Linux question

[Matrix_581]

hi I want to install linux

At the moment I have a set up like this

IDE-0
Hard drive 1 Split in 2 Partions, C: & E: Primary
Hard drive 2 One big drive D:

IDE-2
DVD
DVD writer

Can I get a third Hard disc? And keep windows xp on drive one? OR
Should can I install a distro of linux on the E drive?

Can most version of linux read and write to ntfs parations?

[nightheart]

Whatever partion you install linux on will be inaccessible to windows, and linux can't write to ntfs out of the box. there are programs to allows this, but they are buggy at best, and a pain to get to work. If you can't get rid of any of your partitions, then i'd get another hd, or split your d drive.

edit: it's been a while, but i think the newer distros can read ntfs partitions.....

just did some checking and a ntfs write is being developed. Red hat is buggy at reading ntfs, and to write to it involves a kernal rebuild.

[Matrix_581]

Hi, thanks for the help, what do you mean its "buggy"? Is there any risk to my data? (i dont plan to do a rebuild of the kernal, just read music/videos of the ntfs drives)

I think I might just format&repartion disk 1

[nightheart]

I don't think there's really risk to your data, its just sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. First rule of linux with anything is:If it works the first time around great, if it doesn't its going to be a b1tch to get to work. To be honest there isn't much to do with linux that requires a lot of space, so i never really worried about getting it to work on my system. burning DVD's, d/ling music, and such is not done a lot in linux, and troubleshooting Linux is a nightmare. You'll probably have more immediate problems with getting all your hardware to work, then worrying about getting read/write to work on ntfs drives. Good luck. I'd say the worst thing that can happen is that you won't be able to access files on the ntfs, without somekind of 3rd party software (through linux only, windows shouldn't be affected at all). Linus us working on the ntfs problem and it is supposed to be fixed in the next release of the linux kernel.

Don't know if that helps any or not. Give linux a shot, if nothing else you'll apreciate M$ plug and pray a whole lot more :)
Believe me I'm still a noob on all the linux forums i hang out at........

[uk_trader]

The latest distros of Linux Mandrake 9.1 for Example can read ntfs file system no problem you cant write to it though there may be programs to do this as mentioned but Ive not come across any.

I get the feeling you might be meaning can you install linux on ntfs if thats so you cant do that you need to format a drive or partion as ext2 Linux will do this for you but you can view and access all your windows files from Linux and even run most of your programs like word etc and with alot of tinkering even games.

Beware though if you use the Linux cd to partion youll loose whats already on the drive best to partion with fdisk or partion magic and just format the partion after if you used fdisk.

You will be able to install a new hard drive if you have raid on your mother board or remove your dvd rom.

Hardware shouldnt be much problem if your using a new distro only modems and usb tend to cause problems.

[Soritong]

Here is a slight workaround for writing to NTFS from Linux, although it's more of a file copier.

If you are using a dual-boot machine and just need NTFS write support to transfer files from Linux to Windows, you can instead use a Windows driver for ext2/ext3 and, while running Windows, read the files from the Linux partition instead. This way, using two read-only drivers, you can still copy files from one file system type to the other.
Open source Windows drivers for ext2 and ext3 Linux filesystems


explore2fs

Home page: http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/explore2fs.htm (http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/explore2fs.htm)
For Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

ext2fsd

Home page: http://www.tuningsoft.com/projects/projects.htm (http://www.tuningsoft.com/projects/projects.htm)
For Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

winext2fsd

Home page: winext2fsd project page (http://sourceforge.net/projects/winext2fsd/)
Reportedly (http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?thread_id=787262&forum_id=220066) works on Windows NT and Windows XP, likely also on Windows 2000.

ext2forxp

Home page: http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2forxp/ (http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2forxp/)
In early stages, not ready for use yet (June 4th, 2003).

vmware

Home page: http://www.vmware.com (http://www.vmware.com/)
VMWare allows you to run entire operating systems with other operating systems.
So, you could run Windows inside Linux and get it to write to NTFS partitions natively.
As safe as the Windows you're running, but it is expensive.