<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<title>Where to Install Mandriva on your Hard Disk</title>
<meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.73.2">
<link rel="start" href="index.html" title="Mandriva Linux Installation Guide">
<link rel="up" href="index.html" title="Mandriva Linux Installation Guide">
<link rel="prev" href="selectInstallClass.html" title="Installation Class">
<link rel="next" href="resizeFATChoose.html" title="Choose FAT Partition to Be Resized"><style xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/transitional" type="text/css">
<!--
body { font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px }
table { font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px }
--></style></head>
<body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF">
<div class="section" lang="en">
<div class="titlepage">
<div>
<div>
<h2 class="title"><a name="doPartitionDisks"></a>Where to
Install Mandriva on your Hard Disk
</h2>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><a name="BId-doPartitionDisks-pa1"></a>You now have to
decide where you will install <span class="application">Mandriva Linux</span> on
your hard drive. Your hard drive needs to be partitioned which means it must
be logically divided in order to create the required space for your new
<span class="application">Mandriva Linux</span> system.
</p>
<p><a name="BId-doPartitionDisks-pa2"></a><a class="indexterm" name="BIdNEW-doPartitionDisks-it3"></a> Because the process of partitioning a hard drive is usually
irreversible and can lead to data loss, it can be intimidating and stressful
for the inexperienced user. Fortunately, <span class="application">DrakX</span>
includes a wizard which simplifies this process. Before continuing with this
step, read through the rest of this section and above all, take your
time.
</p>
<p><a name="BId-doPartitionDisks-pa3"></a>
<span class="application">DrakX</span> will represent your disks and the way they are
already partitionned. You will be able to see Mandriva Linux previous partitions
but also Microsoft Windows® one. Depending on the configuration of your hard drive,
several options are available:
</p>
<div class="variablelist">
<dl>
<dt><span class="term"><a name="BIdNEW-doPartitionDisks-te1"></a><span class="guilabel">Use free
space</span></span></dt>
<dd>
<p><a name="BId-doPartitionDisks-pa4"></a>This
option performs an automatic partitioning of any blank areas of your
drive. If you use this option there will be no further prompts.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term"><a name="BIdNEW-doPartitionDisks-te2"></a><span class="guilabel">Use existing
partitions</span></span></dt>
<dd>
<p><a name="BId-doPartitionDisks-pa5"></a><a class="indexterm" name="BId-doPartitionDisks-it1"></a> The wizard has detected one or more existing
<span class="application">Linux</span> partitions on your hard drive. If you
want to use them, choose this option. Then choose the mount points to
be associated with each of the partitions. The legacy mount points are
selected by default, and for the most part it's a good idea to keep
them. Then choose the partitions to be formatted or preserved.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term"><a name="BIdNEW-doPartitionDisks-te4"></a><span class="guilabel">Erase and use
entire disk</span></span></dt>
<dd>
<p><a name="BId-doPartitionDisks-pa8"></a>Choose
this option to delete all existing data and partitions present on your
hard drive. You won't be able to undo this operation after you
confirm.
</p>
<div class="warning" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;">
<table border="0" summary="Warning">
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" align="center" valign="top" width="25"><img alt="[Warning]" src="images/warning.png"></td>
<th align="left">Warning</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">
<p><a name="BId-doPartitionDisks-pa9"></a>If you choose this
option, <span class="emphasis"><em>all</em></span> data on your disk will be
deleted.
</p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term"><a name="BIdNEW-doPartitionDisks-te5"></a><span class="guilabel">Remove Microsoft
Windows®</span></span></dt>
<dd>
<p><a name="BId-doPartitionDisks-pa10"></a>This
option appears when the hard drive is entirely taken by
<span class="application">Windows <sup>®</sup></span>.
Choosing this option simply erases the entire drive, partitioning
everything from scratch.
</p>
<div class="warning" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;">
<table border="0" summary="Warning">
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" align="center" valign="top" width="25"><img alt="[Warning]" src="images/warning.png"></td>
<th align="left">Warning</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">
<p><a name="BId-doPartitionDisks-pa11"></a>If you choose this
option, <span class="emphasis"><em>all</em></span> data on your disk will be
lost.
</p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term"><a name="BIdNEW-doPartitionDisks-te3"></a><span class="guilabel">Use the free
space on a Microsoft Windows® partition</span></span></dt>
<dd>
<p><a name="BId-doPartitionDisks-pa6"></a>If
<span class="application">Windows <sup>®</sup></span> is
installed on your hard drive, you might have to create free space for
<span class="application">Linux</span>. To do so, you can either delete your
<span class="application">Windows <sup>®</sup></span>
partition and data (see the “<span class="quote">Erase and use entire disk</span>”
solution) or resize your <acronym class="acronym">FAT</acronym> or
<acronym class="acronym">NTFS</acronym> partitions. Resizing can be performed without
the loss of any data, <span class="emphasis"><em>provided you have previously
defragmented the <span class="application">Windows
<sup>®</sup></span> partition. Backing up your
data is strongly recommended</em></span>. Using this option is
recommended if you want to use both <span class="application">Mandriva
Linux</span> and <span class="application">Windows
<sup>®</sup></span> on the same
computer.
</p>
<p><a name="BId-doPartitionDisks-pa7"></a>Before
choosing this option, please understand that after this procedure, the
size of your <span class="application">Windows
<sup>®</sup></span> partition will be smaller
than when you started, which means you will have less free space to
store your data or to install new software.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><span class="term"><a name="BIdNEW-doPartitionDisks-te6"></a><span class="guilabel">Custom disk
partitioning</span></span></dt>
<dd>
<p><a name="BId-doPartitionDisks-pa12"></a><a class="indexterm" name="BId-doPartitionDisks-it2"></a> Choose this option to manually partition your hard
drive. Be careful: it's a powerful but dangerous choice and you can
very easily lose all your data. This option is only recommended if you
have performed custom disk partitioning before, and have enough
<span class="application">Linux</span> experience. For more
instructions on how to use the <span class="application">DiskDrake</span>
utility, refer to <a class="xref" href="diskdrake.html" title="Managing your Hard Drive Partitions with DiskDrake">the section called “Managing your Hard Drive
Partitions with DiskDrake”</a>.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>
distrib
>
Mandriva
>
2010.0
>
x86_64
>
media
>
main-testing
>
by-pkgid
>
a3d71a5ab92785bc142b5cb5acdec0b8
>
files
>
25
