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I Want to Make my Swap partition bigger, I didn't know exactly what swap was until I looked it up, So I set my swap partition as only 100 megabytes, I then learned that that is positively puny compared to what is supposed to be there for my computers specs! So I have only used about 13 out of 300 gigabytes on my main partition. So I want to shrink my my main partition and enlarge my swap partition. Here is what I have already tried, I am Using Gparted if there is a partitioning tool that you would rather me use, please suggest it, but if it will do the exact same as Gparted, I would rather just stick with it,

  • Open Gparted, and type in my administrator password
  • Click on my main partition "/"
  • Try to shrink, But wont let me shrink or enlarge

I have also tried deleting my swap then trying to enlarge my Main just to see if it will resize, but it still wont enlarge. Please Help!!

For the people who labeled my question duplicate: The question you labeled mine as a duplicate of does not address my problem, I specifically want to know how to resize my main and add to swap, not learn how to partition all together

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  • Make a screenshot of GParted and post it here.
    – UTF-8
    Apr 5, 2015 at 18:32
  • Trying to change the / partition while you are running Ubuntu from that partition is like trying to change a tire while you are driving the car. It can't be done.
    – user68186
    Apr 5, 2015 at 21:39

2 Answers 2

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You can't resize your main partition while it is in use. Boot off a live USB or CD and then perform the operations. But first...back up your data.

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  • Is there any possible way to do that another way? I used Unetbootin to install Ubuntu, I also wiped my hard drive so I no longer have my ISO for Ubuntu, I cant re-download at the moment as I am in Paris for a family reunion (We are not from Paris, we just thought it would be fun to hold a reunion there) so I am Using my limited long distance data and tethering, I am not planning on going back to the Hotel until tomorrow. @Organic Marble
    – Ryan Adkins
    Apr 5, 2015 at 20:21
  • Unetbootin is not an installation method; it's a software to create bootable USB drives.
    – David Foerster
    Apr 5, 2015 at 21:00
  • The only exception would be - you can increase the size of a partition if you are using LVM. Otherwise you need to resize with a live CD. You can use the gparted live iso if you prefer.
    – Panther
    Apr 5, 2015 at 21:06
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While it's possible to repartition the system from recovery mode with a tmpfs to copy essential system tools to, I really wouldn't recommend it: It's tedious, more error prone, and requires a lot of experience.

You'll likely shoot yourself in the foot for something unurgent like increasing swap space. Additionally I presume, that you won't be able to create a backup while away from home.

If you really need more swap space now, create a swap file on a file system with some free space and use it as intermediary solution in addition to your existing swap partition, until you can assemble the right tools.

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  • Forester Thanks! I will do that until I get home, I have DVD Roms there, Thanks!
    – Ryan Adkins
    Apr 5, 2015 at 22:12

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