The Steel Guitar Forum

All right partition 101 go!

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=282018

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/partitioning

and this:(doesnt matter that its for win 7, tha procedure is similar)

http://members.iinet.net.au/~herman546/p23.html


It will save you some serious worrying if you spend the time to read through these 3 pages.


Also in the terminal is where linux is most powerful. Here is a tutorial you can use while you are using the live cd

http://linuxcommand.org/learning_the_shell.php#contents

Steve- sorry about not getting those gparted pics sooner. just wasn't clear on how to do it.

My alt-prtsc keys don't work to make a screen shot.

I don't know how to post pics on the forum.

I did attempt just now to take those pics in Ubuntu.
There is a screen capture in Accessories, so I used it.
Sudo gparted (pic captured)
Gparted drop down menu pic could not be taken, because the menu disappeared when click to pic went off.

2nd option pic was captured.

NO COMMAND for sudo 1shw. Didn't work.

Mitch - I bought all those additional storage/HDDs just in case I might need the space later on. Mainly for music files. It might have been over-kill, but how can too much space be a bad thing?

its lshw not 1shw lower case L instead of l. weirdwork, and when I checked mine it didnt work either about the screenshots thats how it used to work, but when I checked mine it didnt work either.

to post pics use the upload picture option above where you type, then browse to the screenshot

Steve - getting back now.

I'm gonna go try again.

I do have my own screenshot program called MrSnappy, and tried it in Ubuntu, but as I figured by now, it didn't work.

On the 'menu option 2nd choice', I guess I'll just type in what it says.

I can access the Forum in Ubuntu and I got the message on uploading pics on the 'post reply' page, so all should go well, , I hope.

Here are the pics, Steve.

Gparted drop down menu says: (1)/dev/sda (298.09 GiB) and (2)/dev/sdb (232.88 GiB).

Two Things: Ubuntu seems too large for my monitor screen. Seems like some things may be hidden beyond the screen borders.
And, is there anyway to shutoff the humongous earsplitting soundblast on startup. My volume MUTE has no affect.

I hope the pics get through.


I spoke too soon, and quickly saw the images and was unaware that the screenshot window would bleed through. (see below)

WHOOPS! How was I to know. Here are better pics.




Now I'm going to read all those latest links.

Well, I think you have enough free disk space.

so you have 2 hard drives, sda and sdb
sda has 3 partitions, sad 1, sda2, and sda3

hard drive 2 is sdb

sdb has 1 partition on it.

what I would do is make a new partition in sdb1, as you got all kinds of room there. Then install ubuntu onto that new partition.

also instead of screenshoting lshw could you actually left click on the info, scroll up holding the left click then right click the highlited part, chose copy. then just right click and paste into the forum reply?

looks like the part shown was your external hard drives

as far as screen resolution try opening settings preferences or settings>administration and look for a screen resolution option.


also can you run gparted without any external drives present or pluged in? I want to make sure sdb exists and is not an external drive (typically usb thins pop up as sdd but that is not always the case.)

OK - I'll get right to it.

'sdb' is F:(Seagate). The drive I wanted to use all along [for Unbuntu].

I've gone through all your links.

BOY! I've got a pretty steep climb ahead of me. Bigtime curve. This is really getting into the hard and unhappy part of computing. It's as bad and tough as high school French.

I could read only a bit in each one, and as one of the authors mentioned,
"Clear as mud, eh?"

I'm pushing on, but it's mind numbing stuff.

What about that 'atomic blast' when Ubuntu startup gets to a certain point? I'm worried about blowing speakers (let alone my ears). I don't know how to cut it off.

Now I really know what Morrison meant when he espoused, "You CAN NOT partition the Lord!"

No kidding, Jim!

Just saw this: 'sdb' is INTERNAL (Seagate); Both my external drives, L: & K: (Mybooks) are USB, but they are always turned OFF. I only turn on K: to do the Acronis imaging.

Here you go Steve...


ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo lshw
ubuntu
description: Desktop Computer
product: Aspire M3100
vendor: Acer
version: R01-A3
serial: PTS880X04080102D762702
width: 32 bits
capabilities: smbios-2.5 dmi-2.5 smp-1.4 smp
configuration: boot=normal chassis=desktop cpus=2 uuid=001C2555-12AE-2008-0103-131144000000
*-core
description: Motherboard
product: F690GVM
vendor: Acer
physical id: 0
*-firmware
description: BIOS
vendor: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
physical id: 0
version: 6.00 PG (10/10/2007)
size: 128KiB
capacity: 448KiB
capabilities: isa pci pnp apm upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy360 int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb agp ls120boot zipboot biosbootspecification
*-cpu:0
description: CPU
product: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD]
physical id: 4
bus info: cpu@0
version: 15.11.2
slot: Socket AM2
size: 1800MHz
capacity: 3GHz
width: 64 bits
clock: 199MHz
capabilities: boot fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt rdtscp x86-64 3dnowext 3dnow pni cx16 lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm extapic cr8_legacy 3dnowprefetch cpufreq
*-cache:0
description: L1 cache
physical id: a
slot: Internal Cache
size: 128KiB
capacity: 128KiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back
*-cache:1
description: L2 cache
physical id: b
slot: External Cache
size: 512KiB
capacity: 512KiB
capabilities: synchronous internal write-back
*-memory
description: System Memory
physical id: 25
slot: System board or motherboard
size: 3GiB
*-bank:0
description: DIMM 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
physical id: 0
slot: A0
size: 1GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 667MHz (1.5ns)
*-bank:1
description: DIMM 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
physical id: 1
slot: A2
size: 1GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 667MHz (1.5ns)
*-bank:2
description: DIMM 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
physical id: 2
slot: A4
size: 1GiB
width: 64 bits
clock: 667MHz (1.5ns)
*-bank:3
description: DIMM [empty]
physical id: 3
slot: A6
width: 64 bits
*-cpu:1
physical id: 1
bus info: cpu@1
version: 15.11.2
size: 1800MHz
capacity: 1800MHz
capabilities: cpufreq
*-cache:0
description: L1 cache
physical id: 0
size: 128KiB
*-cache:1
description: L2 cache
physical id: 1
size: 512KiB
*-pci:0
description: Host bridge
product: RS690 Host Bridge
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 100
bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
configuration: latency=64
*-pci:0
description: PCI bridge
product: RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (Internal gfx)
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 1
bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: pci ht bus_master cap_list
*-display UNCLAIMED
description: VGA compatible controller
product: RS690 [Radeon X1200 Series]
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 5
bus info: pci@0000:01:05.0
version: 00
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=64
*-multimedia
description: Audio device
product: Radeon X1200 Series Audio Controller
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 5.2
bus info: pci@0000:01:05.2
version: 00
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=HDA Intel latency=64 module=snd_hda_intel
*-pci:1
description: PCI bridge
product: RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (PCI Express Port 3)
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 7
bus info: pci@0000:00:07.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pci pm pciexpress msi ht bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=pcieport-driver
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
vendor: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 20
serial: 00:1c:25:55:12:ae
size: 100MB/s
capacity: 1GB/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm vpd msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=sky2 driverversion=1.22 duplex=full firmware=N/A ip=192.168.15.2 latency=0 link=yes module=sky2 multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100MB/s
*-storage
description: SATA controller
product: SB600 Non-Raid-5 SATA
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 12
bus info: pci@0000:00:12.0
logical name: scsi0
logical name: scsi1
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: storage pm bus_master cap_list emulated
configuration: driver=ahci latency=64 module=ahci
*-disk
description: ATA Disk
product: ST3320820AS
vendor: Seagate
physical id: 0
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sda
version: 3.AA
serial: 9QF7KNVC
size: 298GiB (320GB)
capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
configuration: ansiversion=5 signature=435e5337
*-volume:0
description: Windows NTFS volume
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
logical name: /dev/sda1
version: 3.1
serial: 16d9-b5d2
size: 9993MiB
capacity: 9993MiB
capabilities: primary ntfs initialized
configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2007-12-06 08:28:39 filesystem=ntfs label=PQSERVICE state=clean
*-volume:1
description: Windows NTFS volume
physical id: 2
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,2
logical name: /dev/sda2
version: 3.1
serial: fa5346f9-546a-8145-82fc-7b4617b81b05
size: 144GiB
capacity: 144GiB
capabilities: primary bootable ntfs initialized
configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2008-04-07 19:56:12 filesystem=ntfs label=ACER modified_by_chkdsk=true mounted_on_nt4=true resize_log_file=true state=dirty upgrade_on_mount=true
*-volume:2
description: Windows NTFS volume
physical id: 3
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,3
logical name: /dev/sda3
version: 3.1
serial: 10e37de2-21b8-3e46-9dd0-70bec7eb4f41
size: 144GiB
capacity: 144GiB
capabilities: primary ntfs initialized
configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2007-12-06 08:39:55 filesystem=ntfs label=DATA state=clean
*-cdrom
description: DVD-RAM writer
product: DVD RW AD-7170S
vendor: Optiarc
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/cdrom
logical name: /dev/cdrw
logical name: /dev/dvd
