Sorry but I need to move from fedora to windows 98!
 

i have an old computer that was running fedora core 4 just fine. but i need to give it to my uncle. i need to get rid of the linux and go back to windows 98 or whatever. he isnt gonna want to learn linux too, he barely knows how to turn a computer on. anyway how exactly can i wipe the sytem clean and start over with windows?:confused:

Put a boot cd from windows into your cd drive and boot from cd.
windows do the rest.
just confirm the partition delete question.

i need to get my hands on a boot disk first though

Did you install fedora over windoze or dualboot?

i just put linux over it

Actually, having done this recently it isn't QUITE that simple. The Windows 98 install disc can't figure out what the heck the existing partitions are and will vomit on them rather than deleting the existing partitions.

So, you need to boot up with a LiveCD or a linux installer and wipe the existing partitions manually. After you delete all existing partitions manually, then you can install Windows 98 on it.

Of course, the real challenge for you may be finding a copy of Windows 98 somewhere. It can be hard to find a copy of Windows 98, and when you do don't expect a discounted price. There's a certain demand for Windows 98 due to old legacy software/hardware that won't run on Windows XP. Due to limited availability and supply/demand, the going street prices for Windows 98 are still high.

its sounds pretty evil, but luckily i got the 98 disk

so i need to go into disk druid and delete everything?

When Windoze does not find a partition it will create one.

all i keep getting is a minimal bash like line editing is supported screen

Can you boot your win98 CD?

If your uncle knows little about computers, how is he suppose to keep it secure from viruses? Especially now that win98 is no longer supported. Depending on what he intends to do, such as email and browsing you migth just leave linux installed. Maybe set-up dual boot so he can get familiar with it. Or you can be a nice guy and buy him a copy of XP.

if you find 98 disk too hard to use stick the XP disk in and start the install, delete partitions format FAT32 and then select exit setup. Put 98 disk in and then install :p easy way to do it for people that dont know much about fdisk etc. Thats how i did it last time, lol. If you get to know the M$ bootdisk well it can be very handy, its not super good but it does the job.

If your uncle barely knows how to turn a computer on he most likely wouldn't realise Fedora Core running gnome is any different from Windows. The people that have the most problems with Linux are Windows power users.

To be frank, your foolish for even considering Windows 98, it is an eight year old piece of software that Microsoft officially stopped supporting earlier this month. There are known security issues that Microsoft were unwilling to address because at the time they were only planning to support Windows 98 for another one or two months. Most companies that produce products for the Windows platform will now be looking to stop developing for 98/98SE/ME. If you want to go the Windows route then you really need XP.

Edit: According to the Microsoft website extended support for Windows 2000 ends 2010, so that is an option aswell

You're right Phil !!!
Don't let edo's uncle get viruses.

i found a boot disk and put it in now it just sits there

linux is easier but only if you change your way of thinking. I think i'll just leave linux on it. If i do leave linux on, which distro should i put on? i need one that he can get used to quickly. And one that will run on a 500 hrtz machine and 192mg ram.

I like Suse OSS 10.0 DVD. Easy to configure. Also comes with apt-get.

Did you boot the 98 CD? If so this is the DOS prompt. You should be able to run the fdisk command and then delete linux using "delete non-DOS partitions" Exit fdisk and then reboot.

I Got It!!!!!!!! Its Runnin Xp!!!!! Thanks For Helpin Me!!!! I'm so happy!

We're not born thinking the "Microsoft Way", if your uncle hasn't much experience with computers then it will be just as easy/hard for him to learn how to navigate the gnome, KDE or even xfce desktops as is the Windows desktop.
Something with a long life cycle, perhaps the ubuntu LTS version or one of the RHEL clones. Something whereby security updates will be made available for that particular version for a number of years. You may be able to teach him how to apply security updates, but you don't want to be going round there every three months reinstalling a brand new version of a distro or burden him with that task
Now thats much better, let us hear no more of installing 98.

The M$-way
 

I liked that.

