Member Avatar for scru

After spending the entire morning just getting a live boot of ubuntu to work (my fauly really, the last blank cd i had burned with an error, and i had to configure a flash drive to do it instead), i was finally able to use linux for the first time. I had a good experience too, especially the very pleasant surprise i found in driver support, which should make Vista flush in embarassment (I'm not kidding...all my devices were up and running, except for my graphics card, and even then i was offered the driver without having to go hunt for it...i still used the default one since the boot was a live one)

Now, the problem arose when i decided to add ubuntu to my list of OSes that i use. My drive partitions are ntfs. I went so far as to free some space from my main drive to unallocated space (about 20 Gigs) with the partition mager, but it told me i cant have more than four partitions(there was an adjective i can't remember).

My partitions are as follows:
Acer (C):
MediaStorage (I):
PQSERVICE (hidden partition used for recovery by acer software)
WinXP (L): (contains boot record for my vista and xp)

I guess I should have mentioned that i dual boot xp and vista currently (XP for games, vista for productivity)

since ACER and MediaStorage are both larger than 32MB, the only possible solution i can think of is to convert WinXP to FAT32 and install linux there. However, searches seem to say that this can't be done without data loss. This is a no no because my windows boot record is on there, and additionally, my XP cd is old and scratched badly and tends to do erratic installations most of the time, so i cant afford to have XP erased (well i CAN do without it, but I dont really want to...i like my games).

SO does anybody have any suggestions about what to do about this problem at all? I would really hate to let this just pass...because i would definitely have to wipe that flash drive off by tomorrow (its my mom's--mine is only 512MB) and restore its original data...

Please help me...ill give you a cow and marry your wife

  • 2 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 77 Views
  • 12 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by John A

Dani AI

Generated

Short answer: the installer is telling you the MBR limit — on BIOS/MBR disks you can only have four primary partitions. The usual solutions are (A) make one of those primaries an extended partition and create logical partitions inside it for Linux, or (B) install Ubuntu inside Windows with Wubi so you avoid repartitioning. Always make a full backup and a Windows repair/recovery disk before touching partitions.

Practical, low-risk route:

  • Backup everything (especially the XP partition and PQSERVICE recovery). Create a Vista/XP repair disk so you can restore the bootloader if needed.
  • From Windows run chkdsk /f and defragment the partition you plan to move to reduce risk.
  • If you can temporarily move MediaStorage off the drive, delete that primary partition and recreate it inside a new extended partition as a logical NTFS volume; then create additional logical partitions (ext4 + swap) for Ubuntu. Restoring MediaStorage data into the new logical NTFS partition is straightforward.
  • If you cannot move data, consider tools and vendors that advertise primary->logical conversion without data loss, but treat those operations as risky and back up first.

If you want to avoid partition work entirely, Wubi lets you install Ubuntu from Windows as a filesystem file (not ideal for long-term use, but quick and reversible).

For background on the four-primary limit and tools to use, see the MBR page and the GParted Live project:

Note: , because your boot record lives on the WinXP partition, avoid deleting or moving it unless you are prepared to repair the bootloader. Also, is correct that you cannot delete your forum post yourself — flag it for a moderator if needed.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for scru

Sorry, didnt realise this was the wrong forum..how do i delete?

Member Avatar for John A

>Sorry, didnt realise this was the wrong forum..how do i delete?
You can't. Click the "Flag Bad Post" button above your post to contact a moderator.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.