Re: OS and HD format advice

[Lee Maschmeyer <Lee_Maschmeyer@wayne.edu>]

Hi all,

Hmm. Is it possible to repartition an NTFS disk? I came to the
conclusion I'd have to remove Windows XP, reset partitions and install
it again; I opted for a second disk instead. I don't have half the space
Angus does, though.

I think Rafael is mistaken on one point: On my computer (Red Hat 8) it
recognizes the NTFS file system but cannot read files on it as far as I
can tell; at least not in kernel 2.4.20-8. Maybe some extra package...

If you know how to burn ISO images, you might do well to download Red
Hat 9. 7.x is getting pretty old, though going to 9 gives you only four
months(!) extra update support. You can learn how to burn these if you
have an advanced CD writing program and your hardware doesn't get in the
way (mine did; I had to temporarily uninstall my SCSI driver, for
example).

I don't have the complicated partition structure Rafael suggested, but
as far as I can tell there's no way to upgrade from one version of Red
Hat to another without using the complete CD set. There is an upgrade
option in the install program which I haven't used, but presumably you
need all three Cd's to use it. Does this eliminate the benefit of all
those partitions?

Red Hat 8 has Speakup as part of the base system so you can give Speakup
options to the install program; 7.x and 9 don't so you'll have to
either use the serial port (called ttyS0 instead of COM1 in Linux) or
build/download some boot diskettes - easier for speech than
Braille. You're lucky. I'm jealous! <Grin>

Hope this helps but doubt that it does,

Lee