So far all i know is download 1st, problems to be solved when i meet them. Not sure if i can manage to complete the installations.

This is for my son computer becos his OS xp corrupted. So need a new OS.

Please give me any advises you have.

TQ

Hi,

Welcome to LQ!

FYI: I suggest that you look at 'How to Ask Questions the Smart Way' so in the future your queries provide information that will aid us in diagnosis of the problem/query.



Below you will find links that will help, sure some may seem beyond a newbie skill level but you must start somewhere;





1 Linux Documentation Project

2 Rute Tutorial & Exposition

3 Linux Command Guide 

4 Bash Beginners Guide

5 Bash Reference Manual

6 Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide

7 Linux Newbie Admin Guide

8 LinuxSelfHelp

9 Utimate Linux Newbie Guide

The above links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

1 members found this post helpful.

Great advice above.

My only recommendation would be start with Ubuntu, as it's a tad more forgiving.

Best of luck!

Hi, i have downloaded into a dvd the fedora. Then i cannot install into the hard disk. I am not sure if my hard disk can be used or not. Last time i plug into my own com and backup some data files. Not sure where i am going with this. Only using the computer for surfing the net and downloading pictures and email and sending resumes. So how do i go about finding my hard disk and restoring my files in the hard disk? Any advise is appreciated. Anyway even as i tried to read the manuals i am not sure if they tell me what i need to know. The machine is Lenova with AMD chip. It failed when he tried to do a restore the last setting and some files is corrupted. So i thought of free OS . Thanks in advance.

Hi,

You should check the download ISO md5sum to insure a valid download.

The 'md5sum' or 'hash' is very important to learn to use and too regularly get in the habit of utilizing it. You can get a sum checker for M$ if need be; 'md5sum.exe'.

For GNU/Linux the 'man md5sum' will get you all the information to perform the check. You can get the 'man command' from the 'cli' at anytime.

If you downloaded the CD/DVD ISO then be sure to check the md5sum for the original ISO. From a Gnu/Linux cli;
If the ISO md5 is OK then you should check the image burn with 'CdromMd5sumsAfterBurning''.

This way you will know if the burn was OK!

This will check the download ISO with the known md5sum that you also get with the ISO. You should do the check for any download that you might perform, even a LiveCD. Plus burn the image. Sometimes you may need to lower the burn rate to get a valid burn.

These links and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

So shd i download the ubuntu instead? I already downloaded fedora to the cd.
Thanks. Now i have the firefox working on the computer but i cannot figure out the hard disk and files part. Booting the com from the cd only.

If you have a fast download connection its easy to switch between Distros. There is nothing wrong with Fedora, and the choice is yours.

Generally when you do the initial install you partition your hard drive how you like. I'd follow the instructions from Fedora if that's what you'd like to use. If your other operating system is corrupt, you can delete it and use the whole or whatever amount of the disk you want.

Best of luck. You can generally follow the instructions when doing the install. I'd read and print them out.

if you are going to use fedora
there are a few things about fedora YOU NEED TO KNOW
-- just what fedora is --
It is a TESTING and RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT distro
yes a R & D operating system
and as such things WILL NOT WORK RIGHT all the time
updates CAN AND WILL break things , some of the cod in fedora 14 is SO NEW that there are NO hardware drivers to support it
some code is SO NEW that the "everyday" programs that one might want to use DO NOT WORK IN IT


now with all that said fedora IS A GOOD OS if and only IF you like to fix things
i love to tinker and solve problems so fedora is a good choice for me

BUT FEDORA NEVER NEVER NEVER will be a "just should work" distro
that IS not fedora's definition nor description


for someone WHO WANTS TO TINKER and to FIX a busted OS then fedora is good

if what you want is a "point and click" replacement for Microsoft
look into Ubuntu or better yet "Mint Linux "

ok, i got what u say. Tks, right now i don't have a clue how to use the commands, i click at the application and found the terminal , is that where is shd key in the commands? If so, what commands? Above i read i must do the checksum but which one? How do i do it if my OS is already in the disk?

