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SuSe gives you the option to partition but i just dont understand how they want you to do it.
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This is a backwards, it isn't how Suse wants you to do it, it is how you want it done. You need to do some research. Let me give you some general guidance.
Disk space. You will need at a minimum about 10 gig of disk space for a full featured install. The things you need to do are :
1. Back up all files on your windoze system that you could not afford to loose, before you start. Clean up any unnecessary files ( like browser cache ) first. Run defrag and let it complete. Good idea to run the disk checker also.
2. Suse and most other distros have partitioning software in their installer. You will need to create the free space first. Do this by shrinking the windoze partition. The space is probably best after the windoze install. You can also create the free space with a wondoze program like Partition Magic.
3. Create at least three partitions for linux. The first is called root, represented as a '/' without the quotes. This is where the system goes, and most of the programs. Create space for home, represented as '/home'.
This is where all your users put their files. The last is the swap partition. This is only used by the linux system as it runs. It extends your real memory (ram). The guide line here is 2X the ram. If you have 265 meg of ram, swap should be 512 meg, ( 1/2 a gig ). More space will not make it run better.
How you divide up the space is up to you. It all depends what you are going to install, and how much space you have. Some distros like Mandriva, will suggest how to carve up the free disk space for a nob. If you still have no idea how to create it, go with a 50% root and 50% /home. That will get you going.
As for screen shots, do some googling for how-to's for Suse install. SOmeone out there has made one.
The swap partition has a unique file system and only the linux system can read and write it. If you start too many programs to fit in ram, linux will "swap out" some stuff in memory to disk. When it is needed it is swapped back into memory.
You will also have to install Grub ( or Lilo ) during the install. Put it in the MBR. That will over write the existing MBR. Don't panic, it will allow you to boot windbloze after the fact. Do remember, if you ever re-install windbloze, it will over write your MBR, and you will not boot linux until you put Grub back on the MBR. Whats Grub and Lilo, they are boot loader programs. Grub is the newer one. Either will work with just one disk and two systems to boot.
Also consider if you want to share files between systems. Linux can read and write fat32 partitions. It can only read NTFS. There are experimental drivers to write to NTFS, only a linux expert should use them.
Hope this helps.
