Installing to desired partition

[jbravo]

Ok so im not a total linux noob but I am new to BT. That being said I cannot get it to install to my HDD the way I want. The only options I get are 1. guided install - use the whole drive minus what is being used by Windows 7 and 2. Manual(Which is misleading cause it doesnt let you do anything manually) - use the entire drive (deleting my Win 7 install). I sometimes get the other guided option which I explain below.

Here is what I have tried so far.

I went into disk management in win 7 and set aside a 20gb primary partition didnt format it or anything. Booted BT from disk, type startx, click install.sh, choose country and keyboard layout. Then I get to what I consider to be the worst part of linux, the partition screen. I have tried everything and I cannot manipulate anything on this screen. I got the 2 options listed above neither of which will work for me as it makes no sense for me to give BT a couple hundred GB while leaving Win 7 with only what it is currently using as it will be my main OS and win7 will not recognize the efs partition. I got the other guided but that one does the same as manual and just takes over the whole drive.

I also tried pre formatting the partitions. I carved up the 20GB I made in windows with the partition util in BT. I made a 15GB EFS3 partition and a 5GB swap partition and that only gave me 2 options guided and manual which both did the same thing. Take over the whole drive.

There has to be an way to get this to work and any help is much appreciated. I wish there was a way to click and drag and such on the partition screen to just tell BT where to install and then GRUB can let me dual boot to BT or Win 7.

[espreto]

Ok so im not a total linux noob but I am new to BT.

If you're not noob on linux, sure can solve their problems using backtrack. Backtrack is a Linux operating system like any other, only with greater tools and support for certain utilities.
I always give this tip to use the backtrack LiveDVD or pendrive.
Have you seen this howto?

Dual Boot | BackTrack Linux - Penetration Testing Distribution

Regards,

[Cryptovirus]

You're in luck, I had the same problem a while ago.

Assuming you've already carved up a partition using the Windows hard disk management utility, all you need to do to install backtrack into that specific drive is to select Manual on the page you're talking about - all the real magic happens on the next panel.

(I understand that you are already doing most of the following, but I want this to be helpful to others also)

Now, since you selected manual, the installer will show you all of your disks - select the partition where you want to install Backtrack, and delete it. You should now be able to right click it and create a new filesystem - I usually use Ext3 but use Ext4 if you have the option.

In the last text field where you are selecting the filesystem, put in a single slash (/). This tells the installer that this is where you want to install your OS.

Make a swap partition (or not), and your install should finish without problems (assuming your partition had enough space). GRUB should be working by default.

Good luck!

[jbravo]

I have seen the tutorial and it does nothing for me. I followed it exactly and all that happened was what I said in my OP. BT always tries to take over the entire drive. I did the guided install the first time I tried to install and BT took the whole drive. This is not what was described in the tutorial.

I have installed Ubuntu hundreds of times for myself and others as well as using other flavors of linux in my daily work as an admin and ive never had a problem doing a dual boot. As for the live disk, they are slow, why would I want to run off a dvd or usb that runs at a fraction of the speed of MY HDD.

Also, please try to use coherent English in your future posts.

If you're not noob on linux, sure can solve their problems using backtrack

Are you talking about me helping myself or someone else? Im not trying to be rude or insulting but it is difficult to follow what you mean. Im not sure if your insulting me or ignorant or if English is just not your first language. BTW i have been using these "tools" included in BT for years on Ubuntu so again not a noob. There seems to be a flaw with how BT looks at the drive to make space for itself. I understand BT is made from Ubuntu but I never have this issue with Ubuntu.