lakelover

Thanks, Counterspy. . . I'll give it a try as soon as I get my master HHD backed up. I'm still having problems getting my CD's formated.

I downloaded the Ranish partition manager but haven't had time to study it. At first glance it looks a little complicated. I'm still trying to find a backup program that works for me. I have a new Dell, with a CD-rw drive, and I'm having problems with formating the CD's and getting them to eject. Some formate okay. Others don't. So, I can't back up my drive until I figure that out. I've always wondered why pc assemblers don't included backup facilities (programs and second drives) as a standard feature. Backups are so important.

Ixthusthan. . . thanks. I'll see what I can do with the ntfs partition and definitely stay clear of it with Linux.

My scanner is a Mustek, 1200 ED. Hopefully, it is supported in MDK9.0. I don't have MDK installed, yet. I'm still researching partitioning on WinXP drive. My past MDK's were installed on a second drive so I let the install program do the partitioning. I guess that won't work with NTFS partitions.

I'm getting ready to install MDK9.0, and see that Mandrake advises against using GNU/Linux to resize NTFS partitions. I hate to spend more money for the latest version of Partition Magic. Does Windows XP, have a utility that will do the resizing? I checked the "Knowledge Base" at MS, and found how-to's for creating partitions and deleting them but I don't see anything on resizing. What's the best way to resize WinXP partitions so I can install MDK9.0 on the same disk?

Thanks for all your suggestions. I'm installing MDK9.0, today, on the master drive with Windows. Maybe I'll install the extra drive for data back up. I'd like to replace my scanner and printers (2), but that's not in the budget. My Canon BJ200e works with MDK. The Lexmark Z11 printer and Mustek 1200ED scanner don't. So, I'll have to run back to Windows when I need to use them. Too bad computers and their peripherals are throw-aways. I think the Canon is my longest lived component.

There are a couple of programs on Windows we use/like. One is PocoMail. We like that a lot. I use Quicken. On the other hand we got used to the various mail clients on MDK 8.2, and I understand that there's a pretty good money management program on MDK 9.0. The main problem my wife has is too many options with Linux, and that's partly my fault. When I bounce back and forth among the various mail clients, my wife goes bonkos. And then there's the various browsers. All the options offered by Linux is at once an advantage and a disadvantage. Bottom line: I'll probably dual boot with Windows. BTW, I've worked WinXP for only a two or three weeks, and I'd say I've had six to 10, bug alerts, error windows and a couple of freeze screens. I ran 8.2 with virtually no problems except (a big exception), getting my older, low level peripherals to work. My scanner never worked with 8.2, and my color printer didn't either. And that is a big problem. I don't know if 9.0 will solve that situation. No peripheral problems with Windoz.

I need your opinions. First a little background: I have MDK8.2, installed on a computer that "blew up." Well, actually, just the master drive went whacko. I have MDK8.2, on the slave and Win95 on the master (inoperable). I bought a new drive with the intention of replacing the master, but ended up getting a new Dell that has WinXP. The Dell has a 30 GB drive. My old computer has dinky drives: 6 GB. Here are my options: Install MDK9.0 on the Dell, master drive with XP repartitioned; Or, install the new 6 GB drive (Westeren Digital) in the Dell, and load MDK9.0 on that drive. BTW, I'm not a heavy music or photo user, so I don't eat up drive space as fast as some. If I had money to spare, which I don't, I'd get a 40 GB slave for the Dell. I tried to get credit for the 6GB drive on the purchase of a larger drive but the place I bought it doesn't want to deal. The third option is to install the new drive on the old computer and use that computer exclusively for Mandrake (for play?). Then I'd have to network that computer with the Dell. Of course, I could wipe, WinXP, and install Mandrake in its place. Unfortunately, my wife is not enamored with Mandrake, and my loyalty is fading (too many screw ups. . . though maybe not as many as Billy's). So, what are your thoughts?