Jtdcftul

I've created a bootable usb and I'm getting ready to install ubuntu 13.10 to dual-boot with Windows 7. The problem is I don't know how to deal with my partitions.

I have 4 primary partitions on my HDD already (recovery, boot, and 2 that are unnamed and I can't explore). Which one of the latter 2 would I use to create an extended partition with unallocated space using gparted?? How do I find out. I've been googling this for hours and I just don't know how to do this in an informed manner and safely. I just can't find the answer.

Thanks to all that can help!!

Update:
ok looking at it from the Linux end the last two are hidden partitions and I can see that they are not empty. One is called HDDRECOVERY. Not sure how to proceed. Can I back up the files in those partitions and then extend one and delete the other?

• From the extended partition's unallocated space, create a new ext4 partition.




• Now run the Ubuntu installer.Choose "something else" option and select newly creted ext4 partition.Finally install Ubuntu on the created ext4 partition.It will also allows you to create swap partition.




• How much space did you want to allocate for your swap partition

You can download and burn on a regular CD the Ultimate Boot CD iso image. When you're done you can start your computer with Ultimate Boot CD in tray, and when prompted press enter to boot the CD.

You can find Gparted in this section of the Ultimate Boot CD menu: HDD - Partition Management. I recommend you use Cute Partition Manager, and not Gparted for the next steps. Cute Partition Manager is located in the same menu section: HDD - Partition Management.

Allow Cute Partition Manager load al its modules, and when finished loading do not press BROWSE but instead press OK. You should finally get to the detailed partition table for your HDD device which will include those 2 unnamed partitions that you may want to delete for good unless you have some important data there that you need to backup first.

To delete the 2 unnamed partitions use the assigned keys listed at the bottom of the screen in Cute partition manager. First make sure that it is safe to delete them, and check where they are located, and consider how would deleting them have an impact on your Windows OS configuration. My guess is that they are leftovers from previous Windows installation or that they were allocated after you decided to partition your hard drive using partition manager in a hurry. I suppose those 2 unnamed partitions are not very large in size, maybe 1gb as a maximum. But if they are large partitions with lots of unallocated space then I suppose you can delete them to recover useful space either for windows or for linux.

It would be better to decide to delete all partitions on your hard drive and reinstall Windows and after that do a dual-boot with Ubuntu or you can think of something else if the 2 unnamed partitions are listed at the end in the partition table. If your Linux partition is right next to these 2 unnamed partition you can also delete Linux partition so you be able to create a new larger partition for Linux that will include the entire space of the deleted partitions. Do not worry for swap space, you can allocate it during Ubuntu installation using 'Something else' the 3rd choice for installing Ubuntu.

Do not forget to save your new partition table at the end if you are using Cute Partition Manager to delete and create what you need to in your partition table. I think F4 key is assigned to Save Partition Table. If you want to you can delete all partitions from your HDD, after you back-up important data. Save empty partition table but do not use Cute Partition Manager to repartition your HDD.

If you decide to delete all partitions and repartition your entire hard drive, I suggest you use for repartitioning your hard drive a bootable WinXP CD which can create one or more primary partitions, but more important can create an extended partition where you should add as many logical drives as you wish, including one or more raw, unformatted logical drives reserved for Linux. After you finished partitioning your HDD, you should allow WinXp installer a few extra seconds to check your drives, and actually start installing WINXP on your C: drive. You can stop installation by simply opening CD/DVD tray, remove the WINXp cd and press F3 as prompted to restart your computer. WIN7 installer will reformat C: drive anyhow so there are no problems here.