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| * Manipulating [[Windows]] partitions requires special consideration and tools. See [[HowtoResizeWindowsPartitions|How to Resize Windows Partitions]] for more information. In general, use Windows tools when manipulating existing [[Windows]] partitions. | * Manipulating Windows partitions requires special consideration and tools. See [[HowtoResizeWindowsPartitions|How to Resize Windows Partitions]] for more information. In general, use Windows tools when manipulating existing Windows partitions. |
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| === Installing === | == Install Windows in the first partition == |
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| * If Windows will exist on your system, it should occupy the first primary partition. This is necessary because the Windows bootloader is not very capable and always looks for the Windows OS in the first partition. | * If Windows exists or will exist on your system, it must occupy the first primary partition. This is necessary because the Windows bootloader is not very capable and always looks for the Windows OS in the first partition. For more information on installing Windows and Ubuntu in separate partitions, see [[WindowsDualBoot|Dual Booting Windows and Ubuntu]]. |
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| * When installing Ubuntu and the partition selection tool comes up, use the "specify partitions manually (advanced)" mode and manually select the partition you want. The first "side by side" installation option sounds seductive, but threatens to use dubious processes like automated NTFS resizing, which can bork the Windows partition. Manual selection insures that you are just formatting the already existing partition, and not messing with the partition table, which you should have already finalized with the Windows tools. | == Why use multiple partitions? == |
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| * If you want Ubuntu/Linux to be your "main OS," just make sure its at the top of your GRUB boot menu at startup. This is the default Ubuntu GRUB install anyway; using another OS as the top requires editing your /boot/grub/menu.lst with, e.g., nano: {{{sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.lst}}} or some other text editor like vi. With nano, use 'control + k' to cut (multiple lines) and 'control + u' to paste the lines of code in the menu to the order you want. |
The main reason to use separate partitions is for ease of maintenance. When an operating system (OS) occupies its own partition, it can easily be updated without affecting the operating systems or data stored on other partitions. |
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| == Why partition? == The main issue with partitioning is understanding why it's done: 1) to separate replaceable (and breakable) system files from irreplaceable personal files or business data, 2) to use multiple different operating systems on the same machine and choose which to boot into through a boot loader like [[GRUB]], or 3) to create swap space which Linux OSes use as virtual memory (Windows just uses a swap file on its system or otherwise fast and writable drive). |
This is equally true when certain applications are able to be used by multiple operating systems at once. A groupware application (such as Kolab), for example, can be placed in its own partition and be used by whichever operating system is booted. It can stay consistent even when one or more operating systems are updated. It can itself then be updated independently of any operating system updates and excluded from "automatic updates" of certain operating systems. |
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| But the historical reasons for partitioning itself are not always relevant anymore: | When an operating system loads from its own partition, it always runs the fastest. When other alternatives are used, such as running one operating system from within another OS (by a virtual machine or virtual disk mechanism), it is always slower (due to higher RAM and hard-drive requirements when using these methods). |
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| 1) Partitioning for sake of separating system from data, once a major issue with malfunctioning OSes, is mitigated by the advent of LiveOSes on removable and easy-access media such as CDs, DVDs, or USB drives. System crashes are a pain, but data recovery is much easier than it was just a few years ago. LiveOSs on media drives are free to download, quick to burn, and can easily mount and access broken system partitions to retrieve wanted files and move them to a backup drive. And attachable (USB) storage drives are likewise ample and easy to use. (It's a good idea for anyone with a computer to have a good LiveCD and an ample-sized USB drive handy, and to learn how to use them to mount drives and copy files). | Bootloaders such as GRUB can be used to choose which operating system to load when each operating system occupies its own partition. |
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| 2) The need to run multi-boot systems is mitigated due to the advent of [[virtualization]] and free virtualization tools like Sun's [[VirtualBox]] such that running a virtual Windows OS on an Ubuntu system is mostly a breeze. The caveat here is that one should limit their usage of Windows to just those applications which absolutely can't run on their Linux system (considering also any similarly-functional Linux applications) or else with Wine emulation. | == Arguments against partitioning == |
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| 3) Partitioning to create swap space is unnecessary since systems are much faster than before, Linux runs light and efficiently, and lots of fast RAM is quite cheap. | * 'Data loss is less frequent with current operating systems.' -- If you believe this one, I have a bridge to sell you. |
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| == Linux is the main OS, even if it isn't == Linux installs can work around Windows' peculiarities gracefully and without much difficulty. Its not perfect, but all co-existence with Windows issues are handled in Linux. Ubuntu, and most other [[distributions]] since Xandros ($$) and Knoppix (the first "[[LiveCD]]") use easy to use (graphical, orderly), flexible, and completely functional installers that handle the most important aspects of most installs. ([[Installer issues|Though there is always room for improvement]]). |
* 'The need to run multi-boot systems is mitigated due to the advent of [[virtualization]] and virtualization tools like [[VirtualBox]] such that running a virtual Windows OS on an Ubuntu system is mostly a breeze.' -- It's not. I've tried it. It runs very slowly on all but the most powerful computers with lots of RAM. |
