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Windows 7 Partitions
From: |
Rod Smith |
Subject: |
Windows 7 Partitions |
Date: |
Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:45:39 -0500 |
User-agent: |
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:7.0.1) Gecko/20111105 Thunderbird/7.0.1 |
address@hidden wrote:
> My son has a HP probook 4520s laptop with windows 7 and rather than
> have the stress of dealing it I'd like to repartition and have dual
> boot Linux.
>
> Running parted shows:
> Number Start End Size Type File system Flag
> 1 1049kB 316MB 315MB primary ntfs boot
> 2 316MB 302GB 302GB primary ntfs
> 3 302GB 318GB 16.1GB primary ntfs
> 4 318GB 320GB 2143MB primary fat32 lba
>
> As the starts and ends don't run in sequence I guess that parted (2.3
> on a Porteus-v09 live CD) does not understand the disk. Will it "just
> work", or how can I fix this?
The start and end values look fine to me. I think you may be overlooking
the units, which vary (kB, MB, and GB); if you missed that fact, it
would look like partitions 1 and 2 end before they begin.
A more serious problem is that this seems to be a Master Boot Record
(MBR; what parted calls "msdos") disk, which has a limit of four primary
partitions, and HP has chosen to use all of them. There are several ways
around this problem:
- Delete one partition to make room for an extended partition to house
all the Linux partitions. Normally one of those primary partitions
holds a stand-in for the Linux installation media, and there's a tool
you can use to create a DVD set, so you can run that tool and then
safely delete the backup partition. My guess is that partition is
#3 on your disk, given its size.
- Convert one or more partitions from primary to logical. Unfortunately,
parted can't do this (AFAIK), but FixParts
(http://www.rodsbooks.com/fixparts/) can *IF* there's a gap between
partitions. (As you'll need to resize partitions to install Linux,
you can certainly create such a gap if it doesn't exist.) DO NOT
attempt to convert the Windows boot partition in this way. Note that
you might need to boot from #1, #2, or maybe #3, so #4 is the
safest bet for conversion in this way.
- Wipe the disk clean and do a fresh install using a standard Windows
installation disc rather than HP's customized version. This way,
Windows can be restricted to use just a couple of partitions rather
than sprawl out as it does now. This can work well if you've got
access to a generic Windows installation disc for the version of
Windows you've got. (You'll need to use the serial number for Windows,
probably printed on a sticker on the bottom of the laptop.)
You can blame HP for the hassle that their standard configuration is
causing. If you make the backup DVD set, I recommend writing a letter to
them while you play human disc changer. This certainly isn't a parted
issue, although you can use parted to do some of the partition
manipulations, depending on what option you choose to pursue.
--
Rod Smith
address@hidden
http://www.rodsbooks.com