Pink Poogle Toy Forum

Recently, I have decided that I hate Microsoft, but I need to keep it on the PC because the sheer amount of Windows dependant software. As such, I am partitioning my hard drive for Linux. I had a tutorial which was going well, until I got told that I had to 'use a partitioning programme'. Great.

Basically, I'm wondering if I could partition this hard drive without a programme, or if I could grab a programme like this for free. Any help is very welcome. If anyone also has a way to keep Windows and my programmes, but also get Linux I would love to here.

I don't want any links to costy programmes for free; or any other illegal programmes. Not only becuase it's illegal, but because it is against forum rules.

when i've partitioned my hard drive i've always used partition magic, but unfortunately you have to buy it.

However... windows xp (even tho you hate it!) has a piece of software within it which will partition your drive for you.

It's also possible to do it in DOS.... but you'd have to look up a tutorial type thing for how to do that yourself, but i expect there's on the internet somewhere!

Before you partition your drive make sure you back EVERYTHING up!! i once partitioned mine wrong (did too much at once) and managed to copy half of windows onto my new parition and leave half of it behind :S needless to say, that didnt end happily!!

Glad to see another person making the switch over to Linux! As per your dilemma, if you're wanting to keep an existing Windows installation and make space for Linux, you're probably going to need third-party partitioning software. There are several ways to deal with the problem though:

1. Buy a second hard drive to install Linux on and keep the OSs separated from each other.

2. Backup your Windows data and reformat/reinstall Windows from scratch (probably a good idea anyway, seeing how Windows will grow "stale" after a while). Plan out what partitions you want to make before installing anything, then just make your Windows partition. It's a good idea to install Windows before Linux (Windows will overwrite the MBR and your bootloader if you do it in reverse order). After you have Windows installed, install Linux on the remaining space - most distributions come with partitioning software that loads during installation to create partitions and to format them..

3. Some Linux distributions come with a utility that will resize your existing Window partition during installation to make room for Linux, but I've personally never tried doing it in this manner and have read warnings against trying this (if you want to take the risk - backup your data first!).

4. See if you could borrow a third party partition program from a friend - you're only going to be using it one time then uninstalling it, so I don't see the harm. I think I have one burnt to disc - if you need it, PM me.

I strongly recommend using 1 or 2 to resolve your problem (I used #2 the last time I reloaded my PC). Out of curiousity - what Linux distro(s) are you looking to install?

Edit: Might want to check out following thread, as it contains information on a simliar situation: http://www.pinkpt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14190

I'm acutally going to find it veryt difficult to back up 11GB of data, on a computer without a CD-RW, or a USB pen remotely big enough. I'm going to have to rely on the system restore points, i think, but if not I can always get it cloned off the master again.

The problem with reinstalling windows is that I actually don't have the CD. It's running of a laptop at the moment, the school got the liscence and previously installed it on each computer. When we return the computers, all they do is clone it off the server, so what do they care, as long as we don't break the laptop. I'm speaking with my friend, and they said that they have a copy of PartitionMagic, so I'll probably be able to borrow that sometime, problem averted. I'll have to do it in a week's time though, unfortunately.

I've been thinking, and I think that iun the end the best choice for me is Knoppix. My linux friend (who really is a guru at linux) recommended it to me, so I'm just going to go for it. It apparently comes with all the default software that I will need, OpenOffice, Mozilla Suite etc., and it is much more user-friendly than some of the other's that I've seen.

Sorry to hear about the lack of backup choices - hopefully you can do something about that one day, as it will eventually be an issue you won't be able to ignore.

Good to hear that you have a friend that will lend you the software and help you need. I hear good things about Knoppix and hope everything works out for you.

If you have access to a high speed connection and a PC with a CD-R drive (at school, work or a friend), you might want to burn a Knoppix Live CD so that your PC can boot without having to install anything. If I recall correctly, the current Knoppix distro is primarily intended to be run as a Live CD, so if you already have it, you can boot to it and see if it supports all your hardware. Most Live CDs I've tried will automatically mount your Windows partition, so you'll have something to work with when trying it out. After all this talk of Knoppix, I think I'm going to burn a CD and give it a try.

Good luck and feel free to PM if you need any help

Edit: Knoppix is indeed a Live CD distribution, which means you don't even need to install it on your hard drive for it to run. If you have some room on your drive, you can create a /home directory to save program settings and data.