I wanted to install Windows 10 alongside existing Ubuntu 14.04. But, somehow, I messed it up. Later I installed windows alone and made some space available for Ubuntu installation.
Free space in windows:
It is saying that no operating system was detected. I selected something else option. But that unallocated space is not being shown and the entire disk is being shown as free space.
The entire disk is free:
I suspect, if I proceed further, I may lose windows. Please, help.
After installing windows and freeing up space for Ubuntu, I proceeded to installing ubuntu alongside Windows. But, as I mentioned in the question, it was not showing the free space. When I checked the drive using GParted, I was prompted with the following message.
/dev/sda contains GPT signatures indicating that it has a GPT table. However, it has a fake msdos partition table as it should. Perhaps it was corrupted? Is this a GPT partition table?
Once I sorted out that issue, I could be able to find the unallocated space and installed Ubuntu.
I am putting the solution as it is in this link.
I am answering because the answers here are inadequate. I don't want future viewers of this question to destroy their windows partitions just to install Ubuntu.
To fix your problem, follow these steps:
- Boot the emergency disk (Ubuntu or other linux Live CD) and open a text-mode shell.
- Type sudo gdisk /dev/sda (change /dev/sda to whatever is appropriate to access your hard disk, if necessary). The program is likely to complain that it's found both MBR and GPT data, and will ask which to use. It doesn't matter which you tell it to use.
- At the Command prompt, type x to enter the experts' menu. At the Expert command prompt, type z to zap (destroy) the GPT data.
- Type y in response to the confirmation about destroying the GPT.
- Type n in response to the query about blanking the MBR. Caution: If you answer y here, you'll destroy your Windows partition(s)!
