Please help, new to linux

[LinuxMicrosoft]

Well, after the latest versions of windows, 128 megs of ram don't seem to be as much as they used to be.

So I have decided to switch to Linux, but like everybody else, I have encountered some problems, not annoying yet, though.

What I would like to do is have two separate partitions named C and F (or something like that) one has windows and the other one has linux on it. The problem is simple, I don't know how to do it. I have talked to a lot of people and they tell me what partition combinations are best, but they don't tell me how to set the partitions.

Would someone please help me out and tell me how to create/specify partitions and further more, how to get linux on a separate partition.

I bought linux Mandrake 7.2 for the convenience of CDs and an instruction manual as well. Would someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks

Dave

[jakieboy]

You need to have a piece of unpartitioned harddisk space to install Mandrake (or any linux distro for that matter) on.

Linux uses an ext2 filesystem and linux doesn't know any drive letters like windows (and dos) does, instead it uses a root filesystem.
So be sure you have an unpartitioned piece of harddisk space, boot from the cd and install Linux on THAT space, otherwise you'll lose your windows OS.

If you put Lilo or the grub (bootloaders) on the MBR you'll get a menu at bootup to choose which os you want to start.
Be aware thet both NT and win2000 have their own bootloaders that will cause problems, if you are running win98/me it will pose no problems.
But if you re-install win98/me it will overwrite the MBR, so DO make bootdisk when you get prompted, so you can also boot of that into Linux, and rerun lilo as user root.

Good luck.

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Everyone who has seen the windows sourcecode is now dead....from laughing

[scott_R]

you'll need a program that can safely partition your drive without losing your windows stuff. I personaly like fips, but many people use the graphical installers that come with their distro.

You'll want to read the docs for your distro, but it's something like this:

1) defrag your hd to make sure all your info is in one area of the drive.

2) run they partitioner to separate the disk into two logical parts. (you might want to run scandisk after this so that windows is aware of the change.

3) delete the formating on the new partition with fdisk (linux uses a different format, and after you separate the partitions, the old formatting remains.)

4) install linux on your new partition. You'll need to use a bootloader to access it, such as LILO, but it's usually installed as part of the distribution.

All of this is pretty trivial to do, except the first time, when you're worried you're going to screw things up. So make sure you read the instructions, otherwise you might wipe out your windows partition accidently. It's better to take another day to install linux than to lose all your work on the other OS. Take heart though, at the rate linux is improving, you probably wont need windows in a year or so. http://www.linuxnewbie.org/ubb/smile.gif

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RTFM=Rewrite The F***ing Manual
For more info, visit http://rute.sourceforge.net/
The snow's falling, and so is MS...:)

[witman]

Did you happen to read any of those exciting manulas that came with your distribution? It's amazing what you can learn.

I'm willing to bet that there's detailed, step-by-step instructions for loading Mandrake as a second OS.

You will enjoy your Linux experience more if you're willing to read everything.

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Use the source!
The WITMAN Cometh!

[TheCage]

Or if you have the Mandrake 7.2 cds, you can not create partitions by using lnx4win. Just put the cd in (if you have a bootable cd drive) and when you are prompted to choose a method of installation (i.e. normal, expert, etc.), just type lnx4win and press enter. Installing will be almost the same except you will create a linuxsys image file and swapfile on your windows system instead of actually partioning your hd. It will be slower, but is useful if you are not sure you want to take the plunge =) (like me).