Janus Sandsgaard wrote:
I need to repartition my hard disk, but need input on how to do it and what the different partitions are called in the disk tool in YaST (I still get a little confused about primary, extended and logical partitions). Also I would appreciate comments and suggestions, since this partition and installations needs to run fo a few fears.
It is a 160 GB and I need it for a dual boot machine (Linux and WinXP for a 40 GB iPod). I have something like this in mind:
"Primary partition":
WinXP NTFS 60 GB
"Extended partition" (with the following "logical partitions"):
/boot ext3 50 MB
Make /boot a 75MB primary instead. Then, put Grub on it instead of the MBR. That way, if you ever need to reinstall windoze, after windoze makes its own primary active, preventing you from booting Linux, all you need do, which can be done with any of several DOS or windoze or Linux tools, is change the active partition back to /boot.
/swap swap 512 MB / ext3 10 GB /home ext3 50 GB
Is that OK?
/ really doesn't need to be so big for a typical installation. I've never installed "everything", so don't know if that might use it all up.
Do I use primary and extended in the right way â and what about the order of the partitions? Any othe comments?
I never make windoze the first partition on a multiboot system just as a matter of principle. That's like saying what M$ wants is most important. I make a maintenance partition /dev/hda1, the boot loader partition /dev/hda2, and windoze on /dev/hda3.
I am considering dividing the Win-partition into two partitions â one for the OS and one for data (maybe in FAT32 format). How would such a partition table look like (would that demand one more primary partition)?
I never give any OS more space than it should need. This means C: is a tiny partition that windoze apps that assume C: will fill up trying to install, one or two logical cylinders, or 7.8 or 15.9 MB (/dev/hda3). Then D: is the windoze OS partition, around 4 GB on /dev/hda8, after swap on /dev/hda5, / on /dev/hda6 & /home on /dev/hda7, as I like to keep the Linux partitions together. E: for windoze data would go last on /dev/hda8. Making data partitions last makes it easier to change your mind and add extra partitions for backups or extra OS's. I often end a disk with partitions to mirror / and the windoze OS partition plus a lot of unpartitioned space. Disks now are so big that using them all for just a few big partitions makes for much never used space except for those people who will fill all available space no matter how much there is.
Will I have to create the two Win partitions from YaST or from Windows?
Technically it doesn't really matter which tool you use, but in the long run, the best way to partition a multiboot system is to never use any partitioning tool that requires only one specific OS. See URL below for more. -- "If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;" Proverbs 9:12 NIV Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://members.ij.net/mrmazda/partitioningindex.html