At 02:50 PM 10/2/2004 -0600, Donald D Henson wrote:
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this but I don't seem to be able to get a clear answer from the other lists I have tried, lists to remain nameless.
I want to repartition a hard drive to make room for Linux partitions in a dual-boot configuration. I tried using Partition Magic but it reports a non-standard partition and exits without making any changes. I have discovered that both Dell and Compaq create non-standard hidden partitions on their hard drives, the reason apparently open to debate. Does anyone know how to get around this non-standard partition? I'd appreciate any assistance here.
-- Donald D. Henson, Managing Director West El Paso Information Network
I ran into this kind of craziness when trying to eliminate a Win 2000 partition. Nothing in DOS or Windows could do it. Boot from your Linux floppy disk--I used an old Linux 5 or so--and do an FDISK, and then wipe all the MS stuff, or whatever is corroding the drive. Then partition the drive with whatever you like. If you are going to share the drive with MS, then make a partition with FAT32, so you can read and write from it from both OS's. (The particular problem was that the drive was set up for W2K, with the owner not having the access password, etc. and the owner wanted W98, but this worked fine.) --doug