Chris Wilson Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Rather than bend poor Petes ear any more I thought I'd throw my question into the assembled gathering here! I want to try Ubuntu properly, not running from a CD as I have been playing with it for a while. If I list my current machine and OS could someone please tell me the easiest way to partion for Ubuntu *AND* keep my current Windows 2000 setup please? Oldish Asus m/board with Silicon Image Sil 3112 SATARaid controller, only 2 SATA connectors on board, HD's are a pair of WD2000JB's at 200 gig each in size, in a Raid set up. I have the drives partioned as C: D: and E: F: and G: being CD and DVD IDE drives. Windows 2000 Pro is on C: 1 gig memory. I have bought a Seagate Barracuda 320 gig SATA drive, and would like Linux on that, and to leave a dual boot system with Windows OS untouched and intact. I am getting a PCI card to allow more SATA drives to be added, namely the Barracuda. I have Acronis suite avaialble for shrinking and moving partitions, if needed, but I am a bit out of my depth with this sort of thing. I have backed up any *REALLY* critical stuff to DVD, but hope to avoid losing the Windows OS and data. What's the best way to go about this please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Partitionmagic i think creates partitions within windows and its pretty foolproof and should give you the effect your after? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Download partition magic Decrease your existing windows partition size (reboot) Create an EXT2 partition to fill the unallocated space (reboot) Install nux onto new partition install bootmagic and use as a bootloader If you want to do this on a new drive then image your windows installation first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 ignore me..........more to follow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdavies Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Do you intend to have the Linux on the new fresh HDD and have the option to dual boot on startup? If so then you shouldn't have to do anything with your Winblows partitions, the boot loaders can be launched via the MBR (lilo grub etc) and installed (and removed) non-destructively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 I misread..... I think you want linux ONLY on your brand new drive?"? Install a bootloader (cant remember if editing the boot.ini works pre-OS load or not) Install your linux distro onto your new drive (format will be part of it, worry about partitioning after) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Do you intend to have the Linux on the new fresh HDD and have the option to dual boot on startup? If so then you shouldn't have to do anything with your Winblows partitions, the boot loaders can be launched via the MBR (lilo grub etc) and installed (and removed) non-destructively. I knew I should have read it properly first time round lol I'll stay out as your info is correct. Chris, give me a call/pm if you get stuck. Lewis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Could use a virtual machine under windows. no messing with partition tables required then and if you dont like it just delete the single VM file. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Could use a virtual machine under windows. no messing with partition tables required then and if you dont like it just delete the single VM file. Not very pratical though, running two os's just to use linux, doubling the overhead (at least!!), rather than trying it out (as he has been using the runfromcd) I think Chris wants to give it more of a go as a useable OS. TBH I run a lotof distro's in VPC for testing purposes and it works for what I need to do, I have a dual-core which couldn't care less though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted January 3, 2007 Author Share Posted January 3, 2007 Could use a virtual machine under windows. no messing with partition tables required then and if you dont like it just delete the single VM file. That sounds interesting Wez, how do I do that please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted January 3, 2007 Author Share Posted January 3, 2007 I misread..... I think you want linux ONLY on your brand new drive?"? Install a bootloader (cant remember if editing the boot.ini works pre-OS load or not) Install your linux distro onto your new drive (format will be part of it, worry about partitioning after) Thanks, yes, that's what I am after. How should i partion the new drive to use linux neatly and effectively? Can I stop any data and stuff invading the OS stuff? I want to avaoid the mess than installing and deleting new apps makes under Windows where a load of detritus is left, most times. Thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Thanks, yes, that's what I am after. How should i partion the new drive to use linux neatly and effectively? Can I stop any data and stuff invading the OS stuff? I want to avaoid the mess than installing and deleting new apps makes under Windows where a load of detritus is left, most times. Thanks guys! Partition it however you like to be honest mate, the linux distro should allow you to partition it as part of the install, it will tell you how much it needs as a minimum, create a fairly large partition and leave the rest unallocated until you need it, you can always increase/create more when required. MHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guru Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 **EDIT** meant to P.M. you sorry Chris ** DOUBLE EDIT ** Forgot you hate P.M.'s so I am emailing you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkey Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 That sounds interesting Wez, how do I do that please? Use a program called VMWare. It does work and it is very useable. No need to partition and etc - especially as Linux