Patition magic, partition programs! LINUX & XP NTFS - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Sexodus · 10-23-2003, 06:47 PM

I want to instal RED HAT linux on my computer that already has Windows XP.

and a 120 gig hard drive

I want :
100 gig for xp
20 gig for RED HAT 9

I understand u have to uninstall XP (NTFS)
and in the install tell it to partition the drive!

However i would like to avoid uninstalling XP

Partition Magic i hear costs round 30$

Is there a program out there that is similar to Magic that is free to download, so i can install REDHAT9 without cousing problems with my XP

So in general this is a 2 part question

1) Free Program that will allow me to patition 100 leaving 20 gigs free so i can install redhat

2) another way to install redhat leaving my XP untouched!

Thanks

Sx

longjohns · 10-23-2003, 08:21 PM

hmm, i remember PM costing me more than that... yep about $80

i can't offer any help with your partitioning problems, but i found this helpful when setting up an xp/redhat dual boot:

http://www.devhood.com/tutorials/tut...utorial_id=313

longjohns · 10-23-2003, 08:28 PM

also i would caution:

partition is a good program. but even so, it's doing some pretty serious shit to your hard drive. you can really fuck up your computer (i have several times...)

backups are key. and i know you are trying to avoid spending $$, but a second hard drive is so handy when you're doing stuff like this.

anyways good luck :-)

steveincolumbus · 10-24-2003, 08:41 AM

I have never had Partion magic be worth the trouble.....

rubicon · 10-24-2003, 01:44 PM

Partition Magic is a solid app.

Free alternative: Ranish Partiiton Manager. Supposed to be good but never relied on it.

Many great partitioning and other tools at www.ultimatebootcd.com. All free.

Sexodus · 10-24-2003, 03:48 PM

Well it sounds like alot of people think that i should just go and buy a second hard.

I would love some more input on Partition magic, and the "Damage" that they can do on harddrives...

Other then that thanks for the input so far!

LongJohns: thank you for the link however.. is WNT NTFS, or would that really matter since i am PPartitioning the hard drive!

Vanquish · 10-24-2003, 03:50 PM

I have had a number of friends who have had there boot sector of there HDD wiped by PM, aka...NOT GOOD AT ALL. Anyway dealing with linux I wouldn't mess around with shit like that I would either format the drive and reinstall both new, or buy a used HDD from someone and use it that way. Be careful because sometimes Linux will format a partition and cause it to be unreadable by FDISK, meaning that you cant Format it without using the linux version of FDISK. (this happened to me ;( )
ANyway Good luck

Cocktopus · 10-24-2003, 05:58 PM

a second drive is a better bet especially if your a linux noob, or decide "remove" linux or windows. another thing to consider is whether you want grub to be the boot loader or boot linux with the ntldr. grub can be a little tough if you try to change hd configurations....a side note, you might want to try knoppix before installing redhat or any other distro

oiekeooiyw · 10-24-2003, 08:13 PM

i've always built new primary drives with a partition of 8-whatever GB not used space incase i want it later. but if you didn't do that, i've had good luck with partition magic moving data to free up space to dual boot

longjohns · 10-24-2003, 09:10 PM

i'm not sure exactly what you're asking about file systems, but here's my (admittedly limited) understanding:

partition magic is capable of formatting in ext3 file system for linux. i would assume that windows installer is not (it doesn't even recognize the ext3 or linux swap partitions on my drive). if you were just using your windows disk to set up the drive, you would leave some of the drive unpartitioned, then let the linux installer format that remaining space into two partitions, the main one and then the swap one.

linux can read from ntfs, but i'm not sure it can write to it (and at the time i was reading up on this - maybe a year ago - even the ntfs reading capability was somewhat experimental.) hell, i never even got mine to read fat32, but what i was aiming to do was have a fat32 partition where i could keep things like media files (mp3's and whatnot) so that both operating systems could read them.

as to what cocktopus is saying about the boot loader - that article is talking about this issue. it works really well to copy the linux boot loader to a file on your main windows drive and use the ntloader to boot into both systems. it's basically just telling windows where to find the grub or lilo information on the disk if you choose to boot into linux. anyway that article explains it better than i can.

major partition magic actions need to be done kind of "outside" windows. it will tell you that it needs to shut down windows, and then it must set itself up some kind of batch file that it executes after restarting. but things can go wrong. one mistake i've made is trying to move your c: partition - just don't even consider doing this, i guarantee you will be reformatting your disk. actually i think i saved data by installing a second copy of windows on another partition and reading from the c: partition - even though it's windows was fucked beyond repair.

anyways you can tell i'm no expert but hopefully something useful there.

