Aaron wrote:
> Well, the subject says it...
>
> I have installed Mandrake Linux 10.0 successful on my second
> harddrive, and can run it, but can no longer boot Windows ME from my
> primary IDE disk. In fact, when I try to use a boot disk, there are
> no harddrives shown on the primary drive. I believe the problem
> arises from something that Linux did to the Dynamic Drive Overlay.
>
> DDO is a harddrive thing that allows older computers to recogonize
> disks larger than they are supposed to be able to, I believe. What
> has Linux done?
>
> Some background information:
>
> Primary HDD: Maxtor 120GB, 3 partitions (Windows OS, Programs, and
> Storage)
> Secondary HDD: Seagate 20GB (With Linux now on it)
>
> Another question: I had a lot of problems when I took the secondary
> drive out of Windows, because it shifted all the drive letters except
> C: up one. Luckily, I found the program "Letter Assigner" and was
> able to fix that. Having all my programs installed on the F drive
> which suddenly change to E wreaked havoc on all of my shortcuts.
That
> brings me to the question: Is it worth it to have programs and such
> separated from the OS? If not, what a pain it has been.
>
> Any response is appreciated, as my computer is inoperational until I
> can get Windows to boot. That is, unless I use Linux, but then I
need
> to configure CD-RW, wireless network card, etc... what a pain!
>
> Aaron
Seems you have a rather complicated situation. don't really know about
this, but it seems most newer versions of both LILO and GRUB (linux
bootloaders), at least for SuSE Linux (again, not too sure about
mandrake), seem incapable of loading to Windows on my systems. to
further complicate the situation, Windows is happy only on a primary
drive on a primary partition (ie Primary master drive, first partition,
in linux, hda1) there is a workaround i found. I can honestly say i've
never heard of DDO, but there is a way to make the OS install on two
different drives, thinking each drive is a primary (this works really
good with a Linux/windows config). this is done quite easily byhooking
up only one hard drive at a time at boot time. Linux will read a
primary slave as hdb regardless of wether or not there is a primary
master (just don't set your drives for cable select, OK?). in order for
this to work, Linux must be installed FIRST WITHOUT the windows drive
connected, then, windows must be installed without the Linux drive
connected. once this is done, you can select which drive to boot to in
the BIOS setup (a little bit of a hassle sometimes, but it works)
as far as your second question, If you're a frequent hardware upgrader,
then such a thing might be a bad idea, but, If you have a system or way
of managing the fact that the programs are separate from the OS you
should be fine.
Finally, I would like to have you note a personal bias against Mandrake
Linux. my experiences with said linux distribution have been neither
good nor fun. In the server industry, Microsoft has heavy competition
from Novell, UNIX, and Linux. Novell absorbed a company that made a
Linux Distribution, but still produces the Linux distribution this
company made. the name of this Linux distribution is SuSE, and it can
be found at
http://www.suse.com or you can buy it through
http://www.compusa.com This distribution receives high praise from both
myself and the high school i just graduated from 2.5 months ago. It is
an excellent distribution for both the new and the experienced user
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