[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition Absolute Beginner Talk Question

Question [ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition ( Ubuntu Forums Absolute Beginner Talk )
Updated: 2008-11-23 01:50:16 (15)

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

I've had Ubuntu for months now and want to get rid of the unused XP partition hanging out on my hard drive. I was planning on using GParted. Problem is, I can't figure out which partition it is. In GParted, it seems like /dev/sda1 is Ubuntu and /dev/sda3 is Windows. I say this because /dev/sda1 has a 'boot' flag under the flag section, and when I start my computer it auto-boots to Ubuntu. In 'sudo fdisk -l', though, I get this:

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12161 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x28000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        6597    52990371    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2           11449       12161     5727172+   5  Extended
/dev/sda3            6598       11448    38965657+  83  Linux
/dev/sda5           11662       12161     4016218+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6           11449       11661     1710859+  82  Linux swap / Solaris

which clearly shows /dev/sda3 being Linux. Another reason I thought /dev/sda1 was Ubuntu was because I don't think I would have made the Windows partition bigger than Ubuntu's.

Anyways, now I am pretty sure /dev/sda1 is the one I want to delete (Windows), I am just posting the above so someone can hopefully verify which is which without any doubt.

So after identifying the one I need to delete, how do I do so? In the graphical representation of the partitions in GParted, right-clicking on /dev/sda1 has a 'delete' option. Is that all I need to do? Also, can I delete the swap partition since Windows will be gone?

And what is the 'Extended' partition?

Thanks in advance.

Answers: [ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition ( Ubuntu Forums Absolute Beginner Talk )

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

Alright, that was extremely simple, the reformat was essentially instantaneous. So now I have a large unallocated partition. How can I make Ubuntu take up that space? Right-clicking the Ubuntu partition shows the 'resize' option grayed out.

Thanks for your help, by the way.

ConMan318

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

Alright, I'll just keep the swaps. I just didn't know if their only purpose was storing files in a place that both Windows and Ubuntu could access them.

ConMan318

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

the swap file in linux works more like the pagefile.sys in windows. It would not work for windows as it is in a format that windows cant read.

halitech

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

if you want to keep ubuntu then I would make sure you keep one at least, otherwise things could go haywire. not sure which you should keep though. anyone else got an idea?

halitech

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

Keep one of them. Go ahead and toast the other if you really want to.

YaroMan86

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

NTFS == Windows.

GPartEd specifies exactly what file systems are what.

YaroMan86

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

Alright, so can I just right-click > 'delete' on /dev/sda1 to delete the partition? And how about the 2 swap partitions I seem to have? Can they go, too?

ConMan318

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

I am pretty much certain that /dev/sda1 is your Windows Installation, since Windows ONLY uses the NTFS file system.

OutOfReach

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

/dev/sda1 is your windows partition

do you have a c:\ and d:\ when you are in windows?

halitech

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

you cant resize an active (mounted partition) so you will need to boot from the Gparted cd or the live cd and do it from there

halitech

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

Alright, downloading the .iso for the GParted LiveCD now. Hopefully the resize will be as easy as the deletion of Windows.

Thanks again guys!

ConMan318

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

I've never done it myself (lack of a cd rom on the laptop where I needed it friday night) but from what I've read and seen, it should be just as easy

halitech

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

Dear ConMan318,

Quote:

Originally Posted by ConMan318

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12161 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x28000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        6597    52990371    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2           11449       12161     5727172+   5  Extended
/dev/sda3            6598       11448    38965657+  83  Linux
/dev/sda5           11662       12161     4016218+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6           11449       11661     1710859+  82  Linux swap / Solaris

which clearly shows /dev/sda3 being Linux. Another reason I thought /dev/sda1 was Ubuntu was because I don't think I would have made the Windows partition bigger than Ubuntu's.

Anyways, now I am pretty sure /dev/sda1 is the one I want to delete (Windows), I am just posting the above so someone can hopefully verify which is which without any doubt.

So after identifying the one I need to delete, how do I do so? In the representation of the partitions in GParted, right-clicking on /dev/sda1 has a 'delete' option. Is that all I need to do? Also, can I delete the swap partition since Windows will be gone?

And what is the 'Extended' partition?

Thanks in advance.

Your /dev/sda1 is the Windows Partition for sure. As far as the two swap partitions /dev/sda5 & /dev/sda6 you may choose to remove /dev/sda6 as it seems to be quite large and you need to have only a maximum of two times of your RAM. Open the terminal and output the results of

Code:

df

for us to make a decision along with the memory in your system.

Liakath

Liakath

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

Alright, well the deed is done, and Windows is no longer present in my laptop . Liakath, my 'df' output is:

Code:

Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3             81453580  20526996  57616556  27% /
varrun                 1037144        92   1037052   1% /var/run
varlock                1037144         0   1037144   0% /var/lock
udev                   1037144        56   1037088   1% /dev
devshm                 1037144        12   1037132   1% /dev/shm
lrm                    1037144     38684    998460   4% /lib/modules/2.6.24-19-generic/volatile

I actually have one further question; my menu.lst file still contains an entry for the non-existant windows partition. The end of /boot/grub/menu.lst looks like this:

Code:

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title		Other operating systems:
root


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title		Microsoft Windows XP Professional
root		(hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader	+1

and I was just wondering how much to delete, i.e. do I delete everything below "### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST" or everything after the divider block, or somewhere else? What should the end of that file look like?

ConMan318

[ubuntu] Want to delete Windows partition

since windows is now gone, should be able to safely delete everything after the ###

halitech

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