[SOLVED] Dual boot + separate Data partition

Totolanio

Wed Feb 19, 2014 9:27:07 pm

Hello,

I tried 6.4 64bits on my newly made PC and it bugged like heck (graphic bugs, for my radeon sapphire hd7870) so I tried Zorin Os 8 64bits and it works (but still some bugs

) so i'm waiting the new LTS.

Now I installed windows 7 64 bits normaly (one boot partition and 931 GB the other). I'll use it to play some games and record videos then i'd like to send them to Zorin OS openshot editor (or maybe i'll do it in win7 but I mean i'd like to be able to use the files under linux or windows)
I'd like to know how to allow dual boot.

1- I must defragment (even if it's new but i installed softwares)
2- I make a new partition on windows 7 but dunno the size of it
3- I make "/home" "/" and "swap" but i dunno the sizes i should allow for os 8 and I have 8GO ram. I want to use Zorin for its security, speed and easiness on some aspects.
Please tell me the sizes i Should allow (for a 1GB HDD).
4- I make a "/boot" partition or not ? in zorin os 7 i guess there wasa boot partition
5- Instead of using "/home", i'd like to have a partition with no mount point, so a special partition for my data files. It would be useful if i add a new distribution or reinstall win7 or Zorin, right ? And can I put program files in this folder too ? (dunno i'm a beginner)
6- That partition must be in FAT32 or Ext4 to be readable by both OS ? If i add ext4 drivers to win7, isnt it better than the old Fat32 ?

THANK you very muchfor the help, i'm stuck at this right now (sorry i wrote this quickly and I'm french).

Wolfman

Thu Feb 20, 2014 9:18:29 am

Hi,

take a look here and see if it helps:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2601

Regards Wolfman

Swarfendor437

Thu Feb 20, 2014 12:58:38 pm

I will reply to your detailed points tonight! End of lunch break!

Totolanio

Thu Feb 20, 2014 5:57:22 pm

no it doesnt help me as i'm a beginner.

Btw I already installed 6.2 lite on an old PC and it works (i didnt make a "/boot" partition though), I helped myself with this guide but for my new questions I think i'd need more specific infos :p

Swarfendor437

Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:36:09 pm

Totolanio wrote:Hello,

I tried 6.4 64bits on my newly made PC and it bugged like hell (graphic bugs, for my radeon sapphire hd7870) so I tried Zorin Os 8 64bits and it works (but still some bugs ) so i'm waiting the new LTS.

Now I installed windows 7 64 bits normaly (one boot partition and 931 GB the other). I'll use it to play some games and record videos then i'd like to send them to Zorin OS openshot editor (or maybe i'll do it in win7 but I mean i'd like to be able to use the files under linux or windows)
I'd like to know how to allow dual boot.

1- I must defragment (even if it's new but i installed softwares)
Yes defragment before doing any partition changes - you might want to play safe and run chkdsk first

2- I make a new partition on windows 7 but dunno the size of it
Use Disk Manager in Windows 7 after you have defragged, and shrink your Windows 7 Partition to about 300 Gb - there should be clearly indication on what is used and what is free in Disk Manager. Once you have shrunk your Windows 7 partition, reboot into Windows 7 to make sure all is well - you may want to backup any critical data first before starting any of this!

3- I make "/home" "/" and "swap" but i dunno the sizes i should allow for os 8 and I have 8GO ram. I want to use Zorin for its security, speed and easiness on some aspects.
Please tell me the sizes i Should allow (for a 1GB HDD).
I think you mean 1 TB?

1. Before installing Zorin, you mention Data Partition - make a 500 Gb NTFS partition and name it 'Data' - don't worry, Zorin can read NTFS partitions! and write to them to - but you can't write to GNU/Linux unless you have a copy of SysInternals which M$ bought up!

2. You need to next reboot into Windows to see that all your changes have been made and follow any instructions that Windows 7 advises when it has 'found new drive/partition - please reboot the machine - do so!

3. After you are happy that Windows 7 is booting ok and you can see your System and Data partitions, place the Zorin 8 DVD in your optical drive and reboot into Zorin - be sure that you change your boot settings so that the optical drive is the first boot device instead of your hard drive - most new systems offer 'Esc' or one of the 'F'unction keys for a one-time boot - boot into 'Live' mode and be sure you can connect to the internet - a wired connection is often best for good install.

4. Once in Zorin Desktop, click on the 'Install to HD' icon on the desktop - choose the 'something else' option. This will launch Gparted - the Gnome Partition Editor - and follow my video guide for sizes here - in your case, the swap file should match your RAM - 8 Gb:

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v67233697bJ2bS9jm

Be sure to install GRUB on sda1 - your Windows MBR will be overwritten but Windows 7 should show up in the Zorin menu as 'Windows 7 bootloader' - if it doesn't then open a terminal and enter:

Code:

sudo update-grub

4- I make a "/boot" partition or not ? in zorin os 7 i guess there wasa boot partition
I have never used '/boot' partition on any modern GNU/Linux install bar one exception which was on a very small SSD drive split in two on an Asus EEE901 pc netbook

5- Instead of using "/home", i'd like to have a partition with no mount point, so a special partition for my data files. It would be useful if i add a new distribution or reinstall win7 or Zorin, right ? And can I put program files in this folder too ? (dunno i'm a beginner)

I would advise not to put any programs in this partition - the further a program is away from the System Files you are asking for trouble! You should still really make it mountable so that you can access your data readily.

