Problem resizing partition

[laymusic]

I'm having an unexpected problem putting Linux on the new machine.  I
need to resize the windows partition, and gparted (and whatever the
partitioner on the xubuntu 9.04 install disk is) won't do it.

Whenever I run, it says, "The enclosing drive for the volume is
locked".  

Without resizing, I can actually install xubuntu, but not much else.

I've googled, and found lots of references to this problem, but so far
no solutions that work for me.

The problem is possibly related to a problem I was having with
Windows -- when I tried to play a DVD, it would play for a couple of
minutes and then turn the computer off.  I did this several times before
I found the BIOS upgrade that fixed the problem.  Whenever it happened,
the next time I would boot windows it would tell me it hadn't shut down
properly and did I want to go into safe mode.  But it always worked fine
(as fine as windows ever does) when I just booted normally.  

So does anyone have any idea how I can unlock the enclosing drive?  Or
get some software to ignore the lock and let me resize the partition?

--
Laura   (mailto:lconrad@... http://www.laymusic.org/ )
[phone] 233 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139  

Why was I born with such contemporaries?

Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@...
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

[Jerry Feldman-2]

What Windows version. If you have Vista, did you try the built-in
resizing software.
<http://www.vistarewired.com/2007/02/16/how-to-resize-a-partition-in-windows-vista>

Also, make sure you defrag the Windows partition before resizing. Unlike
the Linux file systems, Windows does not try to maintain a frag-free
file system.

On 06/22/2009 05:52 PM, Laura Conrad wrote:

> I'm having an unexpected problem putting Linux on the new machine.  I
> need to resize the windows partition, and gparted (and whatever the
> partitioner on the xubuntu 9.04 install disk is) won't do it.
>
> Whenever I run, it says, "The enclosing drive for the volume is
> locked".  
>
> Without resizing, I can actually install xubuntu, but not much else.
>
> I've googled, and found lots of references to this problem, but so far
> no solutions that work for me.
>
> The problem is possibly related to a problem I was having with
> Windows -- when I tried to play a DVD, it would play for a couple of
> minutes and then turn the computer off.  I did this several times before
> I found the BIOS upgrade that fixed the problem.  Whenever it happened,
> the next time I would boot windows it would tell me it hadn't shut down
> properly and did I want to go into safe mode.  But it always worked fine
> (as fine as windows ever does) when I just booted normally.  
>
> So does anyone have any idea how I can unlock the enclosing drive?  Or
> get some software to ignore the lock and let me resize the partition?
>
>  

--
Jerry Feldman <gaf@...>
Boston Linux and Unix
PGP key id: 537C5846
PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB  CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846



_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@...
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

[laymusic]

>>>>> "Jerry" == Jerry Feldman <gaf@...> writes:

    Jerry> What Windows version.

Vista Home Premium.

    Jerry> If you have Vista, did you try the built-in resizing
    Jerry> software.
    Jerry> <http://www.vistarewired.com/2007/02/16/how-to-resize-a-partition-in-windows-vista>

I tried that.  It said "Access Denied."  I googled on that problem for a
while, and someone thought that if I disabled User Account Control and
then took ownership of the volume it would work.  I was able to disable
the User Account Control, but couldn't find where to change the
ownership of the volume.

So someone else had said they had good results with the gparted live CD,
so I burned that, and it seems to be doing the trick.

    Jerry> Also, make sure you defrag the Windows partition before
    Jerry> resizing. Unlike the Linux file systems, Windows does not try
    Jerry> to maintain a frag-free file system.

It's apparently worse than that; it deliberately puts some important
files at the end of the partition.  But if gparted turns out to clobber
my windows, I can get back the factory version, and I haven't done
anything important.

Thanks for the help.  This new computer is involving more work on
Windows than I'm used to.  

I did watch a blu-ray disc last night (Slumdog Millionaire), and it is a
good thing to have access to.  I'll leave my netflix account on blu-ray
at least until I move the new computer upstairs to be my desktop.

--
Laura   (mailto:lconrad@... http://www.laymusic.org/ )
[phone] 233 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139  

It can't be any new note. When you look at the keyboard, all the notes
are there already. But if you mean a note enough, it will sound
different. You got to pick the notes you really mean!

Thelonius Monk, on being asked how he got a special sound out of the piano

_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@...
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

[Jerry Feldman-2]

I always keep a copy of gparted, especially at installfests. I used to
use QTParted from the Knoppix CDs, but it is no longer available on
those, but GParted is effectively the same thing. Unfortunately, Windows
backups don't always restore properly. The most important thing to do
before a resize is to defrag the file system. Then, immediately after
you resize the partition, boot into Windows again to make sure it is
still operational. While I have not yet tried it, some form of P2V might
also be useful in that this alows you to convert a runnning Windows
system to a runnable virtual machine.

