Edward Kerr wrote:
> With all this talk of SUSE 10.1 and XGL I am keen to install my own
> version! I have the Linux Format disc
Good idea!
> My Windows XP Home does not have an A Drive, and I therefore cannot
> get it to put the Linux boot files there!
By "A Drive" you mean floppy? You shouldn't need to do that.
> Will I have any problems in installing SUSE on this machine, and
> letting SUSE overwrite my MBR! i.e. any problems with dual booting
> this machine
Does your current configuration have a spare partition on which to
install SuSE? (Or OpenSuSE, which I think you're talking about; the
difference is a little like that between Fedora and RHEL, but Novell
chose to keep similar names).
That is most likely to be the biggest issue.
NB: in my experience there were more hoops to jump through to get XGL
working on OpenSuSE than on SuSE Linux Desktop Edition ("SLED"). They're
not insurmountable, it just means following a few how-tos to get
everything in place.
> I do not have the time or more importantly the skills to sort out a
> non-booting Windows machine, and at the moment all my work is on
> Windows and cannot be lost!
Unless you have a full backup of your system (that you know you can
restore from) then you should avoid this. Indeed, unless you have such a
backup then your priority should be creating one, regardless of whether
you want to install SuSE!
Messing around with partitions can screw up your data and really
shouldn't be done unless you can afford to lose the data. Usually its
fine, but usually isn't good enough. (Think of it like drinking and
driving; chances are you'll get away with it, but the consequences of
not getting away with it are way out of proportion from the likelihood.)
If you have a backup I'd suggest bringing it to a PLUG meeting where
someone can probably solve any problems that crop up. Repairing the MBR
isn't too hard with the right tools, but fixing a broken partition is a
different story altogether (especially if you've written new data to it!)
In the meantime you can try XGL out with a live CD (www.kororaa.org is a
good one to start with). At least that way you know what you're getting
in to!
Other stuff that comes to mind:
Where did you get the XPH PC from? If it was pre-installed and you
didn't get installation disks with the PC then the chances are that
there's a reinstall partition hidden on the disk which you really want
to avoid killing. You can add a new hard disk, of-course (although
beware Windows licensing if you change hardware).
I strongly recommend that you first test out 32-bit versions of Linux
rather than 64-bit versions; you'll likely find some driver issues with
the 64-bit versions and I doubt you'll notice any great benefit from
64-bit if it does work.
--
Mark Rogers
More Solutions Ltd :: 0845 45 89 555
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