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| Consider also that Linux, and Ubuntu in particular, can run very well without a Windows partition at all, and if Win32 apps are required, then using [[Wine]] covers ~30% of this need, and a [[Virtualization|virtual installation]] of Windows (from 98 to Win7) can deal with the rest. Virtualization has a few issues, but on current systems (+1.5 ghz, +1.2GB RAM), performance is quite acceptable. | * 'Partitioning to create swap space is unnecessary since systems are much faster than before, Linux runs more efficiently, and RAM is quite cheap.' -- RAM may be cheap, but not all computer motherboards can expand their RAM capabilities (and therefore still need swap). Further, Linux systems require more RAM these days, not less. Also, it is not the OS that requires plenty of memory, it is the programs that run within the OS that requires memory. |
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| == Access to file systems == A secondary issue deals with Windows' limited access to non-Windows file systems. But this is less an issue due to the usage of FAT32 "transfer" partitions, Linux's ability to read/write NTFS and most other file systems, and free-to-use Win32 utilities for writing to ext2 file systems. |
=== Choosing a filesystem for a data partition === |
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| If you need a 'universally writable' drive so that Win, Mac, and *nix operating systmes can share files, consider these issues: | |
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| == Drive plan == Planning a partition setup and getting it right is much easier than a) finding out something is wrong later (like not enough system drive space), b) using Linux partition tools to rework a system partition and finding out Windows does'nt like it, c) and then repartitioning (from scratch) the right way with a Windows tool anyway. |
* NTFS is a consideration, but it is proprietary and Window's peculiar usage of these drives means that Linux doesn't quite work perfectly with it. Further, Microsoft has the capability (and sometimes does) remotely lock NTFS folders. Do you want to take that chance? |
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| In general, separate disks which are used as storage (non-OS) partitions only can be dealt with more "flexibly," and this is still largely true when dealing with just Linux OS partitions. For consideration: | * FAT32 was hisotrically a good choice, but its size limitation (32 GB max) makes it quite small for today's standards. |
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| A) '''system drives''' - in accord with what you want your system to do with it (multi-boot, rawdrive virtualization, shared drive, storage partitions). This is particularly true when you are limited on drive space; even a 40GB system drive can adequately house Ubuntu and Windows 7, but less space requires more care. B) '''storage drives''' - A storage drive is actually more important than a system drive, because the system drive can simply be reformatted (assuming your /home/* director(ies) are backed up). C) '''Too many partitions''' is not quite as useful as someone might think, and you may want to rearrange such drives. D) '''Rearranging/repartitioning a drive''' usually means backing everything up, which is not easy to do if you are dealing with a large drive with lots of data. === File systems === If you need a 'universally writable' drive so that Win, Mac, and unix can share its files, there are issues 1) '''NTFS''' is the main consideration, but its proprietariness and Window's peculiar usage of these drives means that Linux doesn't quite work perfectly with it. 2) '''Reading/writing NTFS''' - The free NTFS-3g driver is a recent development that works with Linux and Mac OS X systems to read and write files on NTFS partitions quite well. It was not long ago that writing to NTFS from Linux was a particularly risky operation. 3) '''NTFS tools''' - The major issue is that NTFS partitions run best when created with Windows partition tools (diskpart), and (usually) when created with Windows formatting tools (format). Linux utilities for dealing with NTFS file systems are incredibly flexible, clever, and '''useless'''. They often raise disk errors with Windows, such that running Windows' checkdisk utility (from Windows) is necessary just to make the drive readable again. This is less true with non-system storage partitions, but errors on such drives mean that data may be lost, so care must be taken. 4) the '''FAT32 file system''' is the historical choice, but its size limitation (32 GB max) makes it quite small for today's standards. The recently created exfat file system has no such limitation, but is not commonly used. 5) '''Repartitioning and resizing''' are particularly important issues, as they involve dealing with partitions that already have data on them. Backing up such drive partitions is highly recommended, but not always a possibility. And in any case, careful advance planning and using the right tools is better than trying to rework a drive's partition table after the fact. == Ubuntu partitioning issues == GParted is a wonderful tool, but it has certain issues. For one, it can take forever to read a large drive, or a drive with a large number of partitions on it. Compare with qtparted (no longer in repository) which can take just a few moments to read all disks, offering a choice of which disk and its partitions to deal with. Starting GParted from the command line and specifying the disk can help, but it's still slow: sudo gparted /dev/sdx // where x is a drive letter a, b, c, etc. The second issue deals with Ubuntu's pesky [[automount]] feature: It even kicks in while doing partitioning operations, such that as soon as an operation is performed, it remounts all partitions. This is pesky, but simply unmounting each of the drives. In Gnome, right click on each of the resurrected drive icons (on desktop or in the [[file manager]] and selecting "unmount drive." In KDE, use kwikdisk (which loads into the system tray) or kdiskfree and unmount them from there. Even with these issues with GParted and Gnome/Ubuntu, automount is a beautiful thing, and makes the mounting of new drives easier than even Mepis, and almost as good as Windows (though Windows can't really deal well with anything but NTFS and FAT). |
* The exfat file system has no size limitation, but it is not commonly used. |
Planning is needed when choosing a partitioning scheme and a tool to create such partitions on a hard drive disk.
