[ltp] Partitioning - how to keep IBM recovery partition active?

[linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org]

Quoting Lior David <liorda@gmail.com>:

> thanks for the quick reply!
> I couldn't find the answer to my question, so let me explain myself
> (due to my bad English :)
>
> Should I create (using parted) the linux partitions AFTER the recovery
> partition?
> Then configure NTLDR to boot from the third (linux) partition?
> After that I should be able to boot to the recovery partition as usual?
>
> Sorry for the nag, but I need your help doing that crucial step. I had
> to format my entire drive and restore it to the factory settings
> (using the recovery disks) after my last try failed.

It's not a nag, I'm glad to help. I went through a lot of aggravation figuring
this stuff out, and there's no reason for you to go through all that.

Since you said you restored to factory settings, you should have one 
big Windows
XP partition taking up most of the drive, and then the recovery 
partition at the
end of the drive. Use an appropriate tool to shrink the XP partition down to
whatever size you want (I used Qtparted on a Knoppix live CD), and then make
your Linux partitions in the free space. I made partitions for /, /boot, and
swap space. I would not try resizing or moving the recovery partition in any
way. Go ahead and install Linux, but write GRUB to the /boot partition, 
NOT the
MBR.

When you restart, Windows should load. It will complain about the size of the
partition being changed, but it should still boot up fine. If your Windows
installation is working ok, you need to set up NTLDR to dual-boot to Linux.
Google for "NTLDR Linux dual boot" and you'll find a number of nice guides on
how to do this. You'll probably want a Knoppix live CD to do this. Boot up
Knoppix, use dd to copy the Linux boot sector to a file, put the file on a
floppy or USB drive, then reboot into Windows and use that file to configure
NTLDR.

Once this is done, your machine should boot up into NTLDR, which will 
offer you
the choice of Windows or Linux. Choosing Linux will take you to GRUB, which
boots Linux for you. If you need to use the recovery partition, just press the
blue "Access IBM" button when you turn the computer on. It should load up
properly and allow you to restore Windows.

When you're making your partitions, you might also want to make a FAT32
partition, as this can be read and written to by both Windows and Linux. This
is useful for transferring files between the two operating systems.

Hope this helps.
Joe