Thinkpads Forum

i am trying to plan for contingencies before installing fc 5 on a dual boot thinkpad 43.

If I create a /home ext3 partition, and then something about windows messes up, necessitating a reinstall, would using the rescue and recovery CD's wipe out all the linux partitions?

(Heck at least with windows xp install CD's, you had the option to leave partitions untouched).

If we're slapping images on the hard drive, then it sounds like bad news.

I'll be using this mainly for linux (2/3 of hd space), but I envision windows xp could become full/corrupt/virus prone, necessitating a reinstall.

This is almost an argument for buying a copy of windows--so as not to have these kinds of hassles.

rj

How does the recovery process deal with existing partition layouts?

Recovery deletes the first partition and then installs to the first block of contiguous free space (which could be bigger than the original first partition if there was free space after it). Later partitions are safe. The partition must be at least 8GB or so or else the recovery will either fail or produce a corrupt Windows installation. You can save a little space if you intervene during some of the IBM software installs, reduce the swap size and disable hibernation, but you have to time this carefully.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Recoverin ... covery_CDs

So that means that as long as your ntfs partition is 8 gigs, you're ok. That's awesome. rj

Welcome to the Thinkpad Forums, Rjnagle

I love the self-answering questions/posts.


That is a good tidbit of information to know.

actually can someone confirm that this is true (from actual experience)?

I'd hate to think I relied on misinformation. And I haven't seen this information anywhere before which (if true) would be majorly cool.

Although it makes sense, I have to wonder about the language of the paragraph. The case we'd be talking about is for the windows partition to be smaller not larger than before.

Also, what do we mean by first partition? In my partition resizer program, I
see that the first partition is actually a hidden partition of a few megabytes size.

Like I said, this sounds like a really good feature, but I'd like confirmation.

rj

I did a rescue and recovery on my new T60p that cleared out all additional partitions and restored the system to factory condition (one partition + recovery partition). What I don't remember is whether I used the CD's or the "ThinkVantage" boot. Either way I think it runs from the hard drive after it restores the recovery partition.

The restore option on my A31p would install to the first partiton of the hard drive leaving the others ontouched. It looks like at some point this has changed.

You can make your own Windows XP install cd following these instructions instead of purchasing a new copy: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=3827

I've done rescue & recovery from both CDs and HDD predesktop.

Yes, it does nuke all your partitions and yes it is a pain in the [censored] like that heh.