OK here is my problem...i just got icepacker linux 2.75 and tried to install it on a reformatted hard drive (dos formatted fat32). Any way ... when i try to pick my hard drive it says that i need to run it through windows and defrag it. unfortionantly win xp wont recognize it as even their. BUT it also says if you wish to go on beware. (not an exact quote) but when it says that it never gives a place to go on to, just a gray ok button. So as you can expaect i am VERY ANGRY!

Can someone please help me.... pretty please with sugar on it...

please?

Are you trying to install linux on a FAT32 partition or are you trying to use a FAT32 partition as a starting point and then wish to format it to an ext2/3?

If the first one, then I really don't recommend it. I've never done it but I'm sure it's not worthwhile (I'm not sure if it's even possible). FAT32 is not very secure and if you want to read your linux partition from windows then applications exist to do this. However, if you really want to, it's better to create the FAT32 partition from windows (if you haven't already) because windows doesn't handle filesystems made by other OSes very well.

If the second one, then just delete the partition and use the free space to install linux.. The linux installer should have the capability to do this. So does WinXP. Just go to control panel and Administrative tasks or something like that.

i tried to just go straight into ext2 but it wont let me do it without a linux file swap. do you have any idea of an application that will do that? something i can download would be exceptionally good.

This sounds like a very strange linux distro indeed. Unless of course when you parition your hard disk for the ext 2/3 file system, you don't leave any room for a swap partition. Is that the case? Basically, if you install linux then it requires TWO primary partitions. One for root (/) and one for swap. So, don't use up all you free space with the linux partition. Make another partition (and set it to linux swap type as opposed to ext2 or FAT32 or NTFS or whatever) about twice the size of your RAM to an upper limit of about 512 Mb. Then make a linux ext2 partition for all your linux files.

Did you try their homepage here: http://www.icepack-linux.com/
and check out the screenshots. Looks like icepack has a partitioning tool, and click on 2.75, it tells you what is included on the cds.

if i have a 30 gig hd how much space should i leave for the linux swap pwrtition...

Quote from my previous post:

"Make another partition (and set it to linux swap type as opposed to ext2 or FAT32 or NTFS or whatever) about twice the size of your RAM to an upper limit of about 512 Mb."