How to Partition an NTFS File System for Ubuntu
- 1). Go to "Start," then "Administrative Tools." In Windows XP, click "Start," then open "Control Panel," then "Administrative Tools," then "Computer Management." Under "Storage" on the left-hand side, select "Disk Management."
- 2). Examine the disk partition table that shows up at the bottom of the screen, on the right-hand side. This shows you your current disk partition table.
- 3). Decide how much space on your hard drive you want to allocate for Ubuntu. A full installation will require about 5 GB of hard drive space. You will also need a "swap" partition. This serves as virtual memory for your Ubuntu system. A good rule of thumb is to allocate twice your physical RAM size for a swap partition. So, for example, if you have 1 GB worth of RAM in your system, you should make a swap partition of 2 GB.
- 4). Right-click the available drive space in your drive manager. Available drive space appears in slanted lines with the label "Unallocated" in your drive manager program. Choose "Create New Simple Volume." Click "OK."
- 5). Specify the size of your Ubuntu installation in megabytes. If you were creating an Ubuntu partition of 8 GB, you would enter 8000 in this dialog box. Click "Next."
- 6). Select "Do not assign a drive letter or path" on the next screen. Click "OK."
- 7). Select the radio button "Do not format this volume" on the next screen. Click "OK."
- 8). Ensure your choices are correct on the final screen. When you are satisfied, click "OK" and the partition will be created for you.
- 9). Repeat Steps 4 through 8 for your swap partition.
