I want to install fedora on a single OS drive(in other words erase windows in place for linux) is this possible? If so can anyone tell me how to intall it like this?

Yes. Do you have a CD burner in your windoze box? That would be the easiest means of installation...

If yes -
Download the ISO images from http://fedora.redhat.com/ - good reading here. burn a bootable CD-ROM, read the readme files, etc.
The Fedora Linux Home Page ( http://www.fedora.us/ )

If no -
Do you have a CD that you could install Linux of any flavor from? Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE?
Once the necessary partitions are in place you can install Fedora from a hard drive partition (obviously install Linux, get connected to the internet, download the ISOs to a partition that you wouldnt need to format on instalation like '/usr') after you have made the boot disk - this is the way I had to do things. During the installation you are presented with the oportunity to point to a hard drive partition and directory for the ISO images... The install takes 30-40 minutes... You dont lose your configurations if you have a previous version of RH installed. (I had 8, I dont know how true this holds with others.)

This link gave me the better part of what I needed to install the ISO images from the hard disk - just get the boot disk image...
http://ftp.redhat.com/pub/redhat/lin...n-9/index.html

...But maybe that was too much too quick... Have you installed Linux before?
If you already have then my previous post would make a lot more sense. If not, do you have a spare hard drive? With a spare HD you can swap it out with your current primary master and not worry about getting stuck without help once you start the installation. Just switch the HD's and youre back online.

It's also a lot more work, but maybe you should read up on a dual boot system... There are always things that you will want to do with window$ that you may not be able to do quickly with Linux. The trick is to use M$ to help you limp along until you can do those things from Linux.

I can't intall it. For some reason it doesn't boot. Does it have something to do with the burning? I don't even know how to check the md5sum.

Ahh, did you burn the ISO itself, OR did you use a program to burn the CONTENTS of the iso? An iso is an image of a cd, it is not the files themselves. To burn it to a cd, using windows, I would suggest something like Nero. I think they have a trial version you could use.

ALSO, Do NOT use high speed while burning ISO's, it will not burn correctly. You may think it will not harm the iso, but it may well. Try burning at about 4 or 8 x and see what happens. Also, be prepared to waste a few cds on this edeavor.

I would also suggest to dual boot for you, because it is easy, escpecially with fedora. They have a semi decent partitioner with the cds and GRUB for fedora is the best booloader, IMHO, in the whole world. You also must set your bios to boot from cd, hit the 'del' key as you are starting your computer, allthough some bioses have it set for 'esc' or 'f1'. Check your computers manual. THen go to the booting part of the bios and increase your cd drive to the top of the list.

If you only want fedora, I do believe you can just delete the windows partitions with the partitoning tools in the installer. Be sure to do the manual way though, I do not like the automatic one.

oh thanks i'll try that I was burning the ISO! I feel like such an idiot

although, i want to switch from Window to Linux because I own a Packard Hell and it is hell with windows. I want to see the difference between them. But are you guys saying I can boot with the CD and it will go to Linux and without the CD it to windows?

No. You boot from the cd only, and only, to install fedora core. You do not need to boot from the cd to get into fedora. During the fedora core install, it will put a thing called a boot loader on your computer. It will (most of the time) automatically detect what partitions you have and what is on each one. By default windows is called 'DOS' in the bootloader, and the fedora partition is called, 'Fedora'.

This bootloader will get you a screen right after your computer does the master and slave detection when you turn it on. It will allow you to manually choose which operating system to boot to, or if left for 10 seconds it will boot the one chosen by default. You can set this default in the installer, but it is not tragic if you want to change the default, it is possible after the installation.

After you have installed, I would advise going back into the bios and changing the boot order to boot from the Hard Drive first, this is not the bootloader however. The bootloader will load as long as you have a hard drive that is bootable. The bootloader writes to your MBR (master boot record), and therefore does not need a cd to load.

One of the major problems I have with fedora is the partitioner, remember to never DELETE the windows one UNLESS you do not want ANYTHING on it. Do not delete and then make another one for windows, for it will still lose your files. I would suggest to resize it, which I am not sure is even possible with Disk Druid, allthough I think the 'Edit' button may allow you to. A little tip, I think it is wise to back up everything and to defrag the HD before you do this. I do not trust the automatic one with fedora, but you are welcome to try it

You do not need the cd in to boot into fedora. The cds are not needed after you install, unless of course you want to install another package.

coasterfreak212,

Installing Fedora Core 1 is similar to installing RHL9. Look at the RedHat 9 manuals at: www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux The RHL9 installation manual is currently the closest you can come to a free Fedora installation manual. Starting the installation by booting from the Install-1 CD (i.e., yarrow-i386-disc1.iso) is the easiest way to get the installation going.

If you want a basic book on Fedora, try “Red Hat Linux Bible: Fedora and Enterprise Edition” by Christopher Negus (US$34.99 www.amazon.com). I haven’t read this one, but his RHL9 book did a fairly good job of holding your hand through an installation and other basic configurations.

If you plan to do this for a while, think about getting “Running Linux, Fourth Edition” by Matt Welsh (US$31.47 www.amazon.com). It’s a good place to get started when you don’t understand something.

There are also a lot of how-to’s available at the Linux Documentation Project at www.tldp.org