6- That partition must be in FAT32 or Ext4 to be readable by both OS ? If i add ext4 drivers to win7, isnt it better than the old Fat32 ?

FAT 32 has size limitations if memory serves me correctly - you cannot have Windows running on ext4 file system - that is a GNU/Linux journaling system - just as NTFS is a journaling system for Windows!

THANK you very muchfor the help, i'm stuck at this right now (sorry i wrote this quickly and I'm french).

Bon Appetite!

Totolanio

Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:07:35 pm

Thank you for this answer !!!

Yes 1 TB :p

How much should I put for "/home" and "/" ? (didn't watch the video yet though maybe you already mentioned it in it)

Ok ty for the infos about programs on another Partition = bad idea

When i said no mount point, I maybe made a mistake, I meant, it shouldn't be linked to "/home". How should I do that ?
I thought writing "/newpartition" as mount point would be enough.

And finally I'm not enthusiastic about FAT32, I found this information for Ext4 driver http://www.howtogeek.com/112888/3-ways- ... m-windows/

Swarfendor437

Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:49:35 pm

For '/' I would say 30 or 50 Gb Max - depends if you want to add tons of applications. '/home' is where all your stuff (including Windows Applications reside) so this should be as big as possible. I would just create a 'Data' partition formatted to NTFS that both your Windows and GNU/Linux can access, including read/write. I haven't heard of those apps before and notice the article first appeared Feb 2012 - GNU/Linux is moving on now and becoming even more tighter to access even within itself!

Basically your 'Data' partition will be a 'windows' one, being formatted to NTFS - it will be in its own partition next to your C: Drive - if you have optical drives then it would look like this: C (Windows) D (DVD/CD) E (Data) - I would be tempted to rename your Optical Drive to E: but be advised that if you have any applications that look for links to the optical drive they may not work so will leave that for you to decide! GNU/Linux will be on its own partition with '/' after E (Data), then an extended partition with your '/home' at the start and 'swap area' at the end.

Totolanio

Fri Feb 21, 2014 7:31:49 pm

ok awesome !

I didn't understand Linux can read and modify NTFS o_0, I thought it wouldn't work at all
I guess I have all I need for now (i'll read again before doing it but it looks fine)

ty ty ty ty

Swarfendor437

Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:37:27 pm

Totolanio wrote:ok awesome !

I didn't understand Linux can read and modify NTFS o_0, I thought it wouldn't work at all
I guess I have all I need for now (i'll read again before doing it but it looks fine)

ty ty ty ty

Here is my video to prove that it works!

https://vimeo.com/78665951

Totolanio

Sat Feb 22, 2014 8:04:56 pm

WTF !!!

I ran chkdsk.exe in admin (no problem apparently)

I defragmented.

Then I shrank (shrinked ?) the 931 GO partition where Win7 is. And the max it can be resized is 480GO so I ONLY have 450 GO left.

WTF ?!?!?!
What should I do please ? Use another program ? redefragment ? Use this tutorial wih GParted while installing zorin ? viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2601
I want to make it 250Go -300Go because I REALLY won't need more I guess.

Swarfendor437

Sun Feb 23, 2014 12:14:26 am

Totolanio wrote:WTF !!!

I ran chkdsk.exe in admin (no problem apparently)

I defragmented.

Then I shrank (shrinked ?) the 931 GO partition where Win7 is. And the max it can be resized is 480GO so I ONLY have 450 GO left.

WTF ?!?!?!
What should I do please ? Use another program ? redefragment ? Use this tutorial wih GParted while installing zorin ? viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2601
I want to make it 250Go -300Go because I REALLY won't need more I guess.

HI, (shrank was the correct wording by-the-way!). Could you run Zorin Live, enter 'gparted' in the search bar, run it and take a screenshot of your hard drive partiton please? Thanks.

(How to post a screenshot here: http://www.veoh.com/watch/v385833212XzmANbj

Keep us posted!

Totolanio

Sun Feb 23, 2014 7:16:51 pm

ok i'll do it, just so you know I followed this guide
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows- ... -problems/

I could free 9GO more but thats not enough.

I have like 10-15 programs installed lol and it's still not working, really good windows 7 -_-

I also have seen that I could use Gparted (with zorin for example) and then repair Windows 7 and it will work, but I don't feel like damaging win7 first then repairing, dunno if I should still try it and not waste my time (and your time

)

Totolanio

Sun Feb 23, 2014 8:03:50 pm

Ok so I tried to run Gparted and I had this error :

And if i click No (cause I thought it was a GPT tablefrom my previous installation of Zorin OS 8 and 6 on this computer even if i dunno what GPT is xD)
I had this

If i clicked Yes it showed the same but without the "!" ^^

SO I found a solution, using "sudo fixparts" and I removed the GPT table because it was the exact problem I encountered and the program told me it was certainly something from a previous OS.

