Help and advice

[Guest Bruv]

Long ago when using Win 98 I toyed with the idea of changing to Linux and downloaded Mandrake.

When I installed it , it partitioned the drive so that on boot up I could choose windows or Mandrake.It was too far ahead of me then, but with some years PC use under my belt I thought I would give Mandriva a try.

 

I have Upgraded to Win XP since then, and have Mandriva-Linux-2007-spring-free-dvd.i586 downloaded and burned to disk ready to install.

However I am getting warnings that I cannot install and partition this OS along side Windows unless I partition first.....it does not do it by itself, like Mandrake used to.

 

Is this correct ? Do I run an install and get Windows and Mandriva living beside each other or do I need to relearn and partition before slipping the Mandriva disk into my drive ?

 

I am no techie so let me have it in simple bites please

[AussieJohn]

Welcome to MUB.

 

First thing Make certain that you defragment the Windows first.

I have always done it twice, rebooting in between. Windows deliberately scatters files all over the Hard Drive space to deter other OSs moving in so defragging is essential otherwise you could end up with a Windows that no longer works.

In the bios make certain that Plug-n-Play is disabled before doing the Mandriva Install.

 

During the install process you will be asked if you want to use spare space to install on or choose custom (could be called Manual, I can't remember which at the moment). Choose the custom/manual if you feel confident oherwise go with the former. The partitioning is done similar to Partition Magic so is pretty safe and proven.

 

In there you will be able to create Partitions for Mandriva, Create one for root which is / of about 5 to 8GB, create swap of about500 to 600Mb, create a Home partition /home of about 8 to 10Gb then if you like another partition of a size of your choosing for Music and Images (I actually have one for each)

 

Just take your time and and don't let yourself get overawed by Linux because there is no need to.

 

Let us know how you go.

 

Cheers. John.

[Guest Bruv]

I thought I knew what I was doing when I burnt the ISO disk.

But it is not loading when I reboot.

I have burnt it with CDBurnerXP Pro3 and it didn't work so I downloaded UltraISO trial version and re burned with that.

I have changed the boot sequence to CDRom first backed up defragged.

But it still wont load at boot.

 

Any clues what a muppet might be doing wrong ?

[liquidzoo]

My initial thought if the install program won't load is that the download and/or the burn is bad.

 

You should be able to get the md5sum file from the same place that you got the ISO, then grab an md5sum program for Windows (really easy to find, just a quick google search) and follow the installation instructions, then md5sum the iso to make sure that it isn't bad.

 

Once you determine that it's a good download, the next step would be to burn it at a slower speed (as slow as your burning program will let you) and try it that way.

 

Also, if you are comfortable enough with it, you can use the XP partitioning tool to shrink down your drive and free up some space beforehand. It's in Administrative Tools in the Control Panel.

[Guest Bruv]

Thanks liquidzoo I am off now to see what I can do to solve this.....many thanks

[Guest Bruv]

I have been having a torrid time.

 

Firstly I dont understand what I am doing, so the learning curve is very steep.

I have discarded the Mandrake Linux 2007 Spring which I think was faulty, either in the download my burning it or by my mucking about with it too much.

I have downloaded a trial version of UltraISO that checks the files integrity before burning it, I tried too many times to boot with various versions of the disk, some were too large to be put on one disk, and I seem to remember the previous version of Mandrake was on three or four disks, so I cannot see how this version could be on one disk.

I am presently downloading Mandriva One CD version, which I believe confirms my fears that the original version was wrong in some way, or corrupt somewhere along the line.

 

Please bear with me, I know virtually nothing about PCs or files or operating systems, just what I have picked up self taught over time.

[arctic]

Firstly I dont understand what I am doing

Then ask, ask and ask until you understand what you are doing. :)

 

I seem to remember the previous version of Mandrake was on three or four disks, so I cannot see how this version could be on one disk.

The 4 CD version were CD images. The one big iso image you probably downloaded is a DVD iso image. CDs can store some 700 MB, while DVDs can store more than 4 GB of data. If you try to burn a DVD iso image onto a CD, then of course there won't be enough space available.

 

Please bear with me, I know virtually nothing about PCs or files or operating systems, just what I have picked up self taught over time.

Many of us also did not know anything about computers and/or operating systems some years ago. We know how you feel. Simply be patient and willing to learn. ;)

[Guest Bruv]

Thank you Arctic thank you very much.

When you come onto such forums you normally find them a little elitist, with people who know and think you should know too, your post has put me at ease, thank you again.

 

I now have the one CD version but when loading at boot it tells me it cannot find dos, and it goes around in circles, until I take the disk out and windows loads.

 

Any clues why ?

[mtriley98]

Remember when you are burning the cd or dvd to burn a disc image and not a data disc. I remember windows disc burning programs always made me work to figure how to make an iso.

 

 

Welcome to the board

Mike

[Guest Bruv]

That is just what I did Burned a data disk I mean.

I have spent about five hours while UltraISO made a CD/DVD Image, should it take that long ? And then the program failed to respond and I lost it all.

I will do this thing however long it takes me.

[liquidzoo]

You should burn it as an image.

 

I've never used UltraISO before, but I know that some programs hide the option to burn a disc image. In Nero, it used to be in the File menu, now it's in the Recorder menu. Strange, but whatever.

 

If you have burned it as an image (not burning the one big file on to a dvd) and you still find that you are having issues getting it to load, I would try downloading it through an FTP program such as SmartFTP (free for personal use on Windows). I downloaded an ISO the other day and IE only downloaded 300MB of it...the file ended up being 4.3GB.

 

Also, I believe Nero has a free version around. Check their website. UltraISO looks like it might be way more than you actually need, and if it's taking 5+ hours to burn then something isn't quite right.