What I have typically done in the past is to make partitions for the
first OS (typically Win95) and leave the rest of the disk
unpartitioned. When I load the next OS, I partition specifically for
that, and so on. I give the most space to the primary OS, and less
to the others. That way, I don't have to worry about resizing
partitions and losing data, since I am essentially working with a bare
drive. Of course that takes planning ahead of time.
-scott
On 7 Apr 00, at 10:54, Ron Stodden wrote:
> Kirk McElhearn wrote:
>
> > Or do I need to partition the HD before installing
> > anything?
>
> Good partitioning is so essential to the running of any multiple-OS
> computer that it isn't worth taking any risks with (like tyres on a
> car, and the battery in cold climates).
>
> Partition Magic is mature, well known, and works well for all OSs and
> file system types. Ranish is only beta, Mandrake's partitioner is
> too new (look at the history of bugs behind Partition Magic!).
>
> The basic problem is that there is no ISO, or any other, standard or
> organisation in charge of how disks should be partitioned - for
> example, Windows traditionally builds the partition tables in start
> cylinder number order, Unix/Linux traditionally builds them in
> creation time order. Fundamental ditfferences like that make
> interworking catastrophic. Because this whole area has just grown
> like Topsy, it is not well designed, and has been much klooged over
> the years to retain the required backwards compatibility. Therefore
> there are lots of gotchas. For a salutory education, just look at the
> error message listing in the back of the Partition Magic manual!.
> Mandrake has not yet published the error messages for its
> partitioner.
>
> So, yes, set up your hard disks with a good multi-OS and
> multi-file-system-type partitioner before you install. The only one
> I know that can be confidently trusted is Partition Magic. Yes, it
> does cost, but it's more than worth it.
>
> Partitioning is not just a one time job - you will be readjusting the
> partitioning, say, monthly, as your space demands grow.
>
> --
>
> Regards,
>
> Ron. [AU] - sent by Linux.