Renegade · 10-24-2003, 09:52 PM

I just recently tried using Partition Magic 8 to merge two seperate partitions into one and it basically erased my second partition so another word of warning before using PM.

Dilbert1234567 · 10-24-2003, 11:46 PM

befor you start using partition magic, get a UPS, if you lose power while useing partition magic, you can lose Everything. be very carful

teh easist way would be grab a new hard drive and pop it in, i dont know how you are going to acces the files on teh old one, its in NTSF and that has security built in.

guthmund · 10-25-2003, 12:14 AM

For all my partioning needs I use bootit NG. The one big plus...it does what I need it to do and it doesn't cost $80

It was dumb luck. When I was just getting into partitioning drives and whatnot it was the first program that worked for me.

Here's a link:

http://terabyteunlimited.com/

I have the ability to size/resize partitions; edit the MBR if I need to; and hide partitions.

When I installed Mandrake a few months ago on my old system, I used it to partition the drive and it worked fine. I installed Mandrake and although bootit has a boot manager, I just used LILO

It's very late, but I hope that makes sense.

Good luck.

rubicon · 10-25-2003, 09:06 AM

Second hard disk is easiest.

BootIt-NG is purported to be an excellent app.

I haven't used Partition Magic since version 7 but it has always worked reliably for me. Mostly resizing or moving NTFS partitions. Your mileage may vary.

Sexodus · 10-27-2003, 05:01 PM

Thank you all for the input. It seems that it might be a better idea just to backup then reinstall windows with the new partition.
Most of you seem to think that i can partition with PM but some times it works and sometimes it dosnt! Sounds like it is a touchie program and dealing with a $3000 dollar PC i better just reinstall or purchase a new HD.

Thanks to you all very much for your input.
Sx

10-23-2003, 06:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
Sexodus Banned Location: The Canyons - Boarding	Patition magic, partition programs! LINUX & XP NTFS I want to instal RED HAT linux on my computer that already has Windows XP. and a 120 gig hard drive I want : 100 gig for xp 20 gig for RED HAT 9 I understand u have to uninstall XP (NTFS) and in the install tell it to partition the drive! However i would like to avoid uninstalling XP Partition Magic i hear costs round 30$ Is there a program out there that is similar to Magic that is free to download, so i can install REDHAT9 without cousing problems with my XP So in general this is a 2 part question 1) Free Program that will allow me to patition 100 leaving 20 gigs free so i can install redhat 2) another way to install redhat leaving my XP untouched! Thanks Sx Last edited by Sexodus; 10-23-2003 at 06:51 PM..

10-24-2003, 01:44 PM	#5 (permalink)
rubicon Stop. Think. Question. Location: Redondo Beach, CA	Partition Magic is a solid app. Free alternative: Ranish Partiiton Manager. Supposed to be good but never relied on it. Many great partitioning and other tools at www.ultimatebootcd.com. All free. __________________ How you do anything is how you do everything.

10-24-2003, 03:48 PM	#6 (permalink)
Sexodus Banned Location: The Canyons - Boarding	Well it sounds like alot of people think that i should just go and buy a second hard. I would love some more input on Partition magic, and the "Damage" that they can do on harddrives... Other then that thanks for the input so far! LongJohns: thank you for the link however.. is WNT NTFS, or would that really matter since i am PPartitioning the hard drive! Last edited by Sexodus; 10-24-2003 at 03:56 PM..

10-24-2003, 08:13 PM	#9 (permalink)
oiekeooiyw Insane	i've always built new primary drives with a partition of 8-whatever GB not used space incase i want it later. but if you didn't do that, i've had good luck with partition magic moving data to free up space to dual boot Last edited by oiekeooiyw; 10-24-2003 at 08:22 PM..

10-24-2003, 09:10 PM	#10 (permalink)
longjohns Insane	i'm not sure exactly what you're asking about file systems, but here's my (admittedly limited) understanding: partition magic is capable of formatting in ext3 file system for linux. i would assume that windows installer is not (it doesn't even recognize the ext3 or linux swap partitions on my drive). if you were just using your windows disk to set up the drive, you would leave some of the drive unpartitioned, then let the linux installer format that remaining space into two partitions, the main one and then the swap one. linux can read from ntfs, but i'm not sure it can write to it (and at the time i was reading up on this - maybe a year ago - even the ntfs reading capability was somewhat experimental.) hell, i never even got mine to read fat32, but what i was aiming to do was have a fat32 partition where i could keep things like media files (mp3's and whatnot) so that both operating systems could read them. as to what cocktopus is saying about the boot loader - that article is talking about this issue. it works really well to copy the linux boot loader to a file on your main windows drive and use the ntloader to boot into both systems. it's basically just telling windows where to find the grub or lilo information on the disk if you choose to boot into linux. anyway that article explains it better than i can. major partition magic actions need to be done kind of "outside" windows. it will tell you that it needs to shut down windows, and then it must set itself up some kind of batch file that it executes after restarting. but things can go wrong. one mistake i've made is trying to move your c: partition - just don't even consider doing this, i guarantee you will be reformatting your disk. actually i think i saved data by installing a second copy of windows on another partition and reading from the c: partition - even though it's windows was fucked beyond repair. anyways you can tell i'm no expert but hopefully something useful there. Last edited by longjohns; 10-25-2003 at 08:14 AM..

