Before Installation

Linux will need to create additional partitions on your harddisk. So you have to decide if you want to keep your existing partitions and you will have to resize them.

There are several tools for creating, deleting and resizing partitions. I use Acronis Disk Manager to do that and formerly worked with success with partition magic. There is also free software available.

So just to give you an impression of the partitions I used with my linux-system - here is the picture I made in 2004 with partition magic:

DOS-Partition

First of all you should decide, if you want to keep a dos partition on your harddisk - for instance if you want to run a combination of Windows 3.1 (or 95) and Word. Even in 2007 the machine makes a pretty good typewriter for travelling (although a communicator cell phone may make a cooler impression).

If you have a Compaq Contura Aero 4/33 and intend to use Linux, it may be useful to start the kernel from DOS with Loadlin - the BIOS of the 4/33 sets the CPU to powersafe mode at boot, so when Linux is started directly by a loader in the Master Boot Record (LILO, GRUB) it unfortunately seems to detect the wrong CPU speed and thus runs even slower than the machine already is. So it would be worth to keep a bootable, primary dos partition.

Compaq Diagnostics-Partition

Second: On the aero you need the Compaq Diagnostics Partition to have access to setup. So let it on your harddisk, don't delete it. Reinstall it with SP2054 if you use a brandnew unpartitioned disk.

Hibernation partition

Number Three: If you have Windows 95 installed on the primary partition and want to use hibernation with it, you have to keep a third dos-partition with a FAT16-filesystem. Windows 95 will likely use FAT32, but Compaqs old hibernate-tool can only use FAT16.

Partitioning

So I already had three partitions on my harddisk:

DOS-Name	Linux Name/Format	purpose	

-: 	hda3 (fat)  	compaq diagnostics partition
c: 	hda1 (vfat) 	Windows 95 boot partition (fat32)
d: 	hda5 (fat)  	hibernation partition (fat16)

To prepare for the installation of Linux I followed the suggestions of Mr. Mourani from his book "Securing and optimizing linux". He suggests these partitions:

The device numbers match my above mentioned partitions. Take care: Perhaps your numbers ore others.

Mount-
Point	Device	minimum	Type
/boot	hda6	7M	Linux Native
	hda7	517M	Linux Swap
/	hda8	258M	Linux Native
/usr	hda9	517M	Linux Native
/home	hda10	5702M	Linux Native
/chroot	hda11	258M	Linux Native
/var	hda12	258M	Linux Native
/var/lib	hda13	1004M	Linux Native
/tmp	hda14	227M	Linux Native

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