gentoo partioning question

[LoGost]

its been a while since ive done this partioning thing but heres my question
under fdisk
hda1 10g ntfs xp install
hda2 10g-end off disk win 98or95 something
hda5 10g-30g = my 20g backup partion under ntfs

my question is whats with hda2 and how should i set up partions for my xp/linux dual boot such as

boot 64m (ext2)
swap 512m (well swap)
root(undecided size) (ext3)

and do i need to set up parts for /home /usr /opt /var and /
now i think i want a /home for progs i believe

i have taken this setup from the gentoo handbook should i go with the basic 3 partions or add 4 extra any suggestions apprecitated

oh yeah and should any of the partions be primary/logical

[Morphine Drip]

if you have room left on your hda2 (extended partition?) then i would create 4 partitions for linux

swap
/
/home
/boot

you can, of course, micromanage the paritions by adding ones for /opt, /var...but thats up to you. the above, imo, is just fine.....just preference.

[LoGost]

ok thats sounds like the way i want to go....
now filesystems that just a prefrence or certain way that needs to be handled

[Morphine Drip]

if your question is what type of filesystem to use then the answer is any you would prefer.

there are a number of them. on my own machines i use ext3.

[deathadder]

If you have a seperate /boot like Morphine Drip suggested, then I would suggest that you use ext2 on it, apart from that ext3 is a tried and tested filesystem. There are a number of programs that you can use in Windows to browse it if need be.