Hi, I want to partition my 160 gig so I can install and dual boot linux.
my hd is fully formatted in ntfs and has winxp installed -- I don't want anything to happen to windows.
Are there any recommendations for good partitioning software?
btw -- I might buy a new hard drive (to put linux on) and is there a way to completely erase a linux partition on a hard drive so it can be fully utilized by windows?
-Soral 3.0
I like PartitionMagic :) Very featurerich and trustworthy. http://www.partitionmagic.com/partitionmagic/
Dani i hope you dont mind me countering your post with thisbut Partiton magic is great but Not free.
this one is is money is an issue
Free:
http://www.icewalkers.com/Linux/Software/519720/SystemRescueCd.html
its labeled rescue cd, but it works it does more then partiton, all you need is something to burn an ISO file. I use nero.
Then again, there's always fips for the more tech-savvy.
You can use a Win98 boot floppy to wipe a linux-formatted drive to put Windows on - it'll say it doesn't have a recognizable filesystem (obviously) but you can take it from there...
Well, thanks for showing me the free one's -- However, will they offer me the reliability that partitionmagic offers?
Ogre -- do you mean that if I use fdisk, I can simple delete a linux partition without having to reformat the whole disk?
Yes, just delete the unknown partition and create a new partition for Windows. You can do a quick format of the new partition from within Windows using NTFS.
yes you can use the one built in, but the free one in my opininons better then norton's and so forth. I use it alot, i fix alot of my friends PC's after nice virus problems. lol (=
If you download the RescueCD, there's a Linux partition utility called QtParted that looks almost identical to Partition Magic, and works very well. There's also a bunch of other tools on the CD that are Linux ports of popular software that you can play with once you get the drive partitioned.
You may want to check out partimage (a disk imaging utility) after you get your system up and running. It works via the commandline (you'll need an FTP server on your LAN - there's tons of free ones available), but it's extremely easy to figure out if you can read :)
Okay,
I'm converted to freeware.
But which is it?
FIPS or Rescue CD?
If you need to manipulate the NTFS partition, fips won't do; it can only handle FAT/FAT32. Unfortunately, this is true of many of the free open-source partitioning tools.
As mentioned, qtparted should work:
http://freshmeat.net/projects/qtparted/?branch_id=36614&release_id=154236
thank y'all for the input -- here I go to mess with the structure of my hd using the rescue cd...
-Soral 3.0
-- here I go to mess with the structure of my hd using the rescue cd...
Right then- tell us how it goes, and please let us know if have any questions or problems; it's better to ask before you click the wrong button...
:mrgreen:
lol, the e-boot (as i call it has qtparted built in with a few other good app's) It is easy to use and full out gui.
okay,
you guys gotta help me again with a problem that's probably blatantly obvious -- but that I can't figure out anyways...
I'm using the rescue cd -- but I can't get qparted to run
From what I know -- you type in "run_qparted" in the "boot:" console... but I keep getting invalid kernel...
help?
If I understand what you've posted correctly, you're trying to run qparted at the wrong prompt. Just press the Enter key at the boot prompt, let the system boot up until you get to the command prompt, and then type the qparted command there.
ooh.
then I have a bigger problem
when I tried pressing "Enter" at the boot prompt...
It will start booting then...
just stop
It will stop in the middle of recognizing the devices...if I recall correctly -- after it recognizes the primary hard drive?
I never get to the command prompt...
hmmm...
OK- the operating system is having a problem with your hardware configuration by the sound of it.
What are your hardware specs, and what version/distro of Linux is your rescue CD based on? Depending on the distro, there may be parameters than you can enter at the boot: prompt to work around the problem(s).
lesee,
I have the newest version of the rescue cd -- that means version .2.15 the distro it runs on is "Build system: SystemRescueCd is based on the Gentoo LiveCd..."
my own specs are
asus p4p800se mobo
radeon 9800 pro AIW
160 gig hd
1 gig mem dual channel
a 3.0 ghz intel processor w/ hyperthreading
here's the rescue cd site...
http://www.sysresccd.org/
thanks for all the support
-Soral 3.0
Oh crud:
- I'm not very familiar with Gentoo at all.
- The documentation at sysrescd.org is really light on troubleshooting info; I couldn't find anything helpful there.
- I cannot find a Hardware Compatibility List on Gentoo's site, so I can't verify that your particular components are known to work with the distro.
I'll have to see if I can come up with more info; I'll repost when/if I can find anything useful.
wow
thanks.
However, before you buy a book "gentoo - unleashed" and read the whole thing...
Is there an easier or alternate way of running qparted?
-Soral 3.0
...before you buy a book "gentoo - unleashed" and read the whole thing...
lol!
Yeah right- like I have that kind of spare time to throw at a job I don't even get paid for... :mrgreen:
Is there an easier or alternate way of running qparted?
-Soral 3.0
Well... qtparted is a Linux utility, so if you want to use it you will have to run it while booted into some sort of Linux environment. I haven't used SystemRescueCd myself; I use Knoppix instead, and have only had it refuse to boot on one particular system out of the many that I've used it on.
Knoppix is a full-blown, Debian-based Linux distro which runs entirely from CD and includes many utilities, including qtparted. It's very good at detecting and coping with a wide variety of hardware configurations, including a variety of laptops (which traditionally have somewhat of a history of not "playing nice" with Linux).
Here's a short article which describes a bit more about Knoppix:
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-knopx.html?ca=dgr-lnxw03-obg-SysRecover
And of course... the Knoppix home page:
If at this point you still just want to shrink your existing Windows partition to make room for Linux, there's no reason you can't use Partition Tragic *cough!* er, um... I mean "Partition Magic" to do the job if you're willing to pay for the program.
ha HA
what a coincidence
Well, I am familiar with knoppix -- as a matter of fact -- before I installed windows onto my system, I booted a knoppix livecd.
So -- since I have access to a knoppix live cd -- how would I run qparted?
(I can't use the livecd and the recuecd at the same time...)
btw,
you seem to have had a traumatic experience with partition magic -- why the grudge? ;)
-Soral 3.0
P.S. besides monetary and sexual favors, is there really any way to thank you for your expedient support?
doh.
man, now when I try to run knoppix -- it stops also at the bootup -- at this prompt:
scanning for Harddisk partitions and creating /etc/fstab/...
a similar problem that I had with the rescue cd...
I think that installing windows did something I didn't know to my hd...
is it because I have no more swap space or something?
-Soral 3.0
Erg!
I was just about to post more info before I got notified of your most recent dillema. Hang in there- I'll respond, but I really have to log off right now and get down to eating some dinner...
lol!
you are online all the time -- everytime I come -- I can count on a reply from DMR within the hour...
enjoy your meal. :)
-Soral 3.0
lol!
you are online all the time -- everytime I come -- I can count on a reply from DMR within the hour...
OK, OK- so you've busted me. :mrgreen:
The truth is that I'm a freelance computer consultant in "real life", which does make my time somwhat flexible. That said though, I probably do spend way too much of my free time here helping others solve their problems. Oh well- sorry... I've been doing it for a few years now and just can't seem to stop...
you saint you! :cheesy:
...it stops also at the bootup -- at this prompt:
scanning for Harddisk partitions and creating /etc/fstab/...
a similar problem that I had with the rescue cd...
I think that installing windows did something I didn't know to my hd...
is it because I have no more swap space or something?
Knoppix doesn't need to write anything to the hard drive at all (it runs in memory), so insufficient swap wouldn't be an issue.
Are you using any "drive overlay" software on that 160G drive? If so, that kind of software has been known to throw Linux for a loop.
I probably do... having a 160 gig hd.
How would I check for this in xp?
Actually, I'm not sure that you can check that from within Windows. The overlay utilities are low-level programs that the hard drive manufacturers use to overcome the inabilty for certain BIOSes and/or operating systems to correctly detect the full capacity of large drives. Such software, if you have it, would most likely have been applied when the drive was first formatted (that is, before Windows was even installed).
Over the years there have been many "size barriers" in terms of a BIOS' and/or operating systems' ability to deal with the full capacity of "large" IDE/ATA hard drives. The most recent barrier is 137GB, so it's quite possible that your 160G drive came with an overlay pre-installed to overcome that barrier.
I might just be shooting in the dark on this, but- what make is drive? Maxtor's overlay utility is called "MaxBlast", and current Western Digital drives use a utility called "Data Lifeguard Tools" (older WD drives used an overlay called "EZ-Drive").
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