installing dual systems??

[desanti]

Hi: i read the thread about changing from MS to LINUX.i have tried knoppix and am familiar with unix/linux.the distro of choice will be made later.what i need to know is if or how can i have a WIN and LINUX on same puter.I have a spare 80G drive/a cd-rom/cr-rw/floppy etc.how difficult would it be and where can i get RELIABLE directions.thank you.

 

[RhythmAce]

Most of the later linux distros are very easy to install. The partitioning of the drives can even be done for you. All you have to do is tell it which drives or partitions to leave alone. You have a choice of two boot loaders, lilo or grub. Grub seems to be the loader of choice these days. On startup, the boot loader will ask which OS you want to load. If you don't pick one within 15 seconds or so, the default is loaded. You pick which is the default at install. You can change or even add another OS later. In almost all cases, it's best to have Windows installed first because it overwrites the Master Boot Record (MBR) which is where the boot loader lives. To make a long story short, it isn't any harder to install linux than it is to install Windows. You're going to love Red Hat.

 

[flugh]

Doggonit RhythmAce, you went and spelled DEBIAN wrong again ;-)

----
JBR

 

[sleipnir214]

flugh:
Cowboy, that horse is dead. Beating it more won't make it move.


Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[stefanwagner]

To make a long story short, it isn't any harder to install linux than it is to install Windows.

You only have to learn, that there aren't continously reboots during installation, and that you don't solve problems by reinstalling...

seeking a job as java-programmer in Berlin:

http://home.arcor.de/hirnstrom/bewerbung

 

[LawnBoy]

Geez, can neither of you guys spell SuSE? It's just 4 letters, get it right!

 

[Visseroth]

OK, I have Gentoo linux and Win2K running on my machine, here is what you do.


First, unless you have a open partition about (minimum) 10 to 20 Gig open, open one up for linux and leave it un-partitioned

second download your distro (I prefer Gentoo cause it really teaches well and works well too)

3rd start your install on the un-partitioned partition and you're going to want to set up a boot partition, swap partition, root partition and trust me on this, it's handy!!! a home partition.......

One other thing to do is go to gentoo.org and read and write some forums there.... They are a ton of help

4th, do the install and here is how mine is setup to give you a idea as to what you are looking at

Hard drive 1 is hda
Hard Drive 2 is hdb

hda1 = Win2K
hda2 = storage for misc files

hdb1 = boot
hdb2 = swap
hdb3 = root
hdb4 = home

Now, hdb3 is mounted in linux like this.....

mount /dev/hdb4 /home

Also for a dual boot system you can use 2 boot managers...
One is Lilo and the other Grub, my recommendation is don't use Grub right away though it is much more pretty to look at but is Lilo cause it'll let you know if there is a error in your boot command file, the file that says what partitions to boot from.

I know it is a lot to take in, but I tell you what, if you're like me, you soke it up quick