Stephen is correct in characterizing DiskDruid as difficult to use. It is. However, it is quite possible to get very good at using DiskDruid. I say this because choosing the "automatic partitioning" selection in the Fedora install comes with its own problems. The biggest problem is that your /home partition is part of the / partition. This may seem like Greek, so let me try and translate. /home is where all your own, individual files go. This is where you save your memos and letters and music files, etc, as a rule. So, why is it a problem for /home to be part of /? Well, the reason is simply this. When the day comes that you want to upgrade your installation, your personal files are mixed up with system files to the degree that you have to take extra steps to upgrade your system without losing all your data. Of course it can be done, but it's far easier to think about this a little in advance. May I suggest that our installation HOWTO has a reasonably good explanation of how to use the Druid? Find it at: http://www.linux-speakup.org/ftp/disks/fedora/HOWTO_INSTALL.html Even though you're not interested in a spoken interface, you might still find the information in this document helpful--especially the parts about partitioning. Stephen Clower writes: > Hi, > If you want to install Linux onto its own hard drive, then assuming the drive is already blank, the flavor you choose will most likely come with a utility which will format your disk automatically. If you already have Windows installed on a drive and wish to boot into either it or Linux, then you'll have to be careful when choosing a Linux distribution. Fedora Core comes with Disk Druid, a utility to help you format your hard drive, but I was never able to get it to work on my laptop. The easiest way to go about resizing your hard drive partitions from within Windows is to buy Partition Magic 8. While it's much easier to go this way, it isn't free. > HTH, and good luck, > Steve > > > *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** > > On 4/20/2004 at 2:05 PM Leslie Fairall wrote: > > >Will I need to partition my hard drive before installing any distribution > >of Linux? I mentioned before that my new Dell computer has 2 hard drives. > >My 80 GB has Windows XP Home installed. I would like to install Fedora on > >my 40GB. If I need to partition the 40 GB, what program do I use? Also, > >what program do I use in order to have two different operating systems on > >the same computer? Sorry in advance for the ignorant questions, but I'm > >definitely a newbie here. > > > > > > > > > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Speakup mailing list > >Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > >http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > > > Stephen Clower, that guy from the south. > You can reach me by any of the following: > E-Mail: steve at steve-audio.net > MSN: steve at steve-audio.net > AIM: AudioRabbit03 > > You can also check out my little home on the web by visiting http://www.steve-audio.net > > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup -- Janina Sajka, Director Technology Research and Development Governmental Relations Group American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Email: janina at afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175
