Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

I'm setting up a new boot drive of 120 GB (and I'm also going to have an
80 GB, but there's already stuff on that), and I intend to use XP Home
as my main OS. But I also want to learn this Linux thing I've been
hearing about, so I want to make a separate partition for that.

So what's the best way to partition the 120 GB HD? I assume three
partitions:
one for the XP OS,
one for Linux, and
one for documents and programs? Should this be separated into two
partitions?

How much space should I allocate for each partition? And does this
arrangement make sense?

My main concern is having a system that can be backed up easily, as a
regular precaution, and fixed easily should something happen. I've been
told that a separate partition for the OS is preferable because then a
reinstall is easier.

And while I'm asking, which Linux should I get? One Linux app I'm
interested in is Asterisk http://www.asterisk.org/ .

And one more question. When I install a program on the document-program
partition, should I make it put its common files on that partition too?
Or should I allow the program to put its common files on C:\Program
Files\Common Files , the usual default place?

--
*********************
* Nehmo Sergheyev *
*********************

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

You are better off having Linux on a separate drive. During Linux
installation it requires 3 partitions of it's own and it can really screw
with a drive if you don't know what you are doing during setup. An
alternative to installing Linux, if you just want to get a feel for it would
be to use Knoppix or MandrakeMove. Both are self-contained Linux distros
that are run entirely off a CD. To play with Linux you simply reboot with
the CD and it runs without affecting your Hard drive. You can set it up so
that you can work with files on a drive if you so desire. Knoppix enables
you to save your configurations to a floppy so you don't have to reconfigure
everytime you run it. MandrakeMove can save your special configuration to a
USB key.

http://www.knoppix.net/docs/

http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/mandrakemove

--

Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp


"Nehmo Sergheyev" <nehmo54@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:mAy8d.96442$nA6.86356@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com...
| I'm setting up a new boot drive of 120 GB (and I'm also going to have an
| 80 GB, but there's already stuff on that), and I intend to use XP Home
| as my main OS. But I also want to learn this Linux thing I've been
| hearing about, so I want to make a separate partition for that.
|
| So what's the best way to partition the 120 GB HD? I assume three
| partitions:
| one for the XP OS,
| one for Linux, and
| one for documents and programs? Should this be separated into two
| partitions?
|
| How much space should I allocate for each partition? And does this
| arrangement make sense?
|
| My main concern is having a system that can be backed up easily, as a
| regular precaution, and fixed easily should something happen. I've been
| told that a separate partition for the OS is preferable because then a
| reinstall is easier.
|
| And while I'm asking, which Linux should I get? One Linux app I'm
| interested in is Asterisk http://www.asterisk.org/ .
|
| And one more question. When I install a program on the document-program
| partition, should I make it put its common files on that partition too?
| Or should I allow the program to put its common files on C:\Program
| Files\Common Files , the usual default place?
|
| --
| *********************
| * Nehmo Sergheyev *
| *********************
|
|

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Separate it into 4 partitions:

1 Partition for the Windows OS
1 Paritition for Documents and files
1 Partition for Windows Applications
1 Partition for Linux OS

Just in case anything goes wrong with say your OS parition, all you have to
do is reinstall the OS and re-import registry settings for applications.

30 GBs for each partition
Andre
"Nehmo Sergheyev" <nehmo54@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:mAy8d.96442$nA6.86356@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com...
> I'm setting up a new boot drive of 120 GB (and I'm also going to have an
> 80 GB, but there's already stuff on that), and I intend to use XP Home
> as my main OS. But I also want to learn this Linux thing I've been
> hearing about, so I want to make a separate partition for that.
>
> So what's the best way to partition the 120 GB HD? I assume three
> partitions:
> one for the XP OS,
> one for Linux, and
> one for documents and programs? Should this be separated into two
> partitions?
>
> How much space should I allocate for each partition? And does this
> arrangement make sense?
>
> My main concern is having a system that can be backed up easily, as a
> regular precaution, and fixed easily should something happen. I've been
> told that a separate partition for the OS is preferable because then a
> reinstall is easier.
>
> And while I'm asking, which Linux should I get? One Linux app I'm
> interested in is Asterisk http://www.asterisk.org/ .
>
> And one more question. When I install a program on the document-program
> partition, should I make it put its common files on that partition too?
> Or should I allow the program to put its common files on C:\Program
> Files\Common Files , the usual default place?
>
> --
> *********************
> * Nehmo Sergheyev *
> *********************
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

