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-   -   scrubbing Old win98 machine, (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/scrubbing-old-win98-machine-506106/)

fondspar 11-29-2006 11:32 PM

scrubbing Old win98 machine,
 
Hello,

I have an old machine running windowz98, was wondering if this would be possible: what would be the best way to wipe the hard drive comepletely & then fresh install Debian from say a Knoppix boot CD ?

There are 3 partitions, C:3GB, D:18.6GB, E:1GB.

Thanks in advance,

F

sn68 11-29-2006 11:51 PM

Simply go ahead and install debian, format the all partitions before install when the option comes up, since windows & linux file systems are different, the hdd will be wiped clean

fondspar 12-01-2006 09:33 PM

Okay... using qtparted, can I reformat the active FAT32 drive, , or how to re-format this drive to ext3?

ONIONFS/dev/hdd1 --- FAT32 __- --_ - ACTIVE ---

it opens as read only...

or, how to unmount the active drive ?

thanks for response,

sn68 12-03-2006 10:58 AM

When you start installing, the installer will automatically do whatever needed as per option chosen by you(so you need not worry about active or read only drive)
BTW were you planning to use qtparted from a liveCD?

2damncommon 12-03-2006 01:56 PM

Really wiping the hard disk is not needed to install Linux but if you have some reason to, try this.
If you just want to repartition, that can be done during install or you can use a partitioning tool from Knoppix to do it before hand.
Formatting is best done at install (usually).

fondspar 12-05-2006 04:27 PM

Cool
 
Thanks for the responses.
sn68,
I was doing from a knoppix liveCD. after I rebooted I was able to shrink the size of the FAT32 partition, then made the new one ext3. It looks like it worked, but now I still have some really small FAT32 part..

2dam,
thanks for that DBAN link. I may just do this to make sure there is nothing left of windowx.

Question, I would then be able to boot & partition, install, etc from the knoppix live CD right?

many thanks,

F

matthewg42 12-05-2006 05:41 PM

If you want to install debian, you don't need a knoppix CD - the debian installer CD contains all the tools necessary to partition and format the drive. I'm not sure about re-sizing from the debian installer, but if you've already done that, you don't need the knoppix CD for anything else.

I know the Ubuntu installer can re-size partitions. I think it even works on NTFS partitions. Of course, backup anything important before doing this sort of operation.

2damncommon 12-05-2006 07:50 PM

Quote:

thanks for that DBAN link. I may just do this to make sure there is nothing left of windowx.

Question, I would then be able to boot & partition, install, etc from the knoppix live CD right?
Yes, Knoppix will still boot if you wiped the hard drive with DBAN. You could partition with tools available on the Knoppix CD or from any distribution install CD.
Sample partitioning leaving Windows98:
hda1 (5GB) Win98
hda2 (some percentage of your RAM) Linux Swap
hda3 (8GB) Linux Distro
hda4 (8GB) 2nd Linux Distro
One Linux swap partition can be shared by multiple distributions. You can install one or a couple Linux distributions. You can leave Win98 on a small partition or delete it completely. Linux can be installed to multiple partitions but I suggest keeping it simple to start and trying it differently later if you choose.
Good Luck.


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