Partitioning Ubuntu and Windows 7 once and for all

Question

I am dual-booting Windows 7 and Ubuntu (installed with wubi). So far there have been no problems, but now it says the disk is out of space all the time (I think that is because /dev/loop0 is used 100% -- would that cause this?).

So I wish to partition them properly, as I think that is the problem. I want to move all my Windows stuff and files to one partition (sda1) and move all my Ubuntu files to another partition (sda2).

I used gparted to configure disk space on sda1 and sda2, making sda1 200G with 10% free space, and sda2 50G with 80% free space.

However, I don't understand how to determine which partition Ubuntu is installed on, and how to move files from one partition to the other.

Here are some terminal commands that describe my system.

$ sudo blkid

/dev/loop0 (ext3)
/dev/sda1 (ntfs; boot)
/dev/sda2 (ntfs)

$ sudo fdisk -l

/dev/sda1 
/dev/sda2

$ sudo df -l

/dev/loop0 *(using 100% of 5.5G; mount point: /)*
udev *(using 1% of 1.5G; mount point: /dev)*
tmpfs *(using 1% of 500M; mount point: /run)*
none *(using 0% of 5M; mount point: /run/lock)*
none *(using 1% of 1.5G; mount point: /run/shm)*
dev/sda1 *(using 96% of 200G; mount point: /host; boot)*

Also, when I check my /etc/fstab file, it only has:

# UNCONFIGURED FSTAB FOR BASE SYSTEM
/host/ubuntu/disks/swap.disk    none    swap    sw  0   0

Answer 1

Do all this as root. After step 2, there's an automated method; I listed the manual steps here.

(Note: You really should have a swap partition.)

1. Make sure sda2 is actually empty or backed up (it will be gone forever).
   Browse it with whatever to make sure. You say in the question it isn't empty. It needs to be.

Edit to address a comment:
You could use whatever file browser you like. You could just mkdir /host/dump, mount /dev/sda2 at /media/tmp, and mv /media/tmp /host/dump

1. Once you are SURE it is empty and/or backed up: Format sda2 as ext4:

   umount /dev/sda2
   fdisk /dev/sda
   t
   2
   83
   w
   mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
   #Accept the defaults for mkfs  
   

2. Mount it in /media or /mnt:

   mkdir /media/mynewinstall
   mount /dev/sda2 /media/mynewinstall
   

3. Copy everything across

   cp --preserve -R /{bin,dev,home,root,usr,etc,lib,opt,sbin,var,boot} /media/mynewinstall/
   mkdir /media/mynewinstall/{mnt,proc,sys,tmp}
   mount --bind /dev/ /media/mynewinstall/dev/
   mount -t proc proc /media/mynewinstall/proc/
   init 6
   

4. Update grub (so it sees your second Ubuntu install) -- boot normally into wubi:

   update-grub
   grub-install /dev/sda
   

5. Boot into your new REAL install. Select it from the list...use the edit options to find the new one

In the manual it tells you that edit any of the boot entries by pressing <e>. Sometimes to get the menu to show you have to use the shift or tab get during the boot process.

After you get the menu to show, check the entries by pressing e.

You should notice some reference to which disk is which. You want the one where UUID is set to the thing that matches /dev/sda2.

If this is seeming overly complicated, why not use the automated method noted at the very beginning.

1. Update grub again (so it uses the /boot folder from your second install):

   update-grub
   grub-install /dev/sda
   

2. Delete your Wubi install. Remove C:\ubuntu and C:\wubildr* (reference).

3. Update grub again (so it no longer references the other install at all)

   update-grub
   grub-install /dev/sda
   

Done. The grub-installs might be superfluous, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Answer 2

It looks like you already have two Windows partitions and a Wubi install of Ubuntu, which means it lives inside a file on your main windows partition. If you uninstall Ubuntu with the Windows control panel, and use gparted to shrink your windows partitions down a bit, and move them so that all of the free space is contiguous, then install Ubuntu normally ( boot from the cd ), and choose the option to use the unpartitioned space, you will end up with a third partition for Ubuntu ( and a 4th for swap ).