logical name: /dev/dvdrw
logical name: /dev/scd0
logical name: /dev/sr0
logical name: /cdrom
version: 1.01
serial: [Optiarc DVD RW AD-7170S 1.01 Jan11,2007
capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r dvd-ram
configuration: ansiversion=5 mount.fstype=iso9660 mount.options=ro,noatime state=mounted status=ready
*-medium
physical id: 0
logical name: /dev/cdrom
logical name: /cdrom
configuration: mount.fstype=iso9660 mount.options=ro,noatime state=mounted
*-usb:0
description: USB Controller
product: SB600 USB (OHCI0)
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 13
bus info: pci@0000:00:13.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: bus_master
configuration: driver=ohci_hcd latency=64
*-usb:1
description: USB Controller
product: SB600 USB (OHCI1)
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 13.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:13.1
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: bus_master
configuration: driver=ohci_hcd latency=64
*-usb:2
description: USB Controller
product: SB600 USB (OHCI2)
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 13.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:13.2
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: bus_master
configuration: driver=ohci_hcd latency=64
*-usb:3
description: USB Controller
product: SB600 USB (OHCI3)
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 13.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:13.3
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: bus_master
configuration: driver=ohci_hcd latency=64
*-usb:4
description: USB Controller
product: SB600 USB (OHCI4)
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 13.4
bus info: pci@0000:00:13.4
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: bus_master
configuration: driver=ohci_hcd latency=64
*-usb:5
description: USB Controller
product: SB600 USB Controller (EHCI)
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 13.5
bus info: pci@0000:00:13.5
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: pm debug bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=64 module=ehci_hcd
*-serial
description: SMBus
product: SBx00 SMBus Controller
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 14
bus info: pci@0000:00:14.0
version: 14
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: ht cap_list
configuration: driver=piix4_smbus latency=0 module=i2c_piix4
*-ide
description: IDE interface
product: SB600 IDE
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 14.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:14.1
logical name: scsi4
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: ide bus_master emulated
configuration: driver=pata_atiixp latency=64
*-disk
description: ATA Disk
product: ST3250620A
vendor: Seagate
physical id: 0.0.0
bus info: scsi@4:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sdb
version: 3.AA
serial: 9QF6W1DW
size: 232GiB (250GB)
capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
configuration: ansiversion=5 signature=ed00ed00
*-volume
description: Windows NTFS volume
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@4:0.0.0,1
logical name: /dev/sdb1
version: 3.1
serial: b6243f0c-9708-a34e-9d32-db8f013d4f88
size: 232GiB
capacity: 232GiB
capabilities: primary bootable ntfs initialized
configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2004-08-09 22:44:02 filesystem=ntfs state=clean
*-isa
description: ISA bridge
product: SB600 PCI to LPC Bridge
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 14.3
bus info: pci@0000:00:14.3
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: isa bus_master
configuration: latency=0
*-pci:2
description: PCI bridge
product: SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge
vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
physical id: 14.4
bus info: pci@0000:00:14.4
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: pci bus_master vga_palette
*-multimedia
description: Multimedia audio controller
product: CA0106 Soundblaster
vendor: Creative Labs
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=CA0106 latency=64 maxlatency=20 mingnt=2 module=snd_ca0106
*-firewire
description: FireWire (IEEE 1394)
product: TSB43AB23 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
vendor: Texas Instruments
physical id: 6
bus info: pci@0000:03:06.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=ohci1394 latency=64 maxlatency=4 mingnt=2 module=ohci1394
*-pci:1
description: Host bridge
product: K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD]
physical id: 101
bus info: pci@0000:00:18.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
*-pci:2
description: Host bridge
product: K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD]
physical id: 102
bus info: pci@0000:00:18.1
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
*-pci:3
description: Host bridge
product: K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD]
physical id: 103
bus info: pci@0000:00:18.2
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
*-pci:4
description: Host bridge
product: K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
vendor: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD]
physical id: 104
bus info: pci@0000:00:18.3
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
configuration: driver=k8temp module=k8temp
*-scsi
physical id: 2
bus info: usb@4:1
logical name: scsi6
capabilities: emulated scsi-host
configuration: driver=usb-storage
*-disk:0
description: SCSI Disk
physical id: 0.0.0
bus info: scsi@6:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sdc
*-disk:1
description: SCSI Disk
physical id: 0.0.1
bus info: scsi@6:0.0.1
logical name: /dev/sdd
*-disk:2
description: SCSI Disk
physical id: 0.0.2
bus info: scsi@6:0.0.2
logical name: /dev/sde
*-disk:3
description: SCSI Disk
physical id: 0.0.3
bus info: scsi@6:0.0.3
logical name: /dev/sdf
*-network DISABLED
description: Ethernet interface
physical id: 1
logical name: pan0
serial: 22:1c:31:ca:b6:56
capabilities: ethernet physical
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=bridge driverversion=2.3 firmware=N/A link=yes multicast=yes
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

