questions about removing windows xp
 

Hi

I want to remove windows xp and give its freespace to linux by following article:
http://www.linuxfocus.org/English/Ju...rticle101.html

I was able to remove windows xp using fdisk /dev/hda1 and t(t,1,83) then mke2fs /dev/hda1 as indicated by the article, now when I type fdisk -l gives the following:

Disk /dev/hda: 30.0 GB, 30020272128 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3649 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 2362 18972733+ c Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hda2 2363 3585 9823747+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda3 3586 3649 514080 82 Linux swap

the /dev/hda1 is still Win95 FAT32 (LBA) but not Linux? But I followed the article anyway to create a mount point mkdir /mnt/tmp, then mount -t ext2 /dev/hda1 /mnt/tmp. The article then says "Copy / to /mnt/tmp/ while preserving its structure: cp -ax / /mnt/tmp/. " After I type cp -ax / /mnt/tmp/ :

cp: missing destination file
Try `cp --help' for more information.

I'm stuck here and not sure what to do. I think the article wants to copy all the files in dev/hda2 to /dev/hda1 and make hda1 as a root, but the cp -ax //mnt/tmp/ doesn't work for me?

Thank you very much

I believe, though not 100% sure, that the partition table is only read once by the kernel at bootup. And, therefore, you should reboot linux in order for it to recognize the new table.

Yes, you should always restart after making any changes to the partition tables.

You might also want to look into using cfdisk, it is much easier to use.

Hi

Thanks for the replies, but today after restarting my computer, fdisk -l still gives:

Disk /dev/hda: 30.0 GB, 30020272128 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3649 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 2362 18972733+ c Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hda2 2363 3585 9823747+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda3 3586 3649 514080 82 Linux swap

If I do "fdisk /dev/hda1" then t or t(t,1,83) again, this time it says "No partition is defined yet!"
Is there anyway I can use fdisk again to change hda1 Win95 FAT32 to Linux?

Thank you very much