Partitioning A Drive


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I have a second drive in my computer that I have used for Linux before.

It is 80 Gigs and I would like to use this drive to store back-up information from my C: drive (which is Windows XP pro). I would also like to have Linux on that drive.

Is there a way to partition that drive so I can install Linux on one part of that drive and still have the other part of it available to Windows XP to use for backing up my data? And if so, how do I go about doing it---is this something I have to do before I install Linux or is it something that I do AS I'm installing Linux?

Thanks..............Jim

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If it was me I would phisiaclly install the drvie, then boot up knoppix. Knoppix has program called cfdisk. It is a very good(easy) program for partitioning. Do you need this backup space availbale to linux, if so you may want to use fat32 for part of it?

with cfdisk you are given the option to leave space unallocated. This is what you will want to do to prepare for linux. I would reccomend leaving 5 -10 gbs of unallocated space for your linux installation. The rest of the drive you will want to make it ntfs or fat32, or a combination of the two.

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Actually, what I'd like to do is set it up so there is about 20Gbs available for the Linux install and leave the other 60 Gbs abailavle to use with Windows XP.

So, if I do what you suggest, I should allocate 20GB for Linux and leave the rest alone? It's already formatted to NTFS right now.

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use cfdisk to make one 40 gb ntfs partition for windows. then leave the other 20 gb as unallocated. When you goto install linux, you can choose to install in unallocated space.

Since you are dual booting linux and windows I would do the following. make a 30 gb partition ntfs for your windows OS installation. Then make a 30gb partition fat32, this can be used for "My Documents". then leave the rest as unallocated for linux. The cool thing is you can read and write to "my documents" from both linux and windows.

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using cfdisk is easy. Boot knoppix, open up a terminal, enter su <return> , then type

cfdisk /dev/hdab

this should be the location of your slave drive

first delete every thing, then choose new, then choose the size, then the type(example ntfs). After you have set eveything up, you just choose write(to finalize it).

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  • 2 weeks later...
If it was me I would phisiaclly install the drvie, then boot up knoppix. Knoppix has program called cfdisk. It is a very good(easy) program for partitioning. Do you need this backup space availbale to linux, if so you may want to use fat32 for part of it?

with cfdisk you are given the option to leave space unallocated. This is what you will want to do to prepare for linux. I would reccomend leaving 5 -10 gbs of unallocated space for your linux installation. The rest of the drive you will want to make it ntfs or fat32, or a combination of the two.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When I installed Knoppix 3.6 (love it, although right now Knoppix (CD + HD install) and Windows on my laptop are messed up bad) I used QTParted, and it worked great....

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How to use Knoppix to replace at least $100 worth of must-have utilities

Wednesday, November 24 2004 @ 06:08 PM CST

By David L. Farquhar

Even if you aren't really a Linux person, the live CD Linux distribution Knoppix is incredibly useful. If nothing else, you can use it to replace Ghost, Partition Magic, and Nero or EZ CD Creator. That's $100 worth of utilities for the cost of a download, or, if you don't have broadband, for $5-$10 from a Linux distributor.

If you're not a Linux person, here's how to boot and fire up the utilities you need. Once they're up and running, they're very intuitive; it's just finding them that can be difficult.

PartitionMagic:

Boot Knoppix.

Click the shell icon in the toolbar at the bottom.

Type 'su' (no quotes) and hit enter to become a privileged user.

Type 'qtparted' (no quotes) and hit enter to bring up a free Partition Magic clone.

Ghost/DriveImage:

Boot Knoppix.

Click the shell icon in the toolbar at the bottom.

Type 'su' (no quotes) and hit enter to become a privileged user.

Type 'mkdir /smb' (no quotes) and hit enter to make a point to mount a network share.

Type 'smbmount //server/share /smb -o username=myusername' (no quotes) and hit enter to mount the network share. Enter your NT password when indicated.

Type 'partimage' (no quotes) and hit enter to launch Partimage, the closest thing there is to a free/open source Ghost. Save your image to /smb and you've got it made. No more paying for Ghost licenses, no more dinking around with boot floppies to try to find the right driver for your NIC and trying to find enough room to cram the ever-more-bloated Ghost...

Nero/EZ CD Creator:

Boot Knoppix.

Click the shell icon in the toolbar at the bottom.

Type 'k3b' (no quotes) and hit enter to launch a CD burning application.

Drive wiping utilities:

This assumes the drive you want to wipe is the primary master on your first IDE channel. Unless you really know what you're doing, disconnect all other hard drives!

Boot Knoppix.

Click the shell icon in the toolbar at the bottom.

Type 'su' (no quotes) and hit enter to become a privileged user.

Type 'dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/hda bs=512' and hit enter.

For something approaching military-grade security, you need to overwrite seven times. Here's one line to do that. This will take a good, long while.

Type 'dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 ; dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/hda bs=512 ; dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 ; dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/hda bs=512 ; dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 ; dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/hda bs=512 ; dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512' and hit enter.

To securely wipe floppies, substitute the string "fd0" for "hda0".

Pasted as posted by author

David L. Farquhar

hope this is useful

Preston

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How to use Knoppix to replace at least $100 worth of must-have utilities   

Wednesday, November 24 2004 @ 06:08 PM CST

By David L. Farquhar

Even if you aren't really a Linux person, the live CD Linux distribution Knoppix is incredibly useful. If nothing else, you can use it to replace Ghost, Partition Magic, and Nero or EZ CD Creator. That's $100 worth of utilities for the cost of a download, or, if you don't have broadband, for $5-$10 from a Linux distributor.

If you're not a Linux person, here's how to boot and fire up the utilities you need. Once they're up and running, they're very intuitive; it's just finding them that can be difficult.

PartitionMagic:

Boot Knoppix.

Click the shell icon in the toolbar at the bottom.

Type 'su' (no quotes) and hit enter to become a privileged user.

Type 'qtparted' (no quotes) and hit enter to bring up a free Partition Magic clone.

Ghost/DriveImage:

Boot Knoppix.

Click the shell icon in the toolbar at the bottom.

Type 'su' (no quotes) and hit enter to become a privileged user.

Type 'mkdir /smb' (no quotes) and hit enter to make a point to mount a network share.

Type 'smbmount //server/share /smb -o username=myusername' (no quotes) and hit enter to mount the network share. Enter your NT password when indicated.

Type 'partimage' (no quotes) and hit enter to launch Partimage, the closest thing there is to a free/open source Ghost. Save your image to /smb and you've got it made. No more paying for Ghost licenses, no more dinking around with boot floppies to try to find the right driver for your NIC and trying to find enough room to cram the ever-more-bloated Ghost...

Nero/EZ CD Creator:

Boot Knoppix.

Click the shell icon in the toolbar at the bottom.

Type 'k3b' (no quotes) and hit enter to launch a CD burning application.

Drive wiping utilities:

This assumes the drive you want to wipe is the primary master on your first IDE channel. Unless you really know what you're doing, disconnect all other hard drives!

Boot Knoppix.

Click the shell icon in the toolbar at the bottom.

Type 'su' (no quotes) and hit enter to become a privileged user.

Type 'dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/hda bs=512' and hit enter.

For something approaching military-grade security, you need to overwrite seven times. Here's one line to do that. This will take a good, long while.

Type 'dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 ; dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/hda bs=512 ; dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 ; dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/hda bs=512 ; dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 ; dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/hda bs=512 ; dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512' and hit enter.

To securely wipe floppies, substitute the string "fd0" for "hda0".

Pasted as posted by author

David L. Farquhar

hope this is useful

Preston

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey, rhema7,

Welcome to Besttechie.net! Preston is another old time poster from the TTV forum days. Good to see you again. :D:D

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