Partitioning Linux for Windows

So I had to install a new hd and I didn't have windows disks so I installed Linux but I stupidly chose to use all 500gb of the hd. Now I have windows disks but I can't install them or create a new partition using them (i think b/c the linux partition is a different format than NTFS) How do I make a new partition in the right format for windows? Just to let you know-I'm not good at all with commands so if you give directions-make them thorough for a noob linux user. Thank you!

 

oh... and right now I boot to ubuntu.

 

There are ways of shrinking your Linux partition to make room for Windows but they wouldn't help much because after installing Windows you would have lost your Grub bootloader and wouldn't be able to boot Linux at all.

If you want a Windows/Ubuntu dual boot then first reformat the entire disk to NTFS and install Windows. Then use a disk manager to shrink the Windows partition and reinstall Ubuntu. This will give you a dual boot.

 

How would I go about reformatting the whole drive in NFTS

 

You need to boot from a CD and delete the existing partition. Not absolutely sure but I would think you could do that with a Windows installation disk, or you could use your Ubuntu CD.

 

It has been a long time since I messed with dual boots for Linux and Windows.

I guess if you are considering formatting your whole HD for a Windows install it could not hurt to try and resize your current Linux partition. You could then do the Windows install and use SuperGrubDisk to attempt to repair the grub boot loader to regain access to the Linux partition.

The part I am unsure about regarding resizing the partition is that I believe Linux creates 3 partitions during install. Two very small ones and one large one. I would assume it is the large one you would shrink.

I use Linux Mint but I believe it is based on Ubuntu and should work about the same way. If I hit Menu/Start--I have a filter box at the bottom of the panel and if I type in gparted it opens the gparted partition program.

From Gparted you should see 3 or more partitions one being very large 400+gb that would be the one to resize. So you highlight that partition go to Partition dropdown at the top of the window and select Move/Resize. Then drag the right-hand slider back to the left to reduce the size of the partition. When you get to the size you want hit Resize/Move.

If you are sure you are ready to make the change hit the check-mark at the top of the window to begin the resizing. Otherwise you can quit the program with no changes.