Partitioning for newbies

[Nubijean]

I have a HD with Win98SE on a single partition. I want to add more partitions and install Linux. The computer is shared so I don't want to damage the existing installation. What is the safest and easiest partition prog for a computer dumbo? What is the probability of partitioning without damaging the Windows installation? Which Linux distros are easiest to install and use?

If an image backup is recommended, what software should I use - again, for simplicity and reliability.

Thank you.

System: desktop, P3 550MHz, 128Mb, 15Gb with 12Gb free.

[Jonathan183]

Welcome to the forums Nubijean

Gparted is one of the best partitioners ... its available on the PartedMagic CD and on some distro live CDs as well.

I think the you should try a couple of live CDs before you install ... DSL is a good one for limited hardware. You should check here also because 128MB RAM will limit your options.

Ed: before partitioning you should backup user data ... I have not had a failure with partedmagic CD yet ... cross fingers, touch wood etc but recommend you backup data anyway

[kostasan]

For your pc, Puppy Linux is the best choice and it is very user friendly.Home Page | Puppy Linux

[geniuz]

I don't know about puppy linux, but if you're absolutely inexperienced with linux, I'd choose Ubuntu without the gnome desktop environment for the sake of speed. And yes...gparted is probably the best choice for partitioning, It's very handy as you can just boot into it and it has a straightforward GUI too...shouldn't be a problem if you ask me. Just make sure to at least have an ext2/ext3 (recommend the latter) partition and a swap partition which in your case shouldn't be more then 250 MB.