My Linux Notebook

Looking for a way to delete, create or resize partitions on your Linux? Do you have a windows partition on your hard disk that you want to resize or delete from Linux?

Creating, destroying, resizing, and moving partitions in Linux

On windows you might have used the commercial Partition Magic to edit partitions. On Linux there is no need for a commercial program. In Linux there is GParted, a free software for creating, destroying, resizing, moving, checking and copying partitions, and the file systems on them. GParted support many file system including the windows FAT and NTFS file systems. There is no need to worry, with GParted you can resize partitions without loosing your data (although, like in any other program that changes things in your partitions, you should backup your data before you do anything).

Installing GParted in Ubuntu Linux

Installing GParted in Ubuntu Linux is very simple. One way will be using synaptic:

1. Open synaptic (System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager).
2. Search for gparted.
3. Mark for installation the gparted package.
4. Press the apply button.

Another way is to install the Ubuntu gparted package using the command line:
$ sudo apt-get install gparted

Starting GParted in Ubuntu Linux

After the installation you will have a new entry by the name "Parttion Editor" in your Ubuntu Linux System Administration menu. You can start GParted by clicking on the new entry or you can start it by typing the gparted command in the console.

$ sudo gparted

Deleting Windows partitions using GParted in Ubuntu Linux

If you installed Ubuntu and you still have a partition with windows that you left (in case things won't go well with Linux), you can use gparted to delete it or resize it (if you still want to use it).

In order to make changes to your partitions, you must unmount the partitions that you want to change and start GParted as a superuser (sudo).

BE CARFULL WHEN YOU USE GPARTED OR ANY OTHER PARTITION EDITOR. CHANGING THE PARTITION CAN BE DANGEROUS, DO IT ON YOUR OWN RISK. BACKUP YOUR DATA BEFORE YOU START. YOU MIGHT LOSE ALL THE DATA IN THE DISK. IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING DON'T DO IT.