Step 6: Create new partitions

Experienced Linux users often create four partitions for Linux installations, but for newcomers, two will suffice: a root partition and a swap partition.

Creating these partitions is a cinch if you'll be installing Linux on a second hard drive in your system. If that's the case, skip to the next step. For our example, we installed Linux onto a Windows boot drive by creating two new partitions. The least-troublesome way to achieve this is to use Norton PartitionMagic 8.0 ($69.95). This time-tested utility lets you resize your current Windows partition (including NTFS volumes) without damaging your Windows installation or data. Try to carve out at least 4GB of space for your Linux root partition. Define your swap partition to roughly double the capacity of your system memory, to a maximum of about 512MB.

When creating partitions for a dual-boot configuration, make sure the Linux root partition immediately follows your Windows partition. Choose Ext3 as the file system for your root partition and Linux Swap as the type for the swap partition.


If you'd rather save the $70 for something else, let Linux partition your hard drive. See the next step.