks are IBM ones, and thus far have been bullet proof for me.
Ive decided against. Although i successfully resized months ago, im gonna stick with the 'normal' sizes for now, and get a HDD caddy for the optical bay. Stick Linux on a drive in the caddy.