i am downloading suselinux and i wana know what to do (after i burn the ISO) to install linux with out wiping out windows. i want the choice of linux or windows when i boot up.
2007-03-24 07:34:13 · 4 answers · asked by Jidery 3 in Computers & Internet ➔ Software
Its actually pretty easy. First you must have somewhere on your disk on which to install the linux operating system. Either another driver or a partition on an existing drive. If you currently only have a single drive with only the one partition ie the windows partition then you will need partition magic or similar to create another partition in freespace.
Always install linux second ie windows must always be first because windows has a superiority complex and believes it is the only operating system which should have access to the boot sector and if you have linux partition there it is likely to get wiped and you will end up with an unbootable linux partition.
Simply boot from the linux cd and this will take you through setup. Make sure that you choose the correct partition when installing linux or you will likely wipeout your windows partition and this would be a disaster. Don't be scared just be cautious. Check and check then proceed when certain. Just let linux get on with it and that should be it. Grub (linux boot manager) will automatically configure the dual boot for you ie the prompt at startup as to which operating system to load.
*** previous answer isn't technically correct - partition magic will allow you resize your disk (assuming space exists) and create unpartitioned free space on which linux can be installed and all without requiring a window reinstall. Occasionally partition magic will make a balls of this but this is relatively rare and leaves you no worse of that if you had decided to reinstall windows as a first option. ***
2007-03-24 07:43:11 · answer #1 · answered by doyler78 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Before you install SUSE, I would strongly recommend you reconsider your choice of distro. You will find PCLinuxOS is much more user-friendly and flexible - please trust me on this!
The first thing to do (after backing up ALL your data on removable media) is defragment your Windows installation. Check first to see that you don't have any programs which break during defragging (there are a few, like SwishMax). Only after defragging do you stand a realistic chance of resizing your existing Windows partition. Take some time to do research before trying to resize the Windows partition - don't jump in without having done a lot of reading.
Come over to the PCLinuxOS forum and ask for a detailed explanation of the procedure - a roomful of friendly geeks are waiting to guide you through it...
http://www.pclinuxos.com
2007-03-24 15:02:44 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, since you've mentioned that you have Windows, I am suspecting that the windows has acqured a partition of your harddrive that takes all your harddrive's memory. What I am saying is the most probably your Windows is installed on the only partition of your hardrive. To install your other Operative System, you must create 2 partitions in your harddrive. Since you already have a one partition in your harddrive you must format it to rebuild your partition, in order to install the other operative system in the other partition. Unfortunately, to create another partition means to delete Windows and reinstall in a smaller partition that you have it installed now...
2007-03-24 14:40:51 · answer #3 · answered by doggoldcoin 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I saw some software at Fry's Electroincs, it was around 80 bucks. Sorry, I forget the name.
2007-03-24 14:38:53 · answer #4 · answered by coolanswerer 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