I USED to have windows xp. But it got so slow i had to reboot it completly with what i thought was a windows xp boot disc. It turned out to be windows 2000. I am now fed up with windows and am looking to get linux.
This is in no way a "linux vs windows" thread or a "which linux is best for me" thread. I already know I want Fedora. The thing is I have no idea how to make a boot disc. I was hoping that someone would be kind enough to walk me through the process? I know how to boot off of something but the whole boot disc thing escapes me.

If you have windows installed and have a broadband connection, you can install fedora (and many other linux distributions) via a net-install using unetbootin

http://lubi.sourceforge.net/unetbootin.html

Download the file with the extension .iso.
Go to your disc burning program e.g. Nero, Infrarecorder, CDBurnerXP, Deepburner etc.
Choose "Burn as image" rather than "Burn as data disc" (the latter only burns one file to the disc).
Burn it.

Easier still order discs from ebay, linuxstore.ca or similar shop.

Welcome!

You really have two options:

1) Create your own boot disc

2) Purchase a boot disc


If you are on a modem or slow DSL connection, #1 is not really a feasible option. If you have a fast connection, then download the version of Fedora you want from www.fedoraproject.org.

You will need to make sure you get the right platform (you probably have a 32-bit computer and should use this link for Fedora 8: http://download.fedoraproject.org/pu...8-i386-DVD.iso ).

It will take some time to download. Be sure to save this to your computer when done. You then need to burn a DVD from the iso image. This depends upon what softare/OS you have. You should check online for instructions or provide info about what program you are using so myself or someone else can walk you through that. You need to be careful how to set your options when you burn so that you get a bootable DVD and not just the iso file copied onto disc.


If you can't download it or you'd rather not spend several hours downloading, then you can purchase a disc. There are vendors listed on the Fedora website. I don't have any recommendations for which one.

Another option is to check out your local bookstore (or library - if you bring a laptop you can copy without checking out the book). Most thick Fedora books include an install DVD. The "Linux for Dummies" book also includes a Fedora DVD, to my knowledge. You may get an older version, but you can always update once you have it installed.

One final option is to copy a friend's DVD, if you know someone with it. It's not likely, but it doesn't hurt to ask. You could even try calling a local college or university's computer science department to see if someone has one.

OK i downloaded the file but i ahev no idea what your talking about with the disc burning program. Do I have to download that too?

Are you using Windows 2000 or XP? Or do you have some other OS?

Hopefully you have a DVD burner installed as well. If you do, then you should have some DVD burning software (Nero and Roxio are common on Windows, though there are others).

If you don't have any of these names in your program lists, then you may have some default Windows application for this. I haven't used Windows for burning a CD in a while, but if you put a blank DVD in your DVD burning drive, you should get an option to "create disc" or "write to disc" that comes up. Using File Explorer (clicking on the blank disc in My Computer) should also open a window to drag files to.

After dragging the .iso file for Fedora into the DVD window, you will need to burn it. Be careful to check the options and burn the image.

It would be very helpful to know what OS you have right now (and maybe a listing of programs and options that come up when you put a blank disc in your DVD burning drive) in order to give more detailed information.

I have windows 2000 and no it appears to just be able to burn CD's not DVD's because I downlaoded InfraRecorder and CD-R's are all it detects

Ok I downlaoded Fedora 8 live i686 and I am making an attempt at burning the image. But I got this and I dont know if it has any relevance to the proccess.
"No realtime priority class possible."
"Permission denied. WARNING: cannot set priority using setpriority()"
"No realtime priority class possible."

Good news! I got it to work and everything looks great

ok I found a new issue. I can't eject my boot disc

Typically with Live CDs (any distribution), the CD drive will be locked because the disk's filesystem is "mounted". The disk should eject when you tell Linux to shut down, or after an installation session has completed. Manually ejecting the disk while the OS is running will cause the OS to crash.

On the other hand, most CDROM drives have a small hole in the front of the drive that allows the insertion of a paper clip. But you shouldn't do this unless the computer is turned off.

Alright I tried to install it to the harddrive and I chose the option to get rid of the linux partions (i dont know what that means it was the default) and everything else was left default. when it began to install it said it has a serious problem with /dev/sda1 or something like that(I am not currently on my computer so I don't know the exact terms)