I have installed Mandrake 7.0 but I have upgraded much of it with Mandrake
7.1 RPMs and I have Helix GNOME (from the Helix website, not Mandrake). The
problem is that I have customised my system to a degree that makes a fresh
installation of Mandrake unthinkable, as I will have to download (with a 56K
modem) and reinstall all the updates I have now and I will have to put all my
programme settings back in. Unfortunately, I do not have an external backup
solution like a Zip drive or CD-R.
Before I continue, I have a few more questions. Does Win2K support booting from
over 1024 cylinders? I believe that my version of LILO (21.4-3) allows this for
Linux, and I also have GRUB. Does Win2K support booting from FAT32? I have read
that NT4 can't, and I was wondering if this is the case with Win2K.
I was thinking that maybe I could move the Linux partition over with
PartitionMagic 4 to the 12Gb HDD (installed as hda with the 850Mb as hdb) and
then do one of two things. I could load Linux from a boot disc and edit
/etc/fstab to reflect the change. Or I could re-run the Mandrake install from
the CD and let it fix the fstab file automatically without installing anything.
I have managed to fix things in the past in this way, and I have been able to
keep my old settings.
On Mon, 24 Jul 2000, Charles A Edwards wrote:
> Sridhar
> What version Mandrake are you running?
> Do you have a Zip drive or any other means of backing up your current
> Linux data? I do not mean the full 850MB but just your data.
> I think you would be much better off if you could do a full install of
> Mandrake using at least 3 pratitions. In 7.1 this requires 1.3GB which is
> approx. the same as a full install of Win2000 Profess. With a 12GB drive you
> would have enough space to do both as well as grow.
> Let me know how you wish to proceed and we will go from there.
>
> Charles
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sridhar Dhanapalan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Sunday, July 23, 2000 2:09 AM
> Subject: [newbie] Creating a dual boot Linux/Win2k
>
>
> > A few months ago, my 12Gb Quantum IDE HDD broke down (bad sectors). While
> it was
> > being repaired by Quantum my computer dealer lent me an 850Mb one so I
> could
> > continue my work (though I had to really fight to keep the drive from
> filling
> > up totally). Now that my old HDD has been replaced by Quantum I have to
> swap
> > the 850Mb loaned drive for my 12Gb.
> >
> > So here is my problem. The 850Mb drive has 2 partitions: hda1 for / and
> hda2
> > for swap. I need to transfer all my Linux data from one drive to another
> > without losing anything. My dealer has allowed me to keep the 850Mb
> > alongside the 12Gb until I have everything sorted out. To add further
> > complexity, I want to intstall Windows 2000 (just to try it out :-) on the
> same
> > drive and be able to choose what OS I want at bootup. So I need 3
> partitions
> > (Does Win2K need a swap partition? I don't think so.): one for Win2K
> (FAT32 so
> > I can use it in Linux too) of about 8Gb (will clusters still be 4Kb at
> this
> > size), one for /, and one for Linux swap.
> >
> > How should the drives be installed (which should be hda and which should
> be
> > hdb?)? How big should the swap be? I have 192Mb of RAM but I only rarely
> use
> > over 20Mb of swap. What would be the best ordering of partitions for
> maximum
> > Linux performance (Win2K performance is secondary)? How do I edit my fstab
> file
> > afterwards if I can't boot Linux since the partitions have changed?
> >
> > What is the best way of going about all this? At my disposal I have
> > PartitionMagic 4 (which unfortunately cannot make Linux swap partitions of
> > over 133Mb) and Ghost (My dealer has it -- I'm not sure which version). I
> also
> > of course have the Mandrake partitioning tools.
> >
> > I'm not sure if I'm making myself clear here. I can clarify things if
> anyone
> > asks.
--
_____________________________________________________________________
Sridhar Dhanapalan
Linux is like a wigwam...No windows, no gates.
Apache inside.
_____________________________________________________________________
