On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 1:30 PM, Prof. John C Nash <nashjc [ at ] uottawa [ dot ] ca> wrote: <snip> > As I recall, the structure was > > 1 MB free unallocated > 200 MB NTFS /dev/sda1 > 187 GB NTFS /dev/sda2 > 30 GB NTFS /dev/sda3 (extended) > 30 GB NTFS /dev/sda5 > 14.5 GB NTFS /dev/sda4 > > (with some odd unallocated bits of about 1MB between) <snip> > Does anyone have a good strategy for dealing with the Lenovo-style > situation, which I fear is more or less a deliberate setup to block dual > boot? This might make a very good tutorial / advice topic, and of course be > beneficial to the Linux community generally, since many folk are reluctant > to go to all-Linux right away. I find they eventually forget how to use > Windows once they have Linux, but getting them going means finding > convenient ways to set up dual boot. > > Cheers, JN This partitioning may also accommodate a recovery feature on the laptop. I don't have experience with Lenovo but dell creates hidden partitions to recover the original os. Dell creates a hidden partition on the drive that is a mirrored image of the boot drive. If you delete the partition, you remove the ability to restore the machine to the out-of-the-box configuration. Make sure all the partitions are visible from windows before you start repartitioning the drive. eds.