Fred M. Sloniker:
I've gone ahead and gotten rid of the contents of HDA7 so I can store downloads in it. However, it occured to me that it'd be handy to make it a DOS partition so my brother can use it too. Unfortunately, if I partition it as a DOS partition, Windows can see HDA6 too and tries to Scandisk it, which I imagine would be a bad thing if I let it.
I'd guess that your brother is using Windows >=95, rather than <=3.11. If so, "long" (Windows-style) filenames won't be a problem. Of course, not all Linux filenames conform to Microsoft's newer conventions, but wouldn't all downloads do so? (And if not, couldn't you, using Linux, rename the few rogues?) If you use 'doze-proof filenames, and a Microsoft-approved filesystem (FAT32 or whatever), then what's the problem (aside from a certain delay) in Windows running Scandisk on the drive? Also, in the Windows set-ups that I've encountered, Windows only suggests running Scandisk after an improper close-down. Moreover, I'd guess that there's some method of dissuading Windows from running Scandisk on this or that logical disc even on such an occasion. -- Peter "who needs signatures?" Evans, SuSEgnuLinux ignoramus