On Thu 12 Mar 2026 at 11:31:19 (+0000), Chris Green wrote: > didier gaumet <[email protected]> wrote: > > Le 12/03/2026 à 09:38, Chris Green a écrit : > > > I am about to install Debian 13 on a Lenovo Thinkpad X13. I have > > > several other systems running Debian 13 so the installation itself > > > shouldn't present any problems. > > > > > > However this is the first time I have wanted to add Debian to a system > > > which already has Windows installed on it, I have only done similar > > > previously with different Linux distributions. > > > > > > So, does Debian installation provide the means to shrink an existing > > > Windows partition in the installtion process or do I have to do it > > > before using GParted or similar? > > > > Debian Installation Manual has a section about this: > > https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/amd64/ch03s05.en.html > > SO, technically, yes, reducing the size of a NTFS partition should be > > possible from within the Debian Installer. > > > > Personally I find it safer to shrink a Windows partition directly from > > Windows before installing linux: > > https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/disk-management/shrink-a-basic-volume > > My chances of getting anything done in Windows 11 are about zero! :-)
My notes on the process I used are below. They may or may not give you some encouragement. I don't include anything about booting because it's unlikely you'd want to be switching between BIOS (linux) and EFI (Windows), which is what I did up until when we cleared Windows off the machine entirely. Late 2017; this was in Windows7, possibly after upgrading to 8. No extra software was installed in Windows during this process. All data was already routinely backed up. At the end, the d-i partitioner removed linuxlinux and created my linux partitions. ✄✄✄✄ Type here to search → Control Panel System and Security Administrative Tools Free up disk space, then Defragment and optimise drives https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731894(v=ws.11).aspx Type here to search → Disk Manager Create and format hard disk partitions Click on C: RightClick on C: Shrink Volume… gave ~38GB I haven't managed to force shrink to attempt to move a file and reveal which file is causing the problem (too intrusive). Click on free space RightClick on free space New Simple Volume M: NTFS File manager Copy selected directories of SWMBO's data files to M: Delete the originals on C: (in Documents) They will be copied back to C: at the end of this process. Using https://www.disk-partition.com/articles/shrink-volume-with-unmovable-files-4348.html Type here to search → System Protection Set no protection on C: Delete all existing checkpoints That was enough to be able to shrink the partition sufficiently by repeating the process above. File manager Copy M: directories back to C: Disk Manager Remove M: A new partition was made in Windows and formatted as exFAT with the name linuxlinux for identification purposes. In Disk Manager, Click on the free space, then RightClick on it. New Simple Volume Set the size Assign no letter exFAT or FAT as offered Volume Name as appropriate (will be changed later) Finish ✄✄✄✄ Cheers, David.
