Hi all.

I will explain my use-case in a bit of detail, and then post my queries ::


I have a Dell laptop, where I have a Fedora 14 installed, and using 200GB of my hard disk. The OS has been in use for a good 6 months, and the present state of the OS is too important to be lost.


Now, I need to install a Fedora-17 too on my laptop, and use it as a separate OS. So,


(i)
Would it be a good idea to somehow convert my current state of Fedora-14 into an ISO; then divide my hard-disk into 2 partitions, and then install Fedora-14 from my "latest" Fedora-14 ISO on one partition, and a new vanilla Fedora-17 on the other?


(ii)
If yes, what is the best method to convert my current Fedora-14 "image" into an ISO (obviously keeping the exact, current state of the system)?
I have already visited the link http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=260478, and from there, I tried accessing http://www.dnmouse.org/autoten/fedor...tore-disk.html, but I got a HTTP-404 error.



Looking forward to some guidance; as potentially my hours of work is at stake :|


Thanks and Regards,
Ajay

While I recommend that you don't use not supported systems, it is easier than that.
1. Boot from the Fedora 17CD and make a backup of the current system to an external medium. Not an ISO, just copy the files over using rsync or tar (keep in mind that you have to copy to a Linux/Unix file-system if you use rsync, you can copy to whatever if you use tar).
2. Use Gparted or the installers partition editor to shrink the partition and install Fedora into the free space.
3. Done.

If you need more help with that feel free to ask.

1 members found this post helpful.

I guess you might be able to make an iso but your terminology could be misleading. I think of an iso as a copy of an optical disk to a single file in a known format.

I'd make some backup that you can later return. File by file based is a good way if you can later re-create the install or associated boot by some means. The command dd is a bit by bit copy and many people use it. Might consider something like clonezilla. While it can't return easily to the smaller size it can save your system complete with the boot files right now.

I also might suggest you consider a usb flash install of some other OS for testing or playing with. It is just as good if you create it correctly and can be used on many systems. A cheap 8G would do to start.

Make a partition in your HDD and install it.