I think I had found a disk partitioning tool somewhere but that it only affected my non-linux OS partitions, not the linux partitions itself.
That's because you can't change a partition that you're actually using at the time! I assume that you were running linux, yes? That means that the operating system and the programs that were running, including the disk partitioning tool itself, were using the disk!
That's why one needs to run from the live-CD in order to re-partition the disk(s) on which your original Linux system is installed, because if one is running from CD, one isn't running from disk.
Are all my programs installed on root, is that why it is filled up?
Yep. If you have two partitions, root and /home, then everything that isn't on /home is on root. And the only things that are put in /home are your personal files and configurations. Which isn't a lot, unless you've got a massive music collection or something.
My rule of thumb for partitions: * swap partition: somewhere between the same size as memory, or twice the size of the memory. * boot partition: sometimes I have a separate partition for /boot, sometimes I don't. If I do, it's small, but not too small. About 1G is plenty. * divide the remaining space in half, and give half to the root partition and half to the /home (or in my case, /files) partition. That way, I don't have to think a lot about how big to make them. Disks are so big nowadays it doesn't really matter if one doesn't have a /home partition that's taking up most of the disk. And it's much worse to run out of room on the root partition than it is to run out of space on /home, since it's much easier to move your personal files elsewhere.
I'd encourage you to give the re-partitioning a go, because if you're resigned to re-installing, then it won't matter if the re-partitioning doesn't work, but if it does work, then (a) you won't have to re-install (b) you won't have lost your settings and (c) you will have gotten some Valuable Experience!
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That's because you can't change a partition that you're actually using at the time! I assume that you were running linux, yes? That means that the operating system and the programs that were running, including the disk partitioning tool itself, were using the disk!
That's why one needs to run from the live-CD in order to re-partition the disk(s) on which your original Linux system is installed, because if one is running from CD, one isn't running from disk.
Are all my programs installed on root, is that why it is filled up?
Yep. If you have two partitions, root and /home, then everything that isn't on /home is on root. And the only things that are put in /home are your personal files and configurations. Which isn't a lot, unless you've got a massive music collection or something.
My rule of thumb for partitions:
* swap partition: somewhere between the same size as memory, or twice the size of the memory.
* boot partition: sometimes I have a separate partition for /boot, sometimes I don't. If I do, it's small, but not too small. About 1G is plenty.
* divide the remaining space in half, and give half to the root partition and half to the /home (or in my case, /files) partition. That way, I don't have to think a lot about how big to make them. Disks are so big nowadays it doesn't really matter if one doesn't have a /home partition that's taking up most of the disk. And it's much worse to run out of room on the root partition than it is to run out of space on /home, since it's much easier to move your personal files elsewhere.
I'd encourage you to give the re-partitioning a go, because if you're resigned to re-installing, then it won't matter if the re-partitioning doesn't work, but if it does work, then (a) you won't have to re-install (b) you won't have lost your settings and (c) you will have gotten some Valuable Experience!