Another solution might be to run a VM inside of Vista and run Linux from
the VM although I prefer a Linux hostOS, and a Windows guest.

On 06/23/2009 01:15 PM, Laura Conrad wrote:

>>>>>> "Jerry" == Jerry Feldman <gaf@...> writes:
>>>>>>            
>
>     Jerry> What Windows version.
>
> Vista Home Premium.
>
>     Jerry> If you have Vista, did you try the built-in resizing
>     Jerry> software.
>     Jerry> <http://www.vistarewired.com/2007/02/16/how-to-resize-a-partition-in-windows-vista>
>
> I tried that.  It said "Access Denied."  I googled on that problem for a
> while, and someone thought that if I disabled User Account Control and
> then took ownership of the volume it would work.  I was able to disable
> the User Account Control, but couldn't find where to change the
> ownership of the volume.
>
> So someone else had said they had good results with the gparted live CD,
> so I burned that, and it seems to be doing the trick.
>
>     Jerry> Also, make sure you defrag the Windows partition before
>     Jerry> resizing. Unlike the Linux file systems, Windows does not try
>     Jerry> to maintain a frag-free file system.
>
> It's apparently worse than that; it deliberately puts some important
> files at the end of the partition.  But if gparted turns out to clobber
> my windows, I can get back the factory version, and I haven't done
> anything important.
>
>  

--
Jerry Feldman <gaf@...>
Boston Linux and Unix
PGP key id: 537C5846
PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB  CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846



_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@...
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

[Richard Pieri]

On Jun 23, 2009, at 2:17 PM, Jerry Feldman wrote:
> Another solution might be to run a VM inside of Vista and run Linux  
> from
> the VM although I prefer a Linux hostOS, and a Windows guest.


There are a couple of other options if you are stuck with a Windows  
host.  Cygwin is my first choice for a Unix environment on Windows.  
Another is coLinux with Cygwin/X.

--Rich P.

_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@...
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

[laymusic]

>>>>> "Jerry" == Jerry Feldman <gaf@...> writes:

    Jerry> Unfortunately, Windows backups don't always restore
    Jerry> properly.

I would have guessed that, but luckily, I don't seem to need one.

    Jerry> The most important thing to do before a resize is to defrag
    Jerry> the file system. Then, immediately after you resize the
    Jerry> partition, boot into Windows again to make sure it is still
    Jerry> operational.

Seems to be.  I dfragged this morning, but didn't do it again after all
my searching through system management menus.  But both Windows and
Linux seem to have plenty of room.

    Jerry> Another solution might be to run a VM inside of Vista and run
    Jerry> Linux from the VM although I prefer a Linux hostOS, and a
    Jerry> Windows guest.

I thought about that, but I'm glad I got the dual boot I'm used to
going.


--
Laura   (mailto:lconrad@... http://www.laymusic.org/ )
[phone] 233 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139  

Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there are no intellectuals
on stage.

Ian Bostridge, quoted in The Boston Globe, April 3, 2009
_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@...
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

[Jerry Feldman-2]

On 06/23/2009 02:57 PM, Laura Conrad wrote:

> Jerry> Unfortunately, Windows backups don't always restore
>     Jerry> properly.
>
> I would have guessed that, but luckily, I don't seem to need one.
>
>     Jerry> The most important thing to do before a resize is to defrag
>     Jerry> the file system. Then, immediately after you resize the
>     Jerry> partition, boot into Windows again to make sure it is still
>     Jerry> operational.
>
> Seems to be.  I dfragged this morning, but didn't do it again after all
> my searching through system management menus.  But both Windows and
> Linux seem to have plenty of room.
>
>     Jerry> Another solution might be to run a VM inside of Vista and run
>     Jerry> Linux from the VM although I prefer a Linux hostOS, and a
>     Jerry> Windows guest.
>
> I thought about that, but I'm glad I got the dual boot I'm used to
> going.
>
>
>  

This does not preclude trying our a VM. Try installing VirtualBox or KVM

on your Linux system. As a hoot, you can install another version of
Linux just to try it out.

--
Jerry Feldman <gaf@...>
Boston Linux and Unix
PGP key id: 537C5846
PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB  CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846



_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@...
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

[Jerry Feldman-2]

On 06/23/2009 02:54 PM, Richard Pieri wrote:
> There are a couple of other options if you are stuck with a Windows  
> host.  Cygwin is my first choice for a Unix environment on Windows.  
> Another is coLinux with Cygwin/X.
>  
Why do you prefer Cygwin or coLinux over using a virtual machine
(assuming a reasonably powerful computer). Certainly, Cygwin has come a
long way over the past several years as has Linux and FreeBSD. But, with
KVM, Xen, VirtualBox, and VMWare available I would probably want a real
OS rather than an environment, but I have not used Cygwin for a few
years, and only used it on my wife's machine and in the office where all
I had was Windows. One advantage of Cygwin might be that you can use it
to ssh into a Linux/Unix system as an alternative to Exceed.

