Partition Magic

[renegade600]

I purchased and downloaded partition magic because I needed to create several partition for backups from different computers on one drive. Its the first time in years I used it and noticed some diferent features. One feature is installing another operating system.

I am getting reading to install linux on my new desktop. In the past I had problems with suse partitioning feature - I lost my winxp partition once. I do not want to lose it this time. I am wondering if anyone here ever used the partition magic feature to install Linux and if theres any problems to look out for.

Or would it be easier just to forget about that feature and just create the necessary partition for linux then install.

[leroys1000]

In order to use partition magic to setup linux partitions,
You will need to know what partition types you want to use.
Linux uses at least 3 partitions and several different
partition types are available.

It would be easier just to do it from linux and allow it to
automatically setup the partitions.

Make sure during the installation,that you choose either
the LILO or GRUB bootloader,so it will recognize and
give boot options for both the windows and linux systems.

You can use partition magic to resize the partition
to make room for the linux install.

[renegade600]

Originally Posted by leroys1000

In order to use partition magic to setup linux partitions,
You will need to know what partition types you want to use.
Linux uses at least 3 partitions and several different
partition types are available.

It would be easier just to do it from linux and allow it to
automatically setup the partitions.

Make sure during the installation,that you choose either
the LILO or GRUB bootloader,so it will recognize and
give boot options for both the windows and linux systems.

You can use partition magic to resize the partition
to make room for the linux install.

I was thinking about the last time when I tried created partitions with suse 9.2. It was a mess because I lost access to my xp partition and eventually had to reinstall. In other words, trying to find an easier way.

[leroys1000]

If your version of partiton magic includes a bootloader,
you can use the option to install another operating system.
You will probably have to resize the partition first.

In this case,it will hide the windows partition until setup is completed.
If you use the bootloader from partition magic,
do not install LILO or GRUB.

I still think this route is a bit more complicated than just
using linux.

As long as you make sure to install LILO or grub,
you should not lose access to the windows partition.

If you lose access to the windows partition,you can repair the master boot
record by booting to the windows CD,press R to go to the repair console,
type fixmbr or fixboot at the command prompt and hit enter.
restart the computer and windows should boot.
Then you can try again if you want.

[dudeking]

In the past I had problems with suse partitioning feature - I lost my winxp partition once.

Same thing happened here.