awesome, yep sdb is a hard drive.

see Look how much you learned already!

whenever your ready I would install ubuntu to sdb by shrinking your pre-existing partition (sdb1) to whatever size you need, or if you are sure that is F and you want to get rid of that just reformate sbd in gparted then install linux onto that whole drive.

My recommendation:

Understanding that there is a small risk of damage to a hard drive during any type of install, repartition, or work of any kind to a hard drive, and that is a risk you are willing to take, and I am not a liscenced professional,

then I would leave whats on sdb, shrink the partition down to say 40gb, then use the new blank space to install linux.

once thats done the next row of hurdles can be leapt.

Preview of the next group of hurdles.

1 change the boot order of your drives in bios so the sdb will be boot number one. (it will contain the boot loader called grub)

2 initial update of linux

3 loading restricted drivers

4 making sure windows still also boots. (modifying grub if it didnt detect windows, which is rare for ubuntu)


im going on a quick band tour starting tomorrow till the end of the month so I wont be able to help. the folks at ubuntuforums.org are great and your in good hands with everyone else here if you want to do it now.


Your doing great and youve already learned an enormous amount!


for the record I have installed deleted and reinstalled multiple linux distros on my hard drives without ever losing data or any windows files, or corrupting my hard drives in any way. Apparently it does happen tho from poor sole to poor sole.

Chip Fossa wrote: Ubuntu seems too large for my monitor screen. Seems like some things may be hidden beyond the screen borders.

Is there a lot of hidden stuff, or just a fraction of an inch? If it is just a little tiny bit missing, maybe you will have to tweak the controls on the monitor. I had to do that with mine. Ubuntu seems to be about 2 or 3 pixels to the right of where Windows is.

Chip Fossa wrote: What about that 'atomic blast' when Ubuntu startup gets to a certain point? I'm worried about blowing speakers (let alone my ears). I don't know how to cut it off.

(unplug the speakers?)

Just a guess here, but maybe the sound card drivers that are on the Live CD don't include your sound card. After you install Ubuntu, it can probably find the right drivers automatically. In my case I had to find and install them myself.

Are you able to hear anything else from the computer speakers besides the bad noise? For example YouTube etc?

last post here for a bit,
that list hardware command is handy to have printed out and stored for your records, a way to print it is to send the out put of the command to your printer


try this

• lshw | lp
  or :
  lshw | lpr

that vertical bar is located above the enter key (on the \ key). it takes the output of one command and runs it through it another command.

Having that printed will help solve hard ware issues if your computer goes down.

it may or may not work but its worth a try

Chip:

I researched your hard drives as shown in that long list of hardware just above.

You have 2 Seagate drives.

The original is a Seagate 7200.10 series drive with an unformatted capacity of 250 gigs. This drive has a traditional IDE (ATA 100) interface.

