Windows 7 Partitions

[Rod Smith]

address@hidden wrote:

> My son has a HP probook 4520s laptop with windows 7 and rather than
> have the stress of dealing it I'd like to repartition and have dual
> boot Linux.
> 
> Running parted shows:
> Number  Start   End    Size    Type     File system  Flag
>  1      1049kB  316MB  315MB   primary  ntfs         boot
>  2      316MB   302GB  302GB   primary  ntfs
>  3      302GB   318GB  16.1GB  primary  ntfs
>  4      318GB   320GB  2143MB  primary  fat32        lba
> 
> As the starts and ends don't run in sequence I guess that parted (2.3
> on a Porteus-v09 live CD) does not understand the disk. Will it "just
> work", or how can I fix this?

The start and end values look fine to me. I think you may be overlooking
the units, which vary (kB, MB, and GB); if you missed that fact, it
would look like partitions 1 and 2 end before they begin.

A more serious problem is that this seems to be a Master Boot Record
(MBR; what parted calls "msdos") disk, which has a limit of four primary
partitions, and HP has chosen to use all of them. There are several ways
around this problem:

- Delete one partition to make room for an extended partition to house
  all the Linux partitions. Normally one of those primary partitions
  holds a stand-in for the Linux installation media, and there's a tool
  you can use to create a DVD set, so you can run that tool and then
  safely delete the backup partition. My guess is that partition is
  #3 on your disk, given its size.

- Convert one or more partitions from primary to logical. Unfortunately,
  parted can't do this (AFAIK), but FixParts
  (http://www.rodsbooks.com/fixparts/) can *IF* there's a gap between
  partitions. (As you'll need to resize partitions to install Linux,
  you can certainly create such a gap if it doesn't exist.) DO NOT
  attempt to convert the Windows boot partition in this way. Note that
  you might need to boot from #1, #2, or maybe #3, so #4 is the
  safest bet for conversion in this way.

- Wipe the disk clean and do a fresh install using a standard Windows
  installation disc rather than HP's customized version. This way,
  Windows can be restricted to use just a couple of partitions rather
  than sprawl out as it does now. This can work well if you've got
  access to a generic Windows installation disc for the version of
  Windows you've got. (You'll need to use the serial number for Windows,
  probably printed on a sticker on the bottom of the laptop.)

You can blame HP for the hassle that their standard configuration is
causing. If you make the backup DVD set, I recommend writing a letter to
them while you play human disc changer. This certainly isn't a parted
issue, although you can use parted to do some of the partition
manipulations, depending on what option you choose to pursue.

-- 
Rod Smith
address@hidden
http://www.rodsbooks.com