Date: Mon, 1 Jun 1998 00:18:59 -0400 (EDT) From: CyberPeasant <djv@bedford.net> To: AwePlay@aol.com Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Uninstallation Message-ID: <199806010418.AAA00993@lucy.bedford.net> In-Reply-To: <ba9cb983.3571ff1a@aol.com> from "AwePlay@aol.com" at "May 31, 98 09:08:41 pm"
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AwePlay@aol.com wrote:
> Dear FreeBSD Team,
> I am currently running both Win95 and MS-DOS 7.5 on my system. Before I
> download any type of operating system onto my machine, I would like to know
> how easy it would be to unstaill the OS, and what dangers exist to my current
> files and OS's if I were to install FreeBSD.
> I can be reached only at aweplay@iname.com
>
Uninstalling is easy, just use DOG's fdisk to make the partitions
DOS-type. then reformat them with DOG's format. You may need to
use fdisk /mbr (which M$ doesn't document), to reset the master
boot record. BSD will not use any partitions dedicated to DOG or
Windoze for itself, except after installation, and only if you go
to special lengths. It will reside in its own separate partition(s).
To that extent, existing data is safe ... this is not a windoze
add-on or something that interacts with the W95 partitions. (In
normal use.) Once it is installed and booted, not one byte of M$
code will be involved in its operation.
When installing an OS, you must assume that existing OS's and
partitions will be ground to a powder. Backup first, and check
those backups for readibility. Insure that you have the right
programs on a DOS floppy, so you can reinstall the DOG and W95 if
things go sour. Although many people can install BSD into very
complicated multibooting situations, without loss of data, assume
that the worst will occur. Read the documentation on the web page
and on the CDROM or ftp site. The BSD installation scripts are
rather carefully designed, but they are not fail-safe against wiping
out a pre-existing OS. [In fact, the usual installation intends to
do just that.]
Once BSD is installed, DOS and W95 partitions are safer from BSD than
they are from their own OS.
I'm being very cautious here: most people do what you're proposing without
real problems.
Dave
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