Need Help partitioning a disk for dual boot

[Mark Phillips]

Alan,

Thanks - that is just what I need!

Now, one more question - am I doing this correctly?

1. Resized my first partition to split the drive
2. Created an Extended Partition to include all the newly freed up space
3. Created a Logical partition in the new Extended Partition that includes all 
the space of the Extended Partition. Formatted this Logical Partition as 
ext3. I can create the swap space within the Debian setup program.

Or, do I make the second partition a Primary Partition and format it as ext3?

The Windows XP stuff (fat32) is at the front of the drive and is still labeled 
as boot.

Before I hit "apply", I wanted to get some feedback before I hose everything!

Also, Partition Magic always changed partition sizes to remain on cylinder 
boundaries. It is not apparent if GParted is doing that. Isn't that 
important?

Thanks!

Mark

P.S. I never would have made it through offset=nnn!


On Tuesday 19 September 2006 10:45 am, Alan Pratt wrote:
> Before you go that direction (which is a problem waiting to happen),
> try a free program called 'GParted' - you can find it with a quick
> google search.
> 
> - alan
> 
> On 9/19/06, Mark Phillips <mark at phillipsmarketing.biz> wrote:
> > I have a new laptop that currently has Windows XP SP2. I want to create a 
new
> > partition on the drive for Debian.
> >
> > My system: 30GB hard drive. Primary partition is c: with Windows XP, about 
28
> > GB in size (the whole drive). I want to create a 15GB partition for 
Debian.
> >
> > I have used Partition Magic 7.1 in the past to do this, but it seems that 
XP
> > won't let it re-partition the disk. I keep getting an error 27 - can't 
lock
> > drive at the first step. I googled around for a work around and did not 
find
> > a good solution.
> >
> > Symantek now owns PartitionMagic, has a new version, and doesn't support 
the
> > older version. After 30 minutes on the phone and referrals to 4 phone
> > numbers, I finally ended up at a number that wanted to charge my credit 
card
> > $10 in order to connect me to someone to ask them "What is the price of 
the
> > upgrade from Partition Magic 7.1 to 8.0?"!
> >
> > So, it seems that XP comes with DiskPart, a command line utility to 
partition
> > disks. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with it and could 
provide
> > some guidance on how to use it. I start to get worried when it asks for
> > offset values.
> >
> > Alternatively, what other options do you suggest for partitioning my 
drive?
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > --
> > Mark Phillips
> > Phillips Marketing, Inc
> > mark at phillipsmarketing.biz
> > 602 524-0376
> > 480 945-9197 fax
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-- 
Mark Phillips
Phillips Marketing, Inc
mark at phillipsmarketing.biz
602 524-0376
480 945-9197 fax