Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Dan Murphy]

Hi listers.
I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous new year.
Here's what I wanted to do, but I'm not sure if I can do it.  I have
another computer running Win98 SE with a 20 GB drive in it.  I am
currently running Zipspeak on it, but I would like to install a full Linux
system on it.  My question is, is there a utility out there that will let
me create a partition or partition from the free space?  I can't really
blow away the existing W98 partition because whistling up Sighted
assistance to reinstall Windows isn't really a practical option.  I had
 thought of zipping my entire Windows folder, but I don't know if it would
run once restored.
Has anyone ever done this before, and if there is a way, how could I do
it?
thanks.

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Janina Sajka]

Yes, you can do this. There are several tools. The ones for DOS/Windows 
cost money. The linux tool, called parted as in "partition editor," is 
free (surprise).

What you want to do is to get a floppy that boots linux with speakup for 
your speech synthesizer, and has parted on it. Look on the speakup 
website. I believe we have this there.


> Hi listers.
> I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous new year.
> Here's what I wanted to do, but I'm not sure if I can do it.  I have
> another computer running Win98 SE with a 20 GB drive in it.  I am
> currently running Zipspeak on it, but I would like to install a full Linux
> system on it.  My question is, is there a utility out there that will let
> me create a partition or partition from the free space?  I can't really
> blow away the existing W98 partition because whistling up Sighted
> assistance to reinstall Windows isn't really a practical option.  I had
>  thought of zipping my entire Windows folder, but I don't know if it would
> run once restored.
> Has anyone ever done this before, and if there is a way, how could I do
> it?
> thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 

-- 
	
				Janina Sajka, Director
				Technology Research and Development
				Governmental Relations Group
				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

Email: janina@afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175

Chair, Accessibility SIG
Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
http://www.openebook.org

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Gregory Nowak]

Ziping your windows folder and then unziping it again would not run. This is because of the system registry, and some other folders/files that are installed outside of c:\windows.

There are a few utilities for partitioning an existing partition, or rather for spliting it.
The first is a speech enabled version of gnu partit which I found confusing.
Another program is fips which runs from DOS mode, and splits a partition into used and free space. It worked for me on a friend's hd very nicely which was 25 gb. 
I also understand that there are some other comercial alternatives, which I will leave to others for explanation.
Greg


On Tue, Jan 01, 2002 at 07:23:22PM -0500, Dan Murphy wrote:
> Hi listers.
> I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous new year.
> Here's what I wanted to do, but I'm not sure if I can do it.  I have
> another computer running Win98 SE with a 20 GB drive in it.  I am
> currently running Zipspeak on it, but I would like to install a full Linux
> system on it.  My question is, is there a utility out there that will let
> me create a partition or partition from the free space?  I can't really
> blow away the existing W98 partition because whistling up Sighted
> assistance to reinstall Windows isn't really a practical option.  I had
>  thought of zipping my entire Windows folder, but I don't know if it would
> run once restored.
> Has anyone ever done this before, and if there is a way, how could I do
> it?
> thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Dan Murphy]

Thanks Janina, but what exactly am I looking for, and in what directory?
I still find the nomenclature of the Ftp tree confusing sometimes.
thanks.


On Tue, 1 Jan 2002, Janina Sajka wrote:

> Yes, you can do this. There are several tools. The ones for DOS/Windows
> cost money. The linux tool, called parted as in "partition editor," is
> free (surprise).
>
> What you want to do is to get a floppy that boots linux with speakup for
> your speech synthesizer, and has parted on it. Look on the speakup
> website. I believe we have this there.
>
>
> > Hi listers.
> > I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous new year.
> > Here's what I wanted to do, but I'm not sure if I can do it.  I have
> > another computer running Win98 SE with a 20 GB drive in it.  I am
> > currently running Zipspeak on it, but I would like to install a full Linux
> > system on it.  My question is, is there a utility out there that will let
> > me create a partition or partition from the free space?  I can't really
> > blow away the existing W98 partition because whistling up Sighted
> > assistance to reinstall Windows isn't really a practical option.  I had
> >  thought of zipping my entire Windows folder, but I don't know if it would
> > run once restored.
> > Has anyone ever done this before, and if there is a way, how could I do
> > it?
> > thanks.
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
>
> --
>
> 				Janina Sajka, Director
> 				Technology Research and Development
> 				Governmental Relations Group
> 				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
>
> Email: janina@afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175
>
> Chair, Accessibility SIG
> Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
> http://www.openebook.org
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Thomas Ward]

I use a program called Partition Magic 7.0. It runs about $70.00, but I like
the fact you can make new partitions without destroying data.
As for backing up yourexisting Windows system I strongly recommend a program
called Image Cast 4.5. It allows you to make images of your Windows or linux
partitions, burn them to a cd, and use them to do system restores.


