December 30, 2006

Mandrake Linux 10 is nice and up to date software, including the Linux Kernel 2.6.3 (the software that runs everything), KDE 3.2, GNOME 2.4 (The GUI), ALSA 1.0.2, OpenOffice 1.1.0, Mozilla 1.6 (internet browser) and GCC 3.3.2. If you have a DSL connection, you can download Linux from www.linux.com, but it’ll be much faster if you buy the 4 CDs from local markets.

Before you proceed make a backup of data. Check it to ensure that the write succeeded and know how you will recover it in unlikely event that you destroy your Windows installation. Before proceeding, remember after each stage of installation it's generally not possible to step back to a previous stage.

Just put the first CD in the tray and reboot the pc. Type enters when you get to the question if you want to install, upgrade or other. After this, choose the language (Linux also offers Urdu), accept the license agreement and choose a mouse. Then, the question is asked whether you want to install or upgrade; even if you have an older version of Mandrake, it is often wiser to install than upgrade. Upgrade should actually not be used, except when you.

Select your keyboard and security level. The standard settings are usually enough for most people.

If you haven’t made backup, then stop and reboot into Windows — reset you computer and remove the CD. Start again when done.

Mandrake comes with DiskDrake. It has the ability to resize safely even NTFS partitions. It also allows the use of almost any file system. now you’ll have three optons:

Option 1: 1. Choose “Remove Windows” or “Erase entire disk”, for to wipe the drive clean of the existing Windows installation.

2. Choose: “Use the free space on the Windows partition”, for dual-boot an existing Windows installation and Linux on the same drive.

3. Choose: “Custom disk partitioning”, to install Linux on a second drive, you're getting refusal for the “free space” option due to drive fragmentation because you've just run defrag and there are no files evident at the end of the drive.

Option 2: You can choose an amount of drive space from hard disk’s partition to allocate Linux and slide the indicator across by the amount, though Linux can read and write to FAT32 partitions, can only read NTFS ones, if your Windows uses FAT32 then you'll be able to utilise free space on the Windows partition for both Windows and Linux. If you have an NTFS system, you won’t be able to use that with Linux because of the danger of data corruption.

Option 3: Choose the drive you wish to use, noting: hda - master drive on primary IDE (your main hard disk); hdb - slave drive on primary IDE; hdc - master drive on secondary IDE; hdd - slave drive on secondary IDE.

By clicking on mount point you can select mount points for all those partitions that have no mount point defined. It is common to mount any “spare” partitions in the /mnt folder. Mounting means that Linux will automatically read the drive on start-up and let you access it without a lot of hassle, then select “Auto allocate” — ensuring you have actually selected the correct drive.

The system should start formatting your partition to Ext3, the Filesystem of Linux.

Except that doing something seriously wrong there, you should be seeing this screen by now. Unless you have limited disc space available, select as follows: Workstation - select everything; Select development and documentation. This is for your own help; From server - select firewall/router only; Graphical environment — select KDE Workstation and GNOME Workstation.

These will provide a comprehensive range of software. If you need to save on space leave out any of the following - Office Workstation, games, multimedia, development or documentation. You may also select individual packages but don't remove something unless you're aware of its function.

The software will now start installing - click details to see the package names and descriptions displayed as they install, although they whiz past fairly rapidly. Insert discs 2 and 3 as prompted.

Installation over; now enter a password for the root user. The root user is like the administrator account in Windows, so has the required privileges to access, alter or delete everything on your system. Only log in as root when required, otherwise log in as a standard user - it's safer and more secure.

Add yourself as a user and enter a password. Click “Accept user” to proceed to adding another, “Next”, move on.

For the automatic log on option, de-select “Do you want to use this feature?” for the above security reasons.

To ensure that Windows remain working correctly, you’ll need a boot loader for Linux. Select “First sector of drive (MBR)” here. The boot loader runs when the system starts and allows you to choose between starting Windows or Linux. It defaults to Linux but can be changed.

So remember, if you're a new Linux user and want to try it out to find out what makes Linux ticks, go for Mandrake you will have no problem getting around. So go ahead and find out why the OS is changing the world as we know it.