Confused with Partitoning

[Trigger-X]

I have had Linux Mandrake 7.2 Complete (Boxed Verison) for about 4 days and havent even got it installed! I have windows 98 SE and I want to make a partition for Linux so I can have a Windows partition and a Linux Partition. I have been very confused on how to do this in the installtion, I'm new to this so I dont know much and I just want to get Linux installed. So in the installtion it came to the part to partiton it gave me the options:
Remove Windows(TM)
Use space left on Windows partition
Expert Mode
I have tried the Use space left on Windows partition and it always frezes I have tried that twice already. Then I have went to Expert mode and tryed to use DiskDrake but I found it confusing, and I really dont want to loose all my data on my hard drive even now I have it backed up. So I want to be as careful as I can possibly. I have read tons of Help files etc... and still dont understand. I was wondering if someone could Help or tutor me on how to do this. I would really apperciate it!
Thanks!

[mis]

Originally posted by Trigger-X:
I have had Linux Mandrake 7.2 Complete (Boxed Verison) for about 4 days and havent even got it installed! I have windows 98 SE and I want to make a partition for Linux so I can have a Windows partition and a Linux Partition. I have been very confused on how to do this in the installtion, I'm new to this so I dont know much and I just want to get Linux installed. So in the installtion it came to the part to partiton it gave me the options:
Remove Windows(TM)
Use space left on Windows partition
Expert Mode
I have tried the Use space left on Windows partition and it always frezes I have tried that twice already. Then I have went to Expert mode and tryed to use DiskDrake but I found it confusing, and I really dont want to loose all my data on my hard drive even now I have it backed up. So I want to be as careful as I can possibly. I have read tons of Help files etc... and still dont understand. I was wondering if someone could Help or tutor me on how to do this. I would really apperciate it!
Thanks!


Do you already have two partitions one for Win and one for Linux or is it all one partition?

[freaker]

ok, if you are using just 1 single drive that will be hda. lets say it is a 20g drive and you have 10g partitioned out to windows, and the rest is just empty space, and if the "Use Free Space" locks you up, then choose expert and do it yourself..
You'll want at the very least 2 partitions in the empty space, One being swap and the others mount point is /
I have my swap at 250M but use your own judgement. (swap is kinda like extended memory)
-----
To make it easier, why dont you tell me what size drive you have, and what the current partition table looks like.. k

freaker :cool:

[Trigger-X]

No I dont.... I just have my Windows partiton.

[Trigger-X]

My whole drive is 30.6 gigs and I have Used 5.81 and I have 22.7 gig free. I was messing with DiskDrake and when I was done I set it as Undo to make sure everything is back to normal.... and now it is Used 5.80 gig and Free 8.82 gig... I just noticed ahhhhh! Mabey i accidently made a partiton cause i dont know where my space I had went! :confused:

[Trigger-X]

and it says I have Capacity of 14.6 gig! what happend and how can I fix it and make t make it back to the way I had it!

[freaker]

thats why it craps out when you try and use free space - there is none

if you dont want to lose your windows stuff, and dont have the money for a second drive, you could pick up a copy of partition commander or others like that; it will allow you to resize your partitions without losing data..


freaker :cool:

[Trigger-X]

But it wasnt like that before. Before I used DiskDrake I only used 5.81 GB and Free 22.7 GB then I tryed to resize it myself and I pushed done and then it said something about FAT and Windows dosent have enough space. How would you know if i made a partition and how can i fix that! HELP! :eek:

[freaker]

when it says free space, it doesn't mean free space on your c drive, it means free unpartitioned space on the drive. space that you will not see in windows, unless your running win2k- are you?

freaker :cool:

[Trigger-X]

No i'm not running Win2k. So I think i made a partiton ona accident... I guess that is ok.. LoL, so when I go back into the installtion how would I tell it I have an partition already cause I didnt even now i made one...

[freaker]

you'll see in disk druid (not to familiar with it)
hda1 fat32
hda2
hda3

something like that, if you only have hda1, then you dont have any other partitions, if you see hda2 etc.. you have other partitions - make sure if you do it, to set up the mount points - install wont go anywhere until you do.. :p

freaker :cool:

[Trigger-X]

Mount Points? Here is the link of what i did to my hard drive. It is an demo.
http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/demos/Demo/Mandrake7.2/Install/Reco/pages/reco10.php3

I dont know if I mounted any points... If the demo shows it then I did or if it didnt then I didnt. And I dont think I formatted the partition either, because I dont even see it on My Computer. The only thing that tells me that I must have an partition is Drive C: is Capacity of 14.6 and when you add 14.6 and 14.6 you get my hard drive space... So I dont think I have the Partition Formatted, and I'm not sure if i have mount points or not, and how would I get the partition foramatted and contuinue with the installtion...?
:confused:

[LiNuts]

O.K. dont panic, this can be fixed. :D Go here http://www.users.intercom.com/~ranish/part/ and download the program.

Install it in DOS.
Do cd \ranish, then type part, this will take you to the partitioning manager. It will show you what partitions you have, If there is a Linux partition, use the down arrow key to highlite it, then delete it. Do not delete any fat32 partitions.

Now you should only have a fat32 partition of 5.8 Gb (or whatever your windows partition was).

Now you can install Drake 7.2. when you get to the part about installing partitions, you can either let drake take the remaining space or you can use Diskdrake to do it your self,

Simply click on the empty space on the partition bar at the top of the screen (it should be hda) and choose automatic or whatever its called from the list drake gives you, this will give you a / (root) partition a swap partition and a /home partition.

Dont be afraid to experiment with it , you can always choose undo before you write to the partitions.
Cheers
LiNuts

[Trigger-X]

Ok. I dont know if I even to delete the partition... because everything looks ok in diskdrake... Or unless I should do that in start over again to make sure I'm doing it right. I better start over I guess... I downloaded that program but I don't now to install it in DOS?

[Trigger-X]

Wait... Every looks right... like you said, I have an "/mnt windows" and then "/" then "swap" and then "/home". Do I need to Format the Linux Parition since I dont think I did? Because it dosent show another thing in My Computer... And if I was going to continue with the Installtion would I choose use existing partition?

[Trigger-X]

Ok, I went to the installtion again and did an use "use exsiting partion" and I formatted hda5 and I thought it was my windows hard drive and it wasnt so when it was dont I restarted because I thought it was... but it wasnt. Now I can finally install :) I will tell you how it goes tommorrow when I install. Thanks for everyones help!!!!!! :)

[LiNuts]

boot into Windows, unzip the Ranish program to C:\, this will create a dir called Ranish on your C drive, go to DOS and type part this will take into the partition manager,

Have a look at what partitions you have. It will tell you what Windows (fat32) partitions you have and it will tell you what linux (ext2fs) partitions you have.

If you are going to do a reinstall, delete all the ext2fs partitons, then save your changes.(you will see a menu at the bottom of the screen, with what keys to press.) then press escape to return to DOS.

Put your Installation disk in the cd drive and boot of that, start your installation, and choose the empty space option, when you get to the partition part.
Cheers
LiNuts

[LiNuts]

Originally posted by LiNuts:
boot into Windows, unzip the Ranish program to C:\, this will create a dir called Ranish on your C drive, go to DOS and type part this will take into the partition manager,

Have a look at what partitions you have. It will tell you what Windows (fat32) partitions you have and it will tell you what linux (ext2fs) partitions you have.

If you are going to do a reinstall, delete all the ext2fs partitons, then save your changes.(you will see a menu at the bottom of the screen, with what keys to press.) then press escape to return to DOS.

Put your Installation disk in the cd drive and boot of that, start your installation, and choose the empty space option, when you get to the partition part.
Cheers
LiNuts
Edit: Highlight the ext2fs partitions by using the down arrow key and simply hit the delete key to delete them.