isn't power hungry as XP. Within VMWare you can specify - how much HD disk space to give your new OS (All VMWare does is create 1 big file on in XP ... that's your new OS's HD), how much memory to give it .. etc etc It is very usable. I have Linux running on one of my PC's - and running XP within Linux. So, I can use Internet Explorer, MS Office etc etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 That sounds interesting Wez, how do I do that please? I have not done it for a while but products like vmware and MS virtual server are what you are looking for if you take this route. http://www.vmware.com/products/free_virtualization.html To be honest after reading your first post properly a dual booted setup with the linux distro installed on a seperate HDD would be the best solution. As part of the linux installation it should install the boot loader for you and also pickup your existing windows partition. Just be careful so that you do not mess up the MS partitions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted January 3, 2007 Author Share Posted January 3, 2007 The reason I am liking Ubuntu is it was the only one of about 3 distros i tried that just plain worked, seemed to see all my hardware, and set up the monitor resolution sensibly. Is it actually any good? Will I be able to download pics from my Sony still camera to it, once its fixed after its immersion in muddy water? I am puzzled by how to do this, the software is Windows only, AFAIK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Use a program called VMWare. It does work and it is very useable. No need to partition and etc - especially as Linux isn't power hungry as XP. Within VMWare you can specify - how much HD disk space to give your new OS (All VMWare does is create 1 big file on in XP ... that's your new OS's HD), how much memory to give it .. etc etc It is very usable. I have Linux running on one of my PC's - and running XP within Linux. So, I can use Internet Explorer, MS Office etc etc. Just to explain this a bit Chris........ You will load into Windows as normal, then execute the host app (vmware/vpc) which will launch an image so that you basically use 1 OS within another. The benefits are that you can butt-fuck it as much as you like and either not save the state of it or rebuild it pretty quickly/easily. The downside is that it uses emulated drivers and some of your hardware may not be available to you, in addition it is using your system resources to run your windows 2000 system as well as the linux system you load into it. Worth pointing that out so that you fully understand as it is very different to what you were originally trying to do. Lewis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 The reason I am liking Ubuntu is it was the only one of about 3 distros i tried that just plain worked, seemed to see all my hardware, and set up the monitor resolution sensibly. Is it actually any good? Will I be able to download pics from my Sony still camera to it, once its fixed after its immersion in muddy water? I am puzzled by how to do this, the software is Windows only, AFAIK. I actually have Ubuntu here ready to try, I normally use Fedora but Ubuntu is supposed to be very good and its one cd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted January 3, 2007 Author Share Posted January 3, 2007 **EDIT** meant to P.M. you sorry Chris ** DOUBLE EDIT ** Forgot you hate P.M.'s so I am emailing you! Wow, what can I say, e-mail replied to, you are VERY kind!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveL Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Chris , I've recently started using VMWare and must admit its very good. I was sceptable to how well it would work, but in only a few weeks I've managed to get RedHat, Solaris, MS server 2003 enterprise and XP all running on an XP 'host'. It's not too difficult - especially if you want to keep your PC running Win 2000. Have a look at the documentation on the vmware web site , they give full examples of how to install a whole list of os's - in fact they have already got preinstalled vm's on the web site you can just download and run to see if you prefer it .... http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/appliances/directory/cat/45 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 and microsoft's virtual pc as well (free to use) anyway, I said i'd stay out of it - I'm such a post whore lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRalphMan Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 VMWare allows you to 'capture' your USB hardware, so if the camera connects via USB, you'd be able to use it. Added plus you can transfer files between the two OS's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted January 3, 2007 Author Share Posted January 3, 2007 Downloading the VMWare Ubuntu distro now, to see how I get on with it, I am awaiting a PCI card to add SATA ports, so I can have a mess in the meantime! Thanks everyone, some great answers and info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Seems a shame to use a VM when you've got that spanking new hard drive to play with. The only bit I'm not sure of is adding/removing bootloaders. It's not something I've played with (or had to play with) as I prefer to just swap the drives about and have the luxury of kit to play with like this. Lewis (or others) - what are the best boot loaders are out there? One thought I've had is you could partition the new drive into two and use the one partition to ghost across your existing drive as a backup. That way if the bootloader goes wrong you can restore easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 If you are going down that route then I would personally use lilo as a bootloader, depending on your distro should get installed anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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