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[chickenman]

Well I want to install Linux on my new PC, the only problem is that the last time I installed Linux (ubuntu) my OEM Restore CD's would not work, now I don't know if this was caused by Linux but when booting with it I had errors like "cannot find mstools.exe" and the one that made it all shutdown "operating system < 0".

My new PC is the same make as my old one (Packard Bell) and I've not long ago made a restore DVD for it, what I want to know is would it be safe to install Linux on it, because I don't want to have to go out, and buy a ?60-80 XP CD.

Someone also said that it may have been caused by a restore partition being deleted by Linux, I have two partitions on my XP machine as made by default by the OEM DVD, Disk management show they hold a total amount of 149.04GB the HDD is labeld as a 160GB and windows can show it differnt by a number of GB's, also is not some space used like swap space in XP ?.

Anyways I have deleted these two partitions using fdisk and XP reinstalls fine, so all I what to know is will the OEM DVD remain ok even if the HDD has been wiped (MBR and all partitions).

One last thing, can / how do I resize a NTFS partition from Windows XP home SP2 without loss of Data.

[plix]

Originally posted by chickenman@Jan 16 2006, 01:15 PM
[A]lso is not some space used like swap space in XP?

Yeah, that's the page file and is on your root windows partition, not a separate partition unto itself like in Linux. It's a hidden system file named "pagefile.sys" that usually you'll find in C:\.

Originally posted by chickenman
One last thing, can / how do I resize a NTFS partition from Windows XP home SP2 without loss of Data.

Partition Magic.

[chickenman]

does the pagefile size show how much is used for swap ?
1.57GB
that makes it a total of 150.61GB, thats still 10GB missing but if what I have read is right that could just be because Windows reports it in Binary 1024 per MB, where as the makers use 1000 decimal per MB.

I'm looking now but I think Packard Bell say Partition Magic can cause Partition coruption.

EDIT:
Yes Partition Magic can cause coruption, but I think that may only be caused by some one who does not have a Master DVD \ CD's to restore it..
http://support.packardbell.com/uk/mypc/?Pi...9309120513#show

[Reup]

Originally posted by chickenman+Jan 16 2006, 08:15 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (chickenman @ Jan 16 2006, 08:15 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> One last thing, can / how do I resize a NTFS partition from Windows XP home SP2 without loss of Data. [/b]

Indeed. Use partition magic, or FIPS (but I'm not sure it works with XP NTFS).

<!--QuoteBegin-chickenman
what I want to know is would it be safe to install Linux on it, because I don't want to have to go out, and buy a ?60-80 XP CD.[/quote]

Just try the liveCD from Ubuntu. If all works, it's perfectly safe to install Linux on it. If you let it reside on its own partition that's the best option imho (and let the installer make a subdivision). You might want to make a third partiton that's FAT32 on which you can share docs between both OS's, since Linux can't write NTFS...

[chickenman]

ROFL but then I would need to download and burn a Live CD, anyways the real test is with the install, then I have to see if Windows XP will restore as normal from the OEM CD.

It may all sound fine to you but what if the OEM DVD does no longer work, I have to go out and buy a normal Windows XP CD, and my parents would not be happy about that at all, seeing as this PC is only about a month old.

It's likely Linux was not the cause of that problem but I don't want to risk it, and at the end of the day I want a fully working XP system even though I love Linux I can't lose XP.

So if any of you can give me some proof that installing ubuntu Linux will cause no problem with the OEM DVD then I would be most happy.

P.S: I now remember something, I tryed to do a selected startup using my old OEM CD's, does any one think this may have been the cause ?, because I find it hard to see how mstools.exe went missing from the CD, I was not aware that files could be deleted from CD's

EDIT:
Ok just done a quick search of my restore CD 1 and found no mstools.exe

[chickenman]

Well I'm going to install it, does any one know a good free tool to resize NTFS partitions from XP ?

[omg]

partition magic?

[Reup]

Originally posted by chickenman@Jan 16 2006, 09:56 PM
Well I'm going to install it, does any one know a good free tool to resize NTFS partitions from XP ?

There are none AFAIK.
Partition Magic is very good, but not free.

Edit: Whatever. Good luck with your install...

[chickenman]

Please read all my posts fully before you post :P

[plix]

Originally posted by chickenman+Jan 16 2006, 01:31 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (chickenman @ Jan 16 2006, 01:31 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> does the pagefile size show how much is used for swap ?
1.57GB
that makes it a total of 150.61GB, thats still 10GB missing but if what I have read is right that could just be because Windows reports it in Binary 1024 per MB, where as the makers use 1000 decimal per MB. [/b]

It has to do with the way drive sizes are reported, with actual disk size, with bad sectors, and with a laundry-list of other factors. The bigger the drive the bigger the variability, too.

You asked about swap space which is the only reason I mentioned the page file; it's not the cause of the discrepency. As a rule of thumb, the page file will generally be somewhere around twice the size of your RAM (though Windows is capable of dynamically resizing it, particularly when you're running low on virtual memory).

<!--QuoteBegin-chickenman
I'm looking now but I think Packard Bell say Partition Magic can cause Partition coruption.

Yes Partition Magic can cause coruption, but I think that may only be caused by some one who does not have a Master DVD \ CD's to restore it..[/quote]
Partition Magic is the best there is. Hands-down. If you're worried about PM causing troubles then you're rather SOL, or you're deluding yourself about the quality of other tools.