XP and Linux

[Macca]

I'm going to do i dual boot in the next few days but there are some things i need to;

1) Should i bother partitioning? Any real advantages?

2) Can i still have a password protected account in XP and access it from linux? i don't think it is possible but is it?

3) The correct way to install is XP then Linux, right?



4)Does Mandrake 8.1 support ntfs?

That just about covers it

thanks

[Hacktarux]

1) You need to partition you hard drive to install linux (you need at least one partition for xp, one partition for linux and eventually one partition for swap). But i think that with a mandrake, you just have to make a partition for windows smaller than the whole hard drive. And then you install XP. And finally you install linux and during this process it will partition partition your free disk space automatically.

2) If i understand your question, yes you can access your protected files under linux.

3) right

4) AFAIK the Mandrake 8.1support NTFS but the XP's version of NTFS is supported in read only mode (maybe because it is older than windows XP ). I have not tested with recent version because i am using fat32 now (there's not so much differences for me and i really need to exchange files between my two OSes).

[Malcolm]

Yep, you can access your Windows NTFS under any version of linux that has that module either activated or compiled into the kernel.

Its very safe, just use partition magic.

For partitions you should start with a 2->3 gig Linux ext2(should be mounted as "/"), a 16mb Linux ext2 (should be mounted as "/boot") and a linux swap (its size should be 2x thhe amount of RAM that you have, should be mounted as [duh] SWAP).

[Macca]

thanks for the help, greatly appreciated

[Macca]

is it possible to have 3 main partitions plus swaps

c: - all stuff (17GB)
d: - Windows Installation (1.5GB)
e - Linux Installation (1.5GB)

is this a good idea? Would it work?

[Hacktarux]

This is possible but i think you need a liitle more space for the windows partition. (And the linux partition will not be e: it will not be visible by the windows system).


I recommand you to boot with a floppy disk and to launch fdisk, then erase all your partitions. Then install win XP and don't use all the available space when it ask for creating a partition (you have to reserve some Gbytes for linux). Then when you will install linux there's an automatic partitionning tool. Don't worry, all the installation procedure is made with an easy to use graphical program.

[Tesla-Guy]

Yea, that's a nice idea, but, make e: the big partition and put whatever stuff you want, and d: / c: for XP / Linux. It's better organised i think

[Macca]

how much space is needed for the win partition, i wanted it just windows, no program files. is it possible to redirect the program files and documents/settings folder to a different partition?

[Hacktarux]

It depends on how many dlls your favorite programs put into the windows/system32 directory. 1,5 Gbytes should be sufficient if you really don't install anything in this partition, you install the swap file on the other partition and you disable an option that allow laptop to shutdown safely (can't remember the name of this option but it takes 400 Mb on your hard drive).

[Malcolm]

yes it possible to move all that stuff around. The windows partition would need to be around 700mb if you dont want to install anything (just to be safe), the linux sawp partition should be around 400mb, the actual linux partition should be around 2.5gigs, and you should make another partition (16mb) for linux to mount as the /boot partition (so if your main partition get corrupt you can still boot).

If you make the filesystem for you main storage drive a FAT32 then you can access (read/write) from all Operation systems.

In the system settings (right click My Computer, Properties) in windows 2k/XP you can go to the last tab and follow one of the buttons to where you can change the default directories for your windows directories. These include: Program files, My Documents and your Windows Directory.

Hope that helps!