Before The Install

 Most people trying out Linux already have a Windows operating system installed. There are some requirements that must be met, before the install. Make sure that your IBM compatible PC meets the minimum hardware requirements of the Linux distro that you wish to install. This is especially true for those of you that are still using Windows 98 or ME on an older machine.

The most important thing that should be done before making any alterations to your computer is backing up all of your data on the existing Windows drive. What can go wrong?, you may ask. Well, for one thing, the Windows partition can be written over by the Linux installation, if care is not taken to install Linux into its own partition. If this is the case, your data is gone for good. Another thing that can happen is that the Linux bootloader does not install correctly or is mounted to the wrong partition. Depending on your Linux distro, this can be corrected and your Windows operating system saved. The Linux bootloader takes over booting any operating system on your computer, including Windows.

I once wiped out a Win XP operating system on an HP laptop, while installing SuSE 9.1. Linux. After reinstalling Win XP., I went to reinstall SuSE and found SuSE wanting to install over Windows again. After using Partition Magic to create a Linux ext2 partition, SuSE went right to it and installed without a problem. Fortunately, I had followed my own advice and backed up all of the data on the Win XP drive beforehand! Outside of wiping out an existing operating system, or the Linux bootloader not correctly installed, there is nothing really drastic that can go wrong.

In fact, if you do wipe out an existing Windows installation, it might not be any great loss anyway, if the installation is old, full of viruses, other malware and running slow. It's a good opportunity to reinstall a fresh copy of Windows if you want to use Windows along with Linux.  Windows has to be the first operating system to be installed. It simply won't recognize a Linux system or its bootloader either and installs its own bootloader to the MBR.

The next thing is to take a look at where you want to install Linux on your hard drive. I would recommend that you have at least 5 to 10 gigabytes of hard drive space for the install. Hard drive space can be regained from a Windows installation by using a program such as Partition Magic to resize the Windows partition smaller. Most Linux installation CD's also come with a partitioning program such as Qtparted that you can use for partitioning and creating a Linux formatted partition. Better yet, if you can afford it, buy and install a second hard drive to install Linux. There is no such thing as too much hard drive space!