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This section is for anybody who has only one primary FAT partition
(DOS, Windows 3.xx, NT) and wants to keep it without loosing
data. Make some backups because if you burn it, I won't be
responsible - you will.
Journey to PARTED
Andrew Clausen (clausen@gnu.org), GNU Parted maintainer, wrote "You
might want to mention GNU Parted in the PLIP-Install Howto." That is
done. Since I didn't try it I can only give you the links to
parted by http and
parted ftp. Help
yourself. Parted seems very good.
Andrew said: "GNU Parted is a *LOT* more powerful than FIPS (think
Partition Magic). For example, it can convert FAT16 <=> FAT32,
change the size of the FATs, doesn't require a defragger, etc. And
it supports ext2, linux-swap..."
Back to FIPS.
Download
FIPS. Don't forget the mirrors ftp.xx.debian.org
where xx is your country abbreviation (fr, fi, us, uk,
etc.).
At the time of this writing the archive file is called
fips20.zip.
The fips program is already in the debian cdrom
distribution. I found it (yes, after downloading the
fips20.zip file) in /cdrom/debian/tools/fips15.zip
(It supposes your cdrom is mounted on /cdrom)
I guess you are on a Unix world but you're not compelled to be. Go
in a good working place on the source computer:
$ mkdir /tmp/fips-2.0/
$ cd /tmp/fips-2.0/
$ unzip -l /archive/fips/fips20.zip
...
$ unzip /archive/fips/fips20.zip
...
$ ls
$ dos2unix fips.doc fips.faq readme.1st
- Read the file readme.1st
- Read the file fips.doc
- Read the file fips.faq
Boot your target computer. Be in pure DOS (quit Windows).
Read again the file fips.doc from the section
"5. Before you start".
Be aware of hidden files.
Graham's comment: Hidden files will not be moved by DeFrag (as far as
I know), so FIPS will reclaim less space for use by Linux. Use the
ATTRIB command to remove the "hidden" attribute. Some things may
require that files are hidden, so it will be necessary to hide the
same files again later. I think that it would also be a good idea to
run scandisk at this moment. Perhaps I do not trust DOS.
Be aware to eliminate the "virtual memory" file (swap for Win*)
during the fips process. In Windows 3.11 (quite up to date, no?)
this swap file is configured from
Program-Manager->Control-Panel->Enhanced (a i386 chip icon).
Click, Click->Click on the chip and re-click on a button
called "Virtual Memory".
Adjust the size to none, Click<-Click<-Click<-Click back plus Alt-F4
to close all your windows. Don't you think the Gates are closed too?
Graham's comment: I am not sure that this is a good idea. What
happens if "386spart.par" is not hidden? I think that DEFRAG will
move it, and Windows will complain next time it starts, then rebuild
the file. Since we are clearly keeping DOS/Windows, the user will
require a swap file again later. By not deleting it, the disc space
is reserved for that time.
Graham's new comment: "Make sure that the file is not hidden (attrib
-h -s 386spart.par), then delete it (del 386spart.par). The disc
space is then free. Run FIPS. Next time Windows starts, it will
complain that the file is corrupt, and will recreate it."
I don't what to say. I've just parroted FIPS manual because I
succeeded with it.
So drink coffee, and pray.
Run SCANDISK :
C:\> SCANDISK
Correct every cluster. You should have no dead cluster now.
Quit SCANDISK
Run DEFRAG on C:
C:\> DEFRAG C:
All used clusters are at the beginning of the hard disk.
Quit DEFRAG
Make a bootable floppy disk:
C:\> FORMAT A: /S
Copy AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
to the new floppy if you want to keep your local features (keyboard
keys etc.). Remove the line running SMARTDRIVE.EXE in
AUTOEXEC.BAT . Keep a minimal AUTOEXEC.BAT
On the source box: Copy the fips files
restorrb.exe, fips.exe and errors.txt to
this floppy disk.
$ mcopy errors.txt fips.exe restorrb.exe a:
Graham's comment: Doesn't this assume that mtools are installed? If
the floppy disc is mounted as type msdos, the standard "cp" command
should do the job, and mtools would not be needed. I have never
used mtools, but I have played with DOS files from Linux.
Yes, this assumes that mtools are installed. mcopy is
faster to type than mkdir, mount, cp, umount, rmdir .
Boot the target with the floppy. Run fips while reading the
section "Using FIPS" in the file fips.doc
Do not forget to answer yes when fips asks for a
rootboot saving.
When everything is ok, save your hard disk space:
$ cd
$ rm -rf /tmp/fips-2.0/
Now you have a nice free space for a new operating system.
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