linux install without losing data

[colecifer]

I want to install linux, but i don't want to lose data and i don't really want to spend money and buy partition magic either.

Today this kid that sits next to me in my java class gave me a linux book that has redhat in it(i didn't have blank cd's so he is letting me borrow cds). So he told me that i could defrag my hard drive and then erorr check the drive(he said i had to do that because i'm using NTFS), but he said then after a defrag and error check i could install linux and not mess anything up. Is this true? I've never heard this before and i'm a little afraid to try it. If this won't work is there anything i can do and not have to buy partitoin magic?

[bailey]

linux need to be on its own partition, you need to create a second partition for it, there is other programs that can do this for you if you do not want to buy partition magic.
doing it any other way you take the chance of messing up windows.

[XpXJ19]

I've partitioned my hard drive to dual boot using the partition tool that comes with redhat many times without ever experiencing a problem. I just booted from the cd and followed the setup instructions.

[mostwanted]

what about mandrake? Does it have a partition tool?

[colecifer]

i looked in the book and it turns out i need to be using FAT to not mess up windows, it doesn't work right with NTFS. I haven't decided what i'm gonna do, i might just buy a cheap harddrive and install linux there. That way i don't have to mess with it.

[bailey]

I have no idea of what your talking about, all my systems are ntfs and I can put linux on any of them dual boot
with no problems, also partition magic works great with it too.
so I don't understand what your trying to say.

[Markoman01027]

linux worked fine with my ntfs partition before

[colecifer]

Originally Posted by bailey I have no idea of what your talking about, all my systems are ntfs and I can put linux on any of them dual boot with no problems, also partition magic works great with it too. so I don't understand what your trying to say.

I don't want to buy partitoin magic, i want to change my partitoins for free and not loose data. There was a tool on the redhat cd that would do this but it only works with FAT32. So i don't know what i'm gonna do to keep my NTFS partitoins fine.

[MulderMan]

with the last release of red hat before fedora took over (9) the cd partitioned my NTFS hard drive fine and installed itself. i also error checked and defragged like most good books guide you. now i actually prefer mandrake 10.0 as the supports good and its alot more user freindly. maybe you should seek another distro - http://linuxiso.org/index.php - one that will be continually updated in the future as red hat has now been discontinued.

[bigandy]

Try this as a free alternative to PM.

[MulderMan]

thanks for that, i never knew there was a free partitioning tool for windows.

[colecifer]

Originally Posted by bigandy Try this as a free alternative to PM.

thanks, i'm gonna have to mess with all this stuff on sunday. That is assuming i get the nerve to do it. I'm a little afraid of losing all my data because i don't know what i'm doing. But i don't have anything important on here really, just all my cds backed up which i could back up again. Would just be a pain. However if i do this right i shouldn't mess anything up.

[colecifer]

Originally Posted by MulderMan with the last release of red hat before fedora took over (9) the cd partitioned my NTFS hard drive fine and installed itself. i also error checked and defragged like most good books guide you. now i actually prefer mandrake 10.0 as the supports good and its alot more user freindly. maybe you should seek another distro - http://linuxiso.org/index.php - one that will be continually updated in the future as red hat has now been discontinued.

Red hat 9 has this you say? Thats good to know thoose are the discs i have. After checking the book i see it is referring to 8.0 when it talks about only being able to use destructive partitioning with NTFS. For now i think i'm just going to stick with red hat because i don't have any blank cds for another distro. If all goes well with this i might changed to fedora or mandrake after i have my partition set up.

SORRY
didn't mean to double post.

[MulderMan]

that sounds about right, heres a link with more info on redhat 9 partitioning aswell with the manual. http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/l...titioning.html

[colecifer]

Originally Posted by MulderMan that sounds about right, heres a link with more info on redhat 9 partitioning aswell with the manual. http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/l...titioning.html

No dice so far guys, i can't get the redhat tool to work right at all, maybe i'm doing something wrong? I can't seem to change the partitions without having to mess up my exsisting partition. That free alternative won't work either, it doesn't suppourt NTFS. I'm seriously considering just buying a new harddrive soon and putting linux on that. If anyone has any suggestions on how to make this work i'm all ears. If anoter distro will do the partitoins right i might be able to dig up some spare CD-Rs.

[MulderMan]

you could go out and **cough**buy**cough** Partition Magic, .

[colecifer]

I know, but i'd only use it once most likely and it seems like such a waste to buy a program and use it once.

[colecifer]

Sorry about another double post but i've passed the time limit on edits. I just thought i'd let you guys know what i was doing. I'm currently downloading Mandrake 10 with bittorrent. Mandrake has the ability to resize ntfs partitoins. SO YEAH. Later this week i will hopefully have a dual boot going on. I'll post here if i have any troubles.

[mostwanted]

how do i find out which type of system I have? NTFS or Fat 32

[Karnevil9]

Open my computer and right click on the XP drive, Usually the C drive. Select properties. It should tell you there if it is set up as NTFS or Fat. Most systems are set as NTFS with XP.

[colecifer]

Ok so i downloaded the Mandrake 10.0 iso's and i installed it. Everything installed fine and it restarted. So i get to the boot manager and try windows. I get an error about some .dll file missing. I thought ok this is bad and restarted and tried to boot into linux, no luck here either. I got a kernel panic error in both panic mode and failsafe mode. I got windows to boot again by installing on the former partition and everything runs fine now. My main question is what happened? and how can i make linux work? i'm so confused.

[Yuanji]

just use your windows CD rom to repair the installation. i've heard that this can sometimes happen when you install linux over windows.

[colecifer]

Originally Posted by Yuanji just use your windows CD rom to repair the installation. i've heard that this can sometimes happen when you install linux over windows.

Alread did this, this got rid of the boot loader now so Windows boots automatically now. And like i said the linux install didn't work either so i'm kind of unsure of what to do now.