My dual boot windows c: has only 2 Gb left and no unallocated space nextdoor parttn. Disk mgt C: has 'extend volume' greyed out obv. Sorry newbie mistake i did query for similar threads but thought to check with u guys first as would hate to lose possibly Ubuntu exten parttn nextdoor to it(to right)... Ubuntu installer created (the previously massive, empty parttn i created nextdoor) this parttn as a container for its extended parttns for itself to be in. It (this nextdoor parttn) is 200 GB, i mistakenly made it massive, and with nothing else on it,prior to Ubuntu installtn. df -L shows it as just havg dos/mbr reference at top, with "bootstrap BOOTMGR" at bottom(assume all exten. parttns have this in them?).Just ntfs, otherwise empty. Shall i go ahead & use third party parttning software? As per, the only unallocated space is end of disk, linux's friendly 1.1Mb. No other unallocated anywhere, total newbie bloop!

I have no idea what your question is, but if you are trying to change the size of the partitions could you please post the output of

I, as a linux newbie, wouldn't use third party software.

Instead, after making sure your external drive has ALL your data on it, I'd consider using gparted (from inside linux) to change partition sizes.

If linux is stating that you only have 1.1Mb unallocated, and windoze if is complaining it is almost full, then changeing the size of your partitions is like rearranging the chairs on the Titanic .......... aka It is time for a second internal drive.

Hi again quickbreakfast! I'm sorry i thought my question was inferable. Perhaps should have stated it more clearly. I need to extend my windoze o/s on c: as it is giving warnings & only has 2 Gb left. The reason why Im not rearranging chairs on titanic is: it isnt titanic really. The entire partition next to it is empty 200 Gb!(sda5), except as carrier for extended pttn(sda3). I mounted c: (sda2) before df T. Also did mount | grep "^/dev" aftr mounting c:win also.

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This is probably a question that will get a prompt accurate answer in the software lounge of this site.

If you do head over to the software lounge, don't forget to mention which distro you are using.

Though I'm not exactly a linux newbie, accessing this parition is beyond my knowledge. Possibly cause I don't remember dual booting.

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Extended partitions do not contain data but are basically containers for logical partitions on which you can put data. sda3 is apparently the Extended partition and Ubuntu seems to be on sda7. Your windows system is on sda2 and it is a primary partition so you can't extend the primary (sda2) to a logical partition. Can't tell from your images exactly what partitions you have and where they are located in reference to each other. Any partition numbered 5 and higher from Linux is a logical partition. Probably be more useful to post the output of sudo fdisk -l

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Dear quickbreakfast,

Thankyou then i will try that. Tbird party swear they can increase partition sizws and decrease others, without need for migration, but whether or not this works on dualboot extended drives, which r spuriously attached to each other, i dont know! Thanks for checkin this out anyways...

Now ... if I might very-candidly say ... probably "dual booting" is no longer the best way to go. Modern CPUs have explicit hardware support for virtualization ... and one of the largest software companies in the world have gifted all of us with VirtualBox. It's absolutely free(!), full featured, and it runs on everything. (And did I mention that it's backed by one of the largest software corporations in the world ...?)

With it, you can run "any 'guest' operating system of your choice" on "any 'host' operating system of your choice," and you can very-simply manage each guest's requirements for "hard drives" within the host's native file system. (Yes, there are alternatives.) Performance is extremely competitive. Windows can run as a guest under Linux, or Linux can run as a guest under Windows. (Or, both can run as a guest under Macintosh OS/X!)

Therefore, all things considered, I kindly suggest that you "back away and explore this option," and I daresay that you will probably be very glad that you did. (I certainly was. "Thanks, Oracle!")

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Well that was a wasted post - if you won't help, why do you have the need to pontificate ?. Especially after those years away from LQ.

As to the problem at hand, we need more info as others have suggested. For me post these.A gparted liveCD will move any partition around if done in the correct order.

I certainly don't think that the post was "wasted" ... else, why would I have posted it?

Does it address "the immediate problem of an existing dual-boot configuration?" Obviously not. Instead, I meant it to offer a perspective.

Obviously, it tangental to the immediate thrust of the thread – not immediately concerned with the very-specific question of how to handle a physical disk's partition table and the tools that are immediately available to handle it. All of us immediately recognize this. And, if the OP (or, anyone else) regards it as a "distraction," I fully and completely understand. Simply ignore the post and move right along.

Every single participant in this thread, including me, is equally well-versed as to the underlying technical issue at hand and need not be reminded of it. We all know this.

