Repartitioning to expand space for Linux Mint

[sarahr]

Hey, all -
Still adoring Linux Mint - just fantastic! When I initially installed it, I set it up to dual-boot on a machine running Windows 8. I really have no intention of using that OS, but don't want to get rid of it completely on the off-chance that I need it for something. I would therefore like to resize the partitions and increase the allotment for Linux Mint. Before I do so, I just wanted to do a quick check of the procedure. My plan is to:

1. Boot off my Linux Mint DVD
2. Run GParted to repartition and increase the Linux side of the house
3. Um...that's it.

Does this sound like a game plan?

Thanks!

[mintybits]

Hi. Should work. Best to post your existing partitions, tho.
Also, some say it is safer to use W8 to shrink itself rather than GParted.

[sarahr]

Thanks for the reply! Can you give me a hint on how to do that from W8? I am not a Windows user at all.

I went with the default install of Linux Mint, which I guess gave me an 18-GB partition. I was never prompted at that point; wish I would have made the decision at that point.

[mintybits]

I haven't used W8 but I imagine it is the same as W7: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/26 ... hrink.html

[sarahr]

So I booted into Windows to try to repartition (well, shrink the Windows partition) per the post above, but I had an alert about having several essential system updates. So, I run the updater to install the Windows system updates, give it time, it downloads, reboots, installs, reboots, chugs around, reboots, fails, reboots, churns around some more, reboots, etc. I finally gave up and booted back into Linux. What utter crap. I think maybe the best thing to do is to blow away that parition entirely. I'll be able to run the new Sim City under Wine, won't I?

[mintybits]

ive not tried W8...it sound fun W7 is my limit. My brief experience of Wine is not a good one. I would make sure it does what you need before you flush W8.

[srs5694]

Rather than increase the size of the existing Mint partition, I recommend creating a new partition and mounting it at /home. There are numerous Web sites that provide instructions for doing this. Here's one that I found by Googling:

http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/separatehome

The trickiest part to this is copying your existing files to the new partition.

Going this route rather than increasing your existing partition's size has two advantages:

• It's safer. Resizing partitions is always risky. Chances are your Mint partition comes after your Windows partition, so you'd be risizing it by moving its start point, which is riskier than increasing a partition's size by moving its end point.
• By using a separate /home partition, you'll isolate your user files from your system files. This can help keep them safer and simplify certain types of upgrades. For instance, if your Mint installation gets damaged beyond repair, you can completely wipe the root (/) partition and re-install without affecting your user files. Likewise if you decide to switch from Mint to something else.