How to Partition with co-existence of Vista 32 & 64

Alan:

I watched your video with interest. I am a complete newcomer to the world of Linux. A friend of mine who is already using Ubuntu, has convinced me as being one of the better, if not the best distro of Linux to use and highly recommends Ubuntu. All that aside....

I have a 250GB hard disk in my notebook. I also have Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit and 32-bit both installed. My hard disk divvy goes something like this:
Primary partition 1 (C)= 45GB (Vista Ultimate 64-bit)
Primary partition 2 = 35GB (Vista Ultimate 32-bit)
Free Space = 15GB (Ubuntu reserved for testing and experimenting)
Logical Partition(D) = 54GB (Data)
Logical Partition(X) = 85GB (Xdata (extended data))

Questions:
Q1. Do I just reboot my system with the Ubuntu Linux CD in my DVD drive and start the install from it?
Q2. Partitioning, will I be able to install the Ubuntu Linux OS in the 15 GB of free space I have reserved in the above example and not disturb / disrupt my two Windows Vista installs? I guess my question here is, will I still be able to boot up into Windows upon completion of the Ubuntu install?
Q3. Do I have to partition the 15GB in advance from within Windows, prior to rebooting to commence the Ubuntu install? I have Acronis Disk Director which does allow for me to create an ext3 partition and a 'Linux Swap' as you present in your video.
Q4. Will 15GB suffice for initial test purposes? Per your video again, if minimum requirement for install is 2GB, I presume the allocation of 15GB should suffice. I am thinking 5GB for the ext3 in (/ (root)) for the OS install, and 2GB for the swap as I have 2GB of system RAM. The balance would be for the equivalent of a /home as you present in your video.

Thanks for your help and answer to my inquiries.

Jerry Suppan
a.k.a. TokyoJerry
Tokyo, Japan
mail: js.matrix@gmail.com

Reply