How to delete all partitions for a complete reinstall

[Tod Merley]

On 8/16/06, ZHAO Keliang Kevin <cs_zkx at stu.ust.hk> wrote:
> Hah, Thank you guys for the help and the discussion on the interesting
> dd issue. I learned dd before but hardly used it. Now you make me
> recall that it can fill MBR with 0s so easily.
>
> But does filling MBR with 0 mean that my harddisk becomes
> partition-less and other programs will be cheated and believed that
> there is nothing on the disk?
>
> Regards,
> Kevin
>
> On 8/16/06, Alexander Skwar <listen at alexander.skwar.name> wrote:
> > · Tony Arnold <tony.arnold at manchester.ac.uk>:
> >
> > > On Tue, 2006-08-15 at 09:11 -0700, Eric Hanchrow wrote:
> > >>         As you can see, dd with bs=1 took 2.231s. With bs=512, it took
> > >>         0.011s.
> > >>
> > >> And how much time have you all spent fussing over which way is faster?
> > >
> > > I was just keen to improve my knowledge of the dd command and to satisfy
> > > my insatiable curiosity about all things Linux! And the discussion has
> > > been quite useful in doing just that.
> >
> > Further, contrary what to what Eric is trying to imply, that's
> > not just an "academical" discussion. Write a 100MB file with
> > bs=1 and with bs=100mb (or better: with 8k; I seem to remember,
> > that 8k gives best performance).
> >
> > But I suppose his comment was made just because of a lack
> > of knowledge on the side of Eric.
> >
> > Alexander Skwar
> > --
> > Die Menschen sind ihrer Zeit ähnlicher als ihren Vätern.
> >                 -- Heinrich Leberecht Fleischer
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > ubuntu-users mailing list
> > ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
> > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
> >
>
>
> --
> Kevin ZHAO Keliang
> Department of Computer Science and Engineering
> Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
>
> --
> ubuntu-users mailing list
> ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
>

Hi Kevin!

You apparently did not get my two previous e-mails (in spam?) but here
they are together.

The short answer.

A. During the XP install process you can delete all of your partitions
(you will need to fix the MBR to do so - see previous post - or do a
"XP fix mbr" in Google and realize that if your system is simple (a C:
drive only for XP) then just the "fixmbr" command will work).

B. Reduce the size of the XP partition - see below ("find on page" "ntfs"):

http://www.linuxmigration.com/quickref/install/disk.html#ntfs

http://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfsresize.html

C. Install Ubuntu.  I have never actually done this (XP / Ubuntu dual
boot).  I know that Ubuntu automatically includes an FC5 pre-existing
partition in the new GRUB menu (shows on boot allowing you to choose
other than the default if you do so within about ten seconds).  If you
only see your new Ubuntu option in GRUB you will need to edit your
/boot/grub/menu.lst file (see GRUB manual previous post).

A more involved approach:

0.  Purchase a "Don't Panic!" button and install on your desk.  Also
purchase a bath towel.  See "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" for
details.

1. Realize that disk partitioning is deep computer surgery.  It is
easy to loose everything.  Take the time to know what you are doing.

2. I believe that your OEM disks do not like your current Master Boot
Record.  Ubuntu uses GRUB (GRand Unified Bootloader) which has about
three stages the first of which is contained in the Master Boot Record
(MBR) - the first 512 bytes of your disk.  If you installed XP first
(I hope you did, life is easier if you did) then you simply need to
append to your GRUB configuration file telling it where XP is and
"chainloading" it's installer.  If you partitioned your disk using
Ubuntu then it will be harder to install XP.  If you did, you would
need to do a "fixmbr" from the rescue console in order to enable XP to
proceed ( http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3975 ).

3. Read, Read, Read:

Dual Boot How-To(s):

http://www.crhc.uiuc.edu/~mjmille2/howtos/dual-boot-linux-and-windows/

http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/p3.htm

http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2006/05/08/dual-boot-laptop.html

GRUB:    http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/

MBR:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_boot_record

http://www.geocities.com/thestarman3/asm/mbr/MBR_in_detail.htm

http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-linuxboot/

http://linuxgazette.net/issue63/okopnik.html

Partitioning:

(Note: requires "find in document" "partition")
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/other-formats/pdf/

4.  Write down on a sheet of paper exactly what you want to do (large
outline) then fill in the outline with specific steps with the exact
GUI or command line commands to accomplish that.  If there is info on
the disk you need, transfer it elsewhere before you start!

Have a Great Time!

Tod