Actually, Cygwin and other Unix/Linux environments that run under
Windows could be a reasonable topic for a future meeting.  Or more
general topic on Unix/Linus environments for Windows, possibly including
VMs.

--
Jerry Feldman <gaf@...>
Boston Linux and Unix
PGP key id: 537C5846
PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB  CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846



_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@...
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

[John Abreau-18]

If you need X11 on Windows, a good freeware option is Mocha XServer.
It works well with PuTTY, the ssh client for Windows.  Mocha runs in the
system tray, and runs X11 applications in rootless mode.

    http://www.mochasoft.dk/freeware/x11.htm


On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 3:17 PM, Jerry Feldman<gaf@...> wrote:

> On 06/23/2009 02:54 PM, Richard Pieri wrote:
>> There are a couple of other options if you are stuck with a Windows
>> host.  Cygwin is my first choice for a Unix environment on Windows.
>> Another is coLinux with Cygwin/X.
>>
> Why do you prefer Cygwin or coLinux over using a virtual machine
> (assuming a reasonably powerful computer). Certainly, Cygwin has come a
> long way over the past several years as has Linux and FreeBSD. But, with
> KVM, Xen, VirtualBox, and VMWare available I would probably want a real
> OS rather than an environment, but I have not used Cygwin for a few
> years, and only used it on my wife's machine and in the office where all
> I had was Windows. One advantage of Cygwin might be that you can use it
> to ssh into a Linux/Unix system as an alternative to Exceed.
>
> Actually, Cygwin and other Unix/Linux environments that run under
> Windows could be a reasonable topic for a future meeting.  Or more
> general topic on Unix/Linus environments for Windows, possibly including
> VMs.
>
> --
> Jerry Feldman <gaf@...>
> Boston Linux and Unix
> PGP key id: 537C5846
> PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB  CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss@...
> http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
>

--
John Abreau / Executive Director, Boston Linux & Unix
AIM abreauj / JABBER jabr@... / YAHOO abreauj / SKYPE zusa_it_mgr
Email jabr@... / WWW http://www.abreau.net / PGP-Key-ID 0xD5C7B5D9
PGP-Key-Fingerprint 72 FB 39 4F 3C 3B D6 5B E0 C8 5A 6E F1 2C BE 99

_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@...
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

[Doug-71]

Hello:

For desktops, I always toss in a separate hard drive.  I never want to
deal with space issues on boxes.

Doug
_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@...
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

[Richard Pieri]

On Jun 23, 2009, at 3:17 PM, Jerry Feldman wrote:
> Why do you prefer Cygwin or coLinux over using a virtual machine
> (assuming a reasonably powerful computer). Certainly, Cygwin has  
> come a

It isn't a preference; it's an alternative.  I don't always need a  
full-blown Linux install on my gaming box.  Sometimes I just need to  
be able to run a shell or Python script with a Unix-like environment  
and I want to run it on the Windows filesystem.  With a VM (which I  
have, by the way: Ubuntu 9.04 on VMware Server 2) I have to boot the  
VM, mount the drive if it isn't already, and shut it all down again  
when I'm done.  That's overkill for a simple find/grep or some such.

--Rich P.

_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@...
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

[Jerry Feldman-2]

On 06/23/2009 04:10 PM, Richard Pieri wrote:

> On Jun 23, 2009, at 3:17 PM, Jerry Feldman wrote:
>  
>> Why do you prefer Cygwin or coLinux over using a virtual machine
>> (assuming a reasonably powerful computer). Certainly, Cygwin has  
>> come a
>>    
>
> It isn't a preference; it's an alternative.  I don't always need a  
> full-blown Linux install on my gaming box.  Sometimes I just need to  
> be able to run a shell or Python script with a Unix-like environment  
> and I want to run it on the Windows filesystem.  With a VM (which I  
> have, by the way: Ubuntu 9.04 on VMware Server 2) I have to boot the  
> VM, mount the drive if it isn't already, and shut it all down again  
> when I'm done.  That's overkill for a simple find/grep or some such.
>  

This is slightly off topic. Why do you use VMWare server. I found the

performance of VMWare server to be rather poor in contrast to VirtualBox.

--
Jerry Feldman <gaf@...>
Boston Linux and Unix
PGP key id: 537C5846
PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB  CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846



_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@...
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

[Richard Pieri]

On Jun 23, 2009, at 8:27 PM, Jerry Feldman wrote:
> This is slightly off topic. Why do you use VMWare server. I found the
> performance of VMWare server to be rather poor in contrast to  
> VirtualBox.


For VMware Infrastructure experience.

--Rich P.

_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@...
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss