Emulating windows help...

[Henrique Aliva]

I was planning on getting a OpenBSD 2.9/3.0 operating system and placing it on my Windows 2000. Will I be able to partition Windows and not completely erase it? I want to set Windows aside so I still have it, just not as a main operating system.

Another concern is emulating Windows. I would still like to be able to use Windows applications on the system. Vmwares' website does not list that Vmware supports OpenBSD systems. Is there a way to run DirectX applications such as advanced programming application or advanced 3-D games on OpenBSD? I would appriciate advice.

Thank you

[luisjpr]

As far as partinioning your drive, you can use partition magic and it will do the trick.

When it comes to emulating, I dont know if vmware will work with freebsd but maybe wine will do (altho i dont know if there are any ports of wine for freebsd)

[Henrique Aliva]

Is Partition Magic included with OpenBSD?

The wine site mentions it partly supports directx, however, i am not sure if that would mean it might cause problems trying to run directx applications (that might require full support?). Isn't OpenBSD different than FreeBSD?

[scanez]

Originally posted by Henrique Aliva:
<STRONG>Is Partition Magic included with OpenBSD?

The wine site mentions it partly supports directx, however, i am not sure if that would mean it might cause problems trying to run directx applications (that might require full support?). Isn't OpenBSD different than FreeBSD?</STRONG>
Partition Magic is 3rd party software that can be used to resize partitions, that is why t was suggested in this case. I'm not sure if the OpenBSD installation can resize partitions, I know the Mandrake installation can. You could go through the Mandrake installation just up to the point where you can resize partitions, then exit and start the openBSD installation. But Partition Magic would probably be eaiser, I think's there's an evaluation copy somewhere.

For DirectX, use WineX, it's just like wine only with directx support. And yes, FreeBSD is different from OpenBSD.

Cheers
SC

[Henrique Aliva]

Is WineX compatible with OpenBSD?

Where could you just buy Partition Magic? At a store?

[Henrique Aliva]

^

[bdg1983]

You buy Partition Magic at a store or you can also purchase online at www.powerquest.com (http://www.powerquest.com)

As for your other questions. I wouldn't know though I do suggest you read the docs at the WineX and OpenBSD websites to see what is supported. Web searches may also help.

[thedexman]

Unfortunately, I don't know of anybody getting VMWare to run with OpenBSD as a host operating system yet. I have not been able to do so, but I haven't tried in the past few months. You can get it to run as a guest with some tweaks. This may be desirable, since you will NOT be able to play 3D-games and whatnot with VMWare. The only way you can play DirectX games is with Windows.

It should work with FreeBSD, as has been already stated.

[ 27 October 2001: Message edited by: thedexman ]

[Henrique Aliva]

I bought Partition Magic 7.0 today. Does resizing Windows erase Windows because I do want to do that.

If there is any way possible to run DirectX games on OpenBSD i need to know. I would rather have a 3-D game run with some tweaks than to not be able to run it at all. Running it on insecure windows is not an option because the games have internet. multiplayer and windows on any internet is...everyone already knows.

[ 27 October 2001: Message edited by: Henrique Aliva ]

[X_console]

You're quite mistaken. OpenBSD is a server operating system, not a desktop operating system. Yes, it is secure, but only if you keep yourself up to date on the patches. You can expect very little support if you try to play games or try to run DirectX on it. My suggestion would be to build an OpenBSD firewall and then run your Windows desktop behind it. This is the ideal setup for you. OpenBSD will run on an old 486 which is available for a very cheap price.

[Henrique Aliva]

How am I supposed to use OpenBSD firewall on Win2k? Win2k has too many security holes even with NetBIOS and ICMP disabled. If your machine relies on a firewall 100%, it is like relying on air bags in a car and not wearing seat belts. The whole purpose of OpenBSD is to have a secure whole system those petty script kiddies will not ever be getting into.

My computer is:

A Pentium 4.0 20GHz, 512MB RDRAM, 60 GB hard drive nVIDIA GeForce 3. It should be large enough to hold OpenBSD and some large directx or programming applications.

[thedexman]

Damn, 20GHz P4, that's fast.

Let us clear things up. You CANNOT run DirectX programs on OpenBSD! If you want to play your games and run DirectX programs, you MUST use Windows.

If you want a firewall based on OpenBSD, get a second computer. It can be any cheap old thing. You should be able to find a 486 on ebay for $20 USD, which is more than adaquate for a home user.

Is this too hard to understand?

[X_console]

How am I supposed to use OpenBSD firewall on Win2k? Win2k has too many security holes even with NetBIOS and ICMP disabled. If your machine relies on a firewall 100%, it is like relying on air bags in a car and not wearing seat belts. The whole purpose of OpenBSD is to have a secure whole system those petty script kiddies will not ever be getting into.


Do you know what a firewall is? A properly configured firewall will prevent attackers from accessing computers behind it. This includes your Win2K system. It doesn't matter how many holes Win2K has. If someone tries to port scan it, the scan has to go through your firewall first. This means that if your firewall is properly configured then the scan will never even get to the Win2K box. This means that those pesky script kiddies will never even know you have a Win2K box behind that firewall.

Here's a real life example. Right now I'm on a Windows system. If you were to portscan my system and try to find out what operating system it was, you'd probably get a UNIX based system. Why? Because I'm behind a firewall. The port scan doesn't get past it and so it doesn't know what's behind the firewall. I have more than one computer running behind the firewall, each one running a different operating system. We share the same IP, but to the attacker, there's only one computer, and it's a UNIX type computer.

Obviously this does not provide a fool proof setup of course, but it does help. The main point is to have a firewall running on a separate computer, protecting a small network behind it.

[Henrique Aliva]

A 486 would not work because my games require a processor and computer as powerful as the one I have now. I tried before with a slower one and they practically destroyed it. It is at least possible to have an OpenBSD system and simply switch to Windows to play games I hope. That is why I bought Partition Magic.

[X_console]

A 486 will work. Like I said, the 486 is a separate machine running OpenBSD. It is not running the games, just filtering packets and routing. The games will be installed and running on your Win2K box with your good hardware. Okay, here's a rough diagram that might help:

Internet &lt;--&gt; OpenBSD running on 486 &lt;--&gt; Windows 2000

So the OpenBSD machine is between the Internet and your Windows 2000 box.

Yes, you can dual boot OpenBSD and Windows, so you can use Windows for game playing and OpenBSD for doing your work.

[bdg1983]

Originally posted by Henrique Aliva:
<STRONG>I bought Partition Magic 7.0 today. Does resizing Windows erase Windows because I do want to do that.
</STRONG>

No it doesn't. That would kinda defeat the purpose of spending the money on Partition Magic.

Gotta tell my manager it's time to upgrade from PM 5 to PM 7 since we will be evaluating WinXP soon. :D

[thedexman]

bah