How to partition hdd while installing Fedora

Ask Fedora
1

Today I got a 500GB SSD and I need to partition it to install Fedora in one partition. I want to create two partitions of 200GB and 300GB and in 200GB, I want to install Fedora. How can I do it? It is not like Windows. So, please give me a step-by-step guide to do this. Thank you all in advance.

2

Are you planning to boot another OS? Will the system have another disk? Does you “BIOS” support GPT?

The Fedora installer default configuration works well for most users, and will use free space. If you plan to use Windows you should install that first and leave 200GB free space. Note that Windows will create several partitions. A Fedora install on a blank disk using GPT creates 3 partitions (EFI System, Extended Boot, and Linux).

4

I have a separate disk dedicated to Windows. But I won’t make a dual boot. Rather I use F12 key for Boot Menu to choose which drive to boot. I had Fedora installed earlier in separate 240GB SSD. But now I have changed it to a 500GB SSD. I am planning to partition this disk into two, 200GB for Linux and 300GB for data. Beside these two disks I have one 240GB SSD and two 1TB HDD, all with for data. I have no problem with those to mount as I was using Fedora. But now as I am using 500GB, I want it to partition, but I never did it because it was too complicated and if anything goes wrong, the disk may get corrupted. Once I experienced that. Luckily I used DOS FDISK to delete all the partitions and recovered the disk. So, this time, I need step by step guide.

My motherboard’s BIOS doesn’t support GPT.

Note: I have watched some videos on this and read some articles but they are complicated and don’t serve my particular purpose. I will not use dual boot. Fedora will be installed as a single OS. I just need a step by step guide on how to partition SSD during installation. *Please remember,*one partition will be used for the OS and the other for data. Both in the same SSD.

5

The problem is solved!!! No. I haven’t done a thing.

Before installing Fedora, I actually partitioned this 500GB SSD into two through Windows Disk Management with 200GB and 300GB space respectively. I was going to install Fedora40-KDE Spin. Now at the time of installation, in ‘INSTALLATION DESTINATION’ I choose this SSD (this was the only one except the LIVE USB attached because I had detached all other drives) and click on ‘DONE’. Instantly it showed those two NTFS partitions as SDA1 200GB NTFS and SDA2 300GB NTFS. I selected SDA1 200GB and clicked on ‘DELETE’ and then ‘RECLAIM SPACE’. And VOILA!!! Fedora installed in that 200GB flawlessly and from Fedora Dolphin File Manager, I can mount and open that other 300GB. I LOVE THIS OS!!! :heart: I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU FEDORA!!! Now, the only thing I wish is the apps I need become more usable for my work and I will ditch Windows for good. :heart_eyes: :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

So, the problem is SOLVED.

6

That is “dual boot”. I have used similar configurations for years with macOS and Windows, but recently Windows updates have messed with external drives that were used for linux data. You can have “single boot” on different disks with different OS’s by removing the disk with the OS you don’t want to use.

What you describe is a normal procedure for installing Fedora. It isn’t clear if you will need access to the “data” partition from Windows.

Since Linux apps are mostly open source, you are free to contribute changes if you find things they don’t support. Linux doesn’t have an advertising budget, so you may have to work harder to find the appropriate apps for your work.

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7

Okk. But my understanding was in a proper dual boot scenario, OSs will boot through the bootloader, which is GRUB bootloader in case of dual booting between Linux and Windows. Thanks for correcting me.

All my SSDs and HDDs are internal as I don’t have to swap more than these two OSs, Windows and Linux and I am not very fond of using OS from external drive unless it is absolutely necessary because USB ports are much slower than the internal ports.

Actually, I am a rookie. I am using Fedora a.k.a Linux for last two months approx. So, I am in learning phase and that’s why I was so excited.:smile:

I am using all my data drives from Windows as well as from Linux and they all have NTFS.

I am not a programmer. So I cannot contribute to Linux in that way. :slightly_frowning_face: But I will try to contribute in other ways, like if I find a bug in app or Fedora or in Linux itself. I have already posted two bugs I found, one in KDENLIVE and one in Linux Kernel.

I am afraid so and I am trying really hard. :slightly_frowning_face:
Thanks for your reply. :slightly_smiling_face:

8

USB3 and USB4 can be much faster than the earlier USB ports, so in practice you need to test your system and pay attention how a bus is shared with slow devices.

I have used USB3 cases with SSD’s on older systems with drives. In practice, SSD on a good quality USB3 setup is faster older SATA drives. My old iMac uses a slow “laptop” HDD, originally the internal SSD was a cache, but it is no longer usable. inxi shows:

 Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.96 TiB used: 573.15 GiB (18.9%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Apple model: HDD ST1000DM003 size: 931.51 GiB
    speed: 3.0 Gb/s serial: <filter>
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Apple model: SSD SD0128F size: 113 GiB
    speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter>
  ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: LITE-ON model: CL1-3D128-Q11 NVMe 128GB
    size: 119.24 GiB type: USB rev: 3.2 spd: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 serial: <filter>
  ID-4: /dev/sdd vendor: Western Digital model: WD2003FZEX-00SRLA0
    size: 1.82 TiB type: USB rev: 3.0 spd: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 serial: <filter>

Fedora boots much faster from sdc than it does from sda or sdd. Before it starting giving errors, sdb was fastest.

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