401 lines
8.3 KiB
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401 lines
8.3 KiB
HTML
<HTML
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><HEAD
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><TITLE
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>The concepts</TITLE
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CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.63
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TITLE="Linux Installation Strategies mini-HOWTO"
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TITLE="A note about hard disks and partitions"
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TITLE="Partitioning"
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>Linux Installation Strategies mini-HOWTO</TH
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><DIV
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CLASS="SECT1"
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><H1
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CLASS="SECT1"
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><A
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NAME="AEN97"
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>5. The concepts</A
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></H1
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><P
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>What <SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Fips</SPAN
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> does is make a new primary
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partition out of the free space in your hard disk. This is an inherently
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dangerous operation and it's a good idea to back up all your important
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data lest something go wrong. Having said that
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<SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Fips</SPAN
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> has been used successfully by a large
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number of people in different conditions and unless there is something
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already wrong with your hard disk, <SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>FAT</SPAN
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> (File Allocation
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Table) or partition table things will work just fine. You should read the
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<SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Fips</SPAN
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> documentation.</P
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><P
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>Before you set out to partition the hard disk you have to decide
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how you want to boot into Linux. The default and most common method is to
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use <SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Lilo</SPAN
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> – a simple and basic bootloader
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program that overwrites (after saving) your hard disk's
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<SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>MBR</SPAN
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> (Master Boot Record) and on booting the system
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gives you a choice between booting either Windows or Linux. If you select
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Windows it boots Windows and you are met with the familiar windows screen
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or if you select Linux it boots Linux and if you don't make a choice in
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the stipulated time – could be anything from
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<20><TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>5</TT
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> seconds depending on on how you set it up
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– it boots the default operating system, Windows or Linux, again
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depending on how you set it up. You can restore your original
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<SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>MBR</SPAN
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> anytime, when uninstalling Linux for instance,
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either by typing <B
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CLASS="COMMAND"
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>/sbin/lilo <TT
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CLASS="OPTION"
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>-u</TT
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></B
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> within
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Linux or typing <B
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CLASS="COMMAND"
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>fdisk <TT
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CLASS="OPTION"
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>/MBR</TT
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></B
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> in DOS
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(this will overwrite the <SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>MBR</SPAN
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> with the original Windows
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<SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>MBR</SPAN
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>) needless to say you would lose the option to boot
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into Linux after this and thus access to your Linux partition.</P
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><P
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>The problem with using <SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Lilo</SPAN
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> especially
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for those with large disks is you would have to give up a substantial
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chunk of your disk space to Linux. This is not a flexible solution since
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while you can access your Windows partition from within Linux – the
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large <SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>MPEG</SPAN
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> files can thus be stored in Windows and
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accessed by both operating systems – the alternate is not
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true.</P
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><P
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>This is because of an arcane <SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>BIOS</SPAN
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> limitation
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that limits <SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Lilo</SPAN
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> to the first
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<TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>1024</TT
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> cylinders of the hard disk. Windows and Linux have
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no such limitations – it has something to do with address
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translation and <SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>LBA</SPAN
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> which I have yet to fully
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understand. Suffice to know the <SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>BIOS</SPAN
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> cannot access data
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that is beyond this <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>1024</TT
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> cylinder limit and since
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<SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Lilo</SPAN
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> is dependent on the
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<SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>BIOS</SPAN
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> to boot the <SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>OS</SPAN
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>'s nor can
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it. Thus if you want to use <SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Lilo</SPAN
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> to boot Linux
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you got to make sure that the Linux partition is well below the
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<TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>1024</TT
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> cylinder limit. My hard disk – and most
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modern hard disks have more than <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>1024</TT
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> cylinders –
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has <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>1650</TT
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> cylinders and using
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<SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Lilo</SPAN
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> means making the Linux partition at about
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the <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>1000</TT
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> or <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>1010</TT
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> cylinder mark which
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translates into a whopping <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>5.2</TT
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><EFBFBD>Gb of
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<TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>12.9</TT
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><EFBFBD>Gb to Linux and this wasn't working for me
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since my Linux stuff hardly need more than <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>2</TT
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><EFBFBD>Gb
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and my Windows data on the other hand with <SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>MP3</SPAN
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>'s and
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<SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>MPEG</SPAN
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> movies needs a lot more than
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<TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>7</TT
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><EFBFBD>Gb.</P
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><P
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>The solution, and in Linux there are always solutions, is
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<SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Loadlin</SPAN
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>, an underrated alternative to
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<SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Lilo</SPAN
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> which is inexplicably not as popular or
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widespread, inexplicable because it's far more flexible. If you intend to
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use <SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Loadlin</SPAN
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> and for those with large hard-disks
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it's an excellent alternative you don't have to worry about the
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<TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>1024</TT
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> cylinder limit. Even better you can launch Linux
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from your Windows desktop and modify your
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<TT
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CLASS="FILENAME"
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>autoexec.bat</TT
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> file to give you an option to boot into
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either of the <SPAN
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CLASS="ACRONYM"
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>OS</SPAN
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>'s during boot time not unlike
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<SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Lilo</SPAN
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>. You are then free to size your partitions
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as you please. In my case a <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>2.2</TT
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><EFBFBD>Gb extended
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partition with <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>3</TT
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> logical partitions. That's right
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<TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>3</TT
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> partitions. It's normal to make three partitions, one
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for the Kernel boot files, one for the root partition and one for the swap
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partition but more on that later.</P
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><P
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>If you must use <SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Lilo</SPAN
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> but are unwilling
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to give up a lot of space there is a solution. Place the Linux partition
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in the middle of the disk. You have to split the new partition you just
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created using <SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Fips</SPAN
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> into <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>2</TT
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>
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(you would have to use <SPAN
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CLASS="APPLICATION"
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>Fips</SPAN
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> once again for
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this) the first partition which falls within the <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>1024</TT
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>
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cylinder limit can be used for Linux and the second you can use for
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Windows. Thus your hard disk will then have <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>3</TT
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>
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partitions the first and third for Windows and the one in the middle for
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Linux. I don't like this arrangement but it's up to you. (At the moment we
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are refering to the Linux partition as one but during the installation you
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will split it into <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>3</TT
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> using the Linux tools) You can
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also make a small <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>15</TT
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>-<TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>20</TT
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><EFBFBD>Mb
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<TT
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CLASS="FILENAME"
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>/boot</TT
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> partition and place it before
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the <TT
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CLASS="LITERAL"
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>1024</TT
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> cylinder mark and the rest of the installation
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anywhere on the hard disk but again I quite don't like this.</P
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></DIV
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>Prev</A
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>Home</A
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>Next</A
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="left"
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VALIGN="top"
|
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>A note about hard disks and partitions</TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="34%"
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ALIGN="center"
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VALIGN="top"
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> </TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="right"
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>Partitioning</TD
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> |