Re: HD space availability prior to Linux install.
- From: Douglas Mayne <doug@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2006 09:48:24 -0600
On Sun, 23 Jul 2006 06:12:15 -0700, PaulFXH wrote:
HiI see Michael Heiming's post recommending ntfsresize. That could work,
I'm a WinXP user and am now getting geared up for a serious look at
Linux (want to dual boot for a while before making a decision).
I've done a lot of reading and checked out some Linux LiveCDs.
Yesterday I watched this dual boot video
(http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=06/07/20/1654251)
which advocates defragging the HD before partitioning to make the
(normally) three partitions required for Linux installation.
However, although my 80GB HD has more than 60GB free, after repeated
defragging, the amount of truly "available" space is less than 30GB.
This is because, the existing files are grouped into blocks with much
space in between rather than forming just one block at the start of the
disk.
This situation is exacerbated by the presence of two inconveniently
located blocks of "unmovable" files.
The defragger I'm using is Diskeeper Lite although I believe Disk
Perfect is much recommended for pre-Linux defragging.
Although I realize that the 25-30GB I have of truly available disk
space is more than enough for installing a Linux distro, I would
appreciate any advice as to how I can remove the restrictions imposed
by the poorly distributed files in the WinXP partition.
TIA
Paul
Dell 4550 Desktop
WinXP Home SP2
CPU P4, 2.53 GHz
1.0 GB RAM
Int HD 80 GB ntfs, non-partitioned
Ext HD 160 GB ntfs, 3 partitions
Ext HD 250 GB ntfs, 4 partitions
but before proceeding, I recommend that you make a backup first. But if
you trust your backup method, then you might be able to proceed more
directly to the solution. You could make the backup, repartatition, then
proceed directly to install your linux distribution. This method lets you
skip ntfsresize because the XP partition is "blown away" after the backup.
The usual caveat's apply here:
1. Make sure of your intended target (for backup and restores).
2. Make sure your existing partition table matches your assumptions.
3. Layout your plans on paper (partition table, etc) before proceeding.
Use your plan as a checklist as you proceed.
ntfsclone is a tool I have used with success to make backups, YMMV. It
may be on the knoppix cd (if ntfsresize is there, then it should be
included, too.) It is a very versatile tool- it can be used to
backup/restore in a variety of ways. Two examples follow. I wrote this
which has an example which shows a method for using ntfsclone using a
network transport:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.os.linux.slackware/msg/0f34582a92d30683
Without the network transport the command is simply:
ntfsclone -s -o windows.sf.c.img /dev/hda1
The advantage of using the "special format" ( -s ), is that the disc space
consumed for the backup will closely match the used space on the
partition, not the the total partition size.
--
Ripley: And you let him in.
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/quotes
.
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