Are you using Linux as your main OS and now thinking to install another OS like Windows to make your PC dual bootable?
I was, and I did. During the process, I had to free up some space in my main partition so that I could allocate that free space to Windows. However, I had no plan of installing other OS hence I installed Ubuntu in a single default partition, which made it impossible to unmount and create a new partition on running OS with regular GParted editor. To solve that problem, I made a GParted Live USB drive and created a partition instead of using regular GParted. This blog is about how to make an unallocated partition from your main single partition by using GParted Live.
It should be emphasized that you should always back up your data before editing your partitions with a partition editor like Gparted or Gparted Live.
The risk of data loss is fairly high when using this editor because it can create, remove, format, and transfer partitions, just like any other disc management operation.
Before
My divider initially looked like this.
The partition running my Linux is highlighted in green, as it was installed in a single default disc and therefore unable to be unmounted or resized/moved.
After – with GParted Live
I used GParted Live to reduce the size of my primary partition and create a 300 GB unallocated partition (the minimum size is 20 GB, but you need more). Read the memo below for the recommended size.
The official Microsoft documentation states that installing a 64-bit version of Windows 10 requires at least 20GB of space (OS installation only). In practice, we require more space for the registry, file downloads, etc., so it is advised to have at least 50GB to ensure stability.
What is GParted Live?
Gparted Live is a free partition editor that enables you to manage your disc graphically and create partitions, for example, when an operating system is running and you need to allocate or free up some space on the default partition. To run the editor, you can download the iso file and create a bootable USB.
By the way, you may install and run GParted by entering the following lines in the terminal if you wish to run GParted rather than GParted Live with USB.
sudo apt install gparted
sudo gpartedWhy GParted Live instead of GParted?
As already mentioned, regular GParted won’t let us unmount and create a new partition on the running OS and its partition. If you have a single partition as I had, you can free up some space and create a new partition by using GParted Live. Again, always back up your data before using the partition editor.
How to create a partition with GParted Live?
Please be aware that some of the images below were created using virtual machines; as a result, the partitions and/or sizes are not accurate and are only being used as examples.
- Step1Download GParted Live iso fileGParted -- Downloadgparted.org
There are 3 different architectures. Pick the iso that suits your environment. I downloaded amd64 iso (gparted-live-1.3.1-1-amd64.iso) which is a 64-bit version that runs on x86-64 based computers.
- Step2Make a bootable USB
Create a bootable USB stick with the iso downloaded. If using Ubuntu or Linux Mint (or any other Linux OS), you can use a USB image writer to create a bootable USB. Simply right-click the iso you downloaded and choose “Make a bootable USB stick”.
Click to View - Step3Change the UEFI (BIOS) boot order
Please choose the appropriate USB under Boot Override to enable booting from the selected option right away, or choose the GParted Live mounted USB as the first boot option under Boot Option Priorities (then save and reboot).
Click to View - Step4GParted Live will be booted
- Step5Hit Enter – GParted Live (Default settings)
Click to View - Step6Hit Enter – Don’t touch keymap
Click to View - Step7Hit Enter – Default language of (33. English)
If you want to use a language other than English, please type the corresponding number listed and hit Enter.
Click to View - Step8Hit Enter – (0) Continue to start x to use GParted automatically
Click to View - Step9A graphical interface will appear. Select the partition you want to free up some space.
In my case, I chose my main Ubuntu ext4 partition to free up space.
- Step10Select – Resize/Move
Click the partition you want to free up some space and select Resize/Move icon on top of the window or right-click the partition and select Resize/Move.
Click to View - Step11Allocate the size you want to give
Free space following (MiB): Enter the size you want to free up. Resize/Move button will be grayed out till you select align to. Select MiB and click Resize/Move.
Click to View [Size info]: When entering 102400 MiB, you can create 100GiB of unallocated space.
- Step12“Unallocated” partition is now created. Click the green checkmark to finalize it.
To apply the pending action after creating an unallocated partition, click the green check mark. The pending operation will not be saved if you don’t click this check mark. Simply double-check the info and click the check mark to complete creating an unallocated space in the size of your choice.
Click to View - Step13Exit the GParted Live and reboot your PC
You can exit GParted Live by clicking the top right black button or the Quit button below once you have finished applying the pending operations.
The graphic user interface will be closed.
Click to View Click the Exit icon. If it is slow or not taking you to exit, just right-click on the screen and choose to exit from there. Select Shutdown. Once your computer is shut down, unplug your USB stick and boot your Linux normally.
Click to View - Step14Verify the partition you made on Linux
Once you reboot your Linux, use a utility like Disks or GParted (regular GParted), and check the unallocated partition you created. As you have already seen on GParted Live, the same partition you created should be found.
That is it!
Click to View Screenshot of my drive after I made 300GiB of unallocated space for Windows - ExtraExtra step if you need to
Since I already formatted my partition before installing Windows, I skipped this additional step. However, you can use the “Create” button to format your unallocated partition using GParted Live or standard GParted. Choose the newly created unallocated partition, then click New. There, you can manage your partition such as changing the file system or adding the label. Once done, click the green check mark to apply the pending operation.
Click to View
I now have 300 GiB of free space created using GParted Live from my main partition. To enable dual booting on my computer, I’ll explain how to install Windows 10 following the installation of Ubuntu in my upcoming blog post. Windows 10 installation will take place in this recently created unallocated space.
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