I am currently running windows xp as main OS & running linux from my USB.

But i want to remove windows completely & install linux.

But i find a problem here.

If i install Linux as main OS and remove windows completely, then is it possible that the data present in my D, E & F drives will get lost because disk drives doesnt exist in linux.

I dont want to lose my data present in the drives.

So, i would like somebody to give me suggestions, what to do now ?

Thanks

It is not a possibility. It is a certainty. How can you not destroy the data when over-writing the hard-drive with a new operating system?

Does the word backup give you any ideas?

OK

I know about backup. It is the last solution because for that, i need a large storage space for storing huge amount of data.

Thanks for reply

No, backup is the first solution, because it will take you a huge amount of time to recreate a huge amount of data if it is lost for any reason (drive failure, theft, virus, human error, etc.)

No, you can save your data which exist in D,E or F partition.(condition= if you have installed the XP in C: drive) and as well as you can install the linux.
As a precuation you can move your data in some external hard disk,USB or other PC .It is upto you.
For C: drive data you have to take the backup that is sure.

If you are installing CentOS 6 you can use read from my blog link http://sharadchhetri.com/2011/12/11/...tall-centos-6/.

Basic thing is , you have to install linux only in C: Drive.Do not remove D,E and F . these drive you can access from your linux system also.

In ubuntu ,you can access your NTFS drives easily within same system.

I have not tried dual boot with CentOS6 but still there is possibility. Read this link http://wiki.centos.org/TipsAndTricks/NTFS

Pasting the two package information but they do same job.

http://www.tuxera.com/community/ntfs-3g-download/

http://web.archive.org/web/200802211...=kernel_driver

Ok brother

But i already mentioned that i want to remove windows completely from my system.

Thanks for reply

It is upto you how you want to work.I just gave an option.

If that data is important, then you need to back it up.

To erase all the data, and then install Linux, you need to store the data somewhere. If there is no other copy, then that does not count as backup. In other words, you maybe need to make TWO copies of your data.

Please tell us the hard disk size and the size of the partitions ( Windows calls them "drives")

As already mentioned, you can access existing Windows "drives" from Linux---you just need to create enough space for Linux.

You can also simply install another hard drive just for Linux.

But you still need to backup that data even if you do not install Linux......

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Hello arjun

please give the operating system you are using from usb and also inform do you have any critical data on c drive.

i can suggest you a solution based on your reply

---------- Post added 07-17-12 at 03:43 PM ----------

By operating system i mean linux distribution you are using.

Are you familiar with Linux drive/partition naming conventions? When you begin your install, you will not see any reference to C, D, E or F. The drives are sda, sdb, sdc which are equivalent to the first, second and third physical drive. Partitions are numbered. sda1, is the first partition on the first drive, etc. So if you know where your operating system for windows is and the size of the drive, you should be able to determine which has the system you wish to overwrite. Giving the Linux operating system you are planning to install would help and backing up your data would help you.

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It's entirely possible to just overwrite the one partition that contains your windows OS. Once you identify which disk/partition your windows OS lives on, you simply install linux to that same disk/partition and leave all of the others alone. Having a good backup is always advisable though.

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Routine backing up is extremely important regardless if you are installing a new OS or not. Why can you not buy a standalone external harddisk and move your data to that so that you don't risk whiping the data with the new install?

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Thanks for all your advices. I am getting a little idea what should i do now.


My hard disk size is 120 GB, each partition is of 30 GB. But i already mentioned that i dont have any use of windows now because linux provides everything which windows provides. So i am thinking to completely remove windows xp from my system

Thanks
Hello cmgeo

I am using Backtrack 5 r2 from my USB. There is not critical data in C. All important data are present in D,E & F drives

Thanks

Basically, you have 2 options:

1. just install Linux over your C: drive and mount the rest as ntfs mounts.
Not really optimal, as NTFS has a different ownerships/permissions model to Linux.
Also risky if you don't know how to do a restricted install like that.

2. backup ALL your important data, then install Linux across the whole machine. Simpler and better in the long run.

You should backup everything anyway on a regular basis and definitely before trying either of the options above.

As said above data backup is the most relevant thing.

You could always mount your ntfs partitions on linux to access them. If in doubt try searching for 'HOWTO for mounting ntfs in linux' on google

Your C drive will most probably listed as /dev/sda1. in some extremly rare cases they then to be more than no 1, hence verify it and format the drive and then install your distribution