meg

Hello! I just started uni and have been introduced to linux. I now want to set it up on my home system to dual boot with windows xp professional. I already have 3 partitions on my computer. c: 13gb primary with windows xp installed ntfs. d: extended, with my data 35gb ntfs and e: extended that is blank 18gb ntfs which is where i want to install linux. i was planning on converting d (data) to fat32 with partition magic 8 so linux can write to this as well as win xp. is that the correct thing to do. after this i boot from the cd to install linux however this is where i am confused. what option do i select in my situation for installing linux if i want to install it on e: ? will it automatically divide e: into the partitions it requires? and dual boot so i can continue using xp when i want to? i dont want to lose winxp. i know this question may have been asked before but i need to know specificaly how it would go for the above scenario? and i think it is better to ask then be sorry in the long run..... meg

hey my hard drive is 60gb i intend installing mandrake on athlon xp 1800, 512mb ram, msi motherboard, onboard sound, gforce mx420 64mb graphics card. so here is the plan delete e:\ so all i have is this c:\ ntfs - windows xp - 15gb d:\ ntfs - windows program filse and data - 45gb run defrage a few times on c:\ and d:\ to move data to the start of each partition. i dont have to move the data and program files on d:\ over to c:\ do i? when this is done will mandrake 10 be able to install on the remaining available space on d:/ ? when i get to the partitioning part will it allow me to allocate some spare space from d:\ for the linux installation? if so will it install linux on d:\ or will it create another partition e:\ for linux? sorry i just want to get it right from the get go! meg

i forgot to mention that my program files for windows xp are located on d:\. so currently its like this C:\ NTFS, Windows XP Pro D:\ NTFS, Data and windows program files E:\ NTFS, nothing i do not want to lose any data or files on drive d, thus i would like to keep it ntfs. so should i merge d and e in windows with partition magic. e.g. finish with this c:\ ntfs, windows xp pro d:\ ntfs, data and windows program files and then run the mandrake installation? if so wll the mandrake install have give me the option to insall it to/create a new partition ? perhaps e:\ which is where i would like to install mandrake? this can be can be anything fat 32 ntfs it does not matter to me i just do not want to install it to d... also it does not matter if i cannot access c or d when linux is installed wow. that took a bit of explaining and i hope you can follow it. i am trying to explain what i want to do as clearly as possible. its difficult for me to find out the best way to go about installing linux with xp given my current configuration... i just discovered forums a few days ago and they are proving to be very helpful! regards meg