Now that I'm about 6 years on Linux, please don't ask me how to configure a network or something.
The tools in Suse are really good.
:)

Just leave fedora 4 on the system. Is your uncle a soon-to-be-windows-power-user? If he's computer illiterate, why would he care whether he was running fc4, win98, osx, solaris, or dos, for that matter.

Is he simply using email, web browsing, msn, and general internet stuff, or does he need the latest and greatest games?

A newborn doesn't care what language he learns, as long as he can communicate, and access to the internet is universal, regardless of language.

cheers,

EDIT: oops, i see i'm wayyyyy too late on this thread :(

ive a problem removing my dual boot winxp and fc5 here as i cant seem to use winxp cd to boot it up so i can use it to remove the partitions and reinstall them.

i intend to remove my dual boot config and reinstall everything fresh due to certain reasons and testing.but ive encountered this when i insert my winxp cd.it goes to a black screen freezes there and not moving at all.

any advices on how to remove both and reinstall them?can i use my fc5 installation disk to boot and then remove the partitions as mentioned above?if can how do i perform this task??

or is there any other methods that i can use?:scratch:

That's very true. I read that in that "Linux is Different" article. To a new computer person, they don't know anything about it, so knowing windows or linux isn't going to be that extreme.
People who know Windows all too well get confused more with linux (like me and so many others).
The such questions come up "Why can't I simply install this like windows?" "Why go through all this when windows only performs a few basic steps? "Why go into root?" "Why why why??!?!?"
Someone who doesn't know computers won't get confused about how the different operating systems work, but naturally, they will still wonder if you can do this and that, and why you may not be able to.


As for what distro I recommend, I would recommend MandrivaLinux 2006.
I asked some time ago, and was told Mandrake/Mandriva was quite friendly and easy to use, and when I started using it, I got hooked.
To me anyway, I prefer Mandriva over suse, but maybe that's because I have gotten more use to mandriva and suse seemed a bit confusing. "Why can't suse have the same sort of layout as mandriva?!?!" lol.

Anyway, good luck and hope whatever system you do choose, win or linux, that he can use it pretty well, and it works out.

Lastly, that last joke about suse not being like mandriva is ONLY a joke, so no need to reply stating why.

Kubuntu gets my vote for ease of everything. I've used FC3,4,5, SuSE 10, 10.1, Mandrake XXX and so far I think that Kubuntu is the best distro for ease of use, although SuSE 10 was no slouch.

[edit] Oops, missed the second page with posts [/edit]

'getting used to easily' conflicts a bit with the specs. Gnome and KDE are (in my opinion) very similar to Windows. However the specs of the box 'say' that this will be a bit slow (although not unworkable).
I have Slackware running on a K6-III/450 with 128MB. Gnome is a bit slow, but acceptable. A leightweight window manager (I use WindowMaker) performs well.

Why not stick with Fedora? You know it works and you can judge the performance. Maybe update to FC5 as it might be 'supported' a bit longer?

Some (mostly obvious) tips:
Partition the HD properly (seperate home partition), install what is needed and secure the box fully (no unnecessary services running, close ports that are not required).
Create a diskimage on CD after installation and configuration. The latter will make it easy for your uncle (or you :D ) to restore in case something goes wrong.

I think the biggest problem why people don't want to use Linux is, that they want to play games that need DirectX.
For officework Linux is very fine.

You could be right. Games were the ONLY thing keeping me at using Windows, but I still used Linux 99% of the time. Once I tossed out some games, loss of interest, I am only using linux now.

revoked,
If you don mind loosing XP too, just get UBCD and wipe the HD clean. This is also good if you want to switch Distro and Grub is stuck on the MBR.

If you want to keep your Winblows, use the Computer Management tool in Advanced tools and in the disk management tool you can remove the partition. Then just make a new one and format it.

I strongly do not recommend switching to Winblows, the next release is getting far worse!!!

Hi there,

I believe you can leave Fedora Core distribution. I find it quite user friendly.

Like it was said before, if your uncle has no clue about running a computer, any plateform should be just fine.

Especially that you can setup office software and internet browser in Fedora. After a while, he might even thank you for the job you did on his computer.