> If you care about Windows 7 at all (e.g., for playing games) you should
> back up the Win 7 installation completely before starting. How you go
> about it depends on your new machine. If it came with recovery options,
> you should investigate them. With the Ultimate edition, Win 7 comes
> with a good backup program, you can use that. Otherwise, you can look
> to the various alternatives for backing up.
>
> But I urge you to use something. Most of the programs, free and
> non-free, work properly to shrink a partition, but it is easy to commit
> a user error and wipe things out completely.
>
> If it were me, I would shrink (resize) the partition first, before
> running the Debian installer. That is, take it in reversible stages.
> This is a matter of taste. It isn't strictly necessary.
>
>
I have Win 7 home premium. I will find out what tools for partitioning/backup
came with it and decide on my next course of action.
