partitions

[Mark Robson]

I have been having trouble with WinXP
(Ex-productivity?), and wish I'd learned to segregate
all those user-environment related files out before
the @#$($#@
driver-corruption/page-fault/IRQ_not_less_than/circus
started last month.  Now I can't get past the
rebooting during load, cannot reinstall XP, cannot get
into safe mode.  I've made a real mess of it, and want
to end the madness.  Irony:  I got into the mess
because I was adding CDRW so I could BACKUP MY FILES! 
DOH!
 
I have an idea to use Linux as my solution, and please
advise how this might go;  I have a dual-boot
setup, with RH8 linux installed onto a second hard
drive.  I'm able to boot into RH8 and mount the xp
partition.  (RH8 server, with Samba, although I'm
totally an enduser, not admin.)  Can I sort out the
important files (*.doc/xls/htm mostly) and put them
aside in the penguin partition, then format the xp
partition and install 98?  I can see 'how' to do this,
but here's the point:
 
Does transferring these files from xp to linux and
back to 98 cause any problems with the integrity of
the files themselves?  As enduser, not admin, I'll use
a more gui (Gnome)than command line approach.  Would
not open or operate on the files beyond moving them.  
 
Original idea, which I can't make happen on the
Win/Loser setup any more, was to move the XP partition
up and create a new partition to install 98 onto.  Was
going to do that after I got the drives backed up,
never got that far.  I use PartitionMagic, and it
would do this in win non-destructively.  Is there any
comparable Linux partition program that is also
non-destructive?  
 
Other details:
About 2gb of user-environment related files to move.
Three hard drives altogether:
80gb WD, partitioned into two 40gb windows.
8gb  Fujitsu, windows single partition
10gb Maxtor, Linux, RH8 server default partition
scheme
Celeron p3 400, 384mb, 16mb agp video.
Broadband connection
The machine is part of a home peer2peer network, but
that is just to share the broadband and printers.  The
other machines are 98's.
 
Thanks in advance.
 
Mark

peter <pvant67 at wnyip.net> wrote:
Sorry for the long absence, it's been strange/terrible
at best here.

My comment about partitions: Anything I think will
matter to me in the 
long run gets a separate partition, esp. /home and
/usr/local.

That's the only reason I've been able to keep
essentially the same user 
environment for so many years (1999-2000) to present.
Back then, I did 
things on a Compaq 486. Now, it is 2 or 3 hardware
systems later, but 
/home hasn't changed much. The contents are similar
but the capabilities 
are greater.

The way I do things, the rest of the system is
disposable. You already 
know there's going to be upgrades, betas, etc. /home
isn't disposable - 
its the stuff you spent the last few years creating.
Hence, I never use 
the default partition schemes (I use RH9), and I
default to a custom 
install in order to preserve this.

Hence, I would definitely give /home its own
partition; you can safely 
wipe and re-install the system without touching it, if
you opt to 
partition it manually.

Hope this helps someone - Pete

-- 
"Truly, if Te is strong in one, all one needs to do is
sit on one's ass, 
and the corpse of one's enemy shall be carried past
shortly."
-- spotted somewhere on Usenet


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