 ----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Murphy <mweeby@nycap.rr.com>
To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2002 7:23 PM
Subject: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?


> Hi listers.
> I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous new year.
> Here's what I wanted to do, but I'm not sure if I can do it.  I have
> another computer running Win98 SE with a 20 GB drive in it.  I am
> currently running Zipspeak on it, but I would like to install a full Linux
> system on it.  My question is, is there a utility out there that will let
> me create a partition or partition from the free space?  I can't really
> blow away the existing W98 partition because whistling up Sighted
> assistance to reinstall Windows isn't really a practical option.  I had
>  thought of zipping my entire Windows folder, but I don't know if it would
> run once restored.
> Has anyone ever done this before, and if there is a way, how could I do
> it?
> thanks.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Janina Sajka]

The parted disks are in a parted directory on the ftp site. After you do 
your anonymous login to linux-speakup.org, cd to pub/speakup/disks/parted.

PS: I have used parted, but not these disks.


-- 
	
				Janina Sajka, Director
				Technology Research and Development
				Governmental Relations Group
				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

Email: janina@afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175

Chair, Accessibility SIG
Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
http://www.openebook.org

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Richard Villa]

If you don't mind spending about $70 on a piece of software, Partition Magic
will do the job quite well.

I bought the software, and consider it to be one of the best purchases that
I have ever made.

Richard

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Saqib Shaikh]

Yes, you need to get the parted boot disk from
linux-speakup.org/pub/speakup/disks/parted.

Saqib
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Murphy" <mweeby@nycap.rr.com>
To: <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 12:23 AM
Subject: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?


> Hi listers.
> I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous new year.
> Here's what I wanted to do, but I'm not sure if I can do it.  I have
> another computer running Win98 SE with a 20 GB drive in it.  I am
> currently running Zipspeak on it, but I would like to install a full Linux
> system on it.  My question is, is there a utility out there that will let
> me create a partition or partition from the free space?  I can't really
> blow away the existing W98 partition because whistling up Sighted
> assistance to reinstall Windows isn't really a practical option.  I had
>  thought of zipping my entire Windows folder, but I don't know if it would
> run once restored.
> Has anyone ever done this before, and if there is a way, how could I do
> it?
> thanks.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Dan Murphy]

Well I now have the disk and it boots and talks, but it's giving me a
warning about cylender 1024, which I don't understand and now I need to
check the bios.  If I have more questions, which I probably will, I'll be
back.

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Geoff Shang]

On Wed, 2 Jan 2002, Dan Murphy wrote:

> Well I now have the disk and it boots and talks, but it's giving me a
> warning about cylender 1024, which I don't understand and now I need to
> check the bios.

This warning is to do with the fact that your boot image for linux has to
be on cylinder 1023 or lower, as the BIOS can only read the first 1024
cylinders of the drive.  Since your drive sounds like it's bigger than 1024
cylinders, you'll need to make sure your linux partition begins within this
1024 cylinder limit and that the boot image is also within this limit.  I'd
suggest making a small boot partition as your first linux partition to
ensure that your kernel image is in the right place.  You could mount this
as /boot and copy your kernel there when you're up and running, so that
lilo will be able to see it.

Back-tracking a bit, I've never set up a dule boot system on the one drive,
but I do recall  reading 3 years ago that it's vital that the windows
partition be the first one.  The way to make sure you don't lose any data
is to defrag it so that all the data gets pulled to the front of the drive.
Then, say if you have 8 gigs on your 20gig drive, you know that there's no
data past the 8gb mark.  This make sense?

Geoff.

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[John Covici]

Modern Bioses should be able to boot past the 1024 cylinder boundary
-- if the BIOS will handle it, lilo boots to about 20gb according to
its docs. But tell us the exact warning and maybe someone can figure
it out -- I would use partition magic over the free stuff at this
point.

on Wed, 2 Jan 2002 20:54:22 +1000 Geoff Shang <gshang@uq.net.au> wrote:

> On Wed, 2 Jan 2002, Dan Murphy wrote:
>
>> Well I now have the disk and it boots and talks, but it's giving me a
>> warning about cylender 1024, which I don't understand and now I need to
>> check the bios.
>
> This warning is to do with the fact that your boot image for linux has to
> be on cylinder 1023 or lower, as the BIOS can only read the first 1024
> cylinders of the drive.  Since your drive sounds like it's bigger than 1024
> cylinders, you'll need to make sure your linux partition begins within this
> 1024 cylinder limit and that the boot image is also within this limit.  I'd
> suggest making a small boot partition as your first linux partition to
> ensure that your kernel image is in the right place.  You could mount this
> as /boot and copy your kernel there when you're up and running, so that
> lilo will be able to see it.
>
> Back-tracking a bit, I've never set up a dule boot system on the one drive,
> but I do recall  reading 3 years ago that it's vital that the windows
> partition be the first one.  The way to make sure you don't lose any data
> is to defrag it so that all the data gets pulled to the front of the drive.
> Then, say if you have 8 gigs on your 20gig drive, you know that there's no
> data past the 8gb mark.  This make sense?
>
> Geoff.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

-- 
         John Covici
         covici@ccs.covici.com

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Kirk Wood]

On Wed, 2 Jan 2002, Geoff Shang wrote:
> This warning is to do with the fact that your boot image for linux has to
> be on cylinder 1023 or lower, as the BIOS can only read the first 1024
> cylinders of the drive.  

This is wrong. It continues to be a widely held incorrect belief and all
explanations of why are built on old information that hasn't been the case
since arround 1996. But nobody should feel bad. Even though MSDOS 4
changed rules on making a disk bootable there are people who still believe
that there must be a reserved space for the io.sys file.

The real rule is that if you have winblows working with the drive you can
use it in linux without looking back. Just put lba32=on in your lilo.conf
file.

=======
Kirk Wood
Cpt.Kirk@1tree.net

One of the most overlooked advantages to computers is...  If they do
foul up, there's no law against whacking them around a little.
	-- Joe Martin

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Janina Sajka]

I was a big user of Partition Magic for many years. It's good stuff, but 
it's Windows. A few months ago I found myself needing to resize, move, 
etc. And, I needed to do it with no Windows at hand. So, I started in with 
parted. I did make one mistake--my fault. But, you know what? It wasn't 
that bad.
 On Wed, 2 Jan 2002, Richard Villa wrote:

> If you don't mind spending about $70 on a piece of software, Partition Magic
> will do the job quite well.
> 
> I bought the software, and consider it to be one of the best purchases that
> I have ever made.
> 
> Richard
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 

-- 
	
				Janina Sajka, Director
				Technology Research and Development
				Governmental Relations Group
				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

Email: janina@afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175

Chair, Accessibility SIG
Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
http://www.openebook.org

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Janina Sajka]

It gives everybody the same cylindar 1024 message. It's a sanity check, 
essentially. The idea is that parted is saying "here's how I see things, 
if I'm correct go ahead and use me, and if I'm wrong--well, you were 
warned."

How new is your system? The cylindar 1024 thing is a few years behind us 
now.

 On Wed, 2 Jan 2002, Dan Murphy wrote:

> Well I now have the disk and it boots and talks, but it's giving me a
> warning about cylender 1024, which I don't understand and now I need to
> check the bios.  If I have more questions, which I probably will, I'll be
> back.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 

-- 
	
				Janina Sajka, Director
				Technology Research and Development
				Governmental Relations Group
				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

Email: janina@afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175

Chair, Accessibility SIG
Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
http://www.openebook.org

Re: Partitioning a drive with windows already on it?

[Janina Sajka]

Geoff: It ain't necessarily so any more. Depending on your bios, it's now 
quite possible to have the kernel above 1024. This is no longer a hard and 
fast rule. That's why I just asked him how old his system is.

 On Wed, 2 
Jan 2002, Geoff Shang wrote:

> On Wed, 2 Jan 2002, Dan Murphy wrote:
> 
> > Well I now have the disk and it boots and talks, but it's giving me a
> > warning about cylender 1024, which I don't understand and now I need to
> > check the bios.
> 
> This warning is to do with the fact that your boot image for linux has to
> be on cylinder 1023 or lower, as the BIOS can only read the first 1024
> cylinders of the drive.  Since your drive sounds like it's bigger than 1024
> cylinders, you'll need to make sure your linux partition begins within this
> 1024 cylinder limit and that the boot image is also within this limit.  I'd
> suggest making a small boot partition as your first linux partition to
> ensure that your kernel image is in the right place.  You could mount this
> as /boot and copy your kernel there when you're up and running, so that
> lilo will be able to see it.
> 
> Back-tracking a bit, I've never set up a dule boot system on the one drive,
> but I do recall  reading 3 years ago that it's vital that the windows
> partition be the first one.  The way to make sure you don't lose any data
> is to defrag it so that all the data gets pulled to the front of the drive.
> Then, say if you have 8 gigs on your 20gig drive, you know that there's no
> data past the 8gb mark.  This make sense?
> 
> Geoff.
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 

-- 
	
				Janina Sajka, Director
				Technology Research and Development
				Governmental Relations Group
				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

Email: janina@afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175

Chair, Accessibility SIG
Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
http://www.openebook.org