Hello I'm new and I wanna install debian.

There were many places where I could download from but its quite confusing because there are so many files and I doono which one to use.

I started off using the http: //us.cdimage.debian.org/jigdo-area/3.0_r4/jigdo/

and the ftp: //debian.mirrors.tds.net/pub/linux/debian-cd/images/3.0_r3/

I want to make a debian cd... a image file (i think its called iso) will be great.

Can someone tell me which specific file to download?

Thank you so much.

Distros can be downloaded from many different places, called mirrors. Without mirrors the servers would be really slow and would download even slower.
If this is your first time i would recommend using an ftp server. you should choose which verison of Debian you want to install. You should choose between woody and sarge. Sarge is the current version being tested. For your first time you should probably try woody, fewer errors.
Once you have your the version pick one of the mirrors that has the iso file on it and download it.

the iso files should take around 2 hours to download each. You should try to download them all at once.

I have a machine with has mandrake already installed on it... I want to format it and install debian.

http ://www.debian.org/CD/http-ftp/#stable

This site has many links to download.. but within these links there are so many directories... can you point out any one link with the iso files from woody? (i386,alpha, arm... so which one can I use?)

Welcome to LQ!

Go here: http://iso.linuxquestions.org/version.php?version=14

This will give you a list of mirrors for Debian Woody. Pick one closest to you, and download the seven ISOs.

which folder you choose depends on what type of hardware you have. Specifically CPU, motherboard.

Thank you so much. I downloaded debian sucessfully all 7 iso files.

Now do I have to burn each iso in a seperate cd?

Yes you do, each iso represents a CD...so you have to burn each image on to seperate CDs; Thats basically what an ISO is, its a CD muxxed into one BIG file.

BTW, you can also get linux distros from http://www.linuxiso.org

Its not a bad site, they offer a load of ditros and decent download speeds (about 66kbps with a 384kb cable modem)

the net install method is also worth looking into. that is especially if you like save plastic trees.

I know this may sound really stupid but if I already have mandrake on a machine can I still use these cds to install debian on same machine?

What do I need to do to get rid of mandrake and install debian?

just run the install and when you get to the partition stage either format the partitions you already have with a fresh filesystem, or repartition the drive accordingly.

thanks !

I was looking at the instructions and I doono which link to use: I have a normal 32 bit machine

Installation Manual for Alpha
Installation Manual for ARM
Installation Manual for HP PA-RISC
Installation Manual for Intel x86
Installation Manual for Intel IA-64
Installation Manual for Motorola 680x0
Installation Manual for MIPS
Installation Manual for MIPS (DEC)
Installation Manual for PowerPC
Installation Manual for IBM S/390
Installation Manual for SPARC

Which manual can I refer to ?

You should choose the manual that corresponds with what you picked when downloading the iso files

Most ordinary home computers that run Windows are Intel x86 computers, so my best guess is that is what you probably have. If you have a Mac, for instance, that would be different. I have never installed Debian Linux so I do not know the exact details.

If you have room to create another partition on your hard drive(s) you could install Debian to a new partition and keep Mandrake on the old partition. If you have a swap parition they could both share that. I have several different Linux distros all on my computer.