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Issues with Windows XP and NTFS

The Ubuntu installer has included support for resizing NTFS partitions since Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) was released way back in 2005. Very few problems have been reported relative to the huge number of times that the installer has been used. If you tried the above procedure and have had no luck, it might be that there is a pre-existing problem either in the file system, in the partition table or the hard disk.

First you should try running CHKDSK before trying again to resize the partition, and if you are using the Alternate CD, defragging might help. It is recommended that you run CHKDSK once again after resizing your NTFS partition.

Also, try the following alternative methods:

Using QtParted from the System Rescue CD

1.    Boot into Windows and backup any valuable documents/photos etc onto removable media such as CD-R/DVD-R.

2.    Run the Windows disk check tool (Error-checking) on C: a couple of times (the results can be seen in the Administrative Tools > Event Viewer > Application under a "Winlogon" entry).

3.    Run the Windows defragmentation tool on C:

4.    Download the System Rescue CD ISO image (321 MB; has several very useful software tools).

5.    Burn the ISO image to a CD.

6.    Boot from the CD and hit Enter when you see the message "Boot:".

7.    When you get a command prompt, enter:

run_qtparted

1.    Select your disk on the graphical screen (most likely /dev/hda).

2.    Select your NTFS partition to be resized (most likely /dev/hda1).

3.    Right click with the mouse and choose Resize.

4.    Set the new partition size.

5.    Commit your changes in the File -> Commit menu. If your keyboard and mouse stop responding during resizing then please just be patient.

6.    Once your changes are saved, remove the System Rescue CD and insert your Ubuntu installation CD.

7.    Reboot and install Ubuntu into the free space.

Using GParted from UNetbootin-PartedMagic

Another approach to resizing partitions, which does not require a CD, is to load PartedMagic from Windows via the UNetbootin PartedMagic Loader:

1.    Download and install the Windows (.exe) file, then reboot.

2.    Select the UNetbootin-partedmagic entry after rebooting, and wait as PartedMagic boots up.

3.    Start the partition manager by clicking the GParted icon on the the panel.

4.    Select your disk (probably /dev/sda) via the drop-down menu on the top-right corner of the interface.

5.    Right-click the NTFS partition to be resized (probably /dev/sda1), and select the "resize" option.

6.    Drag the slider to specify the new size the NTFS partition should be resized to, then press OK.

7.    Press the "Apply" button to resize the disk, then reboot once done.

8.    Upon the next Windows boot, click OK when prompted to remove UNetbootin-partedmagic to remove its boot menu entry.

External Links

·         Ubuntuguide -- Dual-booting Windows and Ubuntu -- concise and up-to-date

·         Kubuntuguide -- Dual-booting Windows and Kubuntu -- concise and up-to-date

·         Illustrated Dual Boot Site.

·         Dual-Booting Ubuntu and Vista with EasyBCD

·         Step-By-Step Screenshot Tutorial to set-up an Ubuntu + Vista dual-boot

·         How-To: Dual-Boot Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper) Linux Desktop Along Side Windows XP

·         HowtoForge Guide: Partition Resizing using UNetbootin-PartedMagic