Dualboot: opensuse + WindowsXP

Hi guys,
I’ve been hearing about openSUSE for quite a long time now and heard of its popularity.

I was wandering and looking at reviews on openSUSE and it seems to be a great distro i’m looking forward to install.

Now, i’m asking some questions on dual booting.

Question 1:
My old distro is Linux Mint dualbooting with Windows XP.
I have Partition Magic and I deleted the ext3 and swap partition.
So now, it’s unallocated.

Will the openSUSE installer instantly/immediately locate the blank partition and automatically use that space for opensuse, therefore, keep windows the way it is?

Question 2:
I’m getting a Gnome CD version.

How many CDs do I need?
Some sources say 4?!?!

Regards and all the best

Will the openSUSE installer instantly/immediately locate the blank partition and automatically use that space for opensuse, therefore, keep windows the way it is?

Yes. Backups still are a good idea…

Question 2:
I’m getting a Gnome CD version.

How many CDs do I need?
Some sources say 4?!?!

Huh? Which sources do say so? When going → here and choosing the Gnome-CD-Version, it is just one CD. I still recommend the DVD-version, since it’s not only convenient, but also sometimes necessary to have more than just the most basic software at hand, no matter whether the internet is working or not.

I would use Parted Magic and create:
/ (for root) 10 - 20 GB) ext3
/home (as big as you can) ext3
swap (1GB)

Download from here:
Software.openSUSE.org

Preferably use bittorrent and get the DVD.

GRUB Boot Multiboot openSUSE Windows (2000, XP, Vista) using the Grub bootloader.

Partitioning/Install Guide - openSUSE Forums

[QUOTE=caf4926;1896304]I would use Parted Magic and create:
/ (for root) 10 - 20 GB) ext3
/home (as big as you can) ext3
swap (1GB)

Download from here:
Software.openSUSE.org

Preferably use bittorrent and get the DVD.

GRUB Boot Multiboot openSUSE Windows (2000, XP, Vista) using the Grub bootloader.

Partitioning/Install Guide - openSUSE Forums[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the fast replies.
I’m downloading it right now…since internet in my country is incredibly slow, it would take about 30hrs to get the dvd version.

One more question, what’s the difference between creating:
/ (for root) 10 - 20 GB) ext3
/home (as big as you can) ext3
swap (1GB)

and letting the installer autoallocate?

Thanks again

I still recommend the DVD-version, since it’s not only convenient, but also sometimes necessary to have more than just the most basic software at hand, no matter whether the internet is working or not.

You still get the same repos as the dvd version, am i correct?

Well it’s just they way I would do it. The installer will see right away you have partitions ready. There is always the chance that it will try and do some re-size on XP.

As you seemed to have some knowledge from the content of your post, I though it best to recommend as I did.

Add to that, I would also use custom partitioning during install so I can get the mount of windows the way I want it. The default should do it for you though.

N.B.
If you have a windows recovery too. It will mean you already have 2 Primary Partitions (you can have a Max of 4) So if this is the case, you create / (root) as primary. Use all the remaining space to create an extended and then create /home and swap inside there.

And what are the chances of something going wrong if i let the process configure it automatically? In percentage?

thanks

You should be fine. Just read carefully the proposal the installer makes.