Help with installation

[Michael White]

Dear Jay, 
 
Thanks for your post It is most helpful. However I cannot reinstall Windows XP because the Installer is not on a CD. When we bought the PC it came pre installed on the HDD. Now the virus that is forcing me to format is not allowing me to access the installer. If you know a way to reinstall Windows without booting up Windows and not a CD then that would be great.

--- On Fri, 10/2/09, Jay Daniels <tux at myt60.net> wrote:


From: Jay Daniels <tux at myt60.net>
Subject: Re: Help with installation
To: ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
Date: Friday, October 2, 2009, 11:57 PM


On Fri, 2009-10-02 at 12:05 -0700, Michael White wrote:
> Thank you guys very much for the help. Unfortuantly all though I am
> very good with computers I have never formated my HDD and I am not
> sure how to. 

Then let's rephrase that, you are typical Windows users.  Nothing
special, nothing bad...  You may have a masters in eduction, but if you
don't have experience then don't brag, or a 5th grader may show you up.

> I also do not know what a ext3 or 4 is. Sorry for being such a
> challenge. I once tried to load a Linux os onto my PS3 from a CD but I
> was unsucessful. So if anyone could point me to a full tutorial on how
> to format and start over with Ubuntu I would be most appreciative.

The Ubuntu Live cd installer will do all sorts of formatting and
partitioning for you.  For instance, to dual boot Windows and Ubuntu,
when you get to the installation screen about partitions, you just move
the slider to make the Windows partition smaller and let the installer
install Ubuntu and swap space on what's left.

It helps to know how much space Windows is currently using then you add
a few more gigs for Windows and you know where to put the slider.  It's
a good ideal to remove programs in Windows that you don't use and run
defrag before making any changes to your partition.  A full install of
Ubuntu will require around 20 gigs.  Today, it's not a big deal since
disk are larger.  My current system with swap space etc, has 96 gigs
free on a 120 gig drive and I have a lot of development stuff installed.
This is will give you some idea of the space needed.

When Ubuntu installs it installs the grub boot loader which will allow
you a choice to boot up using Ubuntu or Windows.  Also please make sure
you have all Windows updates installed before proceeding.

You may want to boot from the live cd first without installing to see
what works and what does not work.  However, this isn't allways written
in stone.  Some things may not work from the live cd but is easily fixed
after installing.  Your main concern here is that your network device
works in Ubuntu so you can get online.  You can take care of the video
stuff later.

Experiment, if you mess up you, you learn from your mistakes.  I think
most Linux users here were not experts when they first installed Linux.
When I installed Slackware 96 in 1997 and Redhat 4.0, it took me 3 weeks
to get online only to learn that my modem init string was incorrect.
Linux has come a long way since then - man it's easy!  You can learn all
about Linux by using it.  You can learn about different types of
partitions and formatting by doing it and reading.

I don't recommend going cold turkey when it comes to Windows.  Reinstall
your XP and update it - get everything working.  Then install Ubuntu
Hardy or Jaunty - whichever you prefer or whichever one works best for
your system.

good luck,



jay

gtalk:  jaydanie

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