[3067] in RedHat Linux List
Re: pre-installation question
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Kyle Ferrio)
Wed Nov 6 20:27:22 1996
Date: Wed, 6 Nov 1996 20:21:05 -0500 (EST)
From: Kyle Ferrio <kbf@phy.duke.edu>
To: redhat-list@redhat.com
In-Reply-To: <199611070047.SAA10946@morse.math.nwu.edu>
Resent-From: redhat-list@redhat.com
Reply-To: redhat-list@redhat.com
On Wed, 6 Nov 1996, Charles Rezk wrote:
> I am about to install RH Linux on my machine. It will be on the same
> drive as a Windows 95 partition. I need to use FIPS to make the
> second partition. Unfortunately, my Windows swap-file is highly
> fragmented and spread out all over the drive. How do I get rid-of or
> defragment the Windows swap-file so that I can run FIPS, and then
> restore the swap-file later?
Don't take my word for this, because I haven't used Win95 in a long time,
but this is the idea... Bring up the "Properties" window for the disk you
will be repartitioning with FIPS. There's an option to turn off all
swapping. Do a clean shutdown of Win95. I have no idea how Win95 manages
swap, so play it safe. I'm paranoid, so I actually did a clean
shutdown/reboot. Now defrag the drive with a tool that understands VFAT,
such as Win95's own defragger. You've already read the FIPS docs, so you
know all about the need to turn off things like (so-called) smartdrive
first.
Also, when you run FIPS, be *sure* to run it in "safe" or "test" mode
first. And make *sure* you turn on the debugging. And make *sure* you
have a blank floppy handy to write off the original boot sector in
casesomething awful happens.
The next time you boot Win95 (unlikely, I know) be sure to reenable swap.
N.B. This means you should leave a -little- extra space for Win95. :)
I should note that the only instances of FIPS problems I've heard about
were the result of either stupid user tricks, stupid users who didn't
read the FIPS docs, or karma-challenged users who had the misfortune of
the power going out during a FIPS run. But play it safe. God forbif
that you would actually find yourself in the position of having to
re-install Win95.
>
> The fips documentation (and all other Linux docs I've seen) seem to
> assume I must be using Win 3.1. No windows documentation I've seen
> admits the possibility that I might want to get rid of the swap-file.
> Can anyone help?
Make sure you have the absolute latest FIPS and re-read the docs.
When I used FIPS, Win95 had just been released, so the docs needed
updating. But Arno (the author) is very approachable by e-mail and very
helpful.
Kyle
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