Re: [Bug-ddrescue] ddrescue 1.3 - questions from a newbie

[Ariel]

On Wed, 10 Jan 2007, Matt Boge wrote:

> PS.  I think I'd like to consider creating multiple partitions in my new 
> setup (two 400GB drives that I will be setting up with RAID0).

Watch out with RAID0, if you do that, if either one of the drives die you 
lost the data from both. And recovery is much more complicated because 
half the data is on each drive.

> I'd install Windows XP on one partition and I think I'd like to install a 
> Linux variant on the other to play around with and get more familiar 
> with this OS (hey, an old dog can ALWAYS learn new tricks, right?).  Any 
> suggestions on how I should do this and which variant of Linux I should 
> install?

Create the partitions outside linux, first create the Windows partition 
(type doesn't matter, as you will see). Then create the Linux partition, 
and then finally delete the windows one.

You are doing it in this strange order to make sure the second partition 
was also the second one created.

Don't forget to create a swap partition if you will use one (you can also 
swap onto a data partition).

Don't install linux yet (since potentially windows will erase it, and 
then you'll have wasted your time) boot windows setup, and ask to 
partition the drive - windows should complain about some mystery partition 
on the drive, but ignore that, and let window partition the free space 
on the drive.

Finish windows install. Now install linux, first of all linux will not get 
confused about the extra partition, second the installer will 
(should) notice windows and create an entry for it. And finally linux will 
do the right thing in regard to making sure you can actual boot (window 
can't handle it).

Anyway, as far as what variant (called a distribution) I like Debian, but 
try these pages:
http://www.tuxs.org/chooser/
http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

        -Ariel

PS. Another option (if your chosen distib supports it), is to be dumb, and 
let windows own the whole drive, then have the distrib shrink the 
partition to make room for linux.

If you use RAID on the drives you are complicating things, and I just 
don't know what linux will do. If it's hardware raid it should work, but 
if you use windows raid, I'm just not sure.