Hi Johnson:
I was thinking a bit more about automating this. We
MIGHT be able to grab some stuff from a Linux installer
to automatically, under carefully defined conditions,
shrink the NTFS partition and create a new fat32
partition. AFAIK, it can't be done under DOS at all.
Partition Magic just doesn't reliably work on NTFS
partitions as of 8.02 and XP Service Pack 2 (or
possibly, SP 1). And, Partition Magic is expensive
and has a restrictive license (use on one computer,
blah, blah, blah...).
Many of the Linux installers don't automate this,
since computer setups vary so widely and so do the
user requirements. And, the operations are quite
dangerous. The last one I tried to use that
automated this was dangerous and could destroy
a disk if the user selected the wrong, cryptic,
setup option.
And, the FreeDOS "SYS:" command needs to be done
under FreeDOS. We could, I suppose, create a
multi-boot CD.
Obviously, writing a batch file to automate the
FreeDOS installation to a specific partition
would be almost trivial, starting with ODIN.
Creating an easy-to-use, up-to-date, ODIN
floppy image that installs FreeDOS to a
specified disk partition would be useful...I'd
use it! :-)
Judging from the response to Version 1.0, though,
only one FreeDOS user was even interested in dual
booting a new machine. It appears everyone else
has already figured out how to meet their
requirements. Most of the folks I know use
old, dedicated machines to run DOS.
So, it is really worth trying to modify a Linux
installer to automatically re-partition the disk
correctly?
BTW, I've found a couple of people interested in
doing this with MS-DOS, so they'll help iron out
the disk partitioning description and installation
of MS-DOS, anyway.
Mark
Johnson Lam wrote:
On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 20:41:12 -0500, you wrote:
Hi Mark,
I am working on the next version of a procedure to add
FreeDOS to almost any WindowsXP computer in a dual-boot
configuration and WITHOUT destroying the WindowsXP
Great, on the Internet there're some guide to this, but all of them is
instructions, without a package or program to do it for you
automatically.
I'm using open source Linux tools to shrink the WindowsXP
NTFS partition. I would like a couple of volunteers to
test the Version 2.0 Alpha procedure and provide
suggestions and corrections.
I wish I can catch up with you, in the coming month I have a 3 weeks
trip. I'll prepare a spare hard disk and install XP.
You should be comfortable with DOS commands and rebooting
your computer. You do NOT need any Linux experience.
Good.
If you would like to dual-boot a new computer with FreeDOS,
and want to help test this, please send me an e-mail and
I'll send you the current draft of the procedure. After a
few volunteers run through it, I'll get the updated procedure
posted on the web somewhere.
Did you have any plan to make a small utility to go through the
procedure automatically?
Rgds,
Johnson.
-------------------------------------------------------
This SF.net email is sponsored by: Splunk Inc. Do you grep through log files
for problems? Stop! Download the new AJAX search engine that makes
searching your log files as easy as surfing the web. DOWNLOAD SPLUNK!
http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=103432&bid=230486&dat=121642
_______________________________________________
Freedos-user mailing list
Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
-------------------------------------------------------
This SF.net email is sponsored by: Splunk Inc. Do you grep through log files
for problems? Stop! Download the new AJAX search engine that makes
searching your log files as easy as surfing the web. DOWNLOAD SPLUNK!
http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=103432&bid=230486&dat=121642
_______________________________________________
Freedos-user mailing list
Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