10-23-2003, 08:21 PM	#2 (permalink)
longjohns Insane	hmm, i remember PM costing me more than that... yep about $80 i can't offer any help with your partitioning problems, but i found this helpful when setting up an xp/redhat dual boot: http://www.devhood.com/tutorials/tut...utorial_id=313

10-23-2003, 08:28 PM	#3 (permalink)
longjohns Insane	also i would caution: partition is a good program. but even so, it's doing some pretty serious shit to your hard drive. you can really fuck up your computer (i have several times...) backups are key. and i know you are trying to avoid spending $$, but a second hard drive is so handy when you're doing stuff like this. anyways good luck :-)

10-24-2003, 08:41 AM	#4 (permalink)
steveincolumbus Psycho Location: BFE, Kentucky	I have never had Partion magic be worth the trouble.....

10-24-2003, 03:50 PM	#7 (permalink)
Vanquish Insane Location: Truro, Nova Scotia	I have had a number of friends who have had there boot sector of there HDD wiped by PM, aka...NOT GOOD AT ALL. Anyway dealing with linux I wouldn't mess around with shit like that I would either format the drive and reinstall both new, or buy a used HDD from someone and use it that way. Be careful because sometimes Linux will format a partition and cause it to be unreadable by FDISK, meaning that you cant Format it without using the linux version of FDISK. (this happened to me ;( ) ANyway Good luck

10-24-2003, 05:58 PM	#8 (permalink)
Cocktopus Insane	a second drive is a better bet especially if your a linux noob, or decide "remove" linux or windows. another thing to consider is whether you want grub to be the boot loader or boot linux with the ntldr. grub can be a little tough if you try to change hd configurations....a side note, you might want to try knoppix before installing redhat or any other distro

10-24-2003, 09:52 PM	#11 (permalink)
Renegade Crazy Location: Midwest	I just recently tried using Partition Magic 8 to merge two seperate partitions into one and it basically erased my second partition so another word of warning before using PM.

10-24-2003, 11:46 PM	#12 (permalink)
Dilbert1234567 Devils Cabana Boy Location: Central Coast CA	befor you start using partition magic, get a UPS, if you lose power while useing partition magic, you can lose Everything. be very carful teh easist way would be grab a new hard drive and pop it in, i dont know how you are going to acces the files on teh old one, its in NTSF and that has security built in. __________________ Donate Blood! "Love is not finding the perfect person, but learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." -Sam Keen

10-25-2003, 12:14 AM	#13 (permalink)
guthmund big damn hero	For all my partioning needs I use bootit NG. The one big plus...it does what I need it to do and it doesn't cost $80 It was dumb luck. When I was just getting into partitioning drives and whatnot it was the first program that worked for me. Here's a link: http://terabyteunlimited.com/ I have the ability to size/resize partitions; edit the MBR if I need to; and hide partitions. When I installed Mandrake a few months ago on my old system, I used it to partition the drive and it worked fine. I installed Mandrake and although bootit has a boot manager, I just used LILO It's very late, but I hope that makes sense. Good luck. __________________ No signature. None. Seriously.

10-25-2003, 09:06 AM	#14 (permalink)
rubicon Stop. Think. Question. Location: Redondo Beach, CA	Second hard disk is easiest. BootIt-NG is purported to be an excellent app. I haven't used Partition Magic since version 7 but it has always worked reliably for me. Mostly resizing or moving NTFS partitions. Your mileage may vary. __________________ How you do anything is how you do everything.

10-27-2003, 05:01 PM	#15 (permalink)
Sexodus Banned Location: The Canyons - Boarding	Thank you all for the input. It seems that it might be a better idea just to backup then reinstall windows with the new partition. Most of you seem to think that i can partition with PM but some times it works and sometimes it dosnt! Sounds like it is a touchie program and dealing with a $3000 dollar PC i better just reinstall or purchase a new HD. Thanks to you all very much for your input. Sx