Didn't seem that obvious to me, when I see a CD or hard drive I don't know where is the beginning nor where is the end...
is it easier (faster) to reach the end than to reach the middle ?


Ok done.
Step 6.
What is your name. I answered.
What name do you want to use to log in. It filled this box with my name in lower case. Isn't it possible to use caps here ?

choose between :
log in automatically
require pw to log in
require pw to log in and decrypt my home folder.

Using the recovery mode, I found out it was quite easy to enter someone's computer without knowing his password. If I make it 'and to decrypt my home folder', would that be any more difficult ?

AFAIK you can use caps in your username, but you'll have to remember always to use it. Linux IS caps sensitive.

I've never worked with encrypted home folder before so not sure if it would make a difference. If you want to you can always try it , just encrypt your home folder and when you're done with the installation, just boot from the LiveCD, go into recovery console and see if you can access the encrypted home directory.

Kind regards,

Eric

Would it be easy to undo or would I need to go through the whole installation again ?
I'm guessing there are drawbacks, such as the fact that I'd have to enter my password everytime I do something in the home directory (far too often).

I'm using a laptop so I'm concerned about security (theft) but I don't want it to make me lose too much time on a daily basis, it would be better to set it once and for all.

Apparently it's not that difficult to 'undo'. Just read what and how it is and works on this site Encrypted Private Directoy.

Anyway, if your laptop gets stolen by someone who knows his way around the OS then your data is never safe since you can easily boot from a LiveCD, chroot into the existing installation, reset the root password and then access any data you'd like.

If it's really sensitive data you are concerned about, then I'd suggest keeping it on a USB stick (and don't loose that).

Kind regards,

Eric

Well if it's useless then I'm going to skip it.
While trying to press forward, I got this message.
the username you entered is invalid. usernames must start with a lower case letter (followed by more lower case letters or numbers).
That's somehow annoying I feel diminuished by the fact that the os won't allow me to have a cap letter at my name lol.
step 7.
select any accounts you would like to import. doc and settings for these accounts will be available after the install completes.
what's that for ?
'there were no users or os suitable for importing from'.

step 8. It's a recap.
the partition tables of the following devices are changed scsi1 (0,0,0) sda
the following partitions are going t obe formated
partition 4 of scsi 0,0,0 sda as ext4
partition 5 of scsi 0,0,0 sdaa as swap

does that seem correct ?

There's also an advanced button.
I clicked on it

advanced options :
boot loader : installed boot loader (checked)
device for boot loader installation (hd0) (should I change that? there are other possibilities)
network proxy. http proxy (empty box)+ port. Should I write something there ?

Ok, have been looking around a bit, and seems that the scripts used to add users (useradd or adduser) don't allow uppercase letters. There is a way around it of course, since you're using Linux YOU are in control.

Just tried it on my test system on which I installed Ubuntu 9.10 about an hour ago.

If you really want to change the login then you can always do it by changing the first field of the user in /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow. I just created a user the standard way with username test and changed it to Test after that in a terminal. Logging in at console level I provide Test as username with the password and voilà.

Kind regards,

Eric

Looks to me like everything is correct, you can just go ahead. Don't change the proposed options, the boot loader will detect the other OS and change the config accordingly.

Kind regards,

Eric

Ok we'll correct that once the installation is done then.

Ok, thanks. What is the import form for ? (question post 125)
I also added a comment in the beginning of post 121 that maybe you didn't read.

If I remember correct the beginning of the disk is in the center at the starting point of the heads that read the disk. With the speed of current disks and computers I don't think there's any noticeable difference to users as to where you put data, but it might be of importance to the OS that has to do all those read and write operations a users requests from the system when working with it.

Kind regards,

Eric

Don't know what it's for, I've never used it, but I assume that it allows you to import backupped data from another location.

Kind regards,

Eric

Ok, I pressed install.
I got a window called "ERROR!!!". Scary.
Error information the kernel about modifications to partittion /dev/sda5. Device or resource busy. This means linux won't know about any changes you made to /dev/sda5 until you reboot -- so you shouldn't mount it or use it in any way before rebooting.
What does it mean and why do I get this error ??
What should I do : ignore or cancel or close the window ?

Try with ignore and see where it takes you. It's indeed scary that you get this error now. I've performed almost the same operations as you have now on a spare laptop I have here with Fedora and Xubuntu installed. Mine finished without any errors.

If you still encounter errors when rebooted then I'm starting to think it might be a hardware problem with your disk.

Kind regards,

Eric

What did it mean and why did I get this error ??

I pressed ignore. Another window appeared, untitled 'do you want to resume partitioning ?'
the attempt to mount a file system with type swap in sci1 (0,0,0) partition #5 (sda) at none failed.
you may resume partitioning from the partitioning menu.
What does it mean and why do I get this error ??
What should I do : 'go back' or 'continue' or close the window ?