Deleting A Linux partition

I just installed Mint Cinnamon on an old hard drive, which also has Windows 7 and my original Zorin OS. W7 is on one partition, and Zorin and Mint are on the other. My plan is to delete Zorin, as I have it on its own hard drive. It is my preferred OS, but I am exploring Mint. I may put the Cinnamon DE on Zorin, mainly to get the aero effect. So, what tool do I use to delete or erase Zorin, and reclaim the space for Mint? The hard drive is not in the best of shape, but keeps hanging in. I figure it would be good to simplify things.

Thanks, Michael

Hi Michael, you can use GParted from a Live Disc to do this for you - you will need to update your Mint Grub after doing so - but just so we are very clear can you upload a screenshot using GParted to show the partition layout? Also whether you used GRUB on the mbr or you used the EasyBCD method from Neosmart.

Thanks Swarf. I changed my mind. I'm going to leave things as they are. I don't even keep that drive in the computer, there's no need to get obsessive. If I do want to experiment, I can partition the Windows drive, which is almost 250GB. Plenty of space. Plus, it will fail at some point, so why bother?

No worries friend - but you should be aware, whilst you can shrink a partition in GNU/Linux you cannot use it for other partitions - you can't grow a partition like you can in Windows.

If you do decide to make room for GNU/Linux on your Windows partition, use Windows own 'shrink method' as in my dual-boot video:

https://vimeo.com/110085401

Thank you Swarf, that's great information to know. There is so much to learn about GNU/Linux! I figure I know about .01%...