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Trying various distros! [solved]


ashley194
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Hi all, I've used Windows for the past 10 years & am now upgrading to Linux. I installed Sabayon Linux 2 weeks ago & everything's going just fine. Here's the point, how would I be able to uninstall Sabayon, install Mandriva & still keep my XP installation? I know, tall order! Any advice would be extremely welcome.

 

Thanks,

 

ashley194 :unsure:

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The procedure would be: Pop in the Mandriva-CD, start the installation. At the partition format dialogue, choose manual partitioning. Reformat the partition where Sabaonlinux resided. Then continue the installation, let the installer set up the bootloader (I suggest to use grub instead of lilo) and reboot. That's it.

 

But my 2cents: If Sabayonlinux works well, then keep it. Get used to it. You will learn more about linux if you stick to one distro for a certain amount of time (e.g. 6 months) instead of hopping around all the time. Every distro has its "own habits", so you will need to learn new things everytime you change the distro. Once you feel comfy with one distro, feel free to test other distros.

 

PS: Welcome aboard. :)

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Looks like arctic and I were replying at the same time. I am slower and longer winded.

 

Ashley,

 

Not too tall of an order :)

 

There are several ways to get where you want to go..............

 

With the below I am assuming that you installed Sabayon after WindowsXP was already installed on either the same hard drive or another and that your boot manager is installed in place of WindowsXP boot loader on your primary disk. If not adjust accordingly!

 

As always, back up any important data 1st!

 

1. Boot and login to Windows XP with an Administrative level account.

2. Access the Control Panel > Administartive Tools > Computer Management.

3. Select Disk Management under the Storage in the left pane.

4. In the right pane right click on and then select delete for the partition(s) on the drive(s) that you installed Sabayon to. This will completely remove Sabayon Linux.

5. If you intend to install Mandriva 2007 to the same partition that Windows XP is currently installed then you will want to defragment that drive before installing Mandriva. To do this: select Disk Defragmenter under the Storage in the left pane and defragment your WindowsXP drive. If you do not want to install Mandriva to the same partition that WindowsXP is installed (maybe you want to install it to the same drive(s) and partition(s) that you installed Sabay to?? just skip this step and continue.

6. Choices here as to whether to remove the existing boot loader and reinstall the original WindowsXP boot loader temporarily or to just start with Mandriva installer which will install a bootloader? If you know where you installed the boot loader when installing Sabayon you can just reboot your computer now with Mandriva 2007 install disk and when prompted later configure your drive(s) and partition(s) as desired and then copy the boot loader to the same place to overwrite it. Alternatively, you can boot off of your WindowsXP installation disk and go into rescue mode and run the fixboot command which will restore your original WindowsXP boot loader. You can test this afterwards by restarting your computer which should go automatically into WindowsXP without a boot loader menu.

7. Boot off of Mandriva 2007 install media to start Mandriva install.

 

If you understand what drive(s) and partitions that you installed Sabayon to, you can skip all of the above and just boot off the Mandriva 2007 install media and when prompted do a custom partition setup and remove and reconfigure the drive(s) and partition(s) where Sabayon was installed and setup as desired for the Mandriva Linux install and select where to install the boot loader. With this option Windows partitions will be identified in blue with the partition manager so you will not mess with your WindowsXP install so do not delete those! Manyideas here as to custom disk setup. As a general rule I do the following if drive space permits: / (root partition) 10 GB; /usr (partition) 14GB; /var (partition) 10GB; /tmp 1GB; SWAP partition 2 times real memory installed; /home as large as possible after the previous partitions are setup. All my sizes can be adjusted to your needs. My setup is somewhat extreme and you can get by with just a / (root); SWAP: and a ;/home so if you are not comfortable with the custom partition stuff you can just use the custom tools to remove the old drive(s) and partition(s) where Sabayon was installed and then go back if possible or restart the Mandriva 2007 install media and select to install Mandriva on available drive space which will automatically adjust Mandriva install for whatever space it finds available.

 

Welcome Aboard,

-Bill

Edited by congdonb
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Thanks for all the advice, I'm now not so nervous about trying another distro! As you rightly Say, I'll keep Sabayon Linux for 6 months or so. However, with my Mandriva free 2007 DVD almost finished, I might simply use it to see if all my hardware works etc...

 

Again thanks for all the great advice, & for being kind to a n00b :D

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Last night I sync'd my portage tree from within Geroo (Sabayon's package manager), now the system crashed every 5 minutes! Over the weekend, I'll be installing Mandriva (as Sabayon's too painful for a newbie). Any advice as to what to do, would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks,

 

ashley194

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Over the weekend, I'll be installing Mandriva (as Sabayon's too painful for a newbie). Any advice as to what to do, would be greatly appreciated!

spinynorman posted this yesterday:

https://mandrivausers.org/index.php?showtopic=39852

It contains a link to a very good installation tutorial. When you get to the partition format section, simply follow arctic's procedure that he his posted for you in this thread.

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