moving partitions
 

i'm using qt parted to edit my partition scheme and I isntalled linux on a partition btween two partitions (i was going to put windows on the first partition, but that's not happening now). Is there anyway I can make the first partition the one with my linux files on it (can I copy hda4 to hda1?)

i guess it was an accident when I installed linux a while ago.

I want to move linux to the first partition so that i can merge the 5gb with my 20 gb partition i use for data. I discovered bit torrent so I'm quickly running out of room.

Another thing i tried was mounting hda4, but I don't know how to:
a) have it mount using "mount ____ ____" like i do for my floppy and dvd.
b) edit my fstab and have it auto mount.

thanks all those who can help

i thought dd was the command to do something like this.. maybe im wrong.
could u get a live cd and just boot with that and copy the entire contents of one partition to the other? youll have to change the lilo or grub configurations so it knows where the new kernel + root folder is.
search around, i dont know, but, im sure theres a good explanation on how to do this properly, if dd is not the command... dont take my word, its just my input.

i was thinking about just doing a duplicate copy, but my fear is that some programs won't work?

haha

ya thats why i was saying to look into it on google.com/linux or somewhere.. there may be many conflicts if you do it and might not be able to boot.. i have no experience with it so i dont know, maybe theres software that can do it all for you and safely.. check sourceforge or something for a program that would be appropriate.
hope someone else can help, im outta $0.02

You will just need to edit grub.conf (or the lilo equivalent) and fstab to reflect the new partition numbering caused by moving the partition. Both can be done either the last time you run linux before the move or from a rescue mode / live-CD after the move.

One way to copy a partition bit for bit is...

dd -if FROM_PARTITION -of TO_PARTITION