what disklabel to set on a hd I am reusing for a Linux only system

[Robert Swanson]

On Tuesday 24 August 2010 22:53, Rashkae wrote:
> Robert Swanson wrote:
> > Thanks,
> > 	The reason I was asking, was I wanted to get away from the msdos
> > extended partitions.  The last hard drive that bit the dust was because
> > of some sort of failure in the extended partition and I wasn't able to
> > recover any of the data.  I did have it backed up, but it caused a much
> > larger problem than I would have had by having the seperate partitions.
>
> I really doubt that.  If you had a disk failure that scrambles your
> partition tables, all bets are off.  Partition tables don't just have
> "some kind of failure" on a whim.

I was running a multi boot setup with microcrap ME, Mandrake, and Gentoo.  I 
was using GRUB, and the setup had worked perfectly for over three years.  One 
day my wife booted up in m$, and when I looked for a m$ partition that was 
part of the extended partition, it had all been destroyed by some 
MS "feature" .  The only thing remaining on the drive, were the primary 
partitions, but partition table for the extended partions been rewritten to 
include the rest of the drive.  
	My wife knew how to start the computer in either MS or either of the two 
Iinuxes, and she had no knowledge that the problem had occurred.  Nobody has 
access to the computers but her and I.
So, yes, the partables can be rewritten on a whim if a person is using an MS 
product.  The extended partitions are a cludge.
Bob