I remember "dual booting." And I also remember when I first "stumbled upon" VirtualBox, after pounding my head against "retail VMWare®," suddenly discovering that I hadn't paid enough money for just the right "version" of their very-proprietary product. Innocently supposing at the time that VMWare® was my only alternative. Thereby gratefully re-discovering that: "There's More Than One Way To Do It.™"

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svg00 – we are on (I think ...) exactly the same page here. Peace.

Extended partition.
"An extended partition is a partition that can be divided into additional logical drives."
OS may name it different but as noted above you don't exactly work on a extended partition.

I agree that a Virtual Machine could be a solution. Safe, easy, ....

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Yes hi syg00, i tried to upload a single photo and it said on yr backend, nginx "request entity too large".Anyhow, all it says (very concise command output)is:sda1/ntfs/sys drive/fsavail 1.1G/FSUSE23%/media/ana
sda2/ntfs//win7/fsavail 2.1G/FSUSE96%/media/ana
sda3/blank(this is 190Gb)
sda4/ntfs/lenovo recovery
sda5/ntfs/new volume/fsavail 197.4G/FSUSE%0%/media/ana
sda/ext4/fsavail 169.5G/FSUSE6%/ /
In short, I wish I could start again almost. I have Clonezilla disk clone & backups. Installation disks. Do u think i would suffer data loss if i use third party partition/drive shrinking for sda5 & extending for sda2?

Then do exactly that. Resize, and format, your partitions then do a re install.

I don't use clonezilla for my backups.

I use the rsync command

When I backup my HDD, my, simplified, command is (I name my partitions, and my external drives)

In place of /source/ you'd probably use /home/

In place of /destination you'd use the address listed in the address of your file manager.

What switches I use are explained in the rsync man page. To read the man page type

type q when you've read enuff.

Because your data is backed up (isn't it?), the only data you'll lose is the data not on your, disconnected, external backup(s).

So back up ALL your data, on ALL your partitions immediately prior to doing the format/partition resizing and, after you use the copy (cp) command to copy your data back onto your internal drive, you should be good to go.

PS. Life might be much easier, if you dropped windoze.

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That won't work as sda2 is a primary partition and sda5 is a logical.

The output in your last post indicates sd3 is empty when in all likelihood, it is actually your Extended partition containing sda5 and sda6. It would be much better if you would copy and paste the output of the commands here rather than trying to type them in as what you typed isn't correct. The output of the fdisk command I suggested earlier would have been more informative as it also shows sectors for each partition, start, end and total. Without this information, it is not possible to know if partitions are contiguous.

Any time your are modifying partitions, you should have complete backups as there is always a risk of data loss and the less a user knows about partitioning, the higher the risk.

The output from your last post shows that sda1 and sda2 are small (1.1GB and 2.1GB) and sda5 is 197GB. sda1 and sda2 are far too small to be your windows system partition so that is likely sda5 which is a logical partition. Windows can be installed on a logical partition if you have its boot files on a primary (sda1 or sda2). To resize and Extended partition you must first unmount the logical partitions and since Ubuntu is on sda6, you will need to use a 'live' usb, the Ubuntu install usb which has GParted can be used.

The link below is to the resizing options available with GParted, might be a good idea to read through it before beginning.

https://gparted.org/display-doc.php%...size-partition

Posting the output of fdisk -l will give more accurate information.

If your windows system partition is close to full, another possible option is to shrink the Ubuntu partition (sda6) leaving unallocated partition at the end of the drive and create another ntfs data partition there and copy personal data (photos, movies, music, etc.) from your system partition to the newly created partition.

Thanks quickbreakfast. I'll do that.

Is there anything i should know when partitioning re needs for unallocated space between partitions(after os i assume?).

Also, the linux installer missed my big partition i created for it & went ahead and created two partitions(extended) where it appears (if u look) sda5 is unused!?! What is that for? It has everything on / sda6 (which i just wrote as "sda" at the end there).
So do i just save the sda6 /? Do i need these Two partitions?

Thankyou for your direct helping here.

You created a separate partition within windows but I assume you selected "install along side Windows" when you installed Ubuntu and therefore the installer resized sda5 to create two new partitions i.e /(root) and swap.

Resizing and moving partitions is not for the feint of heart but can be done. To add space to sda2 you need to:

delete sda5 since it is unused anyway
resize your sda3 to remove the now unallocated space.
move sda3 to the right to create adjacent space to sda2.
resize sda2

If you want to reinstall Ubuntu you can:
delete the extended partition.
resize sda2
create an extended partition in the remaining unallocated space.
Install Ubuntu but select "Something Else" when asked how to install.
You will now have to manually create partitions which can be confusing but not difficult.

And always have verified backups...