[dandivine]

I am thinking about switching to Mandrakelinux, Question is can I install Linux on the same hard drive as windows xp or do I have to reformat and partition and fresh install Mandrakelinux..
Thanks anyone using Linux or who just knows.
And also does one like Susie or Mandrake.
Dan

[geffin]

Yes. This is very possible, but the main type of partition for winxp is NTFS, but it can be placed in FAT format. The moral of this story is: Mandrake doesn't play well with NTFS formats. It still is possible though, you just have to make the partitions in windows with like Partition magic/ or equivalant program. You'll have to set the boot loader on the right partition too. UNLESS YOU HAVE FAT FORMATTING!!!!, then it is possible to partition with the mandrakelinux partitioner.

[m3trj]

You can easily install Mandrake on the same hard drive without reformatting, but you will have to partition your hard drive. To do this you need a partition manager such as PartitionMagic. You need to create an ext2 partition for Linux, and I think it needs to be a logical partition. Then you can install Mandrake to this and it should work fine without removing Windows, although you should make backups in case something does go wrong.

As for distributions, I've used both and I prefer Mandrake.

[dandivine]

How about Fedora........

[horndude]

linux is linux is linux, underneath they are all essentially the same

where they differ mostly is how programs are installed and what kind of setup apps they have included

[macdude425]

Originally posted by horndude
linux is linux is linux, underneath they are all essentially the same

where they differ mostly is how programs are installed and what kind of setup apps they have included

Right.

And Fedora is OK, but Mandrake and Debian are better IMHO. So is Slackware.