How can I create one more partition?

• sda1 -> Windows XP
• sda2 -> Windows 7
• sda3 -> Data Partition

I have created 4 primary partitions, I have 7xx GB left, how can I create one more partition?

Solution 1:

To most "logical" thing you can do is:

1. Expand your 4th and last Primary Partition (sda4) which is an Extended Partition (which merely serves as a container for Logical Partitions) so as to include the unallocated space at the end.
2. Then create another Logical Partition (or more) at the end of sda4.

However, you can only do this if and when the Extended Partition is (i.e. sda5 and sda6 are) not mounted.

Therefore, I would suggest you use an Ubuntu (or any other Linux, e.g. Parted Magic) Live CD/DVD/USB to boot your computer for this purpose.

Solution 2:

Depending on what you want the partition for you could extend sda4 and create another partition in there. It looks like that is your Ubuntu installation so you could create that as a big data area for Ubuntu. You can even mount it as your /home partition. Having a separate home partition can be helpful when upgrading.

To add the partition to sda4:

Select sda4 and extend it to the end of the drive. Now the 753GB of unallocated space in inside your extended partition sda4. Now you can format it to ext4 and you have yourself another partition (most likely labeled sda7). You can access this partition by mounting it.

To mount new partition:

make a directory to mount it cd ~ && mkdir bigData

In Ubuntu terminal type gksudo gedit /etc/fstab

In this file add the line: /dev/sda7 /home/<username>/bigData ext4 defaults 0 0

Now this partition will automatically be mounted when the system starts.

To mount it without restarting the system type mount /dev/sda7

If your not a fan of that solution your only other option is some serious rearranging which could cause errors and prevent your system from booting. Be careful and backup your data before attempting.