Short answer: install the Ubuntu package ntfsprogs and use the application ntfsresize A little more detail: In this context, "volume" is equivalent to "block device" in Linux-speak. In the context of a hard disk, that means partition. If I ever knew the technical reasons why, I have long since forgotten it, but it is in the nature of NTFS to spread data across the entire partition. Defragmenters do not usually touch this spread. They merely consolidate all files into contiguous blocks. The manpage for ntfsresize claims that defragging is not necessary. Mistrustful soul that I am, I do it anyway. There is one commercial Windows defragger that _*does_* move everything to the beginning of the disk. It is PerfectDisk and is available from www.raxco.com. BTW, this product generally comes first in reviews of Windows defraggers. No need to buy; there is a 30-day trial which is fully functional, just time-limited. Again, it goes without saying that any time you play with partitions and with partition boundaries, your data is at risk. Make sure that any data on the partition is adequately backed up. If you are just starting at a new job, this might not yet be an issue. I believe that ntfsresize is on the Ubuntu install disk. Try Ctl-Alt-F2 for a root shell. Any of the standard Linux partition utilities should show your disk layout, and if there is any unused space. The "missing" 20GB might be "hidden partitions" containing Windows disk images and manufacturers' utilities images. Large manufacturers typically save themselves pennies by putting images on the HD rather than providing media to the purchaser. A decent ncurses-based partition utility is cfdisk; but there is nothing wrong with gparted on the Ubuntu installer. Hope this helps. --- Ralph Boland <rpboland [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com> wrote: > Hi > For those of you who know me I should point out that I have > finally found a job, in Lethbridge Alberta. I start work on > Monday. > > Everyone at work except myself uses windows but I have been > allowed to use Linux as long as I am my own sys admin. > I will be the user of the machine 90-99% of the time. > > So this weekend I am trying to do a dual boot of Ubuntu 7.10 > for the first > time. > Eventually I need to create a shared area that I and others > can > both use but to keep things simple I did a dual boot without > creating a > shared area > (I have never partitioned a disk before). > > Windows XP seems to use about 10G but even after multiple > defragmentations > it is spread out over appx. 40G. Also, the windows > defragmentor only > references about 140G even though I have a 160G drive. > So when I installed ubuntu 7.10 I (thought I) set it to use > 95G of memory > (68%) > for Linux. > This was selected by moving an arrow selecting between 0 and > 100 %. > This didn't give me the result I expected. Windows does run > but when I do a > > df from ubuntu I see only about 60G of disk space (about 68% > of 95G) > and it seems I have a volume? of approximately 95G. > > So now I am confused. > I assume that what I should do is run some kind of > partitioning program and > partition my 160G drive into: > 40G for windows (I would like it to be less, say 30G). > 30G for Linux (I would prefer 40G). > 90G for a shared space accessible by Windows and Linux. > > I downloaded and burned the system rescue CD > systemrescuecd-x86-0.43.iso. > Its documentation says I can use it to do the partition. > > Must I partition my disk into volumes? Any what is a volume > anyway? > Any explanation as to what things I did wrong much > appreciated. > Any explanation as to what I do now even more appreciated. > If I am provided with enough information by Sunday I will try > again then. > > By the way, my work machine is a Dell with an Intel dual core, > 4G of memory > and a dual head graphics card (which I haven't got working > yet). A big > improvement over my home machine. > > Regards, > > Ralph Boland > _______________________________________________ > Linux mailing list > Linux [ at ] lists [ dot ] oclug [ dot ] on [ dot ] ca > http://oclug.on.ca/mailman/listinfo/linux > -- Bruce Miller Ottawa ON, Canada bruce [ at ] brmiller [ dot ] ca (613) 745-1151 This message is from a webmail login and not from my regular mail system. It does not have my customary digital signature.