Introducing UNIX and Linux

Installing Linux

Overview
Starting out
Preliminaries
      Collecting information about your system
      Installation options
Single boot
Dual boot
      Booting from CD/floppy
      Booting from your hard disk
      A partitionless install
      A dedicated Linux partition
Emulators
      VMware
      WINE
Installing Linux
      Installer software
      Linux partitioning
            Typical partitions
            User accounts
      LILO
The window manager
KDE
      Desktop help
      Applications
      The KDE Control Center
      File access and the command prompt
Summary

Collecting information about your system

If your computer is already running a version of the Microsoft Windows operating system, then you can find information about your system by clicking on the 'Start' button and selecting 'Settings' and the 'Control Panel'. From here you should click on the 'System' icon; this will bring up a window entitled 'System Properties'.

The easiest way to capture the information that the 'System Properties' windows provide is to print a System Resource Report. You can do this by selecting the system properties 'Device Manager' window and then clicking 'Print'. At the print menu you should select the 'All devices and system summary' option and then press 'OK'.

If your computer is still using one of the older versions of Windows (3.1, 3.2, etc.) then you can gather and print the same system information by running the MSD.EXE utility from a DOS command prompt.

Among the information provided with each of the Linux distributions will be listed the minimum system requirements. Before you decide on which version of Linux to install, it is worth making sure that your System Resource Report meets these requirements.