Issue with dual boot machine running out of disk space

[TCD27]

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and have minimal experience with Linux, however it is my go-to on two older machines. My day-to-day machine is dual boot Windows 10 and Linux Mint 19. I only have Windows in case I need to use programs specific to that OS. My issue is that I'm running out of disk space.

I'm trying to determine:

1. Can resize partitions to make more space available?
2. Am I'm better off purchasing a new, larger SSD.
   • If the SSD is the best way to go, how to I transfer/clone the drive and allocate sufficient disk space?
   • Will I have issues with the Windows partition?

I have used various commands to free up space so far, but I think I'm just putting a band-aid on a larger problem.

Thank you for any insight!!

 

[forester]

Partition2 could most likely be shrunk using the windows utility. Then, perhaps, enough space will be had to expand the one you wish to be larger. Have you done this?

SystemRescue is a good utility with which one may wish to become familiar, but a windows partition should be shrunk using the windows utility.

 

[Lx_pollywog]

Is it like wishing you could build a gym in your living room? If you aren't broke, a beautiful chunk of free space could do good to let you expand without worry,Yes? At worst you could attach an external hardrive to run Linux or connect to your linux file system. Apparently a linux os can run from an external drive which i'm not sure you can do with a windows.

 

[kc1di]

Hello @TCD27,
Welcome to the Forum.
As others have already said you should use the windows disk utility to shrink one of the Windows partitions and add that space to your 20gb linux partition. 20 gb is a minimum for most modern Linux systems. I recommend 30 to 40 Gbs. Just to be safe. Before you buy a bigger ssd. You may want to try some of the following tips found here.
It's specifically for Ubuntu and Mint but should work on other distros also. You did not say which distro you installed.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[TCD27]

Good Morning Everyone,
Thank you for the quick, detailed replies.

@kc1di, I'm running Mint 19 and coincidentally the link you provided is my go-to for clean up.

I will look at the Windows partition option as well. I know there isn't much that I use thru Windows, so resizing the partition may not be an issue/concern.

 

[kc1di]

Do a backup of any important files first as thing can happen.

 

[forester]

@TCD27 said, . . . there isn't much that I use thru Windows, so resizing the partition may not be an issue/concern.

If it is of no concern, get rid of the first three partitions then expand existing partitons used for Linux. Do so using gparted, which is also available in SystemRescue, as a recommended course of action.