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

[Ric Moore]

On Tue, 2010-08-24 at 23:22 -0700, Robert Swanson wrote:
> 
> 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.

You didn't have MS on the primary 1st partition?? Ric


-- 
My father, Victor Moore (Vic) used to say:
"There are two Great Sins in the world...
..the Sin of Ignorance, and the Sin of Stupidity.
Only the former may be overcome." R.I.P. Dad.
Linux user# 44256