... because I like games. :^D

Ok, well, I'm going to give you all a bit of background, if it helps.

First off, I'm bought the version of Linux mentioned in the subj. I want to install it on two computers, my family's computer, and the new computer I should be getting in in a few days. Both have Windows XP Home installed by the manufacturer. But, the "family" computer is used by other people who want to use M$ programs, and I want to be able to play M$ games on my new computer, so I'd like to have both Windows and Linux at the same time, and I know you can do this.

But, and I quote the user manual: "Partitions with NTFS cannot be reduced mby Linux. This is the default on Win NT, 2K, and XP, but if you have selected FAT32, during the installation of one of thoes OS, SuSE Linux can resize the partition. If you have a computer with an of thesesystems on a sinle NTFS partition, the old ststem will be irrevocably deleted when you install linux. To keep Windows, abort installation or reinstall Windows later on a sseparate partition with oyur orig windows software".

Going to properties on windows XP, i find my hard drive has one NTFS partition. Is there anyway to resize it, or change it, or make a new partition? I don't recall the setup of WinXP even asking about what kind of file partition (if any) i wanted...

would it be easier to just buy another hard drive?

I'm sure this has come up before, but I'm a so there you go {8^D)

-Tom

Hi TomG, just a few things here to make sure we both are in the same page. When you say Win and Linux "at the same time" I'm thinking you mean in the same machine with the option to boot with one or the other, is this correct? also, is your hard-drive one large partition? e.g. c: takes up all the drive. How big is your drive? I'm trying to get a picture of what you have and I'll try to give you advice on what to do. Not sure how sensitive your data is, but you can try to re-install your Windows, create more than one large partition, and dedicate one for Linux. One thing you need to be aware of (amongst many others)is to not to load LILO or whatever boot loader you want to use, in your MBR or there is a chance to corrupt the NTLDR. Hope you can post few more details.

good luck!

I ment having both OSes on the same computer, not running at the same time.

The user manual suggests using the LILO, but if I don't load it, what do I use?

I'm willing to loose windows on my new computer and reload it on there later because there won't be any of my files on it.

So, what I'm basically trying to do is this: Install Linux on the computer that has Windows, without loosing windows.

The partition I believe takes up the whole drive, but there is a 4 GIG partion in it for some reason, which was there when I got the computer.

The hard drive is 80Gb.

Maybe this should be moved to the "newbie" forum?

If your existing XP system has a single NTFS partition then you'll need some additional software to resize it, which TechTV has a decent article on. You could also backup your data, reformat the drive, and then install both OSes.

However you end up repartitioning (or reformatting), always backup first!

Thanks, I'll probably go with reinstalling both OSes.

I've just done what you are trying. Using Partition Magic 7 I created an extended partition in NTFS. I then just slapped in the SuSE CD and LILO installed itself on the partition I had made.

I can now boot to either Linux or XP. I am at the bottom of a very steep learning curve which is why I am here using XP. I still haven't figured out how to get my ISDN card to dial.

I've also got a million stupid questions to ask. EG What is the third SuSE CD for? How do I install updated drivers for my NVidia card (Linux tells me to do so to get 3D acceleration)

I guess I'll find out sometime!

The 4GB partition in XP is for the image(s) for System Restore,I believe.
lynch