upgrade XP, keep pclos

[dougmack]

An old problem, with some twists.  The hd has XP-32 bit, and PCLOS-32bit.  Because of history, sda5 and sda7 are unused anymore. Pclos is on sda9 and sda11, and is running out of space, besides.
I would like to be able to do a couple of things, but don't know what might be the best way, and besides, when you tell me, I probably don't know how!  I'd like to upgrade XP to 64 bit, using a downloaded
install.  And I'd like to clean up the rest of the drive and give pclos some room.  the trick is, I don't want to lose anything in pclos.  I don't want to just save files, I want to save everything--all the programs,
the desktop, the links, the whole megilla.  I can copy sda9 and sda11 to a clean external hard drive, if necessary, if I have clear instructions, and then, with more clear instructions, copy them back to larger
partitions.  There are very few files on XP, and I can copy them to pclos before I start this journey.  For the reader's information, here's the disk layout.  sdb and sdc are external and can be disconnected before
I start; I have a 500GB blank new external drive I can use to facilitate the moves if needed. (I believe that I should format it to NTFS, is that correct?) For reference, here's the setup at present:

doug@Linux1 ~]$ df -a
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda9              12G  8.1G  3.4G  71% /
none                     0     0     0   -  /proc
none                     0     0     0   -  /dev/pts
/dev/sda11            208G   15G  194G   7% /home
/dev/sdb1             299G  207G   92G  70% /media/FreeAgent_Drive
/dev/sda8              30G   66M   30G   1% /media/sda8
none                     0     0     0   -  /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc
sunrpc                   0     0     0   -  /var/lib/nfs/rpc_pipefs
nfsd                     0     0     0   -  /proc/fs/nfsd
/proc                    0     0     0   -  /var/lib/named/proc
/dev/sda7             122G  2.0G  114G   2% /media/disk
/dev/sdc5              39G  188M   37G   1% /media/disk-1
/dev/sda6              25G  500M   23G   3% /media/disk-2
/dev/sda1              62G   14G   49G  22% /media/Windows
/dev/sdc1              59G   52M   56G   1% /media/disk-3

If further information is need, please tell me what you need.

Thanx for any assistance--doug

[CaptainSarcastic]

There are a couple of things I'd like to mention here.

First, you cannot "upgrade XP to 64-bit."  There is such a thing as Windows XP Pro 64-bit (I have it running on one of my machines), but it is a completely different operating system from 32-bit XP and there is no in-place upgrade.  You could replace your existing XP install with XP-64, but it would be a completely fresh installation.  You could do a straight install of XP-64, but you will need the appropriate license key for it.

If you're talking about going to Windows 7 64-bit using an upgrade disk, then it will still be a clean install, but will have your old XP files saved in a folder named Windows.old.

Second, about the partitions, I'd suggest using Gparted to resize the unusued partitions to next to nothing, maybe 10MB each.  This prevents you having to mess with the partition structure in terms of identification.  I accidentally hosed my old Gnome system by deleting the swap partition, which threw off the partitioning system - sda6 became sda5 and so on.  To avoid any work on that, just shrink the unused partitions down and expand the ones you want to be bigger.

Actually, on second glance, you said that sda5 and sda7 aren't used anymore, but I don't see an sda5 in what you posted.  Still, using Gparted to resize the existing partitions would probably be my approach.  Has worked for me in the past, once I learned (the hard way) that I needed to pay more attention to the partition structure.

[Just17]

/dev/sda9              12G  8.1G  3.4G  71% /
/dev/sda11            208G   15G  194G   7% /home

You could remaster PCLOS, specifying a working directory .....  and when it fails to create an ISO because of the size (23GB) you can use the resultant files to create a LiveUSB install of your remaster, which can then be checked by booting it and ensuring that all your files are present.

If creating a remaster for use on a LiveUSB device, then use the lightest compression available for the remaster.
The resultant files will be bigger, but the job will be done much quicker, and the LiveOS should run somewhat quicker too.

If that works out, then you can wipe the whole disk; recreate a set of partitions that suit your present needs; and proceed with installing XP & then PCLOS.

The alternative IMO, is to use rsync to copy the contents of the existing partitions to another drive, and when ready copy them back again to newly created & resized partitions.

There are posts on the forum which give details on doing this.
Very colourful ones from Old Polack 

[menotu]

Additionally, what CPU is it and is it 64bit capable?

