I have a custome who has a windows 2003 server that can not boot because not enough space to load active directory.

I down loade am image from debian so that I can boot the server and delete some files to free up space to launch server 2003. Since I have not used linux before, I was lead to believe I could get toa command prompt without installing linux and navigate to the ntfs partition where I can list and delete unneeded files to free up space.

Could someone take me through the boot process and where in the process I can get to a command prompt and browse the hard drive. I believe the customer has a Dell server with a three disk array.

Thanks in advance

Hi, and welcome to LQ!

Debian is probably not the wisest choice for this task,
look something like "Recovery is possible" or "System
rescue CD", which are meant for those tasks. Not all
Linux distros can be used as a live-CD for that kind
of task, and not all are equally well suited.



Cheers,
Tink

I'd recommend trying Knoppix and seeing if that recognizes the RAID controller and the array. Although Knoppix is based on Debian, it's built primarily to be a Live CD system, moreso than a regular installation on disk...

http://www.knoppix.com

There are two different kinds of downloads: a CD version and DVD version. The DVD version contains more applications, but I'm not sure if it contains additional drivers etc. Either one can get you to a decent KDE desktop where you can navigate a bit more easily than at the command line (for a first-time linux user).

Good luck!

Let's be up front about deleting files in a ntfs partition first.

All Linux can read a ntfs partition but most Linux are not shipped with programs to write on it, although reliable programs, most notably is ntfs-3g, are available. Although such program can be added after installation.

Also many Linux are security-conscious. Some distros, like the Ubuntu family, deliberately prevent a user to log in as the root user (admin in Windows term) and as an ordinary user you will not have the root privilege even to view a ntfs folder, although procedures are available to obtain root privileges to view ntfs files in a terminal.

I think the easiest way out is to get a Live CD distro, that can run on a CD without being installed into a hard disk, that is shipped with write ability on ntfs partitions and allows you to log in as root to the desktop so that you can drag and drop, delete and copy files in ntfs partitions.

To satisfy the above criteria you need Slax, which will automatically mount every partition in the PC. Use the latest version 6 and you can do everything in a desktop just like you would do with any MS WIndows.

Knoppix is OK if you are prepared to install it and add the ntfs-3g yourself. It does have an alternative way to write on ntfs partitions but in experimental state. I have not have much success with Knoppix in earlier versions but the latest Slax is very reliable and its ntfs-3g implementation is completely transparent to the users. I have used ntfs-3g in various distros too and it is "the" ntfs writer at the moment.