OT: dual booting W7/Linux
I'm trying to shrink the Windows 7 partition on our new office computer in order to make a second partition for Linux. Windows' disk management partitioning tool is not working. It only let me shrink the partition by 8GB. Google indicates the reason is because of some un-movable files near the end of the partition. Defragging didn't help. I tried a few third-party partitioning tools. They didn't work either. How do I proceed?
If you don't want to re-install Windows, I've had luck with the GParted Linux utility. You can boot from a rescue CD or from a Linux live cd to run it. Make sure you do a backup of the hard drive first. After you resize the partition, you may have to boot from a Windows 7 disc and choose the repair option to make the partition bootable. On Mon, Feb 29, 2016 at 9:48 PM, Systems Glitch via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:
How do I proceed?
Frag the Windows install!
Probably best to reinstall Windows and in the *Windows setup* bit set the initial partition size you want. When I dual-booted, I typically had better luck doing it that way than resizing.
Thanks, Jonathan
Gparted didn't work (or I was using it wrong) so I am doing it as Jon suggested. There wasn't any data on this computer other than Windows, thus nothing to lose. :) Used W7 setup to delete the old partitions and make new ones to my liking.
On Mon, 29 Feb 2016, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Gparted didn't work (or I was using it wrong) so I am doing it as Jon suggested. There wasn't any data on this computer other than Windows, thus nothing to lose. :) Used W7 setup to delete the old partitions and make new ones to my liking.
Another option would be to set up the whole disk as a Linux partition, then install and run Windows 7 under VirtualBox. That way, you could have Linux running full-time, and run Windows 7 as necessary with VirtualBox. Mike Loewen mloewen@cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/
Another option would be to set up the whole disk as a Linux partition, then install and run Windows 7 under VirtualBox. That way, you could have Linux running full-time, and run Windows 7 as necessary with VirtualBox.
That's how my personal system works. Rumor has it Corey or Jeff wanted Windows on the museum PC ;) so I'm just dual-booting it. Almost done!
Another option would be to set up the whole disk as a Linux partition, then install and run Windows 7 under VirtualBox. That way, you could have Linux running full-time, and run Windows 7 as necessary with VirtualBox.
Additionally, it's possible to configure VirtualBox to boot the physical partition on a dual-boot system. I used to do this when dual-booting in college -- VirtualBox for most Windows applications, but reboot into Windows for heavy-duty CPU intensive stuff. IIRC, there was some hackery on forcing, among other things, Ethernet MAC address, to keep Windows from deactivating. Thanks, Jonathan
participants (4)
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Dean Notarnicola -
Evan Koblentz -
Mike Loewen -
Systems Glitch