It's not THAT hard to setup partitions so that you can install linux &
windows on the same drive. Especially now that recent versions of various
bootloaders don't need to be installed in the first 1024 cylinders.

On Tue, 5 Oct 2004 09:22:54 -0600, Harry Ohrn <harry---@webtree.ca> wrote:

> You are better off having Linux on a separate drive. During Linux
> installation it requires 3 partitions of it's own and it can really screw
> with a drive if you don't know what you are doing during setup. An
> alternative to installing Linux, if you just want to get a feel for it
> would
> be to use Knoppix or MandrakeMove. Both are self-contained Linux distros
> that are run entirely off a CD. To play with Linux you simply reboot with
> the CD and it runs without affecting your Hard drive. You can set it up
> so
> that you can work with files on a drive if you so desire. Knoppix enables
> you to save your configurations to a floppy so you don't have to
> reconfigure
> everytime you run it. MandrakeMove can save your special configuration
> to a
> USB key.
>
> http://www.knoppix.net/docs/
>
> http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/mandrakemove
>

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

- Harry Ohrn -
> You are better off having Linux on a separate drive. During Linux
> installation it requires 3 partitions of it's own and it can really
screw
> with a drive if you don't know what you are doing during setup. An
> alternative to installing Linux, if you just want to get a feel for it
would
> be to use Knoppix or MandrakeMove. Both are self-contained Linux
distros
> that are run entirely off a CD. To play with Linux you simply reboot
with
> the CD and it runs without affecting your Hard drive. You can set it
up so
> that you can work with files on a drive if you so desire. Knoppix
enables
> you to save your configurations to a floppy so you don't have to
reconfigure
> everytime you run it. MandrakeMove can save your special configuration
to a
> USB key.
> http://www.knoppix.net/docs/
> http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/mandrakemove
> Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
> www.webtree.ca/windowsxp

- Nehmo -
Well, I want to get a feel for Linux, but I also want to go beyond that
and have it permanently. So you're saying I should devote a whole
physical drive to Linux? What would you do in my situation? Clean out
the 80 GB drive too? I suppose I could.


--
*********************
* Nehmo Sergheyev *
*********************

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"Nehmo Sergheyev" <nehmo54@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:mAy8d.96442$nA6.86356@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com...
> I'm setting up a new boot drive of 120 GB (and I'm also going to have an
> 80 GB, but there's already stuff on that), and I intend to use XP Home
> as my main OS. But I also want to learn this Linux thing I've been
> hearing about, so I want to make a separate partition for that.
>
> So what's the best way to partition the 120 GB HD? I assume three
> partitions:
> one for the XP OS,
> one for Linux, and
> one for documents and programs? Should this be separated into two
> partitions?

Linux doesn't need much room. If you set aside 5GB for it, you'll probably
use less than half of that, even with all linux software you want to use
installed. Linux will play nice with Windows if you install Windows first.

I'd suggest:

Install Windows XP, but when it creates partitions, create two partitions.
If your disk was exactly 120GB (it will show up as less than that during
partition creation), then I'd suggest 110GB for Windows, 5GB for Windows
swap file and 5GB NOT partitioned at all. Whatever the actual size of your
hard drive is when you run the partition program, just subtract about
11000MB, and use whatever's left to create a partition to install windows
on. Then create a second partition of about 5000MB for a window swap file.
That should leave about ~6000MB of unpartitioned space on your hard drive.
(linux will be happy to use that)

After Windows XP is fully installed, tested, and running fine, THEN install
linux. (I'd suggest Mandrake linux or redhat fedora) During the linux
install, you will need to create at least two partitions including a linux
swap partition. The linux swap file only needs to be about 500MB, so that
will leave plenty of space for other partitions. Obviously, when you are
creating your linux partitions, you should use the previously UNpartitioned
space on your 120GB drive.

In case you are worried about storing large files downloaded or created in
linux, you should keep in mind that linux will mount windows partitions
automatically. Thus you will have a mostly empty windows partition to use
for storage space in linux. Or you can use any free space there is on the
80GB drive you are recycling.

During the linux install, a boot menu will be set up that will allow you to
choose which OS you want to boot.

Whether you experiment with linux or not, you might want to get yourself a
DVDR/W drive and a image program like Ghost or similar (I use acronis true
image). With Windows and all software installed correctly, I am able to
back up my entire hard drive on two DVD-Rom disks. You won't likely have a
problem with linux, but it's good to have a backup anyway. -Dave

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Nehmo,

There is another alternative from Linspire (a.k.a Lindows). This is a
simple setup and rather 'mickey mouse' for the true Linux user, but on
the other hand it is very straight forward and gives you the opportunity
to play around with Linux.

I have XP Pro setup on my primary HDD and I just let Linspire do its
thing on the secondary HDD. Linspire does setup as the primary boot when
booting up, but that isn't a big deal.

There had been a deal on www.linspire.com. Somewhere in the ordering
process you will be able to enter a coupon code ( deviant9 ) which will
then give you a credit for the purchase price. I'm not sure if the deal
is still available, but I took advantage of it 2 weeks ago. You also get
a 15 day subscription to their software library.

Wayne

Nehmo Sergheyev wrote:
> - Harry Ohrn -
>
>>You are better off having Linux on a separate drive. During Linux
>>installation it requires 3 partitions of it's own and it can really
>
> screw
>
>>with a drive if you don't know what you are doing during setup. An
>>alternative to installing Linux, if you just want to get a feel for it
>
> would
>
>>be to use Knoppix or MandrakeMove. Both are self-contained Linux
>
> distros
>
>>that are run entirely off a CD. To play with Linux you simply reboot
>
> with
>
>>the CD and it runs without affecting your Hard drive. You can set it
>
> up so
>
>>that you can work with files on a drive if you so desire. Knoppix
>
> enables
>
>>you to save your configurations to a floppy so you don't have to
>
> reconfigure
>
>>everytime you run it. MandrakeMove can save your special configuration
>
> to a
>
>>USB key.
>>http://www.knoppix.net/docs/
>>http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/mandrakemove
>>Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
>>www.webtree.ca/windowsxp
>
>
> - Nehmo -
> Well, I want to get a feel for Linux, but I also want to go beyond that
> and have it permanently. So you're saying I should devote a whole
> physical drive to Linux? What would you do in my situation? Clean out
> the 80 GB drive too? I suppose I could.
>
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Nehmo,

There is another alternative from Linspire (a.k.a Lindows). This is a
simple setup and rather 'mickey mouse' for the true Linux user, but on
the other hand it is very straight forward and gives you the opportunity
to play around with Linux.

I have XP Pro setup on my primary HDD and I just let Linspire do its
thing on the secondary HDD. Linspire does setup as the primary boot when
booting up, but that isn't a big deal.

There had been a deal on www.linspire.com. Somewhere in the ordering
process you will be able to enter a coupon code ( deviant9 ) which will
then give you a credit for the purchase price. I'm not sure if the deal
is still available, but I took advantage of it 2 weeks ago. You also get
a 15 day subscription to their software library.

Wayne

Nehmo Sergheyev wrote:
> - Harry Ohrn -
>
>>You are better off having Linux on a separate drive. During Linux
>>installation it requires 3 partitions of it's own and it can really
>
> screw
>
>>with a drive if you don't know what you are doing during setup. An
>>alternative to installing Linux, if you just want to get a feel for it
>
> would
>
>>be to use Knoppix or MandrakeMove. Both are self-contained Linux
>
> distros
>
>>that are run entirely off a CD. To play with Linux you simply reboot
>
> with
>
>>the CD and it runs without affecting your Hard drive. You can set it
>
> up so
>
>>that you can work with files on a drive if you so desire. Knoppix
>
> enables
>
>>you to save your configurations to a floppy so you don't have to
>
> reconfigure
>
>>everytime you run it. MandrakeMove can save your special configuration
>
> to a
>
>>USB key.
>>http://www.knoppix.net/docs/
>>http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/mandrakemove
>>Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
>>www.webtree.ca/windowsxp
>
>
> - Nehmo -
> Well, I want to get a feel for Linux, but I also want to go beyond that
> and have it permanently. So you're saying I should devote a whole
> physical drive to Linux? What would you do in my situation? Clean out
> the 80 GB drive too? I suppose I could.
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Nehmo Sergheyev wrote:
> I'm setting up a new boot drive of 120 GB (and I'm also going to have an
> 80 GB, but there's already stuff on that), and I intend to use XP Home
> as my main OS. But I also want to learn this Linux thing I've been
> hearing about, so I want to make a separate partition for that.

If you have something like a Dell, where XP is already installed and you
have trouble reducing its partition size, it is somewhat simpler to have
Linux on a separate drive. Otherwise it can go on the same drive as
Windows. Since you have lots of room, I would give 10G or more to
Linux, but you could get by on as little as 600M for some standard Linux
distributions. A regular 8G Linux partition plus a 2G Linux swap
partition is very comfortable and sufficient for a newby. But you might
make a few 2G partitions here and there for when you learn the
tradeoffs: it is common for /home and /usr/local to have their own
partitions because that simplifies reinstallation and reorganization,
and often /var is put on a separate partition. There are somewhat
obscure ways to share a swap partition between Linux and Windows. Since
you are experimenting, you might try out each of the big three distros:
Fedora Core, SUSE, and Mandrake. I have had the least trouble with
Fedora. Also when you learn how, you can have several Linux systems
present simultaneously, each sharing the same /home and /usr/local.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

- wayneP -
> There is another alternative from Linspire (a.k.a Lindows). This is a
> simple setup and rather 'mickey mouse' for the true Linux user, but on
> the other hand it is very straight forward and gives you the
opportunity
> to play around with Linux.
>
> I have XP Pro setup on my primary HDD and I just let Linspire do its
> thing on the secondary HDD. Linspire does setup as the primary boot
when
> booting up, but that isn't a big deal.
>
> There had been a deal on www.linspire.com. Somewhere in the ordering
> process you will be able to enter a coupon code ( deviant9 ) which
will
> then give you a credit for the purchase price. I'm not sure if the
deal
> is still available, but I took advantage of it 2 weeks ago. You also
get
> a 15 day subscription to their software library.

- Nehmo -
I once tired to download Lindows (it was supposed to be free), but I
couldn't download. I never got the problem resolved, but I didn't devote
much time to it. The brief email exchange was discouraging. I'm sure,
however, if I had worked more on the problem, it would have been solved.

Anyway, now I just want to use one of the regular versions of Linux. I
really can't go wrong because I'll always have my XP OS available.

