Dual Boot FDisk Problem with Mandrake & Windows 2K
let me start by saying i know basically NOTHING about Linux. My ex boyfriend set my computer up as a dual boot with Mandrake and Windows. Within windows, he partitioned two drives. my windows is FUBARed and needs an F Disk desperately. now i know, if you are anything like he was, you're laughing right now, doin' the 'see - you shouldn't use windows' stuff....but please, i just really need help. i'm a windows user always was, always will be, and although i'm happy to keep my linux install (mostly cause my little girl loves tux racer!), i can't figger out how to f disk.
now the reason i bring this here, is cause everytime i try, it tell me it can't unmount the drive. unmount. k, i know that is a linux term, so the only thing i can guess is that windows and my c drive are somehow mounted onto the linux partition. i want to keep linux, and i want to keep my c and e drives, i just want to wipe out c and totally re-install. my registry is screwed up, i've been hacked by trojans (now have virus program) etc etc etc. can anyone help me? |
Hi,
If you aren't sure what is mounted, open a terminal window and type the command: mount then post back here with the results. |
ok, got the terminal window, typed mount, got like 20 lines of code and tried to copy paste here but it doesn't give me the option to paste...it would take me a week to copy & reproduce that code! is there an easier way?
|
What I was looking for is lines which show what the windows partition is mounted as. Probably looks something like this ....
/dev/hda1 on /mnt/win type ntfs (ro) Might be easier for you to make sure you have a Mandrake boot floppy. Then go ahead and start the Windows install. It will give you an option to remove the existing ntfs partition. |
i know it's not nfts, its FAT32, i'll look again for a line like that.
thanks homey...i'll be back. |
Ok, typed mount in Konsole, and there are two lines that are similar:
/dev/hda5 on/mnt/win-d type vfat (rw,iocharset=iso 8859-1,codepage=850,unmask=0) /dev/hda1 on/mnt/windows type vfat (rw,iocharset=iso 8859-1,codepage=850,unmask=0) i think its the second one you are looking for? :Pengy: i logged back into Windows and tried to zap the drive again. fyi, the Volume on drive C is Windows There is also an E drive that accepted format e: just fine. when i open a command window in Windows, and type format c: it says: Format cannot run because the Volume is in use by another process. Format may run if this volume is dismounted first. ALL OPEN HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULD THEN BE INVALID. Would you liek to force dismount on this volume? (Y/N) of course, i say yes, then it says: Cannot lock the drive. The volume is still in use. :tisk: so, what does that comment about the handles mean? :scratch: can i dismount windows? how? if i do, will linux still be usable in the other partition? :scratch: :newbie: |
Quote:
As root user... You can un - mount that partition with the command: umount /mnt/windows You don't have to delete the partition. After you un - mount it, you can format it with the command: mkfs.vfat /dev/hda1 Also, when you start the windows install, there is an option to delete the partition and create a new one. Just be sure to not let windows grab the whole drive. |
ok, thanks so much homey, i'll give it a shot on the weekend and we'll see how it goes this time!
oh, do you mean i will be formating c from linux? and then do i remount after i have the windows reinstalled on c? can i expect anything in linux to not work right after this? thanks again, you rock guru! |
Quote:
Quote:
Good luck! |
In case I missed it
how many windows partitions do you have and how big is your hard drive There is a doc for loading mandrake online these docs are for Mandrake 10.0 let me know if yours if different http://doc.mandrakelinux.com/Mandrak...tml/drakx.html have a good read of * selecting the mount points * choose partitions to be formatted and read this chapter as well http://doc.mandrakelinux.com/Mandrak...diskdrake-use1 The diskdrake gui is very easy to use as I dual boot with Mandrake 10 and Windows 98 and I have a Win C,D & E drive as well as the mandrake partitions do you have access to a windows boot disk for any version as you can fdisk your C: drive with that, reload windows and then reload the boot loader for both Mandrake and Win 2K here a site for dual booting Win & mandrake http://www.littlewhitedog.com/content-52.html though I dont know how helpful it will be for you I will have a look at mandrake's disk drake and see what I can come up with, don't lose hope floppy |
hi floppy,
Quote:
i'm running mandrake 9.1 Quote:
thanks so much floppy.... |
Now I'm really curious
you have a C: and E: drive, ummm ... so what is the D: drive and how big are your partitions for windows the reason I ask is that it must be quite a squeeze to get 2 win partitions and a Mandrake install into 10 gigs now your windows is stuffed but can you boot Mandrake ? cos Mandrake can see, read and move windows files [ at least win 98 ( fat 32 ) so I hope win2k ] and if you have any files on your windows that you want to save My Documents for example you might be able to move them onto the other windows partition before wiping clean the C drive for that task in Mandrake use Konqueror open Konqueror ( web browser ) press F9 to bring up side bar thingy click on "mnt" you should see cdrom, floppy, win_C, win_E click on plus sign next to win_C and you should see My Documents, Program Files, Windows etc click on My Documents and you should see all your stuff ( hopefully ) now click on the E drive and pick a suitable folder go back to My documents lleft-click & drag your files over to the E drive folder or if that makes you nervous you can drag them into the Mandrake home folder hope this helps let us know how you get on live long and prosper floppy edit apart from Tuxracer what does your daughter play the reason I say that is because Tuxracer is available for windows http://tuxracer.sourceforge.net/ though I'm not sure about win 2k |
well homey and floppywhopper, here's a good one. now i have no windows. i figured out how to format c, everything got corrupt, i've spent hours and hours trying to fix it, and nothings working. and imagine! i was worried about losing linux! i still have lilo and dual boot, but windows won't install. i'm using linux now, and although some stuff is ok, i still feel pretty cut off from my world. :(
so, i'm off to find a windows help forum i guess....but i really appreciate the help you guys gave me....you rock! thanks again! |
I suppose you really have to decide whether or not you want to keep Linux particularly if you yourself don't use it and your daughter only plays Tux Racer. As I said before Tux Racer is available for windows.
You may consider completely wiping Linux off your drive and just running windows, although I'm a little surprised that you formatted C and yet Lilo is still there to dual boot ... strange. If that is what you choose to do then please secure your windows computer with a decent firewall, antivirus and anti-spyware. I use and recommend AVG anti-virus, Tiny Firewall, Ad-aware and Spybot search & destroy: all freebees and very effective. Hope this helps and maybe if you ever decide to use Linux again we might see you back again. live long and prosper floppywhopper |
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:00 PM. |