And now Gparted works ! Maybe it was that which unallowed me to shrink ? (thats why I wrote about it)

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This is what you asked for ! Hope you can help plz

Wolfman

Sun Feb 23, 2014 8:17:01 pm

Hi,

if you intend to use the rest of the space on the drive for Linux, you must first create an "Extended" partition first in the available empty space on the drive, then within the extended partition, create your swap, root and home partitions, see the partition guide I posted earlier for more info about partitioning.

Regards Wolfman

Totolanio

Sun Feb 23, 2014 8:34:40 pm

No thats not what I want first ! I want to shrink my windows partition but it's locked at 470 GO for now while i'd like to reduce it to 250 GO (and only 27 GO is used from the screenshot)

Swarfendor437

Sun Feb 23, 2014 11:19:03 pm

Hi Totolanio, just been browsing through your detailed posting. GPT is normally what is used by Windows 8, not 7, so curious as to how that should have occurred. Please take a look here (it's not good news I'm afraid):

http://www.partition-tool.com/resource/ ... r-disk.htm

It looks like you would have to do a fresh install of Windows 7 after you have backed up all your data.

You could have a Primary Partiton for '/' after your Windows and eventually Data Partition with an Extended Partition holding your '/home' then 'swap area'. That's how I've always done it anyway.

Keep us posted!

Wolfman

Mon Feb 24, 2014 8:32:04 am

Totolanio wrote:No thats not what I want first ! I want to shrink my windows partition but it's locked at 470 GO for now while i'd like to reduce it to 250 GO (and only 27 GO is used from the screenshot)

Hi,

are you trying to shrink the partition working whilst in Windows using the Windows partition editor?. If you are, that may be the reason why it won't let you shrink the partition any further?.

Download a copy of "Gparted" and boot that and then do your partitioning or use the Zorin live Cd and use Gparted in live mode:

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php

Let us know if this helps.

Regards Wolfman

Totolanio

Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:29:40 pm

How could I have a GPT Table then ?

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-----

I managed to shrink wiht perfect disk defragmentation (special way)

Then in linux I followed your video, used Gparted but I had only one primary partition left so I was writing a SOS message on what should I do (cause the three partitions made under windows were primary apparently) but I remembered the guide by Wolfman which said I could make an extended partition for all the partitions, while in your video you made 2 primary partitions !

So i did it and it works (but I had some bugs with the install though)

I followed your answers with caution and it was what I needed !

Thank you for all the help (hope it won't bug anymore)

PS : when Zorin 9 will come out, i'll just have to reformat the logical partition where "/" is inside the extended partition, right ?

Swarfendor437

Mon Feb 24, 2014 11:45:35 pm

Hi, I would always back up your /home partition just to play safe. Actually I meant to state that formatting partitions first is the wrong way to go about it - it is best to do it at point of install - my video proved this as I had to reformat partitions I already created - you only do this once at point of install using the something else method. In my video I only have one Primary partition and one Extended Partition containing both the Swap area and '/home' . Wolfman has written a guide on upgrading so I would follow that. Personally I prefer to back up my /home (remembering to use Ctrl+ H first to show all hidden files) and do a fresh install. On my rig I have 3 drives - one with Zorin 8, second with Windoiws 7 Pro and the last with Win 8.1 Pro. If you have a second drive it is easy just to disconnect the Windows Drive, install GNU/Linux on the second then reconnect then run:

Code:: sudo update-grub

which will then pick up all the other OS's and bootloaders!

Glad you finally got what you wanted friend!

Wolfman

Tue Feb 25, 2014 7:10:54 am

Hi,

I don't know how you managed to create all those primary partitons because under normal circumstances; you can't?.

You got it installed which is the main thing however if you start getting major error messages from either Linux or Windows, it will be down to you having too many primary partitions!.

See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_partitioning

Regards Wolfman

Totolanio

Tue Feb 25, 2014 6:09:16 pm

Yes Swarfendor I formated them at point of install (it was weird at first but i followed the video, creating under Gparted then in the install process)

I said you had 2 primary partitions because Extended partition is a primary partition (it's what Gparted told me).
Ok i'll back up my /home if needed then, i'll move it to my Data partition.

[quote=Wolfman]
I don't know how you managed to create all those primary partitons because under normal circumstances; you can't?.
[/quote]

Why you can't ? you can create 4 primary partitions so thats what I've done !
Windows created automatically 3 primary partitions, this stupid windows7. I then made an extended partition.

Should I remake the Data partition (which is empty) INSIDE Gparted and turning it into a logical partition ? incase I need one primary partition one day.
If i just delete it and remake it instantly in NTFS and as a logical partition ?
Wouldn't it "bug" with windows 7 as it is already assigned to a letter ?

And GRUB detects my windows loader, but in some guides I've read it would erase it, weird no ?

This is a static archive of the old Zorin Forum.

[SOLVED] Dual boot + separate Data partition