Partition saving programs review

[Roger Johansson]

(snip of great info)

Could you please do a step by step of how to make a partition in
the first place? What programs to use? TIA

In the old days I used fdisk, as it is the standard program to create
partitions with.
But it usually only let me create partitions which were maximum 2GB size.

So this time I used a linux rescue CD instead, to create 4 GB partitions.
Windows complained about something and I let it fix the problems with the
partitions later.

So I am not sure what to use, you can try fdisk to begin with, maybe more
modern fdisk versions, or vfat32lba will let you create partitions of the
size you want.

There are also other versions of fdisk than microsofts own.

You can have maximum 4 primary partitions on a hard disk.
If you want more you need to create an extended partition and divide it up
into logical units.

One of the partitions you make must be marked as the active one, usually
choose the first primary partition for that.
There is where windows should be placed, and the first active partition is
booted automatically.

The first partitions should have a size between 2 and 4 GB, because that is
what you need for an operating system.
That size is also suitable for using partition saving programs.

 

[Roger Johansson]

Could you please do a step by step of how to make a partition in
the first place? What programs to use? TIA

If you use a linux disk the program name is qtparted.
But fdisk is the normal program to use in DOS or windows.
Fdisk comes in many versions, choose a later one to be able to use bigger
hard disks.
It might start with a message: This hard disk contains partitions bigger
than 512MB, you need to activate support for big hard disks, LBA, to handle
it, do you want to activate LBA?

You reply yes to that question if it shows up.
And then just use the program to create a few partitions.

 

[David Simpson]

In the old days I used fdisk, as it is the standard program to create
partitions with.
But it usually only let me create partitions which were maximum 2GB size.

So this time I used a linux rescue CD instead, to create 4 GB partitions.
Windows complained about something and I let it fix the problems with the
partitions later.

So I am not sure what to use, you can try fdisk to begin with, maybe more
modern fdisk versions, or vfat32lba will let you create partitions of the
size you want.

There are also other versions of fdisk than microsofts own.

You can have maximum 4 primary partitions on a hard disk.
If you want more you need to create an extended partition and divide it up
into logical units.

As an addition, if you are using Windows, you should only create one
primary partition and one extended partition. Windows can only see one
primary partition at a time and it must be marked as the active
partition. This may not be the case for Win2000 or Win XP but is
certainly true for Win95, Win98 and WinME.

One of the partitions you make must be marked as the active one, usually
choose the first primary partition for that.
There is where windows should be placed, and the first active partition is
booted automatically.

The first partitions should have a size between 2 and 4 GB, because that is
what you need for an operating system.
That size is also suitable for using partition saving programs.

Current versions of Fdisk will allow you to create partitions of any
size but be sure to answer the question about large drives with y.

In my opinion it is better to create one partition of 4GB for the OS
and divide the balance of the drive if you wish. I use 8GB sizes for
the rest of the drive. When installing programs install them to one of
the other drives rather than the one with the OS on it.

Linux can use any partition to boot from and is not fussy about it
being a primary partition unlike early versions of windows.

 

[Roger Johansson]

As an addition, if you are using Windows, you should only create one
primary partition and one extended partition. Windows can only see one
primary partition at a time and it must be marked as the active
partition. This may not be the case for Win2000 or Win XP but is
certainly true for Win95, Win98 and WinME.

Aha, that was probably the problem windows had with the partitions I
created with linux qtparted, it had to mark the other partitions as not
primary.

Current versions of Fdisk will allow you to create partitions of any
size but be sure to answer the question about large drives with y.

In my opinion it is better to create one partition of 4GB for the OS
and divide the balance of the drive if you wish. I use 8GB sizes for
the rest of the drive. When installing programs install them to one of
the other drives rather than the one with the OS on it.

That is what I do too. I have only the operating system on C: plus a few
programs which stop working if windows stop working.

I back this partition up with a partition saving program.

The other programs I install to D:\Program Files instead of to C:\Program
Files, so the main part of the programs are on drive D:

 

[REM]

David Simpson <[email protected]> wrote:

Linux can use any partition to boot from and is not fussy about it
being a primary partition unlike early versions of windows.

I think Linux must have at least the boot portion within the 1024
cylinder limit. That's ~8 gigs. At least the ones that I have tried.

XOSL is better than the boot managers that come with Linux IMO.



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[Gabriele Neukam]

On that special day, David Simpson, ([email protected]) said...

In my opinion it is better to create one partition of 4GB for the OS
and divide the balance of the drive if you wish. I use 8GB sizes for
the rest of the drive. When installing programs install them to one of
the other drives rather than the one with the OS on it.

In case you are reserving a particular partition for games only, be sure
to make it sufficiently large. Many game installations nowadays eat > 1
Gb of space on the hard disk. My games directory (on a machine that is
more than two years old) is currently 11 Gb large, of which 9,5 Gb do
belong to one or the other rpg (Diablo2, Divine Divinity, Siege of
Avalon, Might and Magic series).


Gabriele Neukam

(e-mail address removed)

 

[David Simpson]

I think Linux must have at least the boot portion within the 1024
cylinder limit. That's ~8 gigs. At least the ones that I have tried.

XOSL is better than the boot managers that come with Linux IMO.

That used to be the case but most current BIOS do not have this
limitation. Most installers will give you a message about it but if
your motherboard is less than six-seven years old you can normally
ignore the warning with safety.

 

[Max]

If you use a linux disk the program name is qtparted.

Last I saw, qtparted was just a gui wrapper around parted. Have I
missed something?

But fdisk is the normal program to use in DOS or windows. Fdisk
comes in many versions, choose a later one to be able to use
bigger hard disks.

fdisk (same name) and cfdisk are also linux utils as well. Similar
in functionality with lots more options.

Max

 

[Roger Johansson]

Last I saw, qtparted was just a gui wrapper around parted. Have I
missed something?

I don't think so. But I didn't know that.
And a GUI program may be easier to handle for less experienced people.

fdisk (same name) and cfdisk are also linux utils as well. Similar
in functionality with lots more options.

Thanks for your informations. That means we can start one of these programs
from a linux text display prompt with parted, fdisk, or cfdisk.