Win2K setup partition trouble

[Robin Forster]

I recently had to reinstall Windows 2000
on my PC. My original partition was Drive F:
and I installed to Drive G:.

Now everything is working fine but I would like to
get rid of the F: partition and install Linux on it.

Is this safe? What will happen when I delete the F:
partition?

Win2k setup has been very kooky and I am now entirely
paranoid.

Robin.

[John Thompson]

On 2003-11-10, Robin Forster <robin.forster@sympatico.ca> wrote:
I recently had to reinstall Windows 2000 on my PC. My original partition was Drive F: and I installed to Drive G:. Now everything is working fine but I would like to get rid of the F: partition and install Linux on it. Is this safe? What will happen when I delete the F: partition?

When F: is deleted or no longer a partition type recognized by Windows,
your G: drive will become F: and any hard-coded references to G: in, say,
the registry, application config files, etc. will no longer point to a
valid location. Your boot loader may also complain and/or refuse to
work if your partitions change or a non-Windows partition type is
inserted before your Windows boot partition. Trouble, in other words.

If you have a program like Partition Magic, you could shrink your existing
F: and move G: to create free space at the end of your hard drive in which
to install linux. By leaving your drive lettering unchanged you are less
likely to confuse Windows after installing linux.
Win2k setup has been very kooky and I am now entirely paranoid.

Windows is not very accommodating to non-standard installations (eg,
anything other than a C: system installation), making you jump through
all sorts on non-intuitive hoops to make it work. You'll find linux (or
any non-Microsoft operating system) much more flexible in that regard.

--

-John (JohnThompson@new.rr.com)