Windows Partitions
Manipulating Windows partitions requires special consideration and tools. See How to Resize Windows Partitions for more information. In general, use Windows tools when manipulating existing Windows partitions.
- Format Windows partitions using the NTFS filesystem, in general. However, Windows 98 requires FAT32, and Windows XP will function fine with FAT32. The NTFS filesystem allows greater security (and ability to lock folders), which can be an advantage or disadvantage, depending on your point of view. (Microsoft can administratively lock your folders without your permission in NTFS). Windows Vista and Windows 7 require NTFS.
In general, it is desirable to use Windows tools when formatting Windows partitions, but most current partition managers (such as GParted are able to specify the filesystem (NTFS or FAT32) correctly.
Linux and Mac partitions
Most current partition managers (such as GParted) are able to format or reformat any partition to the desired filesystem type (ext3, ext4, swap, hfs+ for Mac OS X, NTFS or FAT32 for Windows). In general, Linux partitions should be ext3 or ext4, but FAT32 and several other options are available as Linux filesystem types.
Install Windows in the first partition
If Windows exists or will exist on your system, it must occupy the first primary partition. This is necessary because the Windows bootloader is not very capable and always looks for the Windows OS in the first partition. For more information on installing Windows and Ubuntu in separate partitions, see Dual Booting Windows and Ubuntu.
Why use multiple partitions?
The main reason to use separate partitions is for ease of maintenance. When an operating system (OS) occupies its own partition, it can easily be updated without affecting the operating systems or data stored on other partitions.
This is equally true when certain applications are able to be used by multiple operating systems at once. A groupware application (such as Kolab), for example, can be placed in its own partition and be used by whichever operating system is booted. It can stay consistent even when one or more operating systems are updated. It can itself then be updated independently of any operating system updates and excluded from "automatic updates" of certain operating systems.
When an operating system loads from its own partition, it always runs the fastest. When other alternatives are used, such as running one operating system from within another OS (by a virtual machine or virtual disk mechanism), it is always slower (due to higher RAM and hard-drive requirements when using these methods).
Bootloaders such as GRUB can be used to choose which operating system to load when each operating system occupies its own partition.
== Arguments against partitioning ==
- 'Data loss is less frequent with current operating systems.' -- If you believe this one, I have a bridge to sell you.
'The need to run multi-boot systems is mitigated due to the advent of virtualization and virtualization tools like VirtualBox such that running a virtual Windows OS on an Ubuntu system is mostly a breeze.' -- It's not. I've tried it. It runs very slowly on all but the most powerful computers with lots of RAM.
- 'Partitioning to create swap space is unnecessary since systems are much faster than before, Linux runs more efficiently, and RAM is quite cheap.' -- RAM may be cheap, but not all computer motherboards can expand their RAM capabilities (and therefore still need swap). Further, Linux systems require more RAM these days, not less. Also, it is not the OS that requires plenty of memory, it is the programs that run within the OS that requires memory.
Choosing a filesystem for a data partition
If you need a 'universally writable' drive so that Win, Mac, and *nix operating systmes can share files, consider these issues:
- NTFS is a consideration, but it is proprietary and Window's peculiar usage of these drives means that Linux doesn't quite work perfectly with it. Further, Microsoft has the capability (and sometimes does) remotely lock NTFS folders. Do you want to take that chance?
- FAT32 was hisotrically a good choice, but its size limitation (32 GB max) makes it quite small for today's standards.
- The exfat file system has no size limitation, but it is not commonly used.