See below.
When you say 15GB for anything else, I assume you mean it is a FAT32 partition, so that the data is accessible by Windows and Windows sees it as d drive. If so, that is fine. I would leave that all as is. Store any "data" there (say music) that you want to be accessible by both Linux AND Windows. That amount of space will surely turn out to be too much for Windows later on as you use Linux more and more but it is a start and some space can be reclaimed later solely Linux if need be.2 hard drives 20GB partitioned to 5gb for windows and 15gb for anything else
100gb drive unpartitioned and freshHere's what you do, make at leats 4 partitions. Make one of them the / partition (where the OS and programs reside), make that about 3GB, so you can install programs later without running out of space. Then you'll want a linux swap (rule of thumb is double the size of your RAM), things get ugly if you run out of swap space. After that make a /home partition. This is where all user files/data reside. This should be of a size that you think suitable of course. These "users" can also access data on other partitions if you give them permission to, so it's not necessarily a big deal. I would make that maybe 2GB since you have the space. The reason for making /home a separate partition is so that if/when you need to reinstall/upgrade the OS, the user config's and data stay intact. Partition the rest of the drive how you see fit. Maybe make 3 more partitions just so you have separate places to backup stuff to or whatever. I use the ext3 filesystem and have never had any problems with it, plus it's journalled, so the potential loss of data during a power outtage or system crash isn't as dire. Others may recommend reiserfs or jfs I suppose.
Hope this helps!!
Regards,
Jason
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