0

About 2 years ago, I installed Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS to my brand new Lenovo Legion 5. I was nervous about moving to a Linux system for the first time, so I set up my computer to dual boot with equal-sized partitions for Ubuntu and Windows 10. 2 years later, I have not booted Windows once. I run out of space constantly since I only have access to half my computer.

I would like to unpartition my computer and start over with just one partition for Ubuntu. I can easily back up all of my files, so I am fine with completely wiping my computer. I think the way to go about this is to just install Ubuntu again from a flash drive, and I will be able to reformat during the install.

Most of the relevant info I'm finding online is 10+ years old. So here are my questions:

  1. Is a fresh install the best way to reset my partitions? Or is there a better way?
  2. Will a fresh install delete my existing Ubuntu files? (This is fine, I just want to know in advance.)

Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks!

vnbcs
  • 1

2 Answers2

0

There is a point in the installation process where you will get asked how you want to install on your disk. One of the options is to use the whole disk - choose that option.

Hugh Murphy
  • 101
0

I suggest based on my experience that:

Download the Ubuntu 24.04.2 ISO from https://releases.ubuntu.com/noble/ubuntu-24.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso, not 24.10 or 25.04.

Burn the ISO to a USB drive with enough space +8GB.

Rufus and BalenaEtcher are usually suitable, in Linux the dd command is also effective.

Disable secure boot and fast boot in setup.

Start a live session of Ubuntu.

Once the boot is complete, open a terminal and run:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gparted
sudo gparted

From gparted, select the hard drive.

Unmount it if it is mounted.

Create a new gpt partition table.

In the free space, create a 1 giga partition, Efi-System (Fat32).

Next, create a 100-gigabyte partition, ext4 system.

Create another 16-gigabyte partition, swap system.

Create another remaining partition that you plan to use for Linux, ext4 system.

Apply the changes.

Close gparted.

Close the terminal.

Start the installation.

Choose manual partitioning:

Grub, by default, on the hard drive.

And select;

The 100-gigabyte partition for /.

The 16-gigabyte partition for swap.

The remaining one for /home.

Continue with the installation.

The sizes and number of partitions are suggested based on my experience and preference for having a separate swap and /home partition to preserve personal files during future updates.

kyodake
  • 17,808