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Move Over, Windows — Here Comes Linux
You need to make room for Linux. This section describes how to repartition your Windows computer to make the necessary room. You can use the Open Source FIPS program to repartition FAT partitions. FIPS doesn’t work on NTFS partitions, so you need to purchase a commercial tool, such as PartitionMagic. The next section is dedicated to using FIPS on FAT. The subsequent section describes using the commercial PartitionMagic program on NTFS partitions.WarningWe strongly suggest backing up your entire computer before proceeding. If that’s impractical or impossible, you should back up all important files. You can generally reinstall your operating system and applications from your systems discs, but you can’t do that for your data. You don’t want to lose any data or programs that you worked hard to create. Refer to your system’s owner’s manual to find out how to back up your system and how to restore the data if necessary.
Resizing Windows 9x and Windows Me FAT partitions with FIPS
FIPS resizes your FAT-based Windows partitions. Newer versions of Windows (some versions of Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me) use a 32-bit file allocation table (called FAT32) and drive management tools that provide for single-drive configurations larger than 2GB. Older versions of Windows 95 use a 16-bit FAT (called FAT16, oddly enough); to use more space over and above 2GB, the hard drive has to be partitioned into logical drives of 2GB or less. Newer computers have hard drives much larger than the old 2GB limit. If the drive is repartitioned, the large drive-management system is disabled, and DOS and Windows partitions are again limited to 2GB.You need to use the ancient MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) operating system — yes, one way or another, all of Windows-dom owes its existence to MS-DOS. The following instructions describe how to create an MS-DOS boot floppy disk, which you use to run FIPS:
Insert a floppy disk and click the My Computer icon.
Warning Please be aware that these instructions permanently erase all information from the disk.
Right-click the 3-1⁄2 Floppy (A:) icon and choose the Format option.
The Format A:\ window appears.
Click the Make a Bootable Disk option and then the Start button.
A confirmation window — labeled Format A:\ again — opens.
Click the OK button and your floppy is formatted.
The Publisher’s Edition Red Hat Linux DVD-ROM, bundled with this book, unfortunately doesn’t include the FIPS utility. However, you can download FIPS to the floppy disk you just created:
Open your browser and go to www.redhat.com/download/mirrorsl.
Select any Red Hat mirror.
Tip Mirrors are just that — mirror images of downloadable software. Many organizations help out the open source movement by providing their resources, such as Web pages that allow you to download software, to spread the burden of distributing software. Red Hat Linux, a popular download site, greatly benefits from mirrors.
When your browser displays the mirror you selected, go to the sub-directory redhat/8. 1/en/os/i386/dosutils/fips20 if you’re using Windows 98 or Windows Me or the newer version of Windows 95 (or Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP systems that happen to use FAT file systems).
Alternatively, go to redhat/10/en/os/i386/dosutils/fips15c if you’re using an older version of Windows 95.
For instance, go to the University of Oregon Red Hat mirror, at ftp:// limestone.uoregon.edu/redhat/8.0/en/os/i386/dosutils.
Download fips.exe, restorrb.exe, errors.txt, and, optionally, readme.1st and fips.faq to your floppy disk.
Boot your computer from the floppy disk.
The computer restarts in MS-DOS mode.
Type cd a: at the DOS prompt and press Enter.
Type fips at the prompt and press Enter.
Some messages appear and flash by, but you can ignore them all except the last one, which asks you to press any key.
When you see the Press any key message, do so.
You see all existing partitions on the hard drive.
When you see the Press any key message, do so again.
You’re getting good at this! A description of the drive and a series of messages flash by. Then FIPS finds the free space in the first partition.
When you’re asked whether you want to make a backup copy of sectors, press y for yes.
The screen asks whether a floppy disk is in drive A.
Place a formatted floppy disk in drive A and press y.
A message similar to Writing file a:\rootboot.000 appears, followed by other messages and then the message Use cursor key to choose the cylinder, enter to continue.Three columns appear on the screen: Old Partition, Cylinder, and New Partition. The Old Partition number is the number of megabytes in the main partition of your hard drive. The New Partition number is the number of megabytes in the new partition that you’re making for the Red Hat Linux operating system.
Press the left- and right-arrow keys to change the numbers in the Old Partition and New Partition fields to create the space you need for both the Windows operating system and Linux.
See Chapter 3 for installation requirements.
When you have the correct amount of hard drive space in each field, press the Enter key.
The partition table is displayed again, showing you the new partition that has been created for the Linux operating system. This new partition is probably Partition 2; your C: drive is probably Partition 1.You also see a message at the bottom of the screen asking whether you want to continue or make changes.
If you’re satisfied with the size of your partitions, press c to continue (if you aren’t satisfied, press r, which takes you back to Step 12).
Many more messages about your hard drive flash by. A message then appears, stating that the system is ready to write the new partition scheme to disk and asking whether you want to proceed.
Press y to make FIPS write the new partition information to the hard drive.
The partitioning process begins.Remember If you press n, FIPS exits without changing anything on your hard drive, leaving your hard drive exactly the way it was after you defragmented it.
To test whether the nondestructive partitioning worked properly, remove the boot floppy disk and reboot your system by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete.
Allow Windows to start and then run ScanDisk by clicking the Start button and choosing ProgramsAccessories(System ToolsScanDisk.
ScanDisk indicates whether you have all the files and folders you started with and whether anything was lost. Even if everything is found to be okay, consider keeping any backup files around for a while to be on the safe side.
Now you’re ready to install Red Hat Linux 10, which we explain how to do in Chapter 3. The Red Hat Linux installation process can use the newly created space to create its own partitions. Chapter 3 describes how to use the new space without stepping on the existing Windows partition.
Resizing Windows NT, 2000, and XP NTFS partitions with a little PartitionMagic
Resizing NTFS requires the use of commercial tools, such as Norton Ghost (www.norton.com) or PartitionMagic (www.powerquest.com). PartitionMagic works by shrinking the Microsoft Windows partition, leaving free space for a new partition. Ghost 2003, however, doesn’t dynamically modify your existing NTFS file system. Instead, it backs up your existing Windows partition (takes a "snapshot"), and then creates one or more new partitions over the original. Finally, it writes the original Windows image to the new partition. Ghost requires a storage device on which to save the snapshot image. If your Windows installation is relatively small (less than 2GB), you may be able to use a Jaz drive, Zip drive, or even a writable CD-ROM as a storage device. However, you have to use a second hard drive, tape backup, or other backup mechanism for larger installations.We describe in this section how to use PartitionMagic. Norton Ghost is an excellent tool, but is beyond the scope of this book because we can’t assume that you have the backup resources to use it. (You need backup media large enough to store your entire Windows installation.) PartitionMagic doesn’t give you the warm fuzzies of getting a backup along with your resizing, but it still works well. We have used it a number of times with good results.These steps describe how to install PartitionMagic:
Get out your credit card, go to your friendly nearby computer store, and buy PartitionMagic 8 or higher; or, alternatively, go to your friendly Internet store.
This statement is uncomfortable to make in a book devoted to the free, open source Linux operating system. However, the name of the game is getting the job done, and in this case we have no noncommercial alternative. So, until an open source NTFS resizing utility breaks out into the light, go ahead and make the purchase.Tip Three NTFS variations are available. Older Windows 9x systems used one type, Windows NT used another, and the third version is used by current Windows versions. You must use PartitionMagic 8, the current version, because it can recognize and handle all three NTFS versions.
Start the PartitionMagic installation by inserting the disc into your CD-ROM drive.
Click the PartitionMagic button when the installation window opens.
Click the Install option when the subsequent screen opens.
An installation wizard starts. Answer the questions depending on how your computer is configured.
In general, you should be able to use the default options.
Create a rescue disk. The installation wizard guides you through the process.
After you install PartitionMagic, you can use it to repartition your drive. The following instructions show how to select an existing partition, shrink it, and then create a second one from the new space:
Start PartitionMagic, and you see a screen like the one shown in Figure 2-4.
Click the partition you want to reallocate.
Click the Create a new partition option in the upper-left corner of the screen.The Create New Partition window opens. This wizard guides you through the process of shrinking the existing partition and creating a second one from the new space.
Click the Next button.The Where to Create window opens. You need to tell PartitionMagic which partition to repartition. In this example, we assume that you have the typical single-partition Windows computer (the ubiquitous C: drive), as shown in Figure 2-5.
Figure 2-4: The initial Partition-Magic screen.
Figure 2-5: The Where to Create window.
Click the Next button.
The Partition Properties window allows you to select the options for your new partition. Figure 2-6 shows the settings we have entered for our new partition. This example is 2GB, has a linux label, is a logical partition, and uses the ext3 file system.This list shows the Partition Magic options:
Size: The size of the partition depends on the size of your disk.
Label: The label is optional and arbitrary. Use any description you want.
Create As: You have two options: Logical and Primary. PC drives can have as many as four primary partitions and any number of logical ones.
Figure 2-6: The Partition Properties window.
Click the Next button and the Confirm Choices window opens, as shown in Figure 2-7.
PartitionMagic wants you to be sure about the new partitions you’re about to create and summarizes the potential new configuration. Inspect the information and click the Finish button if you’re satisfied with the selection.
If you don’t want to repartition with the current choices, click the Back button to return to the preceding window, where you make new choices.After you click the Finish button, the new partition-to-be is displayed in the main window. However, your disk isn’t repartitioned until you click the Apply button in the lower-left corner of the PartitionMagic window.
Click the Apply button and a final confirmation window opens.
Click the OK button in the confirmation window and your disk is repartitioned.
The new partitions aren’t put into place until you reboot your computer.
Reboot your computer.
PartitionMagic applies the changes to make the new partition while your computer boots.
Figure 2-7: The Confirm Choices dialog box.
