deleting mandrake linux

[threecv]

I shan't say anything critical of mandrake linux, but have quickly realised that at nearly 80 (I see from Age Call that only 4% of linux users are over 55!!!) I need to get mandrake linux 10.1 community off my machine and do a lot more reading before I try again (and mess things up again...)
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It is on a partition of my 160GB hard drive, downloaded off 4 CD's. Windoze xp is on the other half of the disk. Pentium 4 (3GH), 1GB ram etc. Problems have centred on internet connection (why isn't Norway in the list of countries? Why doesn't the MCC wizard work for me?) and unfamiliar terminology, hence - more reading in the forums and manuals.
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I've hesitated over Partition Magic but am scared of losing stuff in windoze, though all data have been backed up.
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Any suggestions, please? I'll be back with linux, but want to start from scratch. Make it simple if you can!

[tfk]

I see no other way than deleting the partition of Mandrake and to create a FAT32 partition on the free space (if you don't want to use Linux) or an ext2/3 partition if you want to reinstall it. That shouldn't be a problem with PartitionMagic, and you won't delete your Windows data if you don't "touch" your other partition with it. I'd copy the personal files you have on your Linux (ext2/3/reiser) partition to the other one first.

I wish you good luck when coming back to Linux! (Maybe you try Fedora Core or SuSE, then.)

Edit: I've just realized that you could format the partition with P.M. as well, that should be enough.

[daemonOS]

Edit: I've just realized that you could format the partition with P.M. as well, that should be enough

Yes, it has support for many file systems.
I agree w/using PM. I use partition commander for the ability w/server (Win2k/2003 server) partitioning but use what you like. Also SuSE is good choice and though I have put Mandrake on 20 of my computers now, I still think SuSE is more user friendly. Mandrake is also but people seem to have more problems on a Mdk box. FC# is a updated RH w/o suppport. Wow, your old btw.. j/k. I am all most 30 and have a long way to go. Well good luck and hope to help if/when you need it.

[Emma S]

I shan't say anything critical of mandrake linux, but have quickly realised that at nearly 80 (I see from Age Call that only 4% of linux users are over 55!!!) I need to get mandrake linux 10.1 community off my machine and do a lot more reading before I try again (and mess things up again...)
>
It is on a partition of my 160GB hard drive, downloaded off 4 CD's. Windoze xp is on the other half of the disk. Pentium 4 (3GH), 1GB ram etc. Problems have centred on internet connection (why isn't Norway in the list of countries? Why doesn't the MCC wizard work for me?) and unfamiliar terminology, hence - more reading in the forums and manuals.
>
I've hesitated over Partition Magic but am scared of losing stuff in windoze, though all data have been backed up.
>
Any suggestions, please? I'll be back with linux, but want to start from scratch. Make it simple if you can!

Re.age.
You think only a small amount of linux users are over 55,but that is only when judging the amount on one forum,there are plenty who probably don't bother with forums and might not show up in any statistics so it shouldn't be such a small minority afterall globally wise.

And to carry on with the SuSE comments,I recommend SuSE professional!

[Dapper Dan]

I also recommend SuSE Pro, and I've used Mandrakes 8.3-10.1. Exactly what were the problems you were having getting connected? I'm sure someone here can help you figure that out.

With PM, you can delete your Mandrake/ext3/RieserFS/whatever partition, then resize Windows back to the end of the drive if you wish, however, you may want to keep that space handy when attempting Linux again. Before resizing Windows partitions whether making them longer or shorter, always do a thorough defrag of Windows first. I'd back up any indispensable files as well. Good Luck!

[tfk]

Just to have this added here, if you are about to change your partition configuration, you should create several partitions for different purposes. It's no good practice storing any "personal" files on a partition where an OS resides. In your case, remove all partitions (make sure to backup files, otherwise they are lost) and create three partitions: 4 or 5 gigabytes for Linux, preferably reiserfs (ext2/3 works, too); 2,5 to 4 gigabytes for Windows (FAT32), and finally the rest for your files. Although I prefer ReiserFS for my files partition, I suggest you to make it a FAT32 partition (you can read both it in Windows and Linux, then).

If you're creating a FAT32 partition for the files, make sure you pass the umask=xxx to the mount options in order to have write access with your user. Replace xxx by the user id of your user (usually 500 or 1000 on single-user boxes; You can retrieve it via the user configuration, or read it from the file /etc/passwd.)
I don't know if you can change the mount options in Mandrake. If not, edit the file /etc/fstab. Find the lines containing "vfat", and replace "defaults" with "umask=xxx" in these lines.
Be sure to be logged in as root when editing these files,

This way, you can change your OSes happily without data-loss hassles.