Hello all,
I have a Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop with Win2k on it. When I first bought and configured it, I anticipated wanting a Win2k/Linux dual-boot configuration - to be done later. Following the advice of several Internet resources, I partitioned my 27 GB hard drive with the intent to leave room for Linux later. The partitions are:
15 GB - NTFS, where Win2K and programs live
5 GB - unformatted space, where I thought I'd install Linux
7 GB - FAT32, for any files I wanted to exchange between Win2k and Linux
At the time, I felt I was so smart - anticipated the Linux NTFS issues, installed Win2k first as suggested, and left enough space for Linux.
So, it's several months later, and I'm ready to install Linux. I selected Mandrake 9.2. But I guess I wasn't so smart after all. I can't get past the disk partitioning step!
The install wizard offers me only three choices - use free space of Windows partition, erase entire disk, or "custom". I don't want the first two, needless to say. If I choose Custom, I see my second 5 GB partition, seemingly ripe and ready for Linux. But I can't install it on there. If I click on it and choose "auto allocate", I get a "not enough free space" message. I have the option of formatting it, but I don't know what filesystem to use. I also don't know if (or whether) I should format it as one partition, or if I need to subdivide it into things like swap partitions (which I don't really understand and definitely don't know how big to make). And just now I read that if I want to boot off my hard drive (and not off a floppy or CD, which I absolutely don't want), the bootloader won't work on the MBR if the first partition is bigger than 8 GB. Well, mine's 15 GB.
So... dear experts... was my preparation inadequate, or do I in fact still have a chance at dual-booting without having to wipe my entire drive or mess with possibly deadly repartitioning? If there's still hope, I'd appreciate any pointers. I've scoured these forums and the Internet for help, but everything on dual-booting seems aimed at users who never planned ahead on dual-booting. I can't find what I need there. Help me, Tek-Tips, you're my only hope
)))
Cheers and thanks,
--Michael
I have a Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop with Win2k on it. When I first bought and configured it, I anticipated wanting a Win2k/Linux dual-boot configuration - to be done later. Following the advice of several Internet resources, I partitioned my 27 GB hard drive with the intent to leave room for Linux later. The partitions are:
15 GB - NTFS, where Win2K and programs live
5 GB - unformatted space, where I thought I'd install Linux
7 GB - FAT32, for any files I wanted to exchange between Win2k and Linux
At the time, I felt I was so smart - anticipated the Linux NTFS issues, installed Win2k first as suggested, and left enough space for Linux.
So, it's several months later, and I'm ready to install Linux. I selected Mandrake 9.2. But I guess I wasn't so smart after all. I can't get past the disk partitioning step!
The install wizard offers me only three choices - use free space of Windows partition, erase entire disk, or "custom". I don't want the first two, needless to say. If I choose Custom, I see my second 5 GB partition, seemingly ripe and ready for Linux. But I can't install it on there. If I click on it and choose "auto allocate", I get a "not enough free space" message. I have the option of formatting it, but I don't know what filesystem to use. I also don't know if (or whether) I should format it as one partition, or if I need to subdivide it into things like swap partitions (which I don't really understand and definitely don't know how big to make). And just now I read that if I want to boot off my hard drive (and not off a floppy or CD, which I absolutely don't want), the bootloader won't work on the MBR if the first partition is bigger than 8 GB. Well, mine's 15 GB.
So... dear experts... was my preparation inadequate, or do I in fact still have a chance at dual-booting without having to wipe my entire drive or mess with possibly deadly repartitioning? If there's still hope, I'd appreciate any pointers. I've scoured these forums and the Internet for help, but everything on dual-booting seems aimed at users who never planned ahead on dual-booting. I can't find what I need there. Help me, Tek-Tips, you're my only hope
)))Cheers and thanks,
--Michael