Also, if you do end up reinstalling both I'd recommend doing the Windows one first and PCLinuxOS second

[dougmack]

Thank you folks for replying. I believe that rsync is the easier way to proceed--remaster looks complicated and confusing.  First to answer questions:  Captain Sarcastic points out that you cannot "upgrade" XP--OK, that
I know, I just used a poor choice of words. As I mentioned, there is not much of anything in XP I need to keep, so to replace it is no sweat. I have (hopefully) the opportunity to download a 64-bit copy with a key. If it
doesn't work, I have the disk that I installed the 32-bit version from, so I can go back. I have Win7 on another machine, and of course, I cannot make another copy and use it, and frankly, I like XP better--it is
slightly less controlling than 7.   Re: sda5 and sda7--I don't know why sda5 doesn't show up--it was there when I loaded the first Linux system quite some time ago. Anyway, your suggestion to just shrink the
partitions that do not presently hold pclos is worth while, and I'll do that. It will make the drive continue to look weird, but it should work fine. To Just17: I found some of the instructions from Old-Polack, probably not
all.  What I found will, with any luck, pull me thru.  To menotu: CPU is Intel Celeron E3400 @ 2.60 GHz; dual core 64 bits wide per core. I have a 64-bit live cd of pclos--I'll verify that it runs before trying to get XP-64
installed. (Hopefully pclos-64 will be officially released one of these days, but then I'll have THAT upgrade problem! It runs pretty well in a sandbox here.)

Question: Let us assume that I have rync'ed / and /home to an external hd, that I have changed the partitioning as per Captain Sarcastic,  that I have installed XP-64, and that I have copied back / and /home from the
external drive to partitions sda9 and sda11, now made much larger.  I assume XP will have wiped out my Linux boot.  How do I get it back?  Can I do Update mbr from the Live CD?  If not, then what? 

[Just17]

I assume XP will have wiped out my Linux boot.  How do I get it back?  Can I do Update mbr from the Live CD?  If not, then what?

You should be able to .......  although I have not much experience with that app.

It is a simple matter to do it from a Grub prompt in a terminal in any case.

Be aware that you will have to make some edits of files after you have copied / & /home back to their new partitions.

both fstab & menu.lst files will need editing to reflect the new locations and also the new UUIDs of the partitions.

[dougmack]

Thanx for the input, Just17.  I'm going to take the advice of the earlier poster, and make the partitions that I use the same as the ones pclos is
presently on, and just shrink the unused lower-numbered ones to minimum.  That should mean that fstab should be OK, and to redo mbr should
straighten out menu.lst, I would hope.

Might be a couple of days--I've just had a network problem here--only one computer--not the one I want to modify--can reach the internet or
the printers. The system is a bit of a kluge, anyway.  It's a router, a switch, and a printer converter.  (The last converts ethernet to usb or
parallel for my 11-year-old LaserJet.) If I don't clear it up I'm going to buy an 8-port router and simplify a little. (Three computers and two
printers equals five ports, so the old 4-port router doesn't hack it by itself.) The system died this afternoon. It never rains but it pours!

Anyway, the on-going saga. . . .

--doug

[Just17]

is it a multiport switch?  connecting it to one of the outputs of the router should give you sufficient connections.

or you could cascade 4 port routers, using one as a switch .... I use an older router in such a config at times ....

[dougmack]

I have the router and the switch hooked up as you say.  But something there seems to have become flaky, so I'm going to clean it up.  --doug

[The Chief]

just shrink the unused lower-numbered ones to minimum. 

Why not just delete the unused ones, and enlarge the ones you want to keep?

[dougmack]

I wasn't sure that would work.  OK, I'll do that.  I still want to protect them while I redo XP and restore multi-boot.  --doug

[The Chief]

Awhile back I did an installation, creating the three basic partitions (/, /home and swap) but then screwed up and ended up with /home mounted on the / partition.   The PCC "Manage disk partitions" allowed me to move /home to the unused partition, then detected that there were two /home's and offered to move all the files for me.  All in all, a rewarding experience.

[mellon]

If your main systems is PCLinuxOS then you may opt to get rid of the dual boot and run XP in Virtualbox. Deciding on that may also steer your options on where to put you normal user data and how to setup your partitions.

The intel celeron E3400 supports Virtualization if I'm correct. So, you may even try to run XP 64. I'm not sure though what extra benefit you expect from running XP-64.

I'm running win7 Ultimate 64 on my desktop machine in a Virtualbox and have XP 32 running in a Virtualbox on my laptop.
Both my systems have two hard disks. If you could add a disk, then I would recommend to do that.

I actually never plan to go back to a dual boot situation. 

Should you consider Virtualbox, I absolutely recommend to read the Virtualbox manual first.

Mellon

[dougmack]

I shrunk the unused partitions and expanded the partitions that pclos occupies, and got away with it. The system boots OK.  Now I'm debating
the XP, but I would definitely dual boot.  I had virtual XP on Win7 some time ago and it was terrible. No way I'll go that route again.
Thanx for the help and encouragement. If I put in XP-64 I'll be back and let everybody know what happens.
--doug

[Xenaflux]

I had virtual XP on Win7 some time ago....and it was terrible.

You don't build houses on quicksand !
I have 1 linux comp with 3Gb RAM, both XP and win7 in Vbox run fast on it.
I have 1 linux comp with 6Gb RAM (64bit ) and xp and win7 in Virtualbox are very fast

.....but I would definitely dual boot

I will consider dual booting only when you put a bazooka to my head.