Disk Partitioning

To install Linux, available space is needed on the computer's hard drive. It is recommended to allocate at least 4 Gb of the hard drive for the installation of Linux. Disk space is, as a rule, split into several areas known as partitions. A number of partitions is needed to install Linux. It is now necessary to determine how they are going to be distributed on the disk. As a result of this, a partition table will be written to the disk. More details about the technology of partitioning the hard drive may be obtained in the Structure of the hard drive section of the manual.

Warning! The writing of a partition table onto a disk is an irreversible operation. As a result of it, all data on the disk may be lost. If data you need to keep exists on the disk, (such as a previoulsly installed operating system, user files, etc.), do not hurry at this stage and read the tip carefully.

Before the partition table is written to the disk (the writing takes place at the moment when you press the «Next» button), it is possible to cancel any changes made earlier and to return to the initial disk condition. To do this, you should press the «Cancel» button.

Selecting a disk to install Linux

A list of those disks onto which it is possible to install Linux is displayed in the «Device» column. If there are multiple disks in this list, one of them must be chosen. You can learn which disk names from the list correspond to your computer's devices from the Disk and Partition Naming in Linux section of the manual.

Automatic Partitioning

First of all, try the automatic disk partitioning. To do this, choose the hard disk onto which you wish to install Linux and then press the button that says «Automatically». If some data already exists on the disk, the following question will be asked: «Do you wish to clear the disk?» You may only answer «Yes» to this question if there is no valuable data on the disk. If something you wish to keep exists on the disk, you should answer «No».

Automatic disk partitioning will allocate all the necessary partitions on the disk and determine their size. The volume of the disk space available for Linux installation may sometimes be increased at the cost of free space within one of the existing partitions with data, for instance, pertaining to another operating system. If such a possibility exists, the installation program will suggest that the user should decrease the partition size. However, it should be noted that the disk space available to another operating system will be diminished in this case.

Warning! Before decreasing the size of a partition with data, it is useful to defragment it and to create a backup of it. For more details, refer to the section on Data Backups and Precautions.

The result of an automatic disk partitioning may be edited manually (see the section on Work with Partitions). If you are satisfied with the results of the automatic partitioning, you may begin the next step of the installation by pressing the «Next» button.

Manual Partitioning of the Disk

Linux does not have rigid restrictions on how system and user data must be distributed in partitions: any number of partitions, from one to several dozens, may be used. The choice of the optimal number of partitions, of their size and purpose may depend on the overall size of the disk space available, as well as on the tasks for which the computer will be used most often. The automatic partitioning offered by the installation program is intended mainly for home workstations and is suitable for most users.

Users may want to find ways of partitioning the hard disk more suitable for their specific objectives, but in order to do this it is first necessary to become familiar with the structure and use of the Linux file system. The basic information needed to plan manual disk partitioning is contained in the Disk Planning section of the manual. Several typical ways of doing this are also examined there.

Sections necessary to install Linux

Work with Partitions

If a user makes a mouse click on the disk icon, a list of this disk's partitions is displayed. There is a colored sign next to each partition's name. Its color denotes the partition's file system type. The light green color signifies a file system suitable for the installation of Linux, the crimson color stands for other operating systems'file systems, the bright blue denotes swap areas, the gray is displayed for partitions with an unchosen file system type, the white means empty space. In order to begin working with a specific partition, it is necessary to choose it by making a click with the left mouse button on the corresponding colored stripe.

To create a new partition, choose a free disk area (white sign) and press the «Create» button. It will be suggested that the user should choose the size of the partition being created. During creation it is possible to choose what part of the available disk space the new partition will occupy. This is accomplished using the «Move starting point» and «Size» slides. They can be «dragged» using the left mouse button.

After creating a partition, the file system type and mounting point for it should be chosen. It is possible to select the mounting point from a list or to create a new one. It is also possible to change the size of a partition created. To do this, select the partition and click on the «Size» button. When a partition's size in increased, the total available disk space unoccupied by other partitions works as a limit. When the partition size is decreased, the actual disk space occupied by data in the partition is the limit.