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Adding an additional partition to your Windows XP hard drive allows you to install Ubuntu Linux alongside Windows. Computer hard drives include at least one partition, which is a virtual (or logical) drive within a physical hard drive.
 | Computer operating systems such as Windows or Ubuntu Linux see partitions, not hard drives. For instance, your Windows C: drive is really a partition of the physical hard drive. If you have a D: drive, the D: drive is a second partition on your hard drive. |
On a typical PC, the default Windows partition takes up the entire hard drive, even though it probably isn't using all the space. After backing up your Windows files and settings, you can make a place for Ubuntu, too.
You can shrink the Windows partition to make space for a permanent Ubuntu installation. Ubuntu provides an easy-to-use tool called GParted.
The following instructions free up space for a permanent Ubuntu installation on a Windows XP PC. After you boot Ubuntu from the Ubuntu CD-ROM, follow these steps:
1. Click the System menu at the top of the window and select Administration --> Gnome Partition Editor.
The GParted window opens.
2. Select the first NTFS partition shown in the GParted window.
3. Click the Resize/Move button.
The Resize dialog opens, showing the amount of free space on the partition.
4. Drag the black arrow immediately to the right of the green border to resize the Windows NTFS partition.
 | You must decide how to reallocate your hard drive. The trick is to leave enough to meet both your Windows and Ubuntu needs. For instance, if you expect you'll need 10GB more of storage space for your Windows document and media files, leave that much free space on your Windows partition. (Of course, you aren't allowed to make the Windows partition smaller than its current data.) |
You can also type in the amount of space in MB you want to free up in the Free Space Following (MB) text box: for instance, 10000 to create a 10GB partition to install Ubuntu onto.
You need at least 3GB to install Ubuntu.
5. Click the Resize button.
You exit from the Resize window and return to GParted.
6. Click the Apply button.
The Apply Operations to Hard Disk dialog opens.
7. Click Apply.
The Applying Pending Operations dialog opens and shows the progress of the resize operation.
Control returns to the GParted window when the disk is repartitioned.
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