Fedora 44 install, dual boot, partitions using unallocated space?
This is probably a dumb question but I don't want to risk bricking a laptop...I have windows installed on a laptop and I shrunk the partition via the windows partition manager. I left that space untouched otherwise.
When I boot up using a Fedora 44 bootable usb, it seems the installer will not automatically use that unallocated space. Fine, I can use the 3 dots and launch the storage editor.
In the storage editor it shows
| ID | Type | Location | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| p1 | vfat filesystem (EFI system partition) | (no assigned mount point) | 472 mb |
| p2 | Unformatted data | 16.8 mb | |
| p3 | Locked data (encrypted) | 288 gb | |
| Free space | 734 gb | ||
| p4 | ntfs filesystem | (no assigned mount point) | 2.1gb |
(I know p3 is the windows partition I shrunk. I think p4 is a recovery partition for windows? I know it shows in the windows partition manager what they are.)
What is the best way to go about this so I can dual boot with windows?
From playing around in the installer options, it looks like I will have to do custom mount point assignment. Do I then actually take the 734gb free space and turn it into 2 partitions for '/' and '/boot/'?
The installer wants a partition for /boot/efi as well, but from research it looks like I just identify p1 on my system for that? Is there a danger in overwriting the windows boot loader if I do this?
Posted Aug 14, 2026, 5:59 AM UTC