ubuntu - Can I partition my hard drive without formatting Windows?

I have Windows 8.1 running on my work computer which is a 64-bit desktop PC, and I want to install Ubuntu with dual boot.

Currently there are no other partitions on the hard drive, but there is more than enough empty space. I wonder if it's possible to install Ubuntu on this machine without losing any information on Windows, or do I have to format and re-install Windows partition too?

Thanks,

Answer

Yes you could easily do that in Windows, by shrinking the current partition. Here are instructions:

1. Open Disk Management. This could me done by going to diskmgmt.msc from the start menu search (or in the Run box from Win+R)



2. In the Disk Management screen, just right-click on the partition that you want to shrink, which'll proberbly be the partition marked as (C:), and select Shrink Volume from the menu.


3. In the Shrink dialog, you will want to enter the amount you want to shrink by, not the new size. For example, if you want to give for your new Ubuntu partition 20gb, enter 20000 into the box


4. Click Shrink and here you go with the new partition.