Im new to Linux, i have tried knoppix iso. bootables and other..(im going to try slackware as its getting great reviews)

My problem/question is..i want to make a dual bootable system. I want WINXP and most likely SLACKWARE LINUX the other.

Honestly i dont know where to start...but im in the right place to ask.

I need help getting to know how to correctly partition my hd. (40gigs). Im going to use Linux for everything...school work, graphics, web server, gaming...etc.
However, i need WINXP as well for the other stuff...until i get really comfortable with linux enough to drop it completely.

If anyone has any great sites or great tutorials to how to correctly partition my hd and properly install slackware linux...and apache...that woud be great. or if you have the time to spend and explain step by step clearly how to do it.
I thank you in advance for taking ur time.

I havent yet had the chance to check out the tutorials available on linuxquestions.org yet. but i will. but if anyone else has any other info or
books that i can buy...plz. post. im glad to hear any ideas that work.

thanks again.

i set up a dual boot on my Dell Laptop about 2 weeks ago with Red Hat


......it depends on what you want to do......if you don't care about re-formatting your hard drive and re-installing windows it's really fairly easy. in this situation all you have to do is re-install xp and when it asks you which partition you would like to install xp on, you simply delete the partition windows was on before and re-partition it to the size of your choosing. i allocated approx 15 gigs to my windows partition and then created a new 15 gig partition for linux. after windows is installed. i simply had to boot my computer from the linux cd and install linux. the red hat installation automatically checks to see which partition is free to install on.......once linux is installed, everytime after boot you will be prompted as to which operating system you would like to start. if you aren't prompted all it takes is placing a simple entry into the lilo.conf or grub.conf boot loader file depending on which you are use to boot from....that last part really isn't important until you have both operating systems installed though......

however, if you don't wish to re-format your whole hard drive then i suggest purchasing a software such as "partition magic." this software will let you re-size and create partitions w/o uninstalling anything first.

once again, i'm not sure how simple slackware linux's installation is, but if it was anything like Red Hat 9.0 you shouldn't have any problems.

# Pre-installation guides
GNU/Linux pre-installation checklist
The Pre-Installation Help File

# Partitioning
Linux Partition HOWTO
Rute - Partitions, File Systems, Formatting, Mounting
Proper Filesystem Layout

# Freeware partitioning software
Look for fips20 on your install CD
Ranish Partition Manager
Tom's Root and Boot Floppy has Linux fdisk

As an alternative to buying Partition Magic you can use a free software called fips which is designed to give 'lossless partitioning', or repartitioning without losing what you've already got. You can find fips easily on google - I just did. Read all the notes carefully.

Can somebody else confirm whether you can defrag xp? I have 98se so I don't know. If you can you must do this to free up space at the end of your disk. Then run fips. I haven't seen Partition Magic either but I imagine it is easier than fips otherwise why pay for it? - but fips works and it gives you a great knowledge of what you're doing to your harddrive.

Another great software is cfdisk to change your partitions after you've started. That's included with Slackware.

I just gave 20GB to W98 and 20 to linux - seemed fair and they both work ok.

For documentation click on the links button at the top of this page,, that should keep you busy!

It took me so long to type my response (watching tv as well) fancypiper got in first. Good selection.

Yeah, I am watching the news with xawtv myself. You probably need to defrag XP as well. I know that Windows 2000 pro has defrag and they both use NTFS, so I would think XP would have it too. It couldn't hurt.

Thank You all for the helpful tips and links to check out. Im surprised about the politeness of all the posts...there was no flaming. I love this site. I will try to do all that 2morrow on my clone. If anything. i hope if i have any troubles that i can get the help from u ppl and others.

Thank You Once Again.

yes, it is very much possible to defrag XP!!!!!!

im almost done getting slackware linux....im just wondering what kinda games would i be able to run on linux..and what sorta plugins or updates would i need to install in order to play Counter Strike...as well as applications such as Adobe and Macromedia...i know linux has a similar GIMP as ADOBE.

# Linux and games
Linux Gamers' FAQ
The Linux Game List
Wine HQ
TransGaming Technologies for winex
The Linux kernel preemption project
Gentoo has a kernel with the gaming patches

thanks fancypiper.

I have finally been able to burn the iso slackware linux onto my 2 cds.
where do i get patches for slackware linux? is there any i should know of?
i check their site i didnt see anything...so im just wondering...?

i have read the reviews again...and most of the cons state that it is hard for newbs...f**k...im a newb. lol. is there anything that i can do before i start installing slackware soon...in 3 weeks...like a book to get or buy from a store and read about...any sort of sites...that have screenshots of slackware linux and helps out newbs getting into slackware by creating a user...getting the proper patches and securing the computer from intruders?

Im not worried...just concerned...i dont want to have a bad experience with linux for the first time fully running on my system. I tried the bootable knoppix and it was great experience...im hoping it will be the same with slackware...im not looking for an easy way out...i want to learn and not be dependent on windows anymore.

thanks in advance to all the help i will get. thank you!

There's the slackware book at: http://slackware.com/book/

Okay i have formatted my computer and made my patition for WINXP PRO. (NTFS)

Now i need to know what do i need to format my other hd as. FAt32 512 right?

im trying to make a dual bootable WINXP PRO and Slackware linux.