How to delete Windows, resize Puppy partition?

[Mr Doolie]

Puppy has so many features and makes a perfect rescue CD since it loads all in RAM. I wonder if it can fix an error I made recently that is going to cause me grief in the future. Right now my system is dual boot (actually tri-boot!) with Winblows on HDA1 and Ubuntu with Puppy inside it on HDA5.

When it comes time to throw away Winblows I want to make the drive one Linux partiton. Can Puppy help me?

1) Back up my entire Linux partiton to the external drive

2) [This step would be "Repartition the hard drive" but I know cfdisk will do that part].

3) Restore the backup onto the new partition without losing any space

4) Reinstall Grub, fixing my menu.lst to reflect the new changes

Notes:
I've read about using "dd" for steps 1 and 3 but what I read says that if you un-dd onto a larger partition it will look like the original smaller partition and you will just be wasting space. IE: DD-ing a 20Gig and un-dding onto a 100gig wil make your 100gig only 20 gigs in size.

I hope I don't have to use.....gasp....Winblows Partition Tragic. It pukes on resizing Ext3 partitons. I tried it on my external drive.

EDIT: Wait a sec....it can't be this easy......could I just make a folder on the external, copy all files from HDA5 to the folder and then copy them into the new partition? Naw, can't be that easy. Are there hidden or locked files and stuff to worry about?

[rarsa]

OK, first the light side:

When I read 'puppy fixing a problem in the future' I automatically thought about Lobster's Tmxxine. A linux distribution for time travelers.

Second, I didn't understand what is the 'error' you are expecting. Your requiement is not even a problem. There are several ways of doing what you want to do, all of them quite simple.

Here are a three I've used.

A) Resize the partition 'In Place'
1. Delete the partitions you don't want
2. Use 'parted' to resize the remaining partition
For this I've used Knoppix but I'm sure that you can run parted in puppy or maybe download this very small rescue distribution

B) Copy the partition content and then restore it
1. Copy the partition content using

Code: Select all

cp -ax /* /mnt/hdb/bkup

(This will copy everything under your root folder including all the attributes to the bkup folder under the hdb mount point. The -x option indicates to copy files from only the file system / belongs too, so it wont copy the contents of mountpoints under it.)
2. Create your new partition(s) as desired.
3. Restore the content using the cp command with the same parameters
This is the preferred method if you want to split an existing partition or if you want to consolidate multiple partitions in one.

C) Backup the whole partition
1. Backup the partition using 'partimage'. This creates a compressed image of the partition.
2. Create your new partition(s) as desired
3. Restore the partition using 'partimage'.
Again, You can find this tool in Knoppix or in the this rescue distribution.

As you can see all the methods are quite simple.

I still have a question though: Why do you want to have a single partition? Aren't you planning on trying any more distributions ever in this computer? In my case besides leaving partition space for trying things I also put all my data files in a different partition for easier backup.

[Mr Doolie]

> Tmxxine. A linux distribution for time travelers.

I have that one installed on my Ring-PC. Wait..I shouldn't have told you about that. Ring PCs don't exist yet in your primitive 2006 culture. Now I will have to kill you and anyone who reads this message before I go back to my own time.

> I didn't understand what is the 'error' you are expecting.

The 'error' is having a useless partition after I nuke Winblows. Didn't know that I could move my Home or something to it. The thought I had was 40 gigs of wasted drive space since Partition Tragic pukes when it tries to move/resize Ext3 partitons.

>A) Resize the partition 'In Place'
>Use 'parted' to resize the remaining partition

"Parted" is "Partition Magic"? Well, that's the simple answer then.

Side note: I learned that "K3B" is "Nero". My need for keeping Windows is shrinking by the minute. As soon as I find the Linux work-alike for Yahoo Messenger With Voice all that's left is to wait for the Linux version of Google Earth. Yes, I know about WINE but 1) Can't get it to work and 2) I don't want buggy Windoze DDLs on my Linux system.

> cp -ax /* /mnt/hdb/bkup

There's another answer. Thank you. For four hours last night I tried drag-and-drop copying but it kept copying and copying and copying. Folders linked to folders recursively linked to folders. Also worried about locked files, in-use files and hidden files. This command will copy *everything*? I could use that for my system backup too. Copy and then archive it.

> Why do you want to have a single partition?

I don't really. I just wanted to remove Winslows at some future time and didn't want to have an empty partiton. As for "other distros", I don't think so. Ubuntu and Puppy are enough for me. It's too cornfusing as it is.


Thanks for the simple answer.

I just got a brain flash. When I'm in Puppy none of the Ubuntu files are in use.
1) Mount the external
2) Open it, make a folder called "Backup" and open that.
3) Open a Rox window with /mnt/home in it. (that's where the Ubuntu stuff is when I'm in puppy)
4) Show hidden files
5) Drag and drop everything over.

I now have a full backup, right?





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I just read a very good intro to Linux. In a nutshell it says "You may be the world's smartest Windows user but you don't know nuthin about Linux so just remember that you are starting over and you will be OK".

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread. ... inux+troll

and the links at the bottom. Good stuff for noobees. Much good info.

[noip]

Mr Doolie,

A couple of thoughts that may or may not be significant / helpful.

1. My preferred course here would be to backup data and re-install.
2. For partition re-sizing etc, I use QtParted, a graphical program that looks like Partition Magic. I use a Knoppix CD for this.
3. A couple of thoughts about your current setup:
a. Windows is in a Primary Partion
b. Ubuntu is in a Logical Partition (HDA5).
4. Ahhh, the easiest thing to do is to just use QtParted to shrink hda1 to a couple of meg, and expand hda5 to what you need. No re-config needed at all, since the partition config will remain the same.

Any flaws people can think of?

GS

ftgs

[MrDoolie]

Ah, well, the key part that I didn't know until you guys told me was that there is a Partition Magic clone (qparted) that will not destroy data while resizing, That makes it so easy.

Thank you