also you'll need to delete or comment out the line in /etc/fstab that mounts swap else at the next boot you'll have an issue

you'll probably also want to still have swap so you'll need to create a /swap partition or a swap file and mount it in /etc/fstab, this is particularly important if you hibernate (aka suspend to disk) which will require an edit in the "resume=________" option in grub or grub2 - this is best done using your distros instructions

when i right click on the swap, i get an option "deactivate swap". i can do that but i get a message that it can not be deleted because other partitions with higher logical numbers are still mounted.
i can unmount number 6 (home), but not the other.
so i can not delete the swap.

no idea - you should post the full error msg in Google and see what pops
what is the /dev/sda number of swap? I would have guessed 8 but if 4 or 5 that would explain the message

an option would be to edit your /etc/fstab and comment out the swap line (add a # at the beginning of the line and then save it) and then reboot

note: if you have a resume=___________ in grub(2) there could be problems, maybe with booting but definitely with hibernation

yes, swap is number 5
the other two linux partitons are 6 and 7.
i will try the error message in google.
as for the rest, i have no idea how to go about.
thanks.