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Forum » Creating a partition for Linux

Creating a partition for Linux

E_net4 17 years ago
My head's blowing up. I want to install Linux on my computer, but first I need to create a partition on my drive. How can I create a good-working partition for Linux without losing data?
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Grim Reaper 17 years ago
Using an empty HDD?
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E_net4 17 years ago
Well, no. The drive does have stuff of mine.
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Grim Reaper 17 years ago
"E_net4" said:
Well, no. The drive does have stuff of mine.
Sarcastic answer, not a question.
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E_net4 17 years ago
"Grim Reaper" said:
"E_net4" said:
Well, no. The drive does have stuff of mine.
Sarcastic answer, not a question.
No, I don't think I can get another HDD.
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Grim Reaper 17 years ago
Well, onwards to some real questions/answers to solve the problem etc.

Does the HDD have any unpartitioned space?
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Anonymous1157 17 years ago
Jumpdrives!

...

No really. Just get DSL and this cool HP formatter utility I found, and voila, Linux in 50MB. Note that I personally haven't tried putting Linux on my drive, so you'll only get tech support from me getting it ready, but if you ever consider doing the same with DOS, I can explain the whole process to you.
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Amarth 17 years ago
Kubuntu (and I suppose Ubuntu too) does this stuff automatically. IIRC, following options are there:
*wipe disk & install on it
*resize partition on disk & install on newly created empty space
*do it all manually
You want to have the second one. Last time I used it, it worked for me - kept all the data intact, resized partition the way it should.

You can also do it a bit more manually with for example the QParted liveCD. It's not hard to use.
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E_net4 17 years ago
You want to have the second one. Last time I used it, it worked for me - kept all the data intact, resized partition the way it should.
That should be what I'm interested in, indeed.
Well, but how? I tried PowerQuest Partition Magic, but that silly shareware doesn't do anything.
Also, I don't think I should use fdisk for this, as it might remove my data.
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Grim Reaper 17 years ago
Try one of the apps in here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/partitioneditors.shtml">http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities ... tors.shtml</a><!-- m -->
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E_net4 17 years ago
From that list of programs, I don't think which one's the best. Why don't they specify wether your data goes away or not?
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Amarth 17 years ago
"E_net4" said:
You want to have the second one. Last time I used it, it worked for me - kept all the data intact, resized partition the way it should.
That should be what I'm interested in, indeed.
Well, but how?
1. Download Kubuntu installation CDs (around here).
2. burn them to a cd.
3. pop them in your drive.
4. reboot.
5. follow on screen instructions.

Between 4 and 5 you might need to change your boot order in BIOS, but that isn't hard.
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E_net4 17 years ago
Thanks, but I am dealing with the partition. I can't!
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Grim Reaper 17 years ago
"E_net4" said:
Thanks, but I am not dealing with the partition. I can't!
...what.
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E_net4 17 years ago
"Grim Reaper" said:
"E_net4" said:
Thanks, but I am dealing with the partition. I can't!
...what.
Don't toy me.
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Grim Reaper 17 years ago
"E_net4" said:
"Grim Reaper" said:
"E_net4" said:
Thanks, but I am dealing with the partition. I can't!
...what.
Don't toy me.
I ain't toyin'. I'm havin' trouble understanding what you meant by what you said.
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E_net4 17 years ago
I think Amarth is telling me that the Kubuntu CD can create a Linux partition by itself. Is that right?
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Amarth 17 years ago
Yes.
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E_net4 17 years ago
I have encountered another problem.
I am trying to boot the computer from the CD, but it doesn't work. I've tried to setup the boot devices from the BIOS and still nothing!
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Amarth 17 years ago
Hrmf. Bit hard to troubleshoot from far; sorry. Could be the CD burning gone wrong, could be a wrong setting in the bios, could be your computer not supporting it (though that seems very unlikely to me).

Try the CD on another computer, or try autobooting from another CD on this computer (Windows install disk?) to determine whether the problem is with the CD or with the computer.

I'd say, recheck the BIOS, because that is the most likely culprit to me.
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E_net4 17 years ago
I have 2 CD drives, one of them reads DVD. I don't know if my problem has a relation with this fact.
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Anonymous1157 17 years ago
Are you sure you didn't burn a DVD?

The moment you would normally press Delete to go into the BIOS, press F8. Choose the CD drive you put the disk in. If it fails, it should at least give an error.
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Amarth 17 years ago
"Anonymous1157" said:
The moment you would normally press Delete to go into the BIOS, press F8. Choose the CD drive you put the disk in. If it fails, it should at least give an error.
Seriously? Interesting. Need to remember that.

Though I'll probably forget it due to not enough usage.
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E_net4 17 years ago
It IS a CD. And the error message is "Not Found".
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Amarth 17 years ago
What the... Not found? What not found?

Strange computer you own.
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E_net4 17 years ago
Well, it says "Checking CDROM..." and after it " Not found".
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Anonymous1157 17 years ago
Clean the CD. Still fails? Clean the drive. Use an air-can pointed at an angle in short bursts. Whether or not dust comes out, it'll probably still help.

If that doesn't work, you'll have to do the same with the other drive and try that one, or burn the disk again at a lower speed (40x is a good tradeoff). Don't forget to do nothing else while a disk is burning. You could slow the system enough to get buffer over/underruns, and you'll need to start over.
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Arawak 17 years ago
Um no ive seen this before, I think he just plopped the .iso on the disk instead of writing the contents of it.

So yeah, get a iso burner. Clone cd has a nice trial that would work wonderful.
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E_net4 17 years ago
I didn't just plop the iso, and that's Not the problem.
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MageKing17 17 years ago
"Amarth" said:
"Anonymous1157" said:
The moment you would normally press Delete to go into the BIOS, press F8. Choose the CD drive you put the disk in. If it fails, it should at least give an error.
Seriously? Interesting. Need to remember that.

Though I'll probably forget it due to not enough usage.
Really? I find myself using it constantly. Though I suppose that's probably because I need to fix broken things more often. >.>
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Amarth 17 years ago
Hey, I don't break my stuff.
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