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68 lines
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<!Converted with LaTeX2HTML 95.1 (Fri Jan 20 1995) by Nikos Drakos (nikos@cbl.leeds.ac.uk), CBLU, University of Leeds >
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<TITLE>2.2.2 Repartitioning concepts</TITLE>
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<BR> <HR><A NAME=tex2html2549 HREF="node68.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="next" SRC="next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2547 HREF="node65.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="up" SRC="up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2541 HREF="node66.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="previous" SRC="previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2551 HREF="node1.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="contents" SRC="contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2552 HREF="node250.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="index" SRC="index_motif.gif"></A> <BR>
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<B> Next:</B> <A NAME=tex2html2550 HREF="node68.html">2.2.3 Linux partition requirements</A>
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<B>Up:</B> <A NAME=tex2html2548 HREF="node65.html">2.2 Preparing to Install </A>
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<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME=tex2html2542 HREF="node66.html">2.2.1 Installation overview</A>
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<H2><A NAME=SECTION00422000000000000000>2.2.2 Repartitioning concepts</A></H2>
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<P>
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<A NAME=1000> </A>
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<A NAME=1001> </A>
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<A NAME=1002> </A>
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In general, hard drives are divided into <em>partitions</em>, where a single
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partition is devoted to a single operating system. For example, on one
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hard drive, you may have several separate partitions---one devoted to,
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say, MS-DOS, another to OS/2, and another to Linux.
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<P>
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If you already have other software installed on your system, you may need
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to resize those partitions in order to free up space for Linux. You will
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then create one or more Linux partitions on the resulting free space for
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storing the Linux software and swap space. We call this process
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<em>repartitioning</em>.
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<P>
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Many MS-DOS systems utilize a single partition inhabiting the entire
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drive. To MS-DOS, this partition is known as <tt>C:</tt>. If you have more than
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one partition, MS-DOS names them <tt>D:</tt>, <tt>E:</tt>, and so on.
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In a way, each partition acts like a separate hard drive.
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<P>
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<A NAME=1008> </A>
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<A NAME=1009> </A>
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On the first sector of the disk is a <b>master boot record</b> along with
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a <b>partition table</b>. The boot record (as the name implies) is used to
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boot the system. The partition table contains information about the locations
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and sizes of your partitions.
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<P>
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There are three kinds of partitions: <b>primary</b>, <b>extended</b>, and
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<b>logical</b>. Of these, primary partitions are used most often.
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However, because of a limit in the size of the partition table, you can
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only have four primary partitions on any given drive.
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<P>
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The way around this four-partition limit is to use an extended partition.
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An extended partition doesn't hold any data by itself; instead, it acts
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as a ``container'' for logical partitions. Therefore, you could create one
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extended partition, covering the entire drive, and within it create many
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logical partitions. However, you may have only one extended partition per
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drive.
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<P>
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<BR> <HR><A NAME=tex2html2549 HREF="node68.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="next" SRC="next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2547 HREF="node65.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="up" SRC="up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2541 HREF="node66.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="previous" SRC="previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2551 HREF="node1.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="contents" SRC="contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html2552 HREF="node250.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="index" SRC="index_motif.gif"></A> <BR>
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<B> Next:</B> <A NAME=tex2html2550 HREF="node68.html">2.2.3 Linux partition requirements</A>
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<B>Up:</B> <A NAME=tex2html2548 HREF="node65.html">2.2 Preparing to Install </A>
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<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME=tex2html2542 HREF="node66.html">2.2.1 Installation overview</A>
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<BR> <HR> <P>
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<BR> <HR>
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<P><ADDRESS>
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<I>Matt Welsh <BR>
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mdw@sunsite.unc.edu</I>
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</ADDRESS>
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