--
*********************
* Nehmo Sergheyev *
*********************

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Nehmo Sergheyev wrote:

> - Harry Ohrn -
>> You are better off having Linux on a separate drive. During Linux
>> installation it requires 3 partitions of it's own and it can really
> screw
>> with a drive if you don't know what you are doing during setup. An
>> alternative to installing Linux, if you just want to get a feel for it
> would
>> be to use Knoppix or MandrakeMove. Both are self-contained Linux
> distros
>> that are run entirely off a CD. To play with Linux you simply reboot
> with
>> the CD and it runs without affecting your Hard drive. You can set it
> up so
>> that you can work with files on a drive if you so desire. Knoppix
> enables
>> you to save your configurations to a floppy so you don't have to
> reconfigure
>> everytime you run it. MandrakeMove can save your special configuration
> to a
>> USB key.
>> http://www.knoppix.net/docs/
>> http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/mandrakemove
>> Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
>> www.webtree.ca/windowsxp
>
> - Nehmo -
> Well, I want to get a feel for Linux, but I also want to go beyond that
> and have it permanently. So you're saying I should devote a whole
> physical drive to Linux? What would you do in my situation? Clean out
> the 80 GB drive too? I suppose I could.

If your primary OS is Windows XP and you just want to dink around with Unix
(note--Linux is just one flavor of Unix--if you can drive one flavor of
Unix you can generally figure out another one without too much trouble) a
little, then install Cygwin <http://www.cygwin.com>--you can get a very
good feel for it and at the same time use its capabilities in conjunction
with Windows. If you want to go a little deeper, then pay Microsoft the
hundred bucks for Virtual PC and then install whatever flavor of Unix you
like on the virtual machine. Works far better than one would expect.

--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

SlowJet wrote:

> Thse guys are from the 90's and haven a clue.

> When you want to do XP just switch cables back to 120GB drive and boot up.

Oh, now the scales drop from my eyes. It sounds like you are very much
on the cutting edge. Yeah, back in the day we had to select the OS from
a boot menu---I gather that now we can just power down, open the case
and switch cables. Well, it pays to keep up on new techniques ...

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage,microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage Nehmo Sergheyev <nehmo54@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I'm setting up a new boot drive of 120 GB (and I'm also going to have an
> 80 GB, but there's already stuff on that), and I intend to use XP Home
> as my main OS. But I also want to learn this Linux thing I've been
> hearing about, so I want to make a separate partition for that.

> So what's the best way to partition the 120 GB HD? I assume three
> partitions:
> one for the XP OS,
> one for Linux, and
> one for documents and programs? Should this be separated into two
> partitions?

Yes, that would be better. Use FAT32 for the windows partitions
and ext2/3 for the Linux partitions. One reason is that FAT32
does not support the Unix/Linux permission model to a reasonable
degree.

> How much space should I allocate for each partition? And does this
> arrangement make sense?

For Linux I use Debian sarge (download form the net, needs
DSL/Cable modem to be comfortable) and generally have found
6GB for the root partition to be generous if a lot and large
apps are installed. Same for data, unless you plan to
put media files in there. For XP you also need something
like 4GB for the OS and swap-file. Install applications
preferrably not on c:.

Also advisable is a 500MB (or so) partition for Linux swap space.
As bootloader I would advise Grub, which can boot both
Linux and XP without problems.

> My main concern is having a system that can be backed up easily, as a
> regular precaution, and fixed easily should something happen. I've been
> told that a separate partition for the OS is preferable because then a
> reinstall is easier.

I would advise doing the backup with Linux. If the Windows partitons
are FAT32 that works well.

> And while I'm asking, which Linux should I get? One Linux app I'm
> interested in is Asterisk http://www.asterisk.org/ .

If you have a fats internet connectivity, I advise to go for
Debian Sarge (testing). A bit confusing in the begionning, but
once you did the first major update without even a reboot,
you will be convinced.

> And one more question. When I install a program on the document-program
> partition, should I make it put its common files on that partition too?
> Or should I allow the program to put its common files on C:\Program
> Files\Common Files , the usual default place?

You should have all programms store their data in the document
partition. The problem is that Windows has a tendency to foul up the
c: partition in a way that only a complete cleanup of that partition
helps. If your data and apps are elsewere, they still work.

Arno
--
For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus