Prim./Logi. parti. essential by LINUX, their nesting, coexi. with >1 WIN's  prim. part., & reclaiming LINUX parti. as FAT32

From :
Inderpreet Singh Arora
B.E. III yr, I.T.
Jaipur, Rajasthan ( INDIA ).      

Email :  inderpreetsinghit@rediffmail.com.


Hi Sir!
After all possible internet searches and experiments, i concluded that this type of query couldn't be answered by a book or manual, but comes from experience only!
Hence, i request you, despite this being lengthy, to send help as soon as possible!


SUB : Partitions by RED HAT LINUX 8.0.


SPECIFICATIONS :
Samsung "Spin Point" 40 GB HD, SV4012H.
Intel P III, 128 MB SD-RAM, rest everything modern and compatible.

REQUIREMENTS :

Note : The Partition sizes mentioned are converted to somewhat less,
       w.r.t. their respective percentages out of 40 GB.

The following scheme is desired :
Pri. DOS : 10 GB   ->  C
Ext. DOS : 20 GB
           In which,
           10 GB   ->  D
           10 GB   ->  E
           
           
           In C, WIN 98 has been installed.
           In D, WIN-XP has been loaded "in coexistence", i.e.,
           choosing the option "leave my current OS intact".


Outside Ext. DOS : 10 GB free.
        Out of this, on the first 3 GB, WIN 2000 Pro.( Final ) was
        loaded, with FAT system, as, in its "SETUP", it allows to
        create a partition in the 'remaining' free space.
       
        Then, it was formatted from DOS ( removing WIn-2000 ), with the
        purpose of :
        keeping this 3 GB, usable by all kinds of Windows on the
        system, and yet kept flexible ( as outside Ext. DOS ) for
        future requirements,... as partitions inside Ext. DOS, for
        important changes, require the whole Ext. block to be re-built,
        & hence data is lost.


Then, what is left is the last 7 GB :
        Now, on the first 1.5 GB, we "actually" load WIN 2000 Pro.,
        with NTFS file-system.
        On the next 1.5 GB, we load WIN NT, with NTFS file-system.


What is left is 4 GB, on which we intend to load LINUX.( RED HAT, 8.0 )

       
Reason   : To enhance my experience & knowledge of various types of
           working environments !
Question : Is this arrangement wise?
           
PROBLEM # 1 :
        First of all, i don't have a good knowledge of LINUX-Fdisk, and
        me & my friend have already lost control of the mbr once on his
        HD, trying fdisk.
 
        Now, when we approach "Disk-Druid", it doesn't allow us to
        create completely, all the three components, ->
        /boot   100 MB
        swap    256 MB ( double of my RAM )
        /       Remaining.
        It allows only ( any ) one of them, & sometimes, any second one
        too, but any further gives this message :

        ERROR PARTITIONING : Can't allocate requested partitions,..
                             partitioning failed.    
       
        My net-help made me learn that ATMOST "4" primary" partitions  
        are possible, out of which, ONLY one can be "turned" into an
        'Extended' partition ( for logical drives ),so i'm left with
        two options :
       
        1) 36 GB Primary, to WIN-98, & rest to LINUX, b'coz it demands
           its three primary partitions ->
           /
           /boot
           /swap
         
           Answer : Doesn't solve my problem "AT ALL", & is a very
                    compromising, unintelligent solution !!

         Solution : If one ( swap ), or two ( swap as wellas /boot )
                      sections of LINUX can be allotted under root (/)!
         
                      I this is possible, i can very well maintain an
                      Ext. DOS partition, which in turn will hold my
                      logical drives for WIN-XP, WIn-2000, & all my
                      for-experience Win-types!


         2) I shall install LINUX ( all three sections separate ) in
            any one logical partition, which i had created using
            DOS-Fdisk, but didn't format ( as is done ).
 
            Then i can accomodate other types of WIndows, outside
            extended ( as primary ) or inside separate logical,...
          anyways.            
            Question : Which one is recommended !

          If i do the above, is the logical partition, which i assign
            today to LINUX, flexible tomorrow ? i mean, if some
            more space for LINUX files or software is needed !, or  
            vice-versa ( reduction in size ).       
       


PROBLEM # 2 :
        This Problem is faced by all my colleagues and friends at
        college and is irrespective of how i install LINUX ( as
        guided by your answer above ):
       
        Once LINUX is installed, and you remove it, :
        i  ) by installing some WINdows, or...
        ii ) by using LINUX C.D.,
        "GRUB" still remains there, and also
        many people here have lost their data ( of Windows ) in the try
        to remove LINUX.
       
      By net-help, i learned that "fdisk /mbr" restores the original
        mbr, & thus removes GRUB completely.

        But nobody could "reclaim" the partition used earlier by LINUX,
        for any possible use for WINdows, unless he used the hard
        disk's "Disk Manager", losing all data.    
       
        Please give detailed guidelines, on how to restore
        partitions used earlier by LINUX, whether by shell commands, or
        any means, without losing data.  


Expecting an early reply, and thanking you,

Yours Sincerely,

Inderpreet Singh Arora
B.E. III yr, I.T.
Jaipur, Rajasthan ( INDIA ).      

Email :  inderpreetsinghit@rediffmail.com.