[Neumie]

Heya all

Rant Begins
I'm downloading the CL iso at the moment and have been reading around the forums a bit but i am a bit confused at the moment.

I have an Advent 7039 Laptop with Windows XP an AMD64 3000+, 512MB of ram, Mobility Radeon 9600 64MB and AC97 audio all on a k8t800 chipset motherboard (made by medion) and a 40GB NTFS hdd. At the moment its set up so that my restore software (i.e. the software install by Advent to be used if Windows goes belly up.) is on a seperate partition on my hard drive that windows can't see.My big fear of repartitioning is that it would be screwed up. Any advice would be helpful.
I want everything setup so that the two OSs are not able to see each other. Linux can't access any files currently on my HDD and windows can't touch linux. Basically i want it like 2 seperate computers on one hard drive. I've read that you need two Partitions for linux, 1 for your files and OS and one for Swapfile. Is this the case with All installations of Linux or is it just used in some strange cases?(I'm to use to windows :-) ). Also how much space does CL need?
Does CL come with software that can repartition HDs. If not can Fdisk do it? And if that can't can you recommend something free that can?
Rant over

Thanks for your time

[saikee]

As a rule a Linux needs its own partition (or drive in Windows) and you need space in the hard disk for it to be installed. A few distros apparently come with the resizing tool but you will be better off to get a Window-based software, like Partition Magic, to do it since you have got a hidden partition which may upset the resizing exercise.

After installation Window can't read a Linux partition. In Linux you can read a NTFS partition but not write to it (yet). So it is pretty safe.

Your problem is likely to be how to boot them. It is reasonably involved to get a Window to boot a Linux but the opposite is a lot easier and automatic. However it will require you to let a Linux bootloader into the Master Boot Record or MBR.

As a rule you can restore any bootloader, from either Window or Linux, with just a purposely made floppy. For Window a DOS bootable floppy with fdisk.exe will do. For Linux you generate one after it has been installed.

[Neumie]

Thanks Saikee for the Help. Are these Boot loaders reliable and are there any advantages to doing it the windoes way? Unfortunately i don't have a floppy drive only a CD rewriter. You have to pay for Partition Magic don't you? Unfortunately I'm a poorley student and thus can't afford anything like that :-( .
Oh what exactly does mounting a partition do and does it need to be done for every Linux install. The impression i got is you do it if you want linux to have access to the rest of your hard drive. Probably wrong but hey, i'm here to learn.
Sorry bout all the questions and thanks for your time :-)

[saikee]

OK without a floppy drive you need XP's installation CD to restore Window's MBR. For Linux any Live CD will do.

I couldn't offer any advice on free resizing tool because I never allow Window to grab the whole disk. It is a tricky area to get into and you must have all your data back up before commencing. I am aware Mandrake comes with a resizing tool but I wouldn't know how good it is. Anyway the disk needs to be defragged first.

Yes you need to mount a device in order to access in Linux. A WIndow partition is a typical one although you can get Linux to mount it automatically each time you boot.

It is a very good system. You make a temporary directory within Linux, usually in /mnt, and mount a Window partition. Thereafter you can access Window as part of Linux filing system. You do it the same way for CDrom, floppy drive and any other Linux in the hard drive. Some distros like knoppix will mount everything for you.

[Neumie]

Ok well sure ill figure something out. Ill probably screw everything up but sure I've done it before many times and ill do it many more times in the future. Best way to figure stuff out. Thanks for the Help saikee.
Oh can you install linux on an external USB of Firewire Hard Drive. I'm guessing not but any idea?