[Linux4christians] Repartitioning the hard way...

[Eddy Martin]

On 06/06/2011 09:07 AM, Preston Boyington wrote:
> how much space are we talking about? 20-30 Gig?  100 Gig?  the reason 
> I ask is that the size/number of the files _can_ affect the advice.  
> If you have a DVD burner and time on your hands then going through a 
> stack of blank DVDs isn't that big of a deal on 30 Gig.  moreso on 80+ 
> Gig since you'll want to check the files to be sure you didn't get a 
> bad burn.

If 'du -cs' is to be trusted, I have ~ 60G in my home folder, about half 
of which is taken up by VMware and Virtualbox stuff.
It's only Windows, that can go... ;)

> my experience with Gparted, and GUI (r)sync/mirror software in Linux 
> has been very good over the last several years. 

Very good.
I've used it to good effect when partitioning a new drive for 
installation or extra storage, but not on a 'live' system.
Now that I think of it, I could probably test out many of these ideas on 
a virtual machine, just to get the steps down.
Hmmm...

> Be aware, you probably won't be able to create a partition at the 
> "front" of the drive.  using Gparted you'll be shown the available 
> free space at the end of the drive.  If you are going to put Microsoft 
> Windows on the machine this will be an issue.  not because "it's not 
> Linux", but because Windows doesn't like running from someplace other 
> than the first partition.
>
> Linux/BSD is much more forgiving on where things are partitions wise.

Oh no, that wasn't my concern at all, I was just hoping to keep the 
existing data where it is, perhaps "scooting" it more towards the 
'front' to make room for a new partition.
Then, I'd copy my home stuff into the new spot and re-install into the old.
That way, upgrading is more comfortable and backups more convenient.

> as stated earlier, use either a LiveCD or a LiveUSB.  I'll suggest 
> something like Puppy Linux (just used latest 525 and was pleased). 
> Puppy has Gparted and GUI file sync'ing programs that will help you 
> through.
>
> as far as creating a bootable USB flash drive, I would suggest 
> UNetBootin.  with it you can grab a LiveCD iso image and install it to 
> the flash drive with just a few clicks.
>
> these are just my suggestions.  YMMV.

Thank you, I appreciate all of this very much.

-Eddy