NTFS format /dev/sda2 not working with gparted

Question

I am trying to format my partition into Ntfs format, so I can go back to Windows10.

In order to do so, I downloaded and tried to use gparted, but it is not working.

I have tried to format it directly, but it failed since either 1. It's locked or 2. There is no ntfs optiopn

I have already installed ntfsprogs in my machine.

Is there any suggestion for me?

p.s. I have tired to partition the /dev/sda2 drive, but that has not worked either.It seems because it's locked or so? When I right click the drive, option of "Resize/Move" and "Format to" are all disabled.

p.s. I tried to format the drive using "Disk Utility" but it gave me a message Error unmounting /dev/sda2: Command-line `umount "/dev/sda2"' exited with non-zero exit status 32: umount: /: target is busy.

Answer 1

You need to boot to a Ubuntu Live DVD and run gparted or Disk Utility from there.

See the "key" icons next to the /dev/sdaN name? That means that the partition is mounted, and you won't be able to do anything with that partition until you unmount it first. You can unmount it in gparted.

Of course, we don't really want you to wipe Ubuntu and go back to Windows. Is there a reason to do so? Better to resize the Ubuntu partition to the right, and reinstall Windows to the left, and then you can dual-boot to either Windows or Ubuntu.

Update #1:

Make sure that you have a good backup of your important Ubuntu files, as this procedure can corrupt or loose data.

Keep these things in mind:

• always start the entire procedure with issuing a swapoff on any mounted swap partitions, and end the entire procedure with issuing a swapon on that same swap partition

• a move is done by pointing the mouse pointer at the center of a partition and dragging it left/right with the hand cursor

• a resize is done by dragging the left/right side of a partition to the left/right with the directional arrow cursor

• if any partition can't be moved/resized graphically, you may have to manually enter the specific required numeric data (don't do this unless I instruct you to)

• you begin any move/resize by right-clicking on the partition in the lower part of the main window, and selecting the desired action from the popup menu, then finishing that action in the new move/resize window

Do the following...

Note: if the procedure doesn't work exactly as I outline, STOP immediately and DO NOT continue.

• download the desired .iso file from http://releases.ubuntu.com/
• burn the .iso file to DVD/USB
• boot the a Ubuntu Live DVD/USB
• start gparted
• resize /dev/sda2 by moving the left side of the partition to the right
• click the Apply button
• install Windows into the new unallocated space