I want to make disk partitions the same way as it's done in Windows (like local disk E:, F:, C:) in my Ubuntu OS? How can I do that?

Solution 1:

This is simply not how the Linux / Unix filesystem works.

The assignment of "drive letters" was introduced in CP/M, and later ported to MS-DOS and subsequently MS Windows.

Linux / Unix filesystems instead use mount points, where the "base" of the filesystem is mounted in / (called root - not to be confused with the root user).

This has nothing to do with the amount of partitions you have. In Linux, you can have as many partitions as you like, and furthermore you can mount them anywhere in the filesystem - in fact it is often recommended that you do so for various reasons (which can't fully be covered here).

For instance you could partition like this (but this has to be done at install):

Partition 1: /     (root)
Partition 2: /home (user files)
Partition 3: /tmp  (temp files)
Partition 4: /var  (various+logs)

You can also have additional disks (and/or partitions) which are usually mounted in /mnt, for instance:

Data disk 1: /mnt/data
Data disk 2: /mnt/backup

If you want to emulate something like Windows drive letters, you could mount external media in the /media folder, and assign them a letter, like /media/D, /media/E etc.

However, it's unclear what you would gain from this, except that it will be familiar. I would suggest you also become familiar with the Linux filesystem, and make choices that makes sense here, and can become familiar over time.

I should point out that I have used both Windows and Linux for quite some time, so I'm generally rather unbiased - but I personally think that the Linux / Unix file hierarchy is more logical, where arbitrary drive letters are not.

Solution 2:

If you want to make multiple partitions click on Activities in the top left of the screen.

Type disks in the search box and open the disks utility.

Select the main partition then click on the settings button (looks like cogs).

Click on resize then use the slider to reduce the current partitions size and leave enough room for additional partitions.

You can then format the newly created free space (again from the settings, ntfs for installing windows; ext4 for linux; FAT for general files that can be accessed from both OSes).

Repeat the process with the new partition to divide the disk up further.

Name them as you wish during formatting.

If you just want to rename the partitions, use the edit partition option in the settings and type in the desired name in the name box and click change.

Additional comments: You need to click the + button to add a new partition once the free space is selected, and the drive has to be unmounted first. (boot to a live cd of ubuntu (usb/cd etc) and select 'Try Ubuntu' when booted then use disk utility as above.). This will not be a problem when dividing unmounted partitions but will be if you're using the drive (mounted) and try to shrink it (You'll just get an error message, no harm done).