install linux 2nd time without formatting partition
 

Dear friends ,

If I want to reinstall windows without format the previous windows , we can do it easily without destroying any system files .?Just override the windows .

Now my question is , in Linux , is it possible to reinstall, I mean First time Linux is installed, now i want to reinstall it without formatting the previous partition . is it possible to do in Linux ?

Plz help to give me the answer .. ..

I don't understand the first statement about Windows.

To install Linux, if you have an existing partition formatted with a Linux filesystem, you do not need to re-format.

Let me see if I got it...

You're saying that with windows, you can just install a fresh copy of windows on the same partition without formatting (eg in a diffrent folder, or by deleting the previous c:\windows). Although I did do this once, it is very bad practice, and I would recommend doing a full format before you reinstall windows.

And you're asking if you can do this with linux... Well, although it might be possible (it is, but it's a bit more complicated), it is very bad practice, and I wouldn't recommend it.

By the way, why do you want to reinstall it? Maybe we can help solve the problem in a diffrent way...

To make it short, yes to both questions. With Xp, as long as you do not erase and install a fresh copy of the OS, you will still have the data. The same goes with Linux, though it will be a bit more involved: You will need to specify your root, home, swap... and tell the install to use as such without over writing.
I've done this a number of time with Debian, as long as you read the install directions and think about what it is asking, you should be fine. I've done it a couple of time with out reading it carefully and thinking about it and have kicked my self in the ass for it.

Eric

Kernel panic & shutdown permission for normal user
 

Dear frinends,

Thx for ur reply . Actually I got the Kernel panic problem , I cannot resolve it . so that i want to re-install linux in same partition without formatting
any partition . so that my file system and configuration cannot destroyed .
Is is possible to do ?

My another problem is ,

I make a normal user into my Redhat Linux machine . I just want to give him "shutdown" and "restart" parmission ? How can I do it ?

If you're trying to save your configurations during a reinstall you should back them up to a removable media. A reinstall will overwrite them, even if you choose to not format the partition.

To allow a user to shutdown/restart you need to add the user to sudoers.