Changing partitions after I've installed Linux

[svivian]

I've installed Linux a few times on my old PC so I'm familiar with the process of creating blank/unallocated space on the end of the hard drive for it. I'm not going to spare more than 20gb for now (for Ubuntu, btw), but it may be quite possible that I'll switch to it on a more 'full-time' basis, given that the more I use Vista, the more I hate it

 

So I'm wondering, what if I want to increase the amount of space for Linux later? Can I add space "before" where it's installed? Will this mess things up?

 

Also does anyone know if it's possible to write to my Windows partition from Ubuntu? I couldn't with my previous distro, Suse, the Windows part was read-only. Perhaps there is a way to change this?

[neylitalo]

So I'm wondering, what if I want to increase the amount of space for Linux later? Can I add space "before" where it's installed? Will this mess things up?

 

It depends on the filesystem. I believe with ext2/3, you can shrink and grow filesystems in both directions. Keep in mind, though, that "any program that messes with your hard disk has the possibility to totally destroy your disk, or even turn it into a sperm whale". (From the ext2resize website.)

 

Also does anyone know if it's possible to write to my Windows partition from Ubuntu? I couldn't with my previous distro, Suse, the Windows part was read-only. Perhaps there is a way to change this?

 

With FUSE (Filesystem in USErspace), you can mount an NTFS filesystem as rw with the ntfs3g tool. Note that this may require modifications to your kernel, depending on the setup provided by the good folks at Ubuntu. I don't know if they have support for userspace filesystems, so if they don't, you'll have to build your own kernel.