[wplug] Self-Introduction (and GNU Parted)

[hansyd1]

I installed Mandrake 8.2 on my hard drive with windows 98 2nd ed.  No
problems at all.  Good luck
Paul
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Haney" <haney01 at email.franklin.edu>
To: <wplug at wplug.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 1:26 PM
Subject: [wplug] Self-Introduction (and GNU Parted)


> 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
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>