Linux Start Up Error after Install
 

Hi Everyone.

I decided to get a new computer and I am having trouble with it and decided to give Linux a try.

My computer is a Dell Optiplex gx260 with an 160gb hard drive.

OK, I have booted the disk up, No problems. I install Linux and that goes all fine. Then when it told me to install Linux it told me to refresh, So I do this. Next time I boot it up I get this error:
Error File not found

I want to also wipe my hdd so I can install Windows XP but i can not do this due to the error.

To install windows xp first configure BIOS to first Boot CD/DVD Rom.
Then insert the Windows Set up Disk. Then Press any key to boot up on Windows Setup Disk.

If you want to run Windows XP and Linux they will need to be in separate partitions. To be honest a 160 GB disk is on the small side by today's standards, however it will do for a start. As AAron said XP is stupid and needs to be installed first on the first partition on the first disk, otherwise it sulks.

When you load XP you will need to create a partition for it, the size needed will depend on what you are going to use it for. If you are going to use it for surfing without downloads the 20 GB would be big enough, if you are going to store photos and/or download things like music files 40 GB would be better. As far as I can remember you can set this up in the XP installation process.

Once you get XP up and started you can then install Linux. You will need a minimum of two partitions for this, one for Linux and one for swap. As a newbie it is probably best to let Linux decide on the sizes. The questions the install program will ask you are pretty straightforward and you should be up and running quite quickly.

Once the system is booted you should get a boot menu when you switch on. Select the Linux option, it should then load and may well log you in straight away, so off you go.

The message you are getting sounds as though you are using grub to boot and there is an error in the /boot/grub/menu.lst file. If you do get in normally type in the command "info grub" and read the section about booting manually, you may need it.

Hope that all goes well for you.

With the caveat that I would make sure the swap partition is not any bigger than about 500MB. The old rule of 2.5 x memory is well out of date , but some installers still use it.