[wplug] Self-Introduction (and GNU Parted)

[Mark Haney]

Hi,

I'm a relatively new Linux user who just joined the list today. I've had Redhat
installed on my desktop (triple boot with Windows 98 and Chinese Windows 95)
for a few years, but only recently decided to make it my primary platform. With
Windows, I either have to steal software or pay way too much for software --
both bad options. With Linux I can have fun, control my system, and learn a
lot.

The only problem was that when I set up my system a few years ago, I just wanted
to try Linux, so I only gave the Linux partition around 1 Gig, vs 6 Gig for
Windows. Now that I will use Linux for a lot more things, I need more space!


I thought about using FIPS to shrink the Windows partition, and then re-installing
Linux. Then, I heard about GNU Parted, a program that can not only resize partitions,
but also move files around beforehand to create the necessary free space at
the end of the partition. I had tried using FIPS on my Windows ME laptop, but
the defrag program that comes with Windows ME always left some files at the
end of the disk, so I ended up killing my Windows and having to re-start with
the recovery disk that came with the computer. Because of this experience, I
was happy to skip the defrag step and give Parted a try. I downloaded the RPM
from
http://www.redhat.com/apps/download/
installed it, and then started the program. At the prompt, I typed "print" to
see my current partitioning scheme, then typed "resize 2 467 3500" (the numbers
are starting and ending point of the partition in MB, I think) to resize the
Windows partition. It had extended from 467 to around 6500, so I was making
about 3 Gig of free space that my Linux Re-install could use. The program didn't
give me any indication of it's status, but I figured it was working because
I could hear my hard disk buzzing like crazy. Then, it gave me the prompt again.
I typed "print", and it showed the new partition scheme, with my Windows partition
resized, and the free space there. 

I installed Redhat 7.2, made some tweaks to my lilo.conf, and now I have a Linux
partition with 4.2 Gig, and I can boot into all three OSs with no problem. Yeah!


Sorry for the long story... I am just very happy that Parted worked so simply
and smoothly.

I've heard that the Mandrake distribution comes with some software, called Diskdrake,
that is based on Parted code, and that will do the resizing and repartitioning
during the install. I may pick up Mandrake and try to install it on my WindowsME
laptop. Do any of you have experience with Installing Mandrake on a machine
that currently has only Windows on the hard drive?

Thanks,
Mark Haney