Formatting Q: swap drive

[VulcanSoulPatch]

Hey all!

I am finally getting ready to format the new 80GB D740X that I purchased a little while back. I am reading (and will use) <A HREF="http://fdisk.radified.com/" target="_new">Doc's FDISK Guide to Hard Drive Partitioning</A> to aid me in the process of setting it up. On <A HREF="http://fdisk.radified.com/fdisk_02.htm" target="_new">Page 2</A> of the guide, Doc mentions that the

The tiny partition right after [my Linux EXT2 partition] is my (128MB) Linux swap.

This got me thinking . . . <font color=red>how do I format the drive to have a dedicated swap partition?</font color=red> Is it even necessary if I am only going to run Win98?

My current formatting plan is to have a 7.9GB C: (OS & utils), 15.9GB D: (games), 15.9GB E: (more games), and a 40.3GB F: (audio & video).

For the record, the HDD I am upgrading from was 6.4GB, so I am still wondering what I am going to do with all of this space. :tongue:

I am also thinking of flashing my BIOS prior to FDISKing. My board is circa 1998, so I know it needs a good flashing to make it able to support a partition greater than 32GB. I have never done this before, so I found <A HREF="http://www.epox.com/html/english/support/motherboard/Get.asp?article=1302" target="_new">"How do I flash the BIOS?"</A> on my mobo mfr's website. One other question: the site states:

Note: the DOS floppy disk should contain NO device drivers or other programs that load during the boot other than the operating system itself.

I have a Win98 boot disk with all files dated 5-11-1998 (except the new FDISK file for >64GB HDD) . . . <font color=red>this should meet the criteria mentioned, correct?</font color=red>

Thanks in advance!

VSP

<i>Upon the occasion in which the defecation comes into contact with the oscillating ventilator.</i>

 

[VulcanSoulPatch]

BUMP

<i>Upon the occasion in which the defecation comes into contact with the oscillating ventilator.</i>

 

[jlanka]

the best scheme for swap would be to use the old drive for it on a seperate IDE bus.

AFA BIOS flashing, just use your 98 boot diskette, but rem out stuff like the CDrom driver, himem.sys etc. from config.sys.

<i>It's always the one thing you never suspected.</i>

 

[VulcanSoulPatch]

Thanks for the info . . . I am going to try that this weekend.

VSP

<i>Upon the occasion in which the defecation comes into contact with the oscillating ventilator.</i>

 

[camieabz]

Not sure about Linux, but the recommended option for swapfiles in Windows is the most used partition on the least used drive, or in other words, the primary partition of another physical drive.

I would have thought with a Linux OS setup the swapfile partition is one of the first setup processes. Wouldn't it be pretty near the 'front' of the drive anyway?

<b><font color=blue>~ What do you mean "It isn't working!"...Now where's my sonic screwdriver? ~ </font color=blue></b>

 

[VulcanSoulPatch]

I was thinking that after I get my new HDD formatted and set up and all, I would attempt to reformat and "fix" my 6.4GB and set it up with the swap as you, <b>Toey</b>, and <b>jlanka</b> have mentioned. So, once I format it and set it up as a slave disk, <font color=red>how do I redirect Win98 to use it for swapping?</font color=red>

As for Linux, I am clueless. A frontier I have yet to venture into.

VSP

<i>Upon the occasion in which the defecation comes into contact with the oscillating ventilator.</i>

 

[camieabz]

For a start it's best to have an empty drive.

Well to move the swapfile you right-click My Computer/properties/performance/virtual memory/specify my own settings and change it to the drive in question. Decide on the size of it and fix it for optimal setting (make sure you allocate lots though, as if you run out you'll have probs), and follow Windows prompts for re-start.

Defrag the drive to make sure, and you're ready to go. Oh and remember where the swapfile is, because if you mess with partitioning/re-formatting and other scaries, you mess up the registry end of the swapfile settings.

<b><font color=blue>~ What do you mean "It isn't working!"...Now where's my sonic screwdriver? ~ </font color=blue></b>