dual bootin

[beakmyn]

It's been awhile since I've built a Windows/linux dual boot but let me pose the following situation:

Current Disk configuration
C:\ 35 GB NTFS (Win2k)
D:\ 2GB Ghost Image storage

I'd like to install Mandrake 9.0 with some of the goodies.
So I'm thinking of setting 4-5GB aside
I've 256MB ram so I figure 300mb for the swap partition
and 3500 to 4500 mb for Linux native \
Then bust up the 35 GB some more for data storage

I used Ranish Partition Manager (www.ranish.com/part) on my dad's machine a few months back to make a ghost partition and it seemed to work well (didn't hose the drive).

I remember that there was a hitch to getting a NT/Linux dual boot working. :confused: Something about configuring lilo and not having NT wipe the lilo out again. :confused:

Your replies here.

[Dragon57]

Here is a good site which describes one way to do this: http://www.blkviper.com/Articles/OS/Multiboot/multiboot1.htm

Ranish partition manager is not recommended as a non destructive partition program. I would use Partition Magic if you want to make sure you don't destroy any existing data. Always install Linux last and if you decide to use Lilo or Grub as the boot loader, be aware than they don't always recognize NTFS partitions correctly. You may have to add the NT/XP partition info yourself.

Hope this helps.

Martin Parrott

[denkc]

I believe that Mandrake has its own partitioning software built in, but I'm not sure how it holds up against NTFS type HDs. However, there have also been conflicts between the M9 and Linux, so beware of that as well.

[Dragon57]

Mandrake does have partitioning software, but it will not shrink an existing NTFS partition non-destructively.

[dirtboy]

Ghost from Symantec will let you place an image into any partition big enough to hold it, no matter what size partition it came from. What I usually do is make a partition dump onto a second drive, repartition the original, then restore the dump to the resized partition.

[elchapulin]

I often use Partition Magic v6.05 bootable CD. It safely resizes NTFS partitions.
It's by V Communications (http://v-com.com) and costs about $40 US.