Partition magic; has anyone here used it?

[WillowIX]

I need some advice I think and myabe some help... Anyways I´ve got 2 hard drives installed (15Gb and 40Gb). Unfortunately I´ve got the 15Gb as master and the larger as slave. So I thought I´d switch them, no prob there. Here´s my "problem". My 40Gb is partitioned 50-50 and I want to change that to 75-25 giving me a 30Gb (where I´ll install win2k) and a 10Gb (for win98). Since I have absolutely no idea ohw fdisk works I thought I´d try out partition magic. It seems I first have to merge the partition and the make a new one. It says I won´t loose any data at all. Now here´s the question (finally lol ); Will it work? Any comments is appreciated!

Forgot to mention I´ve got Partition magic pro 7.0 if that makes a difference...

[ 09-19-2002, 01:52 PM: Message edited by: WillowIX ]

[Lharae]

Yes, PartitionMagic will reformat your drives without deleting the data. You are correct, you will need to merge your partitions then split them again. Fdisk will delete all your data. I recommend backing up anyway, especially if your not sure what you're doing. It might be easier for you to just backup, run fdisk (from DOS using the Win98 CD), and start from scratch.

Why don't you just create two 5gb partitions on the master and install your operating systems on each of those? I highly recommend installing OS's on separate partitions from your data/programs. That way OS loss doesn't result in complete data loss. After you install the OS's, install ParititionMagic and you can do whatever you want with the rest of your drive space.

If you're doing a W2K/W98 dual boot here's a couple things to keep in mind (I'm assuming you only have one OS currently):
Are you going to use NTFS or FAT32 file system on W2K? because NTFS drives/partitions cannot be read from FAT32.
Make sure you install Win98 FIRST and ONLY INSTALL it on your C: partition. Trust me on this one.
You WILL loss all data on whatever partitions you install the OS's.

FYI I ran Win98/Win2k dual boot for a while and I can assure you it's a big time pain in the a**. If you have the $ and want the features of both it will be much less trouble to go out and pick up XP Pro (and no I don't work for micro$oft [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

[ 09-19-2002, 02:28 PM: Message edited by: Lharae ]

[Hexa]

EDIT: lol u just beat me to the punch Lharae ... well as the guy said Partion magic will work just fine, even if u don't know what u are doing.

U can always reverse what u have done wrong!@

[WillowIX]

I´ll just post my plans and get some opinions then lol. Partition magic isn´t a problem, I was just a bit worried about losing my data on the drive. Here´s what I´m planning to do:
Switch master and slave (getting a 30Gb C-drive)

1. On C: (30Gb)I´d like to install win2k since that´s the OS I like to use. That leaves me enough room for all the programs and games I´m running.
2. On D: (10Gb) I though to install win98 for some older games, system shock etc that doesn´t work on win2k. Since this is on the same drive (partitioned) there´s no problem in switching OS, just a punch on F8 on startup and then choose the OS I want.
3. E: Would be the second hard drive (15Gb) too be used as a storing facility until I get the time to put it on CDs..

Will this work? Oh and Lharae I´m using FAT32. After I re-partitioned I though I´d move all data to the future D: (currently E, reformate the future C: (currently D and install win2k on that. Then I make the hard drive switch making my old master the slave. Format the new slave and move everything off the 10Gb partition to that one. K now I´ve got a 30Gb C: woth win2k, an empty D: (formated) and a new store drive that has no OS at all. When all that´s done I´d install win98 on the D: partition. Since there´s no data there none can be lost. Did you follow? And more important; will it work? I can see no reason why it shouldn´t, since I format all the drives and then moving the data between them... Of course I could also backup everything that needs saving on CDs.

[andrewas]

Cant be done, win98 is stupid and will only work off a C: partition. UNIX based OSes and NT-based OSes will work fine, but 9x and DOS need C:.

Win98 must be installed first - UNIX and NT detect other OSes and provide boot menus and such so that all OSes can be accessed. Win98 is stupid and puts in its own loader that overwrites the others so they cant be accessed. Trust me, I still have essays lost in a Linux partition I cant access.

