On Tue, 12 Aug 2003, Linlov L wrote:
installation. I wish to retain WIN ME and other important data on drive C and yet have Mandrake on D. How do I go about it? I wud
Delete the D partition using Windows. The concept of C/D/E drives was introduced by MS DOS since they didn't understand mount points :D
You need an empty area of your disk (unpartitioned) on which to install any other operating system. Deleting D will create this unpartitioned area. You will also lose everything that used to be on D, so back that up if you need to.
<Disclaimer> I have never installed or used Mandrake Linux. I am not responsible if something goes wrong by following my instructions. </Disclaimer>
Then, when installing Mandrake, you could probably go through automatic partitioning. If you're not sure, make a note of the options that you have available, and post back to this list.
[You should probably stop reading here]
If you go for manual partitioning, you'll have options like /dev/hda1, /dev/hda2, etc. /dev/hda1 is your Windows C drive, so leave it alone. /dev/hda2 is (most likely) what is known as an extended partition - one who's only purpose is to contain other partitions.
These other partitions will be numbered /dev/hda5, /dev/hda6 and up. You will probably not have anything other than hda1 and hda2, so choose to create new partitions inside hda2. As a beginner, you'll prolly want to create just one partition (it is hard to change later on, but nevermind), until you understand the concept of partitions.
HTH
Philip