Sorry if i piss anybody off.

a better method to test isos and easier is to use virtualbox to test 'em (if you have enough ram,minimum 2gb)
if you already burnt fedora to CD then no, there's no way to check the md5 sum. you may now reboot with your bios set to boot from cd.

if what you refered to as disk was your hard drive, then , that's the point, check with md5sum what you have in the iso of your hardrrivw

if you are going to use fedora then you might want to read the fedora docs
like the install guide
http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/index.html


and
"Burning ISO images to disc"
http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/...isc/index.html
"Installation Guide"
http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/...ide/index.html
chap-2
http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/...loading_Fedora

and IMPORTANTLY chapter 3
Chapter 3. Making Media
http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/...ing-media.html


also if you use the recommended torrent download it is AUTO checked there is no need to run the sha or md5 on it

Oh, dear! What a lot of advice from people who don't actually use Fedora.

Fedora is not an R & D platform. If you check the data on Distowatch, you'll see that its software versions are mostly the same as Ubuntu.

You do not need to check the MD5 of a Fedora download. All Fedora disks have software to check themselves before the installation starts.

You do not need to read all the stuff that onebuck lists. You might like to look at some of it later, but you don't need any of it.

Fedora Forum is a great place to get help, and they have some excellent guides to setting up the system: http://www.fedoraforum.org/?view=fedora_setup

So, let's get to your problems. You say you've got the DVD but can't install to the hard disk. What exactly went wrong? What happened?

What have you got on the DVD? It should have thousands of files on it. If it has just one, with the extension .iso, then you've copied the disk image as a file. If that's what happened, you need to get Windows software that supports creating a disk from an .iso image, like ImgBurn. I don't think Windows can do this itself (I've never used Windows, so I'm not positive here.)

If you have the DVD correctly burnt, check that the computer you want to install on is set to boot from the optical drive first, rather than the hard drive. Switch it on and enter the BIOS by hitting F2, or ESC, or what ever the screen tells you. Then you can alter it to use the optical drive before the hard drive. After that, all you have to do is insert the disk and tell the BIOS to save its settings and quit. Then the software on the disk should start. It will offer to check itself: say yes. After the chek is over you can install.

Hi,

So what you say is that the download is verified actively? Bittorrent? Looks like Fedora download site is 'http'.

If the download is corrupt and the user doesn't check the ISO image and goes ahead by burning the image. Self check is bad so how does fedora recover?

I'm in the habit of verifying everything no matter what it is. Media is cheap but why waste it?

i beg to differ
as a very long time user of fedora
fedora 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 ( i switched OS's after 11)

fedora is a r&d - "bloody cutting edge" ," the newest of the new" ," if it is BETA it is in " distro

the advice is just a warning

fedora on your kids machine ( a very new linux user) might not be a good mixing
things will break from time to time ( an more so in fedora)

but it is YOUR choice
just remember that fedora ONLY supports 1 version for 13 months
14 hits end of life in 11 months
fedora 15 will be out in 4 to 5 months
fedora releases a VERY new and sometimes VERY different version EVERY 6 MONTHS


so if YOU WANT TO reinstall the OS every 6 months on your kids computer ( or chance preupgrade to work -- PS a custom install is required for preupgrade) go for it -- it is your choice .

Never get to check the file at all. I saved the file direct to dvd burned. Then i use it to boot the com. It ran. At 1st not sure how the program works. What more with the old com mouse n keyboard a bit unstable. Not used to it. Then i put it in my this com n found it works very well.

The problem now is my son hard disk is full . He got 80GB but seems to be full. I cannot even backup his files on my portable disk with 110GB. Dont know why. I used my vista this com tried to do backup his disk. Not sucessful at all. I also did tried to shrink the vol but cannot do. Also right click the OS partition but cannot format that also. Shows Help when right click only. No choice i will just seach for media files to save in my hard disk 1st and when i fin that i do recovery factory setting to get his XP back. Since he not used to LINUX.

Would try Ubuntu next time my OS expire , haha.

My son only care what happens to his games inside. I dont know if i can find the program file to reinstall for him. Else it would be gone if i reinstall factory .

Thanks very much
JONI