The one you added is a Seagate 7200.10 series drive with an unformatted capacity of 320 gigs. This drive has the newer SATA 3.0 interface.

You can quickly tell which is which when you pop the case--the original drive will have a wide flat cable attached to it by a plug about 2 inches wide. This cable is nearly 2 inches wide and will have a bunch of fine ribs. One end to your motherboard and one end to the drive.

The newer 320 gig drive won't have that wide ribbed flat cable. Instead it will use a narrow flat cable, about the width of a pencil.

Since they are both Seagate 7200.10 drives, they use the same technology--circa 2006/7.

They should perform nearly identically if not defective, so it shouldn't matter from a speed perspective which one should be used for operating systems. The only consideration you might have is their relative size and your plans for any future storage or partitioning.

If you intend to install Windows 7, you may well want to consider another partitioning scheme on your original 250 gig drive if that is where you want to put Windows 7.

That EISA 10 gig partition on your original drive was put there at the factory and is for recovery/restore purposes. Assuming it works, it would restore your original drive to the state it was in when your PC shipped. I can't think of any reason to keep it around at this date, considering your Acronis imaging and other backups. It would be totally useless if you installed Windows 7 on that drive and you should be able to get rid of it in about 30 seconds flat.

Chip:

Regarding the EISA partition, you might want to look here:

http://tinyurl.com/64dcwn

Apparently, that partition can be difficult to delete, but the link tells you how to do it in Vista.

I wouldn't be surprised if you could do it easily from within Ubuntu as well. Might be a useful project for you, but naturally you have to make sure you have chosen the correct partition, as usual.

Chip:

Edit: If it were me, I would get rid of that EISA partition--but on second thought, I wouldn't recommend it to you at this time because there is a possibility something could go wrong and you may not have official Windows Vista install discs to reinstall in that case--or Acronis may fail you.

So, in your shoes, I would forget about it until you are willing to absolutely get rid of Vista--which presumably would be when you install Windows 7.

Steve - thanks again for all your help and the analysis/recommendations. Have a successful gig. I'll try to see if I can print out the "Drudge Report".

EB - I got the screen reso resolved OK. I haven't really tried out any SOUND yet on Ubuntu; but I can turn off the two speaker systems manually. One is Logitech THX and the other is Creative Gigaworks T-20. I turn them off anyway when I turn off the PC.
I guess I'm trying to do too much at one time with Ubuntu. The 'sound' has been shelved for the moment. Maybe today I'll look into it more. Thanks, EB.

Mitch, thanks for reminding me I have TWO Seagates. I forgot about the second one. Probably because it is NOT listed in COMPUTER.

Something doesn't jive here. In Computer I have listed
Acer C:(144GB) - Data D:(144GB) - Local Disk F:(232GB) & of course DVD-RW E:.

I just opened the case, and
as you said, the Seagate with the small plug is the 320GB drive; The other Seagate with the flat cable (2") is the 250GB drive.
I'm just assuming (now) that F: drive with 232GB is the '250GB Seagate'.

Why isn't the '320GB Seagate' listed or shown in Computer?

Also, what are the pros & cons of installing Win7 to a different drive, rather than dumping it on top of Vista? Or maybe, because I'm getting the UPGRADE, I have to put it on Vista. Maybe only the full version of Win7 can be installed separately?

Anyway, I got a lot to mull over.

Chip:

My post of last night was in error.

Here is a paste from your list of hardware:

*-disk
description: ATA Disk
product: ST3250620A
vendor: Seagate
physical id: 0.0.0
bus info: scsi@4:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sdb
version: 3.AA
serial: 9QF6W1DW
size: 232GiB (250GB

The above is the new drive that you added. It is now F. It will have the wide flat cable.

The other Seagate is this one below. It is the original drive of 320 gb. It has C, D, and EISA partitions. It is also called Acer. This is the drive with the small flat cable.

*-disk
description: ATA Disk
product: ST3320820AS
vendor: Seagate
physical id: 0
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sda
version: 3.AA
serial: 9QF7KNVC
size: 298GiB (320GB)

Acer doesn't add up to 320 GB and F shows as 232 GB rather than 250 GB. That is entirely normal and due to alternate and confusing ways of computing gigabytes. Formatted capacity is always 6 or 8% short of advertised capacity.

Re drives and Windows 7:

It is a virtual certainty that you will be able to install your Windows 7 upgrade version on either drive--on top of Vista or not, your choice.

I would wait a few days after you get Windows 7 to install it--that gives us time to check out web reports of how others have fared with their installation attempts on new drive, new partitions, over Vista, not over Vista, etc.

You have an empty F and you have to decide what you intend to do with it ultimately. If you intend to keep Linux around long term, you might want to keep Windows and Linux on separate hard drives, but many people don't do that. It seems a shame to let your entire F drive stand unused.

You may want to use F as a place to put file by file backups (not Acronis images).

Generally speaking, there are 2 points of view on how to partition the drive with Windows:

1: use one big C partition for the entire drive. Segregate your data from Windows files and installed programs through a directory structure--typically by placing all your data somewhere in C:\My Documents, C:\My Music, etc.

2: split the drive into C and D partitions. C would be for Windows and installed programs and might be say 40 to 60 gigs. The remainder would be D for data and you would save all your personal stuff to D, rather than to C.

I would guess method 1 is most common. I use method 2. Your PC shipped with a variation of method 2--C and D are split equally at 144 gigs. Don't really know why Acer choose those numbers.

To give you an idea, my C partition for Vista, which has NO data, occupies 32 gigs today.

If you used method 1, any Acronis image would presumably include all of C--all of Windows and all of your data.

If you used method 2, you could make an Acronis image of C only, D only, or C and D combined.

There are pros and cons to both methods. I'd say the primary consideration in your case would be ease of organization. You may be accustomed to the status quo of keeping all data on C and there is nothing wrong with that.

My primary reason for using method 2 and keeping data only on D is that I am accustomed to it and like the idea of keeping data on a separate partition. If I ever have to install Windows, I know that my data is already separated and won't be affected by the new Windows install. If I were to go back to imaging, I would image C only.

That is all stuff to ponder while you await the Windows 7 release. In the meantime, decide if you are going to keep Linux long term.

Good points Mitch.

No wonder I got confused about the 2 Seagates.

As far as Linux goes long term, I don't know right now. I think I'll get to like it.
Right now in just using Ubuntu from the CD, things are slow for the most part; and many things I've tried (Windows stuff) do not work. I tried to do that System printout. Ubu found Kodak (my printer) drives but did not list my specific model; so the printing failed.
Winamp has failed.

I think once Ubu is installed, it'll run a bit better.

I think I'll just partiton F: for Ubu, and put backup data on D:, or maybe on external K: where Acronis is.
Maybe I should just let Ubu do the partitoning during the installation.

Steve said to change the BIOS so Ubu is #1 and Windows #2. Does that mean when the PC starts up it will auto-go to Ubu? There is still the black choice screen now even without the CD in, and if I do nothing it will auto-go to Windows.

For data, you said basically to get the .exe file from within any program and save only it. Can I get those .exe files right from the program in Program Files? I've had to put many programs back (in the past) and I have written down all my Username & Passwords & IDs etc.

So, in a way, it's no big deal if those programs go south; except maybe saved Nero files - that on one click will bring up, say, Oldies#4 - listing all songs and tweaks to the songs in the correct order and ready to quickly burn another CD. It would take hours to do over just 30 songs or so on one file.

ubuntu installs a program called the grand unified boot loader (GRUB). grub allows you to choose which os to boot. GRUB will live on the hard drive that ubuntu installed onto. Therefore you want the computer to start from the hard drive grub lives on to have it present you with choices. If you leave the hard drive start up as is you will auto boot into windows with no option to boot ubuntu.

grub looks like this


yours will be white text on black.


as for sound try typing "alsamixer", then look for a muted eq slot using left right arrow keys. m mutes/unmutes the selected slidder, and page/arrow up/down adjusts volumes. you can also right click the speaker icon on the desktop, and in system you should find volume setting options.

And yes, an installed ubuntu with all the latest programs and drivers is much much faster.

Thanks again Steve, and I apologize; I thought you would be on the road by now.

OK - I get now why you have to change the BIOS around. No problem (so far).

If I start the Ubuntu install from the CD and I get to a point where I simply cannot put in the correct response, will completely aborting the mission cause any problems?

I would write down what I had trouble with and ask here, uh, what to do; then go back and start over.

Unless you can simply not go forth, minimize the window, and get to the Forum.

Im about an hour out from leaving.

Once you hit the partition stage youve arrived at your last turning back point. and no you cant do anything on your computer till the install is complete or aborted.

My experience has been that a botched or aborted install requires going back to square 1. reformate the partition and reinstall. Since ubuntu is free as in beer and free as in speech you can re-install with the same cd with no restrictions at all as to how many times you do it.

the options you will be faced with:

-global time zone (if you get this wrong you fail a
grade)
-keyboard type (default is USA qwerty which is more than likely correct for you)
-the partitioning method which hopefully is starting to make sense
-username and password.

other than that not much to do.

possible problem would be grub not seeing windows which would require adding a few lines of directions to a text file. (most linux problems are solved by adding to or modifying a text file).

If you are given the option of choosing a desktop environment choose gnome for now. Im sure that will be the default anyway.

I think Mitch's advice to wait till after your windows 7 upgrade is sound advice. Windows installs do not like sharing the hard drives with any other OS.

I would wait to install ubuntu after win7, and in the mean time learn as much linux as you can prior to the install.

Chip:

You state "For data, you said basically to get the .exe file from within any program and save only it. Can I get those .exe files right from the program in Program Files?"

You may have slightly misinterpreted me.

Suppose you use AVG antivirus. You look in C:\Program Files\AVG with the intent of saving the original downloaded EXE file to some other location as a backup. But you see 2 or 3 different EXE files. How do you know which EXE is the one you should save?? How do you know if it is a recent version?

Rather than facing that indecision, I would do this:

Make a list of all the programs you use. Save it to your hard drive for reference. They will probably be in 3 categories:

1: Purchased on CD or DVD and you have the original CD or DVD. Examples might be Nero and Windows. You would need to safekeep license key numbers for these.

2: Purchased, but downloaded. You never had a CD or DVD. Total Recorder is likely an example. Maybe Goldwave? You probably need license key numbers for these.

3: Free, but downloaded. Examples would be Audacity, free antivirus, free antimalware, Firefox, or Thunderbird. You probably don't need license key numbers for these. They are give-aways.

For category 1, you could burn copies on DVD if you wanted, or you could just keep your originals in a known and safe place. Keep the license keys safe too.

For category 2, you might be able to download a fresh copy from the vendor's site and use your existing license key with it?? Maybe not. It may be that they have a new version available for download that you are entitled to and maybe you need it for Windows 7. I would at least look. If you can't download a usable new copy, then go to C:\Program Files\Total Recorder (for instance) and copy the entire folder to your backup (NOT just the EXE). The EXE alone probably isn't enough--there will be a bunch of other stuff in the folder.

The better idea for category 2 is to get a fresh download if at all possible.

For category 3: I wouldn't bother trying to locate the EXE file. I would just go back to the vendor's website and download a fresh version of the EXE (or ZIP if it is a ZIP) and make sure a copy of it gets to your backup location. At the website, find out if there are separate versions for Vista and Windows 7. You might get both and put each in a separate folder.

It is ultimately no big deal if your FREE programs are completely lost--you can likely get to a browser and download a fresh version, assuming you can find the website. Although, in some cases, it can be useful to keep old versions around if they are preferable to you and still work well on your current operating system. I still use an ancient version of I-Tunes that would be difficult to even find online today.

PAID FOR programs are another matter--you might have a major problem getting another copy without buying it.

I keep all of my program downloads in D:\Computer\Program Downloads, but make up a location that makes sense to you. These are "as downloaded"---uninstalled versions. Any program not there is by definition on CD or DVD.

Regarding your BIOS question--Steve may have been referring to booting from the Linux CD, which I guess is what you are doing. Booting from a CD typically requires you to make a one-time change in the BIOS to force it to look at your CD drive as a boot source BEFORE looking at the hard drive. This is aka "changing the boot order". If you didn't make that change, you would go to Windows every time.

If Linux were on your hard drive, you would set the BIOS to boot from the hard drive first, and you would see a menu choice of Linux or Windows.

It may be that you are still presented with a menu, even though you are booting from the CD. I don't know those details.