Oh and backup anything truly important onto CDs regardless of whether or not you think you can make the switch without losing data. Watching someone ESD a harddrive or hit "format c:" instead of "format d:" is funny. Actualy being that person isnt.

Also remember that win98 cant see NTFS partitions, which could cause problems depending on how you do it.

Thats about all the pitfalls I can see. You might just end up having to use the dreaded fdisk at some point - if so be careful and take it slow. Fdisk is about as user-friendly as a minor demon. If you read the instructions you should be OK.

[WillowIX]

Thanks andrewas!! So I make the 10Gb partition my C-drive with win98 and my 30Gb partition my D-drive with win2k. I´m already using FAT32 and won´t be changing that. Is there an easy way to make d: the boot drive? I can set that in my BIOS can´t I? Then I´d still be able to punch F8 to get to win98 if there´s need... Or should I simply install win98 on the slave? Will that work? It would be a bit slower but I´m not going to do open heart surgery on win98 lol...

[andrewas]

That seems to be it, basicaly.

You cant make D: the boot drive, but the boot sector on c: can be made to load anything. Multiboot is a fairly compelx subject, and I dont do it all that often. And Ive never actualy multi-booted 2K before. Microsoft knowledge base turned up the following article

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q217210

But the person that wrote it seems to have a problem with straightforwards language. He dosent say anything about win98 having to be on C, but it does say win98 has to go on first. 2K will then install a loader and configure it so that it points to 2K and win98 and you wont have to worry about that.

C will be the boot drive, but the program it runs dosent have to be on C.

[Lharae]

Partitioning the 40 gb will be easy, like I said just merge and than split the partitions. You can do that first from your current OS

You will then need to uninstall your current OS from the 15gb. Easiest way to do that is with FDISK. Either way, the data on the disk will be lost

Here's where it gets tough. Under your current plan you have no way to reinstall the OS's without losing your data (installing an OS erases all data on that part)

So do this:
Using PartitionMagic from your current OS create 3 partitions on the 40 GB
5 gig (for win98) IMPORTANT: Make sure you set this as the active partition. I believe this can be done in PMagic. If not you will have set it in FDisk.
5 gig (for Win2K)
30 gig (for data)

Move all your data to the big 30 gig part.

Uninstall the old OS.
Switch the master/slave drives.
Install Win98 on the active 5gb C:
Install W2k on the other 5 gb
Windows installation will tell you the drive letters, sizes, and which is active. Just make sure you install Win98 to C:, C: is active, and you don't install anything to the 30 gig.

And you're done. Unless you manage to corrupt your hard drive (possible but very unlikely) you should be able to install both your OS's and when you boot up the data on the 30gb part will still be there. There will be that tense moment while you boot up to see if your stuff is there. I still recommend backing up to CD first, but if you don't want to this is the best way to do it.

[Night Stalker]

Partion Magic is a great tool .... it also comes with a boot loader to manage multi OSs. No need to worry about the hassle full M$ solution. Partition Magic has a complete walk through for the process of setting up your partitions for multi boot.

For your partitions, I recomend you you split your current 15G to be your system disks. Keep only utilities and OS related info on those drives. Then split your 40G into 4 10Gs. Use these parts for data and misc programs (games). Put NTFS on at lease one of these parts and put your sensitive data on it (you will only be able to access from Win2K). You might want to split one more part on the 15G for shared utils (like Office) on a FAT32. Put your Win2K system on an NTFS. Using your 30G for data and the like lets you pull the drive easier and transfer to a new sys if you want to. It also eases back ups (if you do them) because it localises system info from data. It also minimises your losses if you system disk gets hosed.

Partition Magic will guide you through all of this though ... Great tool.

[WillowIX]

Thank you everybody! And night stalker I found the boot loader! Excellent!! And lharae I´ve decided to put everything I wish to save on CDs instead. That way I don´t have to move things around so much [img]smile.gif[/img] Now I only need to find the time to do all this