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Date:      Wed, 16 Aug 2000 16:26:03 -0400
From:      Nathan Vidican <webmaster@wmptl.com>
To:        lyle jorgensen <lylejorgensen@yahoo.com>
Cc:        questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: have i got it right
Message-ID:  <399AF8DB.92608367@wmptl.com>
References:  <20000816151710.2223.qmail@web613.mail.yahoo.com>

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lyle jorgensen wrote:
> 
> I am enrolled at UMSL (University of Missouri, St Louis) in a basic
> programmers class. We will be using the C language on a UNIX server. I
> am a little farmiliar with "C" but know nothing about UNIX. I desire
> to load freebsd on my computer to learn "everything you always wanted
> to know about UNIX but were to dumb to ask" in one week.
> 
> Tell me if I understand this thing correctly, please.
> 
> I have downloaded and I believe understand how to build the 2
> floppies. I have downloaded the "BIN" files to my c drive. I am
> running win98 on a DFI AT motherboard with a AMDK6 450 processor, with
> two IDE hard drives and 32M memory. I plan to make my secondary hard
> drive, a 450M IDE, my freebsd drive.
> 
> Here is my plan of attack:
> 
> First make the two floppies. Turn off my machine and reconfigure so
> that the 450 drive is master and my normal drive slave. boot with the
> first floppie in the A drive. steer the program to my normal drive
> where the BIN files are downloaded.
> 
> Will this work? Can freebsd read DOS drives? Is there a whole bunch of
> stuff I still don't properly understand? How can I be sure that I
> won't wipe out my normal C drive?
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> lyle
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Yes, FreeBSD can read dos partitions, and yes your basic plan of attack
should work. Two things though:
	1- while partitioning your slices, make sure you mount your old 'C:'
drive 	   to '/msdos'
	2- check the release notes for the release you plan to install, some
msdos 	installtions require all the files be placed in c:\freebsd\bin,
etc, some 	require c:\bin.
You must also make sure to set both the windows partition(s), and the
freebsd partition(s) active so they are bootable, and use the freebsd
boot mgr.

Beyond that, it shouldn't be any problem. Freebsd will not erase
anything from your windows partition unless you instruct it to do so.
	FYI: where you said:
> I desire
> to load freebsd on my computer to learn "everything you always wanted
> to know about UNIX but were to dumb to ask" in one week.
> 
> Tell me if I understand this thing correctly, please.
> 
	I'm telling you ahead of time that you don't understand; having no UNIX
background whatsoever, you will not be able to learn 'everything you
always wanted to know about UNIX' in one week. This is my fourth year
using FreeBSD now, and sixth with Unix in general and I'll openly admit
that there is a HUGE amount I still don't know, but desire to.
	As with any technology, 'UNIX' advances quickly. Because FreeBSD is
open-sourced, this advancement actually moves even quicker than most
other software. I am not trying to condemn your efforts, maybe your a
genious and you pick things up really quickly or something. I'm just
thinking you're probably a little naive in thinking you can learn it all
in a week. Stick with it though, and you'll learn a lot more than you
think.

-- 
Nathan Vidican
webmaster@wmptl.com
Windsor Match Plate & Tool Ltd.
http://www.wmptl.com/


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