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For 4 years I have wanted to install Ubuntu on my PC, but I was afraid of changes.

Finally I did it, and you know what? I'm in love with Ubuntu, but as it is my first time to install it I have some questions:

  1. My hard drive is 1TB I need to understand the concept of the partition layout. For example, I need to have 3 partitions for my data the same way that I had it in Windows (C for system files & D data files, E data files) D and E have to be secured, so whenever I install a new operating system it doesn't affect the files in it.

  2. As I am developer and designer I need to have Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator installed on my PC.

Thank you to this wonderful community, I'm proud to be one of you.

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    Before you do anything, backup all your critical data. Linux doesn't use drive letters. Instead drives are mounted directly to the tree structure so /home can be on a different drive than / for example. Windows applications may or may not work properly under wine. It's a good idea to check the appdb at appdb.winehq.org You can always run a dual boot or run Windows on a virtual machine for those applications that don't work under wine and require a windows environment. You may also find alternative programs that work under Linux with the same or better functionality (GIMP<>Photoshop).
    – Elder Geek
    Apr 8, 2015 at 14:14
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    Welcome to Ask Ubuntu. Please use one question at time. Do search the site before asking a question. Photosohp and Illustrator will not work in Ubuntu. You may want to look at questions about alternatives to Photoshop and illustrator.
    – user68186
    Apr 8, 2015 at 14:17
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    Hello There, No i dont need windows at all, i need my PC to only have linux Apr 8, 2015 at 14:41
  • For photoshop, I'd suggest having virtual machine with windows Apr 8, 2015 at 15:15
  • This post doesn't have a clear question (apart from "You know what?" there is no question). Every post must have a clear question, and only one question - different questions in different posts. Apr 9, 2015 at 4:15

3 Answers 3

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There are two cases of partitioning - if you will be installing Ubuntu for first time, or if you have already installed Ubuntu.

Fresh install of Ubuntu

At some point during the installation process you will come to this window, where you will be prompted to choose installation type:

Install

Normally if you are a new user you should select Erase everything and install Ubuntu. This will create the needed partitions automatically.

But since you want more advanced partitioning you want to choose the last option - Something else.

After you choose it and click next you will see the partitioning window. If you previously had some OS on the hard disk you will see several partitions present. You click on each of them and click - sign to delete them, until you have only free space left like in the image note that deleting partitions will erase all information on your HDD!

Partitioning

Now you are ready to create partitions.

First depending on your BIOS settings and the boot mode you selected (Legacy boot or UEFI) if you chose UEFI you will have to create an EFI system partition.

Click on the free space row and then click on the + button on the bottom left side and choose following parameters:

Size: 100 [MB]
Type of the new partition: Primary
Location of the new partition: Beginning of the space
Use as: EFI boot partition

Then click ok. The new partition should show up.

After that you will need to create a SWAP partition. Usually I create mine with the same size of how much RAM my PC has. It is often recommended to have at least half of the size of your RAM so if your PC has 8 GB RAM, your minimum swap size would be 4 GB, but you can make it larger.

So again click on the free space then click + and select:

Size: 6000 [MB]
Type of the new partition: Primary
Location of the new partition: Begining of the space
Use as: SWAP

Now you need to create the partition for the root filesystem. Click on the free space then click + and select:

Root partition

For size you can choose between 20 000 MB (20 GB) and 80 000 MB (80 GB) since you have 1000 GB HDD. This way you will have all other space left for your home folder and files.

Yes this is the last partition you have to make - the one that will mount the /home directory where all users and user data will be stored. Later on if you need to reinstall your OS you will only format the root partition and you can be sure your home partition will stay same as it is without touching it. Also all of your program's settings and data will be there, because most programs store their cache in users' home folders.

So one last time click free space click + and select

Size: [Use the default proposed it will all space left]
Type of the new partition: Primary
Location of the new partition: Begining of the space
Use as: Ext4
Mount point: /home

That's it! Click next and then the install process will continue.

Note that in Linux you do not have to create multiple partitions (like in windows D: for work E: for games), though you can. In windows is a good idea to split large partitions in smaller ones, but with Linux this is not the case. You can create separate folders in your home directory to organize things up. All of them will be safe from reinstall under the /home partition.

Already installed Ubuntu

If you have already installed Ubuntu and you used default installer suggestion, you probably have your /home and root / folders under one partition. In order to move the home folder to new partition, you will have to shrink some free space from the / partition and then move home.

This is a very risky operation and may cause loss of files if something goes wrong. You should first make a backup if you have important data.

The process of moving the home folder to a new partition is well described here . After you follow up this tutorial you should have a separate partition for your home folder.

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  • Excellent, i got your point , My HDD is 1TB does it make any changes to your above explanation.? Apr 8, 2015 at 14:46
  • Oh sorry I have read 100 GB. In this case you can make your root parition / 80 GB to make sure you have enough space for kernel updates and etc. 20 GB is fine but if you want to be sure make it 80 GB. I will update my answer. Anything left will go to /home parition so no other changes are needed.
    – Sh1d0w
    Apr 8, 2015 at 14:49
  • Shouldn't installer create separate partition for UEFI? Something like 300MB?
    – VRR
    Apr 8, 2015 at 15:50
  • @VRR I have already pointed that, this is the firts partition he should create. The minimum size is 100 MB. 200 Recomended.
    – Sh1d0w
    Apr 8, 2015 at 15:53
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Though I will not fault any of the very good advice offered by others, I would like to make a suggestion that I'm confident will reduce your anxieties regarding the outcomes of certain actions. My guess is that like most people you have an older computer laying about gathering dust. My advice would be that you do your first installation on that. Not only will it make the installation process more familiar when you work with your main machine but in fact you might find that your older machine performs so well with Ubuntu (it is twice as fast as windows) that you may choose to keep the two machines separate; one for Windows and one for Ubuntu.

As for your desired installation, if you have a working windows installation, I would advise you to choose the "side by side" installation option giving you a dual bootable computer, this way you are sure to have your familiar interface should you become frustrated and wish to return to something more familiar.

Lastly, I feel obligated to nag you to PLEASE back up all your data to external media, even data in your partitions D and E. I'm saying this because all too often newbies make a terrible mistake and overwrite their previous data. I'm not saying the installation will be tricky, necessarily, but please don't make the mistakes made by so many others. We aren't kidding!

PS: Re-reading your post I think you seem to be saying you installed Ubuntu on your computer already, but if that is the case, what do you mean partitions D and E need to be secured. How do you mean "secured"?

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Yes, as in windows you can make one partition for Linux and one for data files or all together in linux partition where you can store in your home folder which is more convenient. But unfortunately you cannot get Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator for Linux but you can run it in wine, an application which lets you to run windows applications.
You can install wine with these steps:

  1. Press Ctrl + Alt + T
  2. Enter this command and press Enter

    sudo apt-get install wine1.6-i386
    
  3. If asked for password type it.

  4. accept all conditions.
  5. You're done.

Now take the installation file of the windows application you want to install, right click it and open with Wine. Then as usual accept license agreements and install it. To run search wine select it and open the app you installed.

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