wakish Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 (edited) Hi everyone..i'm really new to Linux community and linux itself. I felt the need of indulging myself in Linux. After visiting the "distrowatch site", i finally made my way to Mandriva. (was it the right choice for someone like me who is completely new to linux??) I need some help (if possible) to do the following: I have an 80Gb Hard drive. I would like to know how to partition my hard drive, after removing all existing os, to install my win os and then install linux distro. I guess since there will be no current os, i won't be able to use partition magic or a similar program. Thus, i would like to use something like fdisk to do the whole stuff. First of all is there a better program like fdisk, since fdisk has limitations in its use? I have investigated that there is an fdisk-like program called "gdisk". But i'm still trying to know about it. But if you have any better program, it will be nice! Note: 1) I know how to install win 98 and win xps..etc.. 2) I don't know how to isntall linux yet. I'm still learning about it from the nice related topic in this forum. >>>(MandrivaUsers.org > General Help > Installing Mandriva._ ==> So, basically, right now i want to know how to prepare my pc from scratch for installing both windows and linux. It would be nice if someone could help me. Any other kind of advice and remarks are warmly welcomed. Thanks for all! Regards! Edited January 30, 2006 by wakish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buccaneer Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 mandriva has a nice gui install. simoly place your install CD or DVD in your drive and boot the system. the install will allow you to keep your old system (dual boot) or completely overwrite your old one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakish Posted January 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 mandriva has a nice gui install. simoly place your install CD or DVD in your drive and boot the system. the install will allow you to keep your old system (dual boot) or completely overwrite your old one. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thanks for the info..but it's not really for what i have asked ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Welcome aboard You can use the Mandriva Cd for everything. If you want to install Win98 from scratch along with Mandriva, then the easiest way would be imho: Boot up the Linux CD. When you get t the partitioning stage, create ALL partitions using the peronal settings mode of the partitioner (Don't use the auto-partitioning as you will end up without Windows partitions then). Now create the following: hda || fat 32 partition for Win98 | fat 32 partition for file sharing | swap (2xRAM size) | / in e.g. ext3 (roughly 4-10 GB, depending ony your need) | /home in e.g. reiserfs (for personal files) || Now install Mandriva. Once you are done, reboot and start the installation of Windows. Once Windows is up and running (it will overwrite the Linux bootloader), reboot again with your Linux CD. Hit "F1" for advanced settings and go to the rescue section. select "reinstall bootloader" and you will get a dual-boot system. Reboot again. Now you should be able to run both systems. Also take a look at aRTees site, which is great for getting to know Mandriva: http://www.mandrake.tips.4.free.fr/installmdv2006.html If you have more questions, don't be shy and ask us. Good luck. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakish Posted January 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Thanks for the welcome ;) thanks for the kind advice and the nice aRTees site! I'm trying to read all these stuffs and trying to understand. Then as i progress, i will ask more questions. And in the end, if i succeed with what i'm trying to do, then i will share it with all of you here! All other views, opinions and anything about this topic is warmly welcomed continuosly! Kind Regards, wakish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AussieJohn Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 You will note that Arctic's post makes NO mention of Partition Magic (as excellent as that program is). Although I have a very early version of Partition Magic (it doesn't recognise <ext3>) I haven't used it in over 2yrs since I could do all repartitioning using Mandrake/Mandriva only. I have set up other peoples computers as well for W2000 and Linux for dual booting also, using the W2000 install disc. This a lot easier than having to fiddle with the MBR by using the command line at bootup to reinstall the Linux or Mandriva boot. Cheers. John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 Yes, I made no mention of Partition Magic although it does its job usually quite well. But what is the purpose of installing it and "wasting time" if you can do the partitioning with the Mandriva CD way faster? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarecrow Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 My experience with Fartition Magic on dualboot (Win / Lin) machines has ever been horrible- including several GB of data irreparably screwed. I much prefer Acronis Disk Director and (especially that one, due to its great rollback feature) V-Com Partition Commander. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakish Posted January 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 (edited) but can all these partitioners be used when there is no OS on your HD? i mean assuming that there is no windows on your hard drive. As i said i want to be able "to install both windows(any versions) and linux in a new pc which has no OS yet." May be i should try to reframe in the following sense: Is there any good program/software to partition and set up a hard dirve (80Gb size) to install both windows(any version) and linux. I don't want to use something like partition magic, because it does all the work for you - it's lazy. and besides i think you should run it from an OS. I would like a program which will allow you to know exactly what you are doing and which can be run independently. FDisk is not good, it has limitations. Is there something similar or more better? Sry for asking so much, but i have that idea in mind, and my mind is not calm unless i arrive close to what i want to do :D The first idea which arctic given me about partitioning with the mandriva cd is the first solution. I will try it too! But in addition i would like to know if what i want, is possible to do. Thanks! Thank you all for your nice helping advices! Keep them coming ;) Regards! Edited January 22, 2006 by wakish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 but can all these partitioners be used when there is no OS on your HD? i mean assuming that there is no windows on your hard drive. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The Mandriva partitioner can definitely be used on 100% empty harddisks, I used it on several of my machines, too. edit: A link that might be of interest for you: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ (included links to several partitioning tools etc... it is really worth a look) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarecrow Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 Acronis can be installed, OR booted from a self-made CD, which factly is a specially tuned custom Linux kernel with full NTFS support. Partition Commander can be booted from a bootable floppy, but of course you can also boot it from an El Torito CD with 1.44M floppy emulation. It works fine, the only difference from a floppy is that you cannot save the altered default settings for a second session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakish Posted January 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 I will remove my current hard drive and i will put another one to "play" with it with linux and windows..getting to be familiar with linux..installing different distros..etc.. Then when i want to do my normal things i will just have to re-place my old hard drive back. so: 1) is it ok to do it? 2) Will i lose any data on my old hard drive (i.e my current hard drive?) I guess not, but i want to confirm on this. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 I will remove my current hard drive and i will put another one to "play" with it with linux and windows..getting to be familiar with linux..installing different distros..etc..Then when i want to do my normal things i will just have to re-place my old hard drive back. so: 1) is it ok to do it? Yes.2) Will i lose any data on my old hard drive (i.e my current hard drive?)No. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakish Posted January 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 (edited) coool..thanks! :D By the way, i'm getting confused about which version of mandriva to download.. Please could you help? I saw so many in the download page, and some even said something about being in club member to have additional soft! Is it required to be in the club member? well, it's not possible for me :( Regards! Edited January 24, 2006 by wakish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 You don't have to be a Club-member. The Club version ony has some proprietary stuff already included. Those things can be intalled into the free edition in a hurry, so no "need" for paying some extra bucks. I also use the free version of Mandy. Go to one of the international download mirrors and select the free i586 version (if you are using a Mac, get the PPC version). The latest stable release is Mandriva 2006 and it works quite well for lot of us. Give it a try. If you run into problems, you know where to find us and ask questions. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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