Partitioning

In this screen you can see the content of your hard drive(s) and see the solutions the DrakX partitioning wizard found for where to install Mageia.

The options available from the list below will vary depending on your particular hard drive(s) layout and content.

Use Existing Partitions

If this option is available, then existing Linux compatible partitions have been found and may be used for the installation.
Use Free Space

If you have unused space on your hard drive then this option will use it for your new Mageia installation.
Use Free Space on a Windows Partition

If you have unused space on an existing Windows partition, the installer may offer to use it.

This can be a useful way of making room for your new Mageia installation, but is a risky operation so you should make sure you have backed up all important files!

Note that this involves shrinking the size of the Windows partition. The partition must be "clean", meaning that Windows must have closed down correctly the last time it was used. It must also have been defragmented, although this is not a guarantee that all files in the partition have been moved out of the area that is about to be used. It is highly recommended to back up your personal files.

Erase and use Entire Disk.

This option will use the complete drive for Mageia.

Note! This will erase ALL data on the selected hard drive. Take care!

If you intend to use part of the disk for something else, or you already have data on the drive that you are not prepared to lose, then do not use this option.

Custom

This gives you complete control over the placing of the installation on your hard drive(s).


If you have a SSD (Solid State Drive) instead of a hard disk, at the time this help was written, it was inadvisable to create the partitions with this tool because they would not be aligned. The SSD would work but with reduced speed and lifetime. Use a partitioning tool such as Gparted instead with these partition alignment settings for each partition : Free space preceding (MiB) : 2 Round to cylinders : unchecked

If you have a SSD (Solid State Drive) instead of a hard disk, at the time this help was written, it was inadvisable to create the partitions with this tool because they would not be aligned. The SSD would work but with reduced speed and lifetime. Use a partitioning tool such as Gparted instead with these partition alignment settings for each partition :

Free space preceding (MiB) : 2

Round to cylinders : unchecked