I am very new to linux 8.0 and have had no experiences with other versions. The first of my questions are : i have 3 OS on my PC win98SE with dos C:drive then win2000 on my e:drive and lastly linux. ive figured out how to mount my c drive but how do you mount a single folder in your in your c:drive. my other question is how do i make a shortcut on my desktop that will stay on my desktop when i restart my PC, and if I'm not mistaken my mount to my c:drive disappears also when i restart. is there like an autoexec.bat for linux that will keep my changes?

I would greatly appreciate any help on this subject!!!

I don't think that you can mount one directory inside a partition... you gotta mount the whole thing (i think).

If you want to mount the partition on bootup, do this:

First, you need to find out what the partition is called (linux calles them /dev/hda1, /dev/hda2, ect instead of C:, D:....). You also need to know what type of partition it is (fat32, ect) for this example, i'll call your drive hdaX and your partition type vfat (which supports fat32)

1) make a folder you want to mount it on

mkdir /mnt/windows

2) mount the partition by hand to make sure it works o.k.

mount -t vfat /dev/hdaX /mnt/windows

3) the file /etc/fstab is what dictates what will be mounted on startup. add a line like this:

/dev/hdaX /mnt/windows vfat defaults 0 0


*********************************

I don't use kde or gnome, so I can't really help w/ the icon link, but I thought that there is an option to "save session" when you leave?

To add to adam_boz's reply, you can mount wndows partitions on start up as well, just in /etc/fstab to the entry representing you windows partition add option auto like this
/dev/hdaX /mnt/windows vfat auto,user,umask=000 0 0
user and umask will allow non-root users to access and manipulte files on a windows partition.

i appreciate all help thank you neo and adam. but how do i change that file fstab i can find it see ut and read it but i can't write to it what is the command to do so in the command window or is there another way to get acess to it so i can write to it?

and about my secound question about making shortcuts and getting them to stay is getting them to stay also alaviabe in fstab if so how do i do it?

and again i say i appreciate peple taking time to answer a strangets question. Thank You

As far as your shortcuts go, when you log out of your window manager, there should be an option to "save desktop settings" This should make it so that when you come back next everything is just as you left it, including your shortcuts.

Do you know which one you are using? Probably between KDE and GNOME if you aren't sure.

Cool

To change /etc/fstab you must be root and open /etc/fstab with a text editor.
lynch

but what is the command to use the text editor all i could find in linux help was rediff but i dont think that is what im looking for, because i could get it to work.

and does anyone know about those shortcuts?

ALL HELP IS GREATLY APPRECIATED.

you should have a text editor within gnome or kde (b.t.w.- which one ARE you using... people can help w/ the shortcut if they know which one.)

If you want to do it from the command line, there are a couple of options. vi is probably the most essential editor for any *nix user to become familiar with.

first open the file with "vi /etc/fstab"

here's a quick reference for vi (or vim which you probably have)

"i" => insert mode

"Esc" => normal mode

in insert mode, it's just like a normal text-editor.

some basic normal mode commands:

:q! => quit w/out saving
:w <file> => write to <file> (<file> only needed once)
:wq => write and quit
dw => delete word
d$ => delet to end of line
dd => delet whole line
u => undo command
<ctrl>-g => show location & status of file
:<command> => execute <command> (in bash... ex: mkdir)

so basically open up the file:

vi /etc/fstab

then go to insert mode

i

then make changes. when you are done go back to normal mode

<esc>

and save

:w

or save and quit

:wq

good luck

thank you adam i now have my hda1 mouunted upon my desktop on startup.

now what do you mean by gnome or kde my distribution? red hat 8.0

does that help with helping me with shorcuts?

My guess is,if you are'nt sure and you did'nt choose a desktop environment during installation and you're running RH 8.0, then it's probably Gnome.
lynch

on my desktop in red hat ive got a redhat in bottom left and when i hold the mouse on it the word Gnome pops up. thats what your taking abou right?

kde and gnome are two flavors of window managers.... kde used to be closed source i guess, and gnome came out to make an open source one. gnome is from gnu... and I think lynch is right... it's probably the default one for redhat 8. It does matter, because each one has a different way of doing things... kindof like the difference between win xp and win 95 (well, not really, but just in the way that they configure stuff differently).

There are many other options out there if you don't like either of them... enlightment, fluxbox (which I use) are a couple I can think of off the top of my head. the two I just mentioned are nice because they are really basic and take up barely any memory, but using kde or gnome at first is nice because they have applications that you can use right away (where as with something like fluxbox, you gotta know what it is, and put it into the app bar yourself)

Anywase when you start up an X session, it should say "gnome" or "kde" as it is loading stuff (the stuff fluxbox don't use)

well, glad to hear we could help... enjoy!!

just read you'r last post.... yep, that's what we're talking about

i have another question.
is it just me does the yahoo messenger version for red hat 8.0 not really work?