quote:
Originally posted by lazygamer:
One more thing, I know how to delete paritions(fdisk), but how do you create them? Does fdisk destroy as well as create?
First, FDISK destroys and creates. Any time you delete a logical drive, extended or primary partition, you wipe out all data there!
First task is to plan, then gather tools and last to execute.
Plan
You need to decide how you want to use the resources (hard drive space). What do you want to do with Windows and with Linux. If Win98 is just to run games from CD or the web, you don't need much space - no more than 500MB, certainly not more than 1G (enough to load Office and a couple other large packages). Ditto for XP but I don't know two things about XP: 1) install space required, and 2) how to set up trti-boot (Win98-XP-Linux) with LILO or GRUB. My guess is XP plus programs will need about 2-3GB.
I would put Win98 and XP on VFAT partitions to make future life easier (all three OSes will "see" all of the partitions). I suggest another VFAT partition (E
of 10GB (or more) that will become your "common" drive to hold your DATA files - those files you create - which would be accessable to all OSes. This is what I have done for years and it has never failed me.
OK, lets see - we have a 1G (C
for Win98, a 3G (D
for XP and a 10G (E
data storage partition. To do that, I would use the 40G drive as MASTER, partitioned per above. The 8G drive, set as SLAVE, will hold the core Linux OS and the balance of the unassigned space on the MASTER drive could hold the Linux "/home" partition (this is similar to the Windows MyDocuments and ProgramFiles directories) - lots of room to grow there!
Write down your final partition plan. Remember that DOS (Windows) "sees" physical drive("0") (the MASTER in a multi-drive system) as the bootable device and assigns "C:" to the first partition on that physical drive (the partition is assigned to DOS and made active). If the second physical drive ("1") is assigned to DOS, it automatically becomes "D:". This does NOT happen if the second physical drive is not assigned to DOS (this would be the case in my suggested arrangement).
Per the arrangement above, you would have -
MASTER (40G, physical drive "0") which is partitioned into:
Primary Partition - C: of 1GB
Extended DOS Partition - 13GB
Logical Drives in Extended partition - D: of 3GB, E: of 10GB
[logical drives are made in the extended partition, in this case (3GB-D
+ (10GB-E
= (13GB extended partition)]
Unassigned - balance of drive (about 25GB)
SLAVE (8G, physical drive "1"): No DOS partitions
THESE ARE JUST IDEAS - everyone will have their own way of doing things. Obviously the numbers can be adjusted to suit your needs (such as a 20GB "E:" partition for MP3 files).
Gather Tools
You will need to get someone else to help you with multiple boot with XP. Get whatever tools they recommend.
You will need a Win98 boot floppy disk with FDISK and FORMAT copied to it. Make the bootable disk using MyComputer > [A:] > File > Format > Type=FULL, Optios=CopySystemFiles, START. Using Windows Explore, navigate to "C:\Windows\Command" directory and copy FDISK.EXE and FORMAT.EXE to the bootable floppy disk you just made.
You will need the partition list made during planning.
You will need the hard drvie manufacturers instructions (to set jumpers).
You will need hand tools such as screw driver(s), flashlight, etc. (to remove and re-install HDs).
You will need all software to be installed, plus the "key" or serial number, such as:
Win98 (assumes a bootable CD version)
WinXP
Anti-virus program(s)
Productivity programs
Games/fun programs
Linux
Execute - just do it
Unplug your computer from AC and external devices.
Put both hdds onto IDE channel 0 (same cable of the first IDE controller channel). Change around the hard drives so the 40GB is MASTER and the 8GB is SLAVE. This requires setting jumper blocks on the drives so you will need the manufacturers instructions. Replace panels, cables, external devices and plug into AC.
Start computer, enter the BIOS setup and change the First Boot Device to FLOPPY. SAVE changes to BIOS and EXIT.
Boot to the bootable floppy disk you made and run FDISK.
FDISK (defaults to the MASTER hdd)
...enable large disk support? = "Y"
Delete all logical drives, extended partition and primary partition (you said you know how to do this).
ESCAPE back to the opening FDISK screen and change to the other physical drive (I think it's option "5" - going from memory here). Repeat deletions from the second drive.
ESCAPE back to the opening FDISK screen and change back to the first drive (the MASTER 40G drive).
You have now dedleted ALL the stuff from both hard drives. Time to create new DOS drives.
Select "1. Create DOS Partition..."
Select "1. Create Primary DOS Partition"
Change the size to "1000"
ENTER
ESC back one screen
Select "2. Create Extended DOS Partition"
Change the size to "13000"
ENTER
ESC back one screen
Select "3. Create Logical DOS Drive(s) in the Extended DOS Partition"
Change the size to "3000"
ENTER
ESC back one screen
Select "3. Create Logical DOS Drives(s)..."
Change the size to "10000"
Enter
ESC until you exit FDISK and return to the "A:\>" prompt
Reboot the computer (leave floppy disk in drive).
FORMAT drives C:, D:, and E:
Remove the floppy disk.
Insert Win98 setup CD-ROM into drive.
IMPORTANT: the next section assumes you will install Win98 from a bootable CD.
Reboot the computer, enter the BIOS setup and change the First Boot Device to CD-ROM and the second device to HDD-0. SAVE changes and EXIT.
Computer should boot into Win98 setup CD. Install Win98 and secondary programs per their instructions.
Follow instrtuctions to load XP per help from someone else.
Follow instructions to load Linux.
Good luck and happy computing.
Regards,
Linux-Newbie
