[SOLVED] fdisk partition table for dual boot

[kettle]

I am running windowsXP on a new laptop; however I want to convert this to a dual boot system, running both XP and fedora 4. I think I can run fdisk (i've done this one time before), but am looking for an example of a very simple partition table which will be sufficient to run both linux and XP i.e.,
boot partition,
windows partition,
linux partition

i am not sure what size i should specify for the boot partition. I am not sure what filesystem types I should specify for any of the partitions (ntfs, fat32??).

[je_fro]

You don't really need a boot partition, just install GRUB on the MBR. I'd make hda1 for windows (maybe fat32, I dunno), hda2 swap, hda3 Linux, and hda4 a fat32 partition you can share between your OS's. You might want to try FC5 too, I hear it's pretty slick.

[saikee]

I recommend downloading Kanotix or Knoppix because they have QTParted that can help you to resize a XP partition. You can then use its fdisk (my favourite is cfdisk) to create the partitions as suggested by je_fro.

I second je_fro partitioning scheme and believe a /boot partition is a waste of time for a newcomer. I have over triple-digit number of Linux in the box and each works harmonisly in a single partition.

Installing a Linux into several partitions is a way of achieving performance and ease of maintenance for large server systems but that is counterproductive for a newbie as he/she ends up with confusion than benefit. This is particularly true for /boot partition which is only necessary for a Linux using LVM, a technique bridging several disks together as one unit.

[kettle]

Thanks for the advice, now its time to get down and do the dirty work. Hopefully it won't be too painful.

lata

[kettle]

thanks again! i got it up and running with no major problems - except that I seem to have no sound support for my new Panasonic CF-W4 - which seems odd. Hopefully I'll find a way to get that running in short order. but the dual boot stuff is running fine. thanks for the partitioning advice.