Partitioning w/o Format vs. Dual Boot

Mission: partitioning without formating and creating a dualboot system with *nix and win.

#1/Partion Magic is the only tool I have used. Does anybody have any good advice on others that exist, that are perhaps better than Partion Magic? Freeware, shareware, or something I'd have to purchase. I am not interested in reformatting however

#2/I am currently running Win Xp home ver. and I just received a full copy of Redhat Linux ver 7.2. So after I partion out my 95 giger, I plan to install it on one of the new pations. My question however, does anybody have any advice on creating a stable dual boot system.

Couldn't I just copy con a "dualboot.bat" and write in options 1=linux and being 2=win :confused:

Anyhelp would be great, thanks alot

If you just stick in the RH cd and change BIOS settings to boot from cd, the installation should start up.
At the start of installation it will allow u to partition your HDD to allow dual booting!
Start by reading this
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/l...install-guide/
Heres some info on partitioning
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/l...partsetup.html
Just read on from there, which should give u a pretty comprehensive guide to partitioning!

Hope this helps

r3b007

Partition Magic is a fabulous tool and the best that I know of. I haven't found anything better. If you use partition magic, part of the advantage of it is that you don't have to reformat. You should be able to resize any freespace to open it up for your Linux install.

Now, I will say that the RH version you have is buggy. I wouldn't recommend it. I would choose the 7.3. Also, don't rely on a script to do this stuff. You won't learn a lot and I don't think there is one that can do it (I haven't heard of anything). Just pop in the first CD, boot from the CD and begin the install. DO NOT let it do the default install as that will wipe your Windows section. I usually choose custom and install the "toys" I want to play with.

yes. follow these instructions.

defrag your hdd. then use partition magic to make your windows partition smaller. the create a linux partition and make that however big you want it. with a 95gig hdd make a linux swap file and make that 5 gig.

once all thats done. set your bios to boot from cd. install linux and it will setup your dual boot automatically.

*WARNING* if you want to unistall linux. a format will not change the boot sector and you will be screwed. the easiest way to uninstall linux is this.

place your xp cd in and wait for it to boot. go into the repair console. the type in this order

fix boot
fixmbr

then you can restart

it will restart into windows, from there you can delete the linux swap and partitions using partition magic.

cheers

Theres absolutely no point in making a 5GB swap partition, unless you're using around 2GB of RAM, which is unlikely!
Your best of using your space wisely, even though u got a big HDD.
Id say devote about 40GB of your HDD to RH, of that, partition as follows:

1GB - root
1GB - swap
5GB - temp
10GB - home
23GB - usr

JMHO

r3b007

1GB of swap!? Geez.. what are you doing? Maya?

General rule of thumb, IMHO for most users has be 2x. I took the following from RH's site:

Quote:

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From RH's 7.2 Install Guide Unless you have a reason for doing otherwise, we recommend that you create the following partitions:

* A swap partition (at least 32 MB) — swap partitions are used to support virtual memory. In other words, data is written to a swap partition when there is not enough RAM to store the data your system is processing. The size of your swap partition should be equal to twice your computer's RAM, or 32 MB, whichever amount is larger, but no more than 2048 MB (or 2 GB). In Disk Druid, the partition field for swap should look similar to the following:

<Swap> hda6 64M 64M Linux swap

For example, if you have 1 GB of RAM or less, your swap partition should be at least equal to the amount of RAM on your system, up to two times the RAM. For more than 1 GB of RAM, 2 GB of swap is recommended. Creating a large swap space partition will be especially helpful if you plan to upgrade your RAM at a later time.

* A /boot partition (50 MB) — the partition mounted on /boot contains the operating system kernel (which allows your system to boot Red Hat Linux), along with files used during the bootstrap process. Due to the limitations of most PC BIOSs, creating a small partition to hold these files is a good idea. For most users, a 50 MB boot partition is sufficient. In Disk Druid, the partition field for /boot should look similar to:

/boot hda1 16M 16M Linux native

Caution

If your hard drive is more than 1024 cylinders (and your system was manufactured more than two years ago), you may need to create a /boot partition if you want the / (root) partition to use all of the remaining space on your hard drive.

* A root partition (1.2-3.5 GB) — this is where "/" (the root directory) will be located. In this setup, all files (except those stored in /boot) are on the root partition. A 1.2 GB root partition will permit the equivalent of a workstation installation (with very little free space), while a 3.5 GB root partition will let you install every package. In Disk Druid, the partition field for / should look similar to:

/ hda5 3734M 3734M Linux native

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Now while having more never really hurt, there is no need to have a 1GB (and certainly not 5GB). I presently run RH7.3 with a swap of about 256MB while having 192MB of Physical RAM. Certainly smaller than recommendation but I've never had problems with it.

Home and temp are huge as well. I take it that temp is a download directory you use? usr being large never hurt and certainly never hurt to have root large either.

dopeydadwarf:

Redhat7.2 Manual

MsMittens: 1GB of swap, isnt that much compared to the amount of RAM that users now use!

Im only running 256MB RAM, but swap is 1GB. This extra 500MB of space isn't gonna be missed and im just planning ahead for when i upgrade to 512MB, which by todays standards isn't extraordinary!

Quote:

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Creating a large swap space partition will be especially helpful if you plan to upgrade your RAM at a later time.

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;)

Yeah temp is a download dir, hence the size!

Mines i a workstation, so root doesnt need to be that big, just enough if you ask me ;)

no, thats not what she is talking about. you cannot have a 1Gb swap file. it at least has to be 1.99Gb swap file.

when someone says read things as proof, dont not read and and lie to yourself that you know everything

For learning how to dual boot using the win2k bootloader, the way you're asking, look at this that I posted yesterday.
Cheers,
cgkanchi

Quote:

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Originally posted here by Trust_Not_123
no, thats not what she is talking about. you cannot have a 1Gb swap file. it at least has to be 1.99Gb swap file.

when someone says read things as proof, dont not read and and lie to yourself that you know everything

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Eh???

Of course i can have 1GB for a swap, who says i cant?

It has to be at least 1.99GB???

I DO NOT claim to know everything, i know feck all........but please dont preach to me!

Thank You

i wasnt pointing fingers, just meerly giving suggestions

Ok. I'm not sure what happened to the discussion. The point I was trying to make is that to assume that one needs 1GB, 5GB or what-have-you of RAM without asking some clarifying questions (e.g.,What is your RAM amount? How much does XP take up now? What do you intend to do with your Linux? What do you want to learn from it?) doesn't help someone learn how to use the OS. Because I didn't know what his RAM is I thought it's better to say "double your physical", which is a good rule of thumb for most *nix.

It strikes me that dopeydadwarf is a new linux user and is better off starting with the guidelines/manual set forth by the manufacturer to start off with his first exploration. If in time, he is comfortable and wants to explore then going for anything is possible. So rather than getting snippy at each other, someone needs to help dopeydadwarf through the install because when it comes down to it there is no script, you will have to do it by hand and you should back up everything just in case (the Saint of Computers is Murphy and his law rules over everything -- "If it can go wrong, it will and it will in a big nasty way").

So, to dopeydadwarf:

1. What are you going to do with your Linux? (learn OS, experiment, etc.)

2. What are your hardware specs? (RH 7.2 has some issues on install with certain video cards. The installer, anaconda, may bitch about them and cause grief)

3. How much space does XP take and how much is actual free space? How much more space to you project (best guestimate) will your XP take?

4. errr.. I ran out of questions. :D .. Let's start with that and go from there.

The 'swapspace have to be 2 times your ram space' is a pretty old "rule" going back to... I think windows 3.1. You needed free space on your harddisk to store proces information and open files and the like, if the ram got full... That was in the time 512 kb of ram was much. There's no need to have 1 gig of swap even in this time. You need swap when you want to compile kde 3.1 on a 486 with 4 mb ram. It's nice to have much swap space if you can affort it, but you practicly don't need more then 2 gig ever. At least not today (march 2003). If you have to much it even get's in efficient and will only slow down the pc. Sawpspace is more like a "buffer" zone for you ram, not a replacement.

MsMittens

#1/ I planned just to first learn how to create a dual boot system. Then after success was evident, I was going to start my many years of expeimentation with a new OS. Since this ver of RedHat 7.2 was given to me a few days ago still in the "shrink wrap", my blood started itching for that KNOWLEDGE that DRUG we call FREE INFORMATION.
And i've always wanted to see what the rave about the penguin was, so I started this thread.

I've been with Win since 3.1, and some DOS before that. I understand many aspects of computing, networking via token and ethnet, html, java/script, currently learning anything I can get my eyes on, i've even raised some hell a time or few with this lovely beige box.

But we demand free information, we'll that comes with some responsibility. When I was a child, I thought as a child, spoke as a child, understood as a child, hacked as a child. But when I became a man I put away childish things.

#2/Sorry not applicable. I have a VPR MATRIX 2020. ATX P4 DDR mother board, P4 2.0 GHz Processor, 256MB DDR, 100GB- 7200rpm Western Digital HDD, Lite-On 32x/12x/40x CD-RW, Lite-on 16x DVD-ROM, Visiontek GeForce2 GTS-V with 64MB DDR, Creative Labs Soundblaster Live 5.1, a 300 watt power supply, 1.44 MB floppy, and a 1394 Card. With lost of room to expand.

If you'd like I also have Part #'s for the aforementioned hardware.
Very nice PC, very pleased with it.

#3/With my few external devices, and few applications, I've 83.4 gig free for whatever. So if we split her in half, we could reasonably go 50gig/50gig. If this isn't addiquate in your opinions then I've got another 80 giger on the bench with a quick format, I could master/slave into the picture, and have two drives for Win and Linux respectivley.

I hope this is enough information. For you
Smilez and Thanks

quote:

But we demand free information, we'll that comes with some responsibility. When I was a child, I thought as a child, spoke as a child, understood as a child, hacked as a child. But when I became a man I put away childish things.

LMAO, i love it....what a horrible movie IMO, anyways though dual booting is very easy , if i was you i would make sure to read over the PM manual before just incase you run into any probs. be sure to make backup's before installing RH (cause as im sure you know...**** happens) and basically its just following a few simple instructions.i made the switch over to linux a few months ago and im sure you will enjoy it.....especially if all you have used is winblows..woops i mean windows.what i have done..in case you want something to think about is i use linux for all my internet and d/l needs and use windows for my gameing fix and for making any documents that someone ask for that can only be made under windows.anywasy have fun, im sure youll figure it out the previous postings give some good info on the topic so ill shut up now ;) take it easy.

Quote:

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Originally posted here by dopeydadwarf
MsMittens

#2/Sorry not applicable. I have a VPR MATRIX 2020. ATX P4 DDR mother board, P4 2.0 GHz Processor, 256MB DDR, 100GB- 7200rpm Western Digital HDD, Lite-On 32x/12x/40x CD-RW, Lite-on 16x DVD-ROM, Visiontek GeForce2 GTS-V with 64MB DDR, Creative Labs Soundblaster Live 5.1, a 300 watt power supply, 1.44 MB floppy, and a 1394 Card. With lost of room to expand.

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While you have the latest and greatest stuff, just keep in mind that it might still have issues. The biggest issue would be the video card but if it sticks to the NVIDIA specs it should (theorectically) be ok.

So, why not split it 50/50 (allowing for overhead on the drive)? Just use Partition Magic (ver #?) to resize the free space. Pop in the CDs, boot from Disk #1 and follow the instructions. You might want to choose expert rather than just standard install as that can erase your existing XP install. The bootloader in Linux (LILO in 7.2) will take care of the dualboot portion.

And as hatebreed2000 re-iterated.. BACKUP everything of importance just in case. :D

Edit If anyone wants to verify their hardware for RH visit here.

I will just use this opportunity to throw in a shameless plug for my introduction to Linux partitioning. :D

http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=233779