On Sat, 4 Nov 2000 23:35, Eddie Torres wrote:
> On Sat, 04 Nov 2000, you wrote:
> > Please help!
> >
> > I currently run Windows 98 on this system:
> >
> > Pentium II 300 MHz, 64 MB RAM on an ASUS P2E-M motherboard
> > 2 GB IDE HDD [the master HDD -- my only HDD at that]
> >
> > This is what I intend to do:
> >
> > 1. Buy a new IDE disk and mount it as the new master drive [to replace
> > the old two-gig hard disk]
> >
> > 2. Reconnect the old 2 GB drive, this time as the slave drive [with
> > Windows and everything else on it still intact]
> >
> > I would then like to end up with a dual-boot system where the new master
> > drive is devoted to linux and the old 2-gig disk, well, remains as it is,
> > devoted to Windows.
> >
> > Can this be safely done by going through Linux-Mandrake's install as it
> > is? Would the installer be able to 'detect' Windows on the slave slot so
> > I could still boot to Windows as it always was?
> >
> > I've about wracked my mind reading as much as I can on IDE and hard
> > disks. I'm guessing it can be done. But I'd like the assurance of an
> > expert. I've backed up important stuff on the old drive but I'm still
> > scared to death of taking that leap of faith [if i did guess right] of
> > going ahead with this. I bought the Mandrake distro 5 days ago and I'm
> > itching to get started.
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > Abe Mandac
>
> Why do that? Just set the new IDE drive as a slave and setup LM on that
> one, there really is no point in doing that. Even, on the second HD you
> can set Linux to be the boot default so just put that IDE as secondary and
> load LM on there and have fun.
>
> --
> Eddie Torres
> www.veloct.net
You have a point, Eddie, but from a performance point of view this is not the
best option. The primary IDE channel takes precedence over the secondary one
for accesses, so it is best to put the largest and fastest drive as the
primary and the other one as secondary. Install Linux on the primary, and
place a Swap partition on the secondary. Besides, there is not much extra
effort required to change the old drive to the secondary channel before
installing the new one. All it takes is one plug and jumper setting change,
and the possible jumper settings _should_ be displayed on the drive.
--
Sridhar Dhanapalan
"One World, One Web, One Programme." - Microsoft Promotional Ad.
"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer." - Adolf Hitler
