[Musjunk22]

I have downloaded 3 ISO files of Red Hat 9 and burned the images to 3 discs....Does my hd have to be FAT-32 format or can it be NTSC to install Red Hat on it. If it has to be FAT-32 can I make a new partition that is FAT-32? Should I defraggment my hd before I install Red Hat?When I go to install it do I have to boot it from the cd through BIOS or can I open it up from Windows?? I'm extrememly new with linux and thought about trying it out so if you have any tips about dual boots I would appreciate it. Sorry for all of these questions at one time. Thanks in advance!

[winblowz]

your "hd" is not in FAT-32.... your win partition might be, but I think your confused... or i am very tired LOL

FAT, NTFS ect, are file systems.

When INSTALLING Linux you can choose what type of file sys u want (FAT, FAT-32, ect) you want Defraging ur windows partition wont effect ur RedHat partition though(i dont think) No, YOU CANNOT OPEN LINUX FROM WINDOWS. lol (but u can run Cygwin instead lol) However theres several ways to set up dual boot. Run a search

My favorite way is to make a bootable floppy

Hope I helped,

Al

[nak-1]

Think I better mention that you don't want your linux partition to be FAT32. Your linux install process will walk you through formatting the correct partitions for linux.

You will also have far fewer problems if you back up all your data and completely format you hard drive before you partition it for linux. Partitioning a live drive is a pretty 50-50 process. You need to be very sure indeed that all your data is sitting in the reduced partition you are making or the results can make your machine unstable or worse...

[Musjunk22]

So should I make a backup of my hd before i go and install red hat?

[nak-1]

If there is stuff that you want to keep you should back it up anyway, whether your installing linux or not. So yes, make backups, format everything and partition